NUNAVUT — Canada's Department of National Defence announced in late April that the Canadian Armed Forces enrolled more than 7,000 new members in the last fiscal year, the highest number of recruits in three decades. Total applications to the force reached nearly 100,000 over the past year, and as of February confirmed applications had nearly doubled year over year, rising from 21,700 to 40,116.

Canada's defence minister, David McGuinty, said the country could reach its recruitment goals earlier than projected. The attrition rate among Canadian Armed Forces members also declined slightly.

Lt. Col. Travis Haines, of the Canadian Armed Forces, said the military's reduction of bureaucratic hurdles is largely responsible for the recruitment boost. Canada's youth unemployment rate stood at nearly 14% in March.

The recruitment figures were released as Canada increased defence spending. In March, Canada achieved the NATO target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence for the first time since the late 1980s, with more than C$63 billion spent in a single year. Canada also joined the NATO pledge to spend up to 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. Even after reaching the 2% target, Canada remained among the lowest paying NATO members, behind the United States, the United Kingdom and France, according to a report from the defence alliance released last year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the largest military pay increase in a generation. Canada also pledged to buy new equipment, upgrade existing bases and build new infrastructure in the Arctic.

Alden Campbell, a first officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force, said the changes have been a long time coming. "We're a couple of decades behind, but at least we're trying to do things now." He added, "Hopefully I can be at an age and a time in my career where I can be a beneficiary of these updates."