The Canadian Tax Journal invites proposals for short papers on the topic of national defence and public finances. These papers will be published in the Policy Forum section of volume 74:4 of the journal. Defence spending in Canada is set to grow tremendously over the next decade, with Canada joining NATO allies in a defence investment pledge to spending 5 percent of GDP by 2035. Fulfilling this pledge will require substantial changes to taxation and spending, along with new programs and mechanisms to support the new spending. This Policy Forum will probe the public finances of Canadian defence spending in order to clarify the contours of the 5 percent commitment and what it will take to get there.
They are particularly interested in papers on the following topics:
What is the historical context of Canadian defence spending? How has defence spending changed over time as a share of the economy, and what would it mean to achieve the 5 percent target?
How does public sector accounting affect the calculation of the 5 percent target? Accrual versus cash accounting, lifecycle expenditure analysis, the identification of defence spending, and other accounting issues can significantly influence how capital-intensive defence spending is calculated.
What financial structures could support expanded defence spending? In February, the prime minister announced a new Defence Investment Agency, along with a new $4 billion defence platform at the Business Development Bank of Canada. What role should the public sector play in organizing the financing of defence purchases?
Is there a role for the tax system in supporting the new defence spending target? Are tax subsidies needed to deepen and widen Canadian supply chains or innovation structures? Are there personal or corporate income tax measures that could influence defence spending, including talent acquisition, armaments manufacturing and capital defence expenditure?
What fiscal trade-offs might the increase in defence spending entail? What budgetary choices will the government face and how might those choices be most sensibly approached?
The Canadian Tax Journal is an interdisciplinary journal and welcomes contributions from specialists in (among other disciplines) economics, law, accounting, and public policy, as well as contributions from practitioners. Policy Forum papers should be short (3,000 to 5,000 words) and written for an audience of policy makers, practitioners, students, and tax specialists. They should contain original, previously unpublished material.
If you are interested in contributing to the Policy Forum on the subject of national defence and public finances, please fill out the form at https://forms.gle/QzDWhWswQwqTssLu5 by April 15. Invitations to prepare papers will be sent to prospective contributors by April 27, and papers will be due by July 15.
If you are unable to contribute to this particular Policy Forum but would like your name added to the Policy Forum mailing list, or if you have suggestions for future topics, please contact Production Associate Chris Escalante at CEscalante@ctf.ca, or provide your contact details below.
If you have any questions, or would like further information, please contact Policy Forum editor Kevin Milligan at kevin.milligan@ubc.ca.
The 21st annual Defence & Security Economics Workshop will be held on Thursday, October 29, and Friday, October 30, 2026 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. All papers in defence and security economics will be considered. This will be an in-person only conference.
If you are interested in presenting a paper, please submit an abstract to DefenceEconomicsCanada@gmail.com, or directly to one of our organizers. The deadline for submission is June 30th, 2026.
If you would like more information on the type of work typically presented in the workshop please see the following. As well, past conference programs are also available on this site. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Ugurhan (berkok-u@rmc.ca) or Karl (karl.skogstad@lakeheadu.ca).
If you want to join our mailing list for conference updates and information, please click here.