One of the arguments often made by Americans about its allies is their defense spending. It is not secret that most of Europe depends on the US to provide security while they focus their spending on social and other items. The same scenario is true with its neighbor Canada as well. Canadian defense spending is just 1.22% as a ratio of GDP in 2022 according to The Economist. Though the Canadian economy is about a tenth of the US economy, it is still huge at over $2.0 Trillion in 2023. So if Canada spends low on defense, what does the government spend on? The following infographic from Statcan provides some answers:

Click to enlarge

Source: Statcan

On a per capita basis, the spending on defense is very low as hi-lighted above. The highest spending goes to social protection and health based on 2022-23 data. One could argue that Canada can increase its defense expenditure. On the other hand, Canadians could argue their security is covered by the US and hence there is no need to increase it.