An F-35A Lightning II fighter jet practices for an air show appearance in Ottawa, on Sept. 6, 2019. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
The Royal Canadian Air Force wants to hire more than a thousand new security personnel over the next five years at bases across the country—just as it brings its new F-35 stealth fighter jets into service.
Internal documents from spring 2025, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access-to-Information law, show the Air Force drafted a plan to first hire 199 new security personnel by 2028, then expand that security force to 747 in 2029 and 1,227 by 2030.
