Ottawa: Permanent residents are now eligible to join the Canadian Armed Forces. This is the latest effort by the Canadian military to increase the recruitment number in the forces.
Canada’s military was expecting to recruit 5,900 new members till March, but that goal could not be met.
Officials have alleged that some of the reasons behind the non-fulfillment of this target are mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the cases of sexual abuse in the army. Because of this, 8000 soldiers, sailors and aviators are less with the army.
Until now, there was a provision that Permanent Residents of Canada could join the army only if they were skilled professionals and who were trained by a foreign army. But the federal government is now expanding the scope of receiving applications in this regard.
The Department of National Defense says that joining the military can help permanent residents to get citizenship. This is because their applications will be preferred by the immigration authorities.