Defence spending by NATO's European members and Canada was 20% higher in 2024 than the previous year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Friday, ahead of a meeting in which they are likely to come under renewed U.

In 2024, defence spending among NATO's European members and Canada rose by 20%. This increase reflects the pressure from the U.S. to boost military budgets, especially after Russia's 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Speaking in Halifax, Transport Minister Anita Anand says the federal government is looking at ways to speed up defence spending to reach the NATO target of two percent of GDP before 2032.

European Union governments are considering a wider definition of what is defence investment to allow for more government spending that would not trigger punitive EU action for excessive borrowing under the bloc's fiscal rules,