For much of the Cold War, Canada was widely seen as one of the world’s leading peacekeeping nations.
As thousands of Canadian soldiers served in United Nations missions around the world, peacekeeping became a cornerstone of Canadian identity.
To Mike Blais, a retired Canadian soldier who was a peacekeeper in Cyprus in the 1980s, one word comes to mind: “Pride.”
“ Pride that we did a job well. Pride that the peace is still existing,” he said, reflecting on that experience.
And yet today, Canada’s peacekeeping presence has largely vanished. Canada now has just 27 peacekeepers on UN peacekeeping missions — a dramatic decline from a peak of about 3,300 in the nineties.
Sources say the decline is driven by changes in the nature of global conflicts and Ottawa’s defence priorities.
“Our current military posture is not reflective of that reputation,” said Walter Dorn, a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. “It was a well-earned reputation … but currently we’re not living up to that.”
Bob Rae, a former Ontario premier and ambassador to the United Nations, says Canada still engages in peacekeeping diplomacy, but with more emphasis on administration than muscle.
“We’re playing a role there, but not so much a role in terms of actually providing troops,” said Rae, who held Canada’s top diplomatic position at the UN from 2020 to 2025.
Rae says the reduction in Canadian boots on the ground reflects political reluctance in Ottawa, not merely limited capacity.
“There’s not just a lack of … people power; there is also an aversion in the Department of National Defence that I’ve seen … to Canadian troops becoming involved in UN peacekeeping missions, which I think is, frankly, deeply regrettable.”
National mythos
Canada’s association with UN peacekeeping dates back to the 1956 Suez Crisis, when the U.K., France and Israel led a failed military operation in Egypt.
Then-diplomat Lester B. Pearson helped develop the idea of deploying international forces to maintain a ceasefire between combatants.
“It was Pearson’s insight in 1956 that there could be an opportunity for peacekeepers … to maintain an existing ceasefire,” said Rae. “It’s widely conceded that Canada played a key role in creating the idea for that kind of a force.”
Pearson, who would go on to be prime minister, won the 1957 Nobel Peace — the only time a Canadian has won the award as an individual.
In the decades that followed, Canada became one of the UN’s most active peacekeeping contributors. Canadian troops served in missions around the world, including Cyprus, the Golan Heights and the Balkans.
At times, entire battalions of Canadian soldiers were deployed overseas.
Blais remembers arriving in Cyprus in the winter of 1984 as part of a deployment of more than 800 Canadian troops tasked with protecting a buffer zone between Greek Cypriot and Turkish forces.
“It was very exciting, being presented with your blue beret,” said Blais, referring to the iconic felt caps worn by peacekeepers from all contributing nations. “We were like a big family.”
In 1993, at the peak of Canadian peacekeeping, over 3,300 uniformed personnel contributed to UN missions.
“At the end of the Cold War, Canada was contributing huge amounts,” said Dorn, referring to the Canadian soldiers posted in hotspots such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Mozambique and Somalia.
Canada’s declining presence
Experts point to several turning points that contributed to Canada’s declining presence in UN missions.
One major factor was the shift in Canadian military priorities following the Cold War, and particularly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
“We became a single-mission military with Afghanistan as our focus,” said Dorn. “ That meant that we wanted to withdraw from other places, and then we never picked up after that.”
Canada’s combat deployment to Afghanistan in the 2000s absorbed significant resources and attention within the Canadian Armed Forces, reducing its capacity to participate in other missions.
At the same time, the nature of UN peacekeeping operations was changing.
During the Cold War, many missions involved monitoring ceasefire lines between states embroiled in regional conflicts or post-colonial disputes.
But peacekeeping operations have become more complicated since then, says Dorn, often involving civil wars, fragile governments and humanitarian crises that can prove costly.
“The complexity increased a lot,” said Dorn. “It means that the military has to be interacting with a lot of civilians, with police, and with the different parties — and [the peacekeepers] are deployed throughout a region [of operations], not just on the ceasefire line.”
Rae says Canada’s military leadership has become increasingly focused on other international alliances throughout this period.
“The view of the Department of National Defence is that Canada’s primary obligations are through NATO and NORAD,” said Rae, noting that officials in Ottawa often perceive these institutions as having a more straightforward mandate.
“The public needs to be aware that whatever the political commitment of any government might be, the actual position of the Department of National Defence is very negative on peacekeeping.”
Canada’s current role
The Department of National Defence did not respond to a question from Canadian Affairs regarding how many Canadian personnel it currently contributes to UN peacekeeping missions.
The latest UN data show that 27 Canadians are currently serving in uniformed roles on UN peacekeeping missions. This means Canada ranks 66th of all 118 contributing nations.
“The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is reviewing its global footprint across operations and exercises worldwide and any decisions would be communicated formally once confirmed,” a DND spokesperson told Canadian Affairs in an emailed statement. “The CAF remains committed to working with allies and partners to protect Canada’s interests at home and abroad.”
Canada’s 27 deployed peacekeepers currently support several UN missions, including operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Cyprus and the Middle East. These personnel serve in staff roles, military observer positions and other support functions.
But Ottawa says Canada’s support for peacekeeping extends beyond headcount.
“Canada’s contribution to UN peacekeeping is broader than the number of uniformed personnel currently deployed,” a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada told Canadian Affairs in an emailed statement.
“While Canada’s current deployed footprint is modest, its contribution remains meaningful and multidimensional, including police deployments, airlift support, funding, training, and policy leadership,” said the spokesperson.
Canada currently contributes $147 million — or three per cent — of the UN’s peacekeeping budget, ranking Canada eighth in spending of all contributing nations.
“In a rapidly changing and more dangerous world, Canada will continue to adapt its support to UN peace operations in ways that are strategic, targeted and aligned with our foreign policy and defence priorities,” said the spokesperson.
Asked whether he expects Canada’s recent increases in defence spending will boost Canada’s peacekeeping presence, Dorn said:
“I would hope so. But it will depend on the international circumstances, and it will also depend on the political will, because the military is not increasing their capacity to do peacekeeping now.”
Dorn notes that Canada still has the capacity to be a “prolific and excellent peacekeeper,” citing our well-trained, bilingual and multi-ethnic forces.
But it will take a strong political commitment from Ottawa to make peacekeeping a priority again.
“There would need to be a political push,” he said. “Right now there’s not enough political will to overcome military resistance.
“That’s the bottom line.”
I was always proud we were peace keepers and very disappointed when our focus changed. I think our reputation took a hit when we became actors in war.
I hope we can regain that role.
Just a small comment, I noticed that the 1960s Belgium Congo was not mentioned in your article.