By Cymry Gomery, Coordinator of the Montreal chapter of WBW, September 24, 2025
Saturday October 4th is World BEYOND War’s Global Day of Education about military bases. This article is a contribution to that effort.
Trying to understand what bases Canada has within its own borders, and what bases it maintains through military integration with the United States, is challenging. A veritable alphabet soup of terms and acronyms presents: we read about Canadian forces bases and stations; lily pads; operational support hubs; cooperative security locations; forward operating locations. And, this being the military, these terms are often further obfuscated through a generous seasoning of acronyms: OSH, CSL, FOLs… The most important thing to understand is: These are all military bases.
How can one discern the reality behind these various obfuscating terms?
Domestic Bases
Military bases on Canadian soil are categorized as “bases”—the larger facilities—and “stations”, which function as detachments of other nearby bases. Canada is currently home to 10 army bases, four navy bases, and 12 Canadian airforce bases.[1] In addition, there are a plethora of “closed” bases that still function—unofficially—under the budget umbrella of the acknowledged bases. For example, the CF Leadership and Recruit School at St. Jean, Quebec, is now a lodger unit of CFB Montreal. Other supposedly closed facilities are now used as training grounds for reserve/militia units.
Overseas bases, a.k.a. “Operational support hubs”
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ – Alice in Wonderland
According to the government of Canada’s web site, Operational Support Hubs are “Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations abroad… that exist through a series of pre-negotiated arrangements with partner nations to facilitate the movement of personnel, materiel, equipment and supplies in strategic locations around the world.” The bullet list that follows this statement hastens to add that OSHs “are not military bases.” Except, the GOC definition matches the dictionary definition of a military base, and calling it something else does not change that.[2]
Note: True to the military name game rules, overseas bases located in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa, have a different name: Cooperative security locations (CSLs).[3]
More bases are planned
Canada has four overseas bases, a.k.a. OSHs:[4]
OSH Europe, located in Germany, in operation since 2009 and staffed by Canadian air force (CAF)OSH Southwest Asia, located in Kuwait, was established in 2011 during the U.S. war in Afghanistan (2001 to 2021). It is available to temporarily house CAF personnel.OSH Latin America and the Caribbean, located in Jamaica was created in June 2016.OSH West Africa, located in Senegal, was created in 2018.
And, an additional three bases in the works would bring the total number to seven.
NORAD bases, a.k.a. “Forward operating locations”
The Shamrock Summit in Quebec City on March 18, 1985 resulted in the creation of four North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) bases, known as forward operating locations or FOLs. These NORAD bases are in Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, and Inuvik. The locations are maintained by the Canadian Department of National Defence. The stated purpose of these bases is “to defend the Northern Canadian frontier.”
However, we can see the NORAD bases, not as a benevolent protective presence, but as a means for the United States to extend its own territory-by-proxy and Canada’s implicit acceptance of, and pandering to, the U.S. as the current global hegemon.[5] Over the next 20 years, our government has promised $38.6 billion of our money to NORAD.[6]
History shows that, far from protecting Canadians, our NORAD commitment also means that Canadians in the military will have to risk their lives for U.S. aggression. For example, Canadian troops have previously assisted the United States in its military invasions:
Canadian NORAD personnel were put on high alert to support U.S. troops during the Cuban Missile Crisis and during the 1973 Ramadan/Yom Kippur/Arab–Israeli War.Canada assisted the United States in its 2003 invasion of Iraq. Even though the Jean Chrétien government didn’t officially join the George W. Bush administration’s “coalition of the willing”, Canadian troops participated in the war nonetheless: Dozens of Canadian soldiers were integrated in U.S. units fighting in Iraq; Canadian fighter pilots participated in “training” missions in Iraq; Three different Canadian generals oversaw tens of thousands of international troops there; and Canadian naval vessels led maritime interdiction efforts off the coast of Iraq.[7]
US troops in Canada
While there are supposedly no U.S. bases in Canada today, 156 active-duty members of the U.S. military are deployed here, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center.[8]
The 156 US troops in Canada are just a tiny fraction of the U.S. military’s global footprint, which numbers 165,830 active-duty members overseas, plus another 23,722 reservists and national guardsmen. The 13 states that border Canada, meanwhile, are home to 277,363 U.S. soldiers, reservists and national guard members combined, according to Pentagon data. The Canadian military’s total strength is less than a third of that, with approximately 63,000 regular members and 22,000 reservists.
Reasons for alarm
Should we be concerned about the existence of Canadian bases domestically and overseas?
Consider this: these bases already cost Canadian taxpayers dearly financially, and also could cost us our health and even our lives. The financial cost comes from the fact that these bases will be established, operated and maintained with Canadian tax dollars, money that would otherwise have been available for social programs, health services, education, housing and other needs that directly benefit living people in Canada. The bases will have a direct impact on the ecosystems into which they thrust themselves, killing animals, fish, insects and birds, and poisoning the land and water. They could cost the lives of the 85,000 Canadian troops and reservists who could be called on to serve in the event of a US-led or supported aggression.
Finally, increasing numbers of military bases, by their very existence, are a sign of a world that is becoming ever more violent under the boot of Western “civilization”. Every new base and every new dollar in military spending brings us closer to nuclear war and nuclear winter.
[1]Wikipedia, Canadian forces base, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian/_Forces/_base
[2]According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a base is: “a center or area of operations, such as (1) a permanent military installation; (2) the place from which a military force draws supplies; or (3) a place where military operations begin.”
[3]Wikipedia, Cooperative security location, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative/_security/_location
[4]GOC web site: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/conduct/support/hubs.html
[5]Wikipedia, Canadian NORAD region forward operating locations, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian/_NORAD/_Region/_Forward/_Operating/_Locations
[6]Government of Canada, “Domestic and continental security” https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/proactive-disclosure/secd-state-of-caf-08-april-2024/domestic-continental-security.html
[7]Yves Engler, “More military spending is last thing sovereign Canada would agree to”, https://yvesengler.com/2025/02/13/more-military-spending-is-last-thing-sovereign-canada-would-agree-to/
[8]CTV News, Are there US military bases and American troops in Canada? https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/are-there-us-military-bases-and-american-troops-in-canada/
The post The Canadian Bases Name Game: How Government Keeps Us Ignorant of Metastasizing Military Bases appeared first on World BEYOND War.
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