Canada 'biggest laggard' in NATO alliance

Canada is one of only a handful of NATO allies that won’t reach the requisite benchmark for defense spending, and won’t likely hit it for several years.

All NATO allies are required to spend at least 2% of their country’s gross domestic product and Russia’s war in Ukraine has prompted several allies to dramatically increase spending. Of the 32 countries in the alliance, Iceland does not have a military, and 23 countries are expected to meet the benchmark, according to recently released information from the alliance.