Canada's army is cutting reserve jobs and some training days, with 30 days' notice before Remembrance Day

Soldiers in the Army Reserve were told only 30 days before Remembrance Day that their reserve full-time jobs and some training days are being cut. Published reports say the Army has refused to say how many positions are affected or which training events will go.

Some of the people hit were halfway through one-year Class-B contracts they had understood were renewable. Others held three-year contracts. Two-to-nine-day exercises may be shortened or cancelled, and the Army has not said how long the cuts will last.

Defence spokesperson Laura McIntyre-Grills told the Citizen that the reserve pay left inside the Army is being directed to the highest readiness priorities. "Predictability is critical for both the part-time and full-time members of the Army Reserve," she said, and confirmed that "some existing Class B contracts will end as scheduled without renewal." Defence Minister David McGuinty's communications director, Muntaha Ahmed, has not commented.

Joe Varner of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute says National Defence was reportedly told to cut from this year's operations and maintenance budget, a directive he says was not publicly announced and that he understands came from the Prime Minister's Office. The department declined to say how much is being cut from the reserve pay budget. Varner warned the cuts could push young reservists out of the service.

Core defence spending is set to rise, with most of the new money going to equipment and infrastructure. Reservists are paid only when they train.

In May 2025 Gen. Jennie Carignan outlined a mobilization plan calling for the primary reserve to grow to 100,000 from 23,561, and a 300,000-strong supplementary reserve from a current pool of 4,384. In December she called the plan "basically planning to plan," and Published reports say she expected options to go to government by spring.