OTTAWA –  Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright, has been hosting town halls and accountability sessions this week. “At a few meetings, a question was raised regarding the cost of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. I believe the information will be of interest to many people in my constituency and wanted to take the opportunity to clarify the cost.” 

Benoit explains, “The incremental cost of the mission to the Government of Canada (GoC) in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2011 is currently estimated at approximately $11.3 billion, excluding post-2011 disability and health care costs for veterans. These incremental costs are calculated at approximately $9B for National Defence (DND) and approximately $2.3B for other departments – including $1.7B for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), $400M for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) (costs for Corrections and the RCMP are included in DFAIT calculations), and $150M for Veteran’s Affairs Canada (VAC).”

Incremental costs are costs for personnel and equipment that would not have been incurred had there been no Afghanistan mission.   The costs associated with the increased maintenance, repair and spare parts consumption due to higher usage in theatre are included in the incremental costs associated with the mission.  The following is a listing by type of expenses included in the incremental cost:

Personnel:
- Mission specific allowances as well as Reserve pay
- In-theatre morale, welfare and fitness programs expenses
- Essential backfill of positions vacant in Canada due to deployment

Equipment:
- Repair of equipment damaged in-theatre
- Spare parts cost for equipment that are over-and-above DND’s normal planned life   cycle due to higher usage of equipment and theatre’s environmental conditions
- Write off of major equipment damaged beyond repair
- Capital acquisition of major equipment specific to the mission
- Accelerated depreciation of equipment if normal life expectancy is reduced due to higher usage

Supply :
- Ammunition
- Reconstitution of material/clothing shipped in-theatre
- Rotation of in-theatre personnel and equipment expenses
- Contracted air and sea lifts to deploy/redeploy equipment and personnel

In-theatre:  
- Communication expenses
- Infrastructure expenses
- Maintenance of vehicle fleets
- Expenses to maintain Forward Operating Bases (FOB), Kandahar Air Field, and the Provincial Reconstruction Team
- Accommodation, food, transportation, fuel, laundry and supplies expenses

Other costs:
- Medical expenses of injured/deceased personnel in-theatre and in Canada
- Mortuary affair expenses
- Additional pre-deployment training in Canada required specifically for the mission
- Technical assistance visits in theatre
- Decompression activities after deployment

“Canada’s aim is to leave Afghanistan to Afghans, in a viable country that is better governed, more peaceful and more secure,” states Benoit. “We are there with more than 50 other nations and international organizations, at the request of the democratically-elected Afghan government and as part of a UN-mandated, NATO-led mission. Canada is among the top bilateral donors in Afghanistan in the world today and Afghanistan is the single largest recipient of Canadian development aid.”

Afghanistan is an enormously complex and challenging mission. Operations are constantly changing and adapting to the security situation on the ground. As such, cost estimates are constantly refined and adjusted to reflect this changing reality. As Prime Minister Harper said, “we've been clear that the cost of this is high. We are doing important work there as part of an international effort… When we have men and women in uniform, diplomats and development workers who are putting their lives on the line, the government will spend what is necessary to make sure they are safe and successful.”

Over the past months, the Government has taken steps to improve coordination among the various Canadian departments and agencies engaged in Afghanistan. This increased coherence between departments is also reflected in how costs are accounted for. That is, costs are not being looked at in isolation by individual departments, but now more accurately reflect a combined whole-of-government assessment.

The Government of Canada has regularly and publicly reported mission costs to Canadians. This is done through annual departmental performance reports, reports on plans and priorities and other public communications. More information on the mission to Afghanistan can be found at http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/.