Canada began to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine in February 2022 and sent heavy weapons two months later. In 2022 the Trudeau government agreed to increase the Canadian military contingent in Latvia as part of a plan to strengthen NATO's military presence in Eastern Europe. However, Canada did not comply with the NATO requirement for its members to spend 2% of GDP on defense. The aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis in 2022 did not lead to an increase in Canada's military commitments in Europe, but to an increase in the North American dimension in Canada's military policy. The Trudeau government used the aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis and hostilities in Europe to launch an expensive project with the United States to modernize their joint North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canada's main contribution to the modernization of NORAD will be to provide territory for the new NORAD surveillance system, which will include over-the-horizon radars, a network of other radar systems in the Canadian North, and space-based surveillance. Providing its territory for the new NORAD surveillance system and the purchase of F-35 fighters means Canada's participation in the defense of North America from cruise and hypersonic missiles. There remains the possibility of Canadian support for US missile defense against ballistic missiles. Canada supports the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO not just as new military allies in the Arctic, but also as countries like-minded with Canada.
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