Canada

Canada: High Capacity, Modest Military Footprint

Canada's economy was valued at $2.24 trillion in 2024, with per capita output of $54,340 across a population of 41.3 million, per the World Bank's WDI figures for that year.

Fiscal and External Position

The IMF's WEO projects government debt at 110.7 percent of GDP in 2026 — a forward estimate, not a recorded outturn, and notably higher than the WDI GDP base used elsewhere in this profile. Reserves stood at $127.8 billion as of 2025, per IMF IFS data.

Military Posture

SIPRI puts 2025 military expenditure at $37.5 billion, or 1.627 percent of GDP. That ratio is calculated against SIPRI's own GDP series, not the World Bank figure cited above, and the two should not be combined. Active personnel totaled 67,000 as of 2022, per the Correlates of War National Material Capabilities (COW NMC) dataset — a figure three years old relative to the rest of this profile. Canada's Composite Index of National Capability (CINC) score was 0.0081 in the same 2022 COW NMC release, reflecting a small share of global material capability relative to its GDP rank.

Governance

V-Dem's 2025 scores place Canada's electoral democracy index at 0.84 and liberal democracy index at 0.736, with a state capacity score of 0.963 — among the higher administrative-capacity readings in V-Dem's v15 release.

Energy

Canada's primary energy consumption was 13.99 exajoules in 2024, and electricity generation reached 652.44 TWh in 2025, per Our World in Data's energy series. Oil production was reported at 3,372.073 TWh and gas production at 1,941.59 TWh, both for 2024 — figures that reflect Canada's position as a major hydrocarbon producer alongside its diversified electricity base.

Reading the Figures Together

Canada's reserves of $127.8 billion (2025, IMF IFS) are more than three times its military budget of $37.5 billion (2025, SIPRI), though the two figures come from different sources and should not be read as a single balance sheet. A projected debt load of 110.7 percent of GDP in 2026 is a sizable figure on its own terms, regardless of comparison.

What the Data Does Not Show

This profile contains no figures on nuclear posture, alliance commitments, troop deployments abroad, or procurement programs. The personnel and CINC figures are from 2022 and may not reflect current force levels. No data on reserve forces, paramilitary units, or equipment inventories is present in the supplied facts.

Sources: World Bank WDI, IMF WEO, IMF IFS, SIPRI Milex, COW NMC, V-Dem v15, Our World in Data (Energy)