Canada has committed to more than $440 million to aid Ukraine with large ammunition, drones and equipment, the Minster of Defence Bill Blair announced on Jan. 9. CFB Shilo 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery conducted a 2023 annual winter exercise with large ammunition. (Photo: MCpl BJ Liddy/CFB Shilo Image Dept. file)

K-J Millar
Shilo Stag Media with files from National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Canada is pledging more than $440 million for military assistance to Ukraine, Minister of National Defence Bill Blair announced at the 25th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on Jan. 9.

Promising Canadian support to Ukraine until triumph, Blair said the UDGC

has been vital in ensuring that Canada’s military aid is comprehensive, well-coordinated, and “meets the country’s most pressing needs.”

“The military assistance announced today provides Ukrainians with resources needed to resist Russian aggression … Canada remains strongly committed to working with our Allies and partners to support Ukraine until victory,” Blair said.

Ammunition remains one of Ukraine’s highest priorities. The announcement includes the contribution of $200 million to Czechia’s initiative to procure and deliver large-calibre ammunition for Ukraine a press release by the Department of National Defence (DND) reads.

More than 11,500 rounds of large-calibre ammunition have already been provided under a 2024 $53 million announcement. An additional $50 million will be available to procure various calibres of ammunition from Canadian industry.

Minister Blair also committed $100 million to the Danish Model to support the production of military drones by Ukraine’s domestic defence industry. “Drones have become critical in this conflict, and Ukraine’s defence industry is excelling in innovation and experimentation in this field,” DND stated.

This contribution builds upon the $3 million that Canada donated in April 2024 to this initiative and the donation of 900 Canadian-built SkyRanger drones from Teledyne FLIR in Waterloo, Ontario — 560 of which have already been delivered to Ukraine.

Blair communicated that Ukrainian troops would also benefit from $30 million of winter gear, including sleeping bags, winter boots and thermal layers. Several tranches of this donation were delivered to Ukraine in December. In addition, $64 million worth of high-resolution drone cameras that were delivered to Ukraine in November and December 2024 have been donated.

Department of National Defence stated the donations announced Jan. 9 are part of the additional $500 million in military assistance to Ukraine announced at the 2024 NATO Summit, and the $1.6 billion announced in Budget 2024. This brings the total value of Canadian military assistance to $4.5 billion since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. 

Quick Facts

• Since February 2022, Canada has committed over $19.5 billion in total assistance to Ukraine, including $4.5 billion in military assistance. This includes multi-mission drones, armoured combat support vehicles, anti-tank weapons, small arms, M777 howitzers and associated ammunition.
• Canada is allocating up to $389 million to enhance F-16 pilot training through the UDCG’s Air Force Capability Coalition. This commitment will support training for pilots in the AFU and provide critical equipment to support Ukraine’s safe operation of F-16s.
• Since the launch of Operation UNIFIER, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has trained more than 43,000 members of the AFU, more than 10,000 of whom have been trained in various locations across Europe following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Canada has announced the extension of this mission until March 2026 so the CAF can continue to respond to Ukraine’s training needs.
• Canada continues to train AFU members under Operation UNIFIER, with approximately 350 CAF members currently deployed in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Latvia in various roles.
• These donations are all Ukraine-identified priorities that have been validated by the UDCG and the International Donor Coordination Centre. They further demonstrate Canada’s strong commitment, along with its Allies, in supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s unjustifiable war.
• Canada is currently a member of the UDCG’s Armour, Air Force, Drone, and Information Technology capability coalitions.
• The UDCG was created by the US Secretary of Defense in April 2022 to allow Allies and partners to synchronize donations, consult and coordinate military assistance to Ukraine, and build up the capabilities of the AFU. The UDCG now comprises more than 50 countries.
• Since late March 2022, the Royal Canadian Air Force has transported over 24 million pounds of Ukraine-bound military aid donated by Canada, Allies, and partners.

READ MORE:

• Canadian military support to Ukraine
• Agreement on security cooperation between Canada and Ukraine
• Prime Minister strengthens defence and security partnerships at the NATO Summit
• Prime Minister of Canada’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Operation UNIFIER