Minister Anand announces additional Canadian military aid to Ukraine at Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting

From: National Defence

News release

November 16, 2022 – Ottawa, Ontario – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

At today’s virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), Defence Minister Anita Anand announced details of Canada’s latest tranche of military support for Ukraine. Canada will provide approximately $34 million in additional military aid to Ukraine. Minister Anand also highlighted that Canada will extend its training mission in the United Kingdom under Operation UNIFIER until the end of 2023.

This latest military aid package responds to urgent priorities identified by Ukraine, including:

  • approximately $5 million to continue providing critical satellite imagery to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU);
  •  more than $18 million for additional, high-resolution drone cameras; and,
  • up to $10 million to provide additional winter gear to support the AFU, including portable heaters, thermal blankets and sleeping bags sourced from Canadian companies through the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

The cameras and satellite imagery are critical for surveillance, reconnaissance and gathering intelligence and will complement the $17.38M in satellite imagery and 62 drone cameras for Ukraine that Canada has already committed.

With winter setting in, Canadian industry has stepped up to help quickly meet the AFU’s critical need for winter gear. Following Minister Anand’s commitment to provide 500, 000 items of winter gear and clothing at last month’s UDCG meeting in Brussels, contracts have been signed with 11 Canadian companies and deliveries are underway. These companies include L.P. Royer Inc.; Kamik Canada Inc.; Stanfield’s Limited; Canadian Tire / Mark’s Work Wearhouse; True North Style; Calco (Canada) Inc.; Superior Glove Works Limited; Quartz Nature Inc.; Modes Moose Inc. (aka Moose Knuckles); Wooly Mammoth Outerwear Inc. (aka Wuxly) and Dristex. These deliveries of winter clothing, which includes jackets, pants, boots, gloves, and parkas, will be complete before the end of November.

This aid comes from existing funds and complements the $500 million in additional military assistance for Ukraine that the Prime Minister announced on Monday, November 14. 

Quotes

“Canada is unwavering in its commitment to helping Ukraine defend itself against Putin’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion. Today’s announcement will further help Ukraine meet its urgent needs as it continues to make progress in reclaiming its territory. Canada’s military contributions, including training, equipment and transport have been integral in Ukraine’s counter offensive to-date and we will continue to stand with Ukraine, in the short and long term.”

The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence

Quick facts

  • The United States-ledUDCG is a forum that sees Ministers of Defence and senior military officials from more than 50 countries discuss the ongoing security crisis in Ukraine and coordinate continued support.

  • The UDCG has met seven times at the ministerial level since it was first convened at Ramstein, Germany, in April 2022. The group was formed to advance collective support efforts for Ukraine, including de-conflicting donations, advancing training on NATO standard military equipment and enhancing Ukraine’s defence capabilities. 

  • Since February 2022, Canada has committed more than $1 billion in military support to Ukraine.

  • In August 2022, the Government of Canada announced the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members under Operation UNIFIER to provide training to Armed Forces of Ukraine recruits in the United Kingdom in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s Operation INTERFLEX. Today, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that this deployment will continue until the end of 2023. 

  • In October 2022, the government announced the deployment of CAF members to Poland to support combat engineer training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will cover a range of basic and advanced engineering skills. Staff training has since commenced, with training of Ukrainian sappers to begin at the end of this month.

  • Since the start of Operation UNIFIER in 2015, the CAF has trained over 34,000 members of the Ukrainian security forces in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills.

  • Since late March 2022, the CAF has been assisting with the delivery of military aid for Ukraine within Europe from Canada and on behalf of our Allies and partners.

  • The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) is Canada’s government-to-government contracting agency and has been a partner for the delivery of in-kind aid to Ukraine. It also acts as a channel for allied governments to make acquisitions from Canada.

  • The Government of Canada also covers costs associated with the delivery of aid to Ukraine.

Associated links

Contacts

Daniel Minden
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of National Defence
Phone: 613-996-3100
Email: daniel.minden@forces.gc.ca

Media Relations
Department of National Defence
Phone: 613-904-3333
Email: mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca

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