The United States has paused participation in a joint defense board with Canada that the two countries formed in 1940, marking a new rupture in bilateral defense ties as Washington criticizes Ottawa over military spending and its delayed review of a planned Lockheed Martin F-35 purchase.
The Pentagon announced that it was pausing participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, a senior US-Canada advisory body created to coordinate continental defense issues.
A Pentagon official told Reuters that the move followed growing concern that Canada has not taken the steps needed to become a credible security partner, including raising defense spending and completing its review of the F-35 acquisition.
“Canada has yet to make the hard decisions and tradeoffs needed to put it on track to become a credible partner in the mutual defense of our continent and hemisphere,” the official told Reuters.
The official said Canada needs a plan, backed by resources, to raise its core defense spending target from 2% annually to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.
The Pentagon official also criticized Canada’s review of its planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets, saying Ottawa’s slow pace and limited communication had raised concerns in Washington.
“The Canadian government’s delays and lack of transparency around its ongoing F-35 review are just one example of the prioritization of politics over our shared responsibility for North America’s defense,” the official said. “The Department welcomes a rapid conclusion to this review.”
Canada signed a C$19 billion ($13.9 billion) agreement in 2023 to buy 88 F-35As, ending a long-running fighter replacement process. Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review of the acquisition in 2025 amid worsening trade and political tensions with US President Donald Trump and concern over Canada’s reliance on the US defense industry.
The review was expected to conclude around September 2025 but remains unresolved. Canada has considered reducing the number of F-35s it buys and adding Saab Gripen fighters from Sweden.
Canada has already made a financial commitment for the first 16 F-35s and has started payments for long-lead components on another 14 aircraft to preserve production slots.
On April 28, 2026, that Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty confirmed the review was still ongoing and that no decision timeline had been given.
A spokesperson for McGuinty told Reuters that Canada has made historic investments in continental defense, Arctic security and military readiness.
Canada plans to spend about $87 billion over 20 years to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command and strengthen continental defense, the spokesperson said.
Carney has played down the Pentagon’s move to pause participation in the defense board.
“I wouldn’t overplay the importance of this. We have many aspects of very close defense cooperation with the United States,” Carney told reporters on May 19, 2026, pointing to continued cooperation through NORAD.
The Pentagon official said the pause would not affect NORAD operations, calling the command critical to securing the northern approaches to the US and Canadian homelands. But the official said the command’s mutual benefit depends on Canada “contributing proportionately.”
