Canada

Armed forces personnel in Canada

Armed forces personnel in Canada: 83,000 people in 1985 and 72,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates.

Latest, 2020
72,000 people
Since 1985
−11,000 people
Rank, 2020
58 of 170
counting from the highest
World, 2020
27.4 million people
Watch it change on the map

people · IISS

Armed forces personnel in CanadaArmed forces personnel in Canada: 83,000 people in 1985 and 72,000 people in 2020, by IISS estimates. The highest was 88,000 people in 1989, the lowest 61,600 people in 2002.
Estimates, IISSEstimates, Correlates of WarWorld

What the numbers say

  • The highest was 88,000 people in 1989, the lowest 61,600 people in 2002.
  • Older estimates from Correlates of War reach back to 1920: 4,000 people.

Every year

people · IISS

YearCanadaWorld
202072,00027.4 million
201972,00027.7 million
201872,40027.7 million
201772,00027.4 million
201667,50027.5 million
201567,50027.4 million
201470,20027.3 million
201365,70027.2 million
201266,00028.2 million
201165,70028 million
201065,70028.1 million
200965,72027.9 million
200864,00027.5 million
200764,00027.3 million
200664,00027 million
200571,00028.5 million
200471,00027.1 million
200361,60028.2 million
200261,60028.3 million
200166,10028.2 million
200068,50029.4 million
199969,95029.6 million
199869,95029.9 million
199772,70029.9 million
199679,80030.2 million
199575,70030.2 million
199475,00023.2 million
199376,00023.7 million
199282,00024.5 million
199186,00022.7 million
199087,00023.9 million
198988,00024.3 million
198583,00022.2 million
198482,000–
198381,000–
198281,000–
198181,000–
198082,000–
197979,000–
197879,000–
197778,000–
197678,000–
197578,000–
197482,000–
197382,000–
197290,000–
197185,000–
197095,000–
1969100,000–
1968105,000–
1967105,000–
1966110,000–
1965120,000–
1964120,000–
1963120,000–
1962124,000–
1961124,000–
1960121,000–
1959120,000–
1958119,000–
1957121,000–
1956116,000–
1955112,000–
1954108,000–
1953104,000–
1952102,000–
195162,000–
195045,000–
194947,000–
194840,000–
194743,000–
194646,000–
1945801,000–
1944728,000–
1943740,000–
1942400,000–
1941280,000–
194021,000–
19396,000–
19386,000–
19376,000–
19366,000–
19354,000–
19345,000–
19335,000–
19325,000–
19316,000–
19305,000–
19294,000–
19285,000–
19274,000–
19264,000–
19254,000–
19244,000–
19234,000–
19224,000–
19214,000–
19204,000–
  • 12.3Estimates, Correlates of War

Good to know

  • Active-duty military personnel, with paramilitary forces where they are trained and equipped like soldiers, by the IISS Military Balance.
  • Source: IISS, The Military Balance, via the World Bank.
  • Before 1985: Correlates of War Project, National Material Capabilities v7.0; Singer, Bremer and Stuckey (1972), “Capability Distribution, Uncertainty, and Major Power War, 1820–1965”, in Bruce Russett (ed.), Peace, War, and Numbers, Sage, 19–48.
  • Ranks count the 170 countries with a value in 2020, highest first.
  • The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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