Attrition

Attrition is the process of employees and members leaving professional employment within DND/CAF. Retention refers to employees and members choosing to continue their careers within the organization. Attrition may be linked to factors such as low job satisfaction, lack of promotional opportunities, dissatisfaction with pay, poor organizational culture, feeling underappreciated, injury or illness, misconduct, and retirement.

Factors related to attrition can vary between specific demographics and occupations within DND and the CAF. Some attrition from the CAF is also due to members and veterans choosing to transition to the federal public service. To support this transition, the Public Service Employment Act is available to help CAF members and veterans access federal public service job opportunities.

The Canadian Armed Forces Retention Strategy has been developed to increase CAF retention. Low attrition (i.e., high retention) rates can indicate positive general morale and operational effectiveness.

DND public service employee attrition (fiscal year 2022-2023)

This metric shows how many DND public service employees left the department in 2022, for reasons such as retirement, transfer, discharge or ending temporary assignment.

• 1,963 employees left DND
• 8% of total DND public service employees*

*Total employees as of March 2022 (does not include Term, Casual, or Contract personnel)

Data Source: DND HR Management System (Last Updated: 2023/07/11)

Defence Team sentiment towards leaving DND/CAF

Defence Team

I am actively looking at leaving the CAF/DND:

category	subcategory	Year	% Agree	% Other
Overall	Overall	2022	18%	82%
Gender	All Men	2022	19%	81%
Gender	All Women	2022	16%	84%
Gender	DND public service employees Men	2022	16%	84%
Gender	DND public service employees Women	2022	14%	86%
Gender	Primary Reserve Men	2022	8%	92%
Gender	Primary Reserve Women	2022	14%	86%
Gender	Regular Force Men	2022	24%	76%
Gender	Regular Force Women	2022	19%	81%
Component	DND public service employees	2022	16%	85%
Component	Primary Reserve	2022	9%	91%
Component	Regular Force	2022	24%	77%
CAF Rank	Overall Junior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	20%	80%
CAF Rank	Overall Junior Officer	2022	16%	84%
CAF Rank	Overall Senior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	20%	80%
CAF Rank	Overall Senior Officer	2022	20%	80%
CAF Rank	Primary Reserve Junior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	9%	91%
CAF Rank	Primary Reserve Senior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	9%	91%
CAF Rank	Regular Force Junior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	23%	77%
CAF Rank	Regular Force Junior Officer	2022	22%	78%
CAF Rank	Regular Force Senior Non-Commissioned Member	2022	25%	75%
CAF Rank	Regular Force Senior Officer	2022	24%	76%

Data Source: Your Say Matters: Defence Team Well-Being Survey (2022)

DND public service employees leaving the department (fiscal year 2022-2023)

This table shows the number of DND public service employees who left the department in 2022, by gender, for reasons such as retirement, transfer, discharge, or ending temporary assignment. Note that only men and women are included as gender options; gender diverse individuals are not included as reporting on their limited number does not protect anonymity.

Gender	Years of service	Age Group	Number of employees leaving
All	All	<25	22
All	All	25-29	98
All	All	30-34	122
All	All	35-39	142
All	All	40-44	137
All	All	45-49	152
All	All	50-54	180
All	All	55-59	359
All	All	60-64	461
All	All	65-69	227
All	All	70+	63
All	<2	25-29	16
All	<2	30-34	21
All	<2	35-39	20
All	<2	40-44	16
All	2-10	<25	11
All	2-10	25-29	82
All	2-10	30-34	88
All	2-10	35-39	67
All	2-10	40-44	44
All	2-10	45-49	28
All	2-10	50-54	34
All	2-10	55-59	26
All	2-10	60-64	15
All	11-20	30-34	13
All	11-20	35-39	55
All	11-20	40-44	67
All	11-20	45-49	62
All	11-20	50-54	50
All	11-20	55-59	63
All	11-20	60-64	89
All	11-20	65-69	57
All	11-20	70+	19
All	21-29	45-49	49
All	21-29	50-54	48
All	21-29	55-59	46
All	21-29	60-64	92
All	21-29	65-69	37
All	30-35	50-54	43
All	30-35	55-59	138
All	30-35	60-64	92
All	30-35	65-69	41
All	36+	55-59	84
All	36+	60-64	172
All	36+	65-69	83
All	36+	70+	28
Men	All	25-29	45
Men	All	30-34	61
Men	All	35-39	74
Men	All	40-44	64
Men	All	45-49	59
Men	All	50-54	87
Men	All	55-59	209
Men	All	60-64	295
Men	All	65-69	157
Men	All	70+	40
Men	<2	30-34	12
Men	2-10	25-29	38
Men	2-10	30-34	41
Men	2-10	35-39	39
Men	2-10	40-44	19
Men	2-10	50-54	14
Men	11-20	35-39	31
Men	11-20	40-44	27
Men	11-20	45-49	21
Men	11-20	50-54	15
Men	11-20	55-59	26
Men	11-20	60-64	39
Men	11-20	65-69	34
Men	21-29	45-49	26
Men	21-29	50-54	27
Men	21-29	55-59	18
Men	21-29	60-64	37
Men	21-29	65-69	23
Men	30-35	50-54	29
Men	30-35	55-59	83
Men	30-35	60-64	61
Men	30-35	65-69	32
Men	36+	55-59	71
Men	36+	60-64	149
Men	36+	65-69	64
Men	36+	70+	22
Women	All	<25	13
Women	All	25-29	51
Women	All	30-34	60
Women	All	35-39	68
Women	All	40-44	73
Women	All	45-49	93
Women	All	50-54	93
Women	All	55-59	150
Women	All	60-64	166
Women	All	65-69	70
Women	All	70+	23
Women	<2	35-39	16
Women	2-10	25-29	43
Women	2-10	30-34	46
Women	2-10	35-39	28
Women	2-10	40-44	25
Women	2-10	45-49	21
Women	2-10	50-54	20
Women	2-10	55-59	16
Women	11-20	35-39	24
Women	11-20	40-44	40
Women	11-20	45-49	41
Women	11-20	50-54	35
Women	11-20	55-59	37
Women	11-20	60-64	50
Women	11-20	65-69	23
Women	11-20	70+	11
Women	21-29	45-49	23
Women	21-29	50-54	21
Women	21-29	55-59	28
Women	21-29	60-64	55
Women	21-29	65-69	14
Women	30-35	50-54	14
Women	30-35	55-59	55
Women	30-35	60-64	31
Women	36+	55-59	13
Women	36+	60-64	23
Women	36+	65-69	19

Data Sources: DND HR Management System (Last Updated: 2023/07/11)

More information: permanent resident recruitment eligibility

In December 2022, the Minister of National Defence announced that permanent residents are welcome to apply to enroll in the CAF.

Before, the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group accepted trained applicants from foreign militaries if they had permanent resident status in Canada. Now, permanent residents who meet the same criteria as Canadian citizens can enroll in the CAF as new recruits or officer cadets.

Canada recognizes the military service of permanent residents who join the CAF and offers facilitated pathways to citizenship for them. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processes citizenship applications from CAF members on a priority basis.

Permanent residents are an important, skilled and diverse workforce in Canada. CAF culture evolution supports the recruitment of new members and allows us to retain existing members. DND/CAF supports efforts to build an institution where everyone feels safe, protected, and respected.

Data sources

For details on the methodology of data analysis, including descriptions of each data source, please visit the List of data sources page.

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