The Economic Importance of US-Canada Relations

 During both World Wars I and II, the Cold War, Korea, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Afghanistan, Canada fought with the United States to protect our shared ideals. Canadian sailors, soldiers, and pilots serve in all levels of the US military, protecting and defending our shared continent in operations like search and rescue, stopping the flow of illegal drugs, helping people in need, and giving support to disaster relief missions.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is the only bi-national military command in the world, has been protecting North America for more than 65 years with help from both the American and Canadian armed forces. NORAD has always been ready to find and deal with threats to North America, whether they come from intercontinental ballistic missiles, planes, terrorists, or vehicles in the air, space, or rockets. Also, Canada is one of the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has been working for peace, security, and safety around the world for more than 75 years.

United States Military Sales Abroad

The U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, which is run by the U.S. Department of Defense but authorized by the U.S. Department of State, makes it easier for responsible arms sales to happen. These sales strengthen defense ties between the U.S. and other countries and make it easier for U.S. and foreign forces to work together. Canadian purchases through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program made up 71% of all planned spending on important defense equipment in 2023, which was a record high year for sales under the program. They also made up 8% of all U.S. sales paid for by foreign partners. Since 2017, when Canada's "Strong, Secure, Engaged" defense policy was put in place, the country's U.S. foreign military sales have become three times as valuable, reaching about $13 billion USD. There is a big reason why the United States' economy is safe: Canada. Buying from Canada directly supports jobs in the United States. Canada has been a part of the U.S. FMS program for more than 50 years and is one of the top 20 customers in the world, one of the top five NATO customers, and the biggest customer in the Americas.

Plan for Civil Assistance

The United States and Canada signed the Canada-U.S. Civil Assistance Plan (CAP) in February 2008. This is a two-way agreement that makes it easier for military members from one country to help the armed forces of the other country during a civil emergency, as long as both governments agree on the best way to respond. When asked, military forces from one country could be sent to help the other country. This would allow the quick deployment of military personnel and assets to respond to disasters like floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and the effects of a terrorist attack in order to save lives, stop suffering, and limit damage to property.

The CAP says that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety Canada are the top government agencies in each country for emergency planning. The plan was renewed in January 2012, and it was successfully used for the first time during Hurricane Gustav in September 2008. Canada sent a CC-177 Globemaster III plane to help evacuate medical patients from the southern U.S., and two CC-130 Hercules planes to help with humanitarian aid.

Does Canada depend on the US to protect it?

The US and Canada are very important to each other's defense and values. To protect everyone, both the US and Canada have done and still do a lot. It looks like the Arctic will be the next place where NATO will fight, and the US, Iceland, Denmark, and Canada are all ready for it. Finland and Sweden have joined, making the area even bigger. People think that Russia or China would launch most of their nuclear attacks across the polar regions. This means that Canada and Alaska are the best places to look for them. It's likely that Canada helps protect the US more than it protects the US. Our troops are very well trained, but Canada doesn't have a big army. People in my old unit used to say that Software (people) is more important than Hardware (tools). Things like that can make all the difference in the fight. From World War I to the Global War on Terror, Canada has the best image for being a great soldier. When it comes to going to fight in other countries, it's a different story. We can protect Canada. We don't have a big budget or force, which is a shame. There will be times when we have to go outside of our borders, and we will almost always need help from Allies, like the US. Our air capabilities are one of the most important stop gaps. These days, air weapons are very important on the battlefield. Even though we got better during the Afghanistan Campaign by getting lift capabilities like CC-17s and Chinook helicopters.