Canada’s defense chief, Gen. Jenny Carignan, said the allies are in talks to help Persian Gulf nations defend themselves against a bombardment from Iran.
Speaking to reporters at a defense and security conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Carignan said a meeting was scheduled for Friday morning to discuss such a proposal among allies and that the Canadian Armed Forces would make a recommendation to the government.
“The Gulf states must indicate what they want,” Carignan said in French. “We’re communicating with them to get an idea of the needs because if they don’t need us … it’s clear we’re not going to see options to support them.”
He did not specify what kind of support this would involve but said Canada was not participating in the US bombing of Iran.
“We’re not talking about participating in an epic fury,” he said. “It’s not a mission we’re considering. However, our Gulf partners may need protection and support, so, in that case, these are the types of military options we could consider.”
The Canadian Press requested comment from the Prime Minister’s Office, but was referred to National Defence.
Carignan’s comments come as the Conservatives call for a parliamentary debate before any kind of Canadian military deployment in the ongoing war.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Australia on Thursday — and in Canada on Wednesday — that Canada could not “categorically” rule out military participation in the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
He said Canada’s potential future involvement was “fundamentally hypothetical” and that Ottawa would stand by its allies.
The Conservatives are calling for a parliamentary debate before any kind of Canadian military deployment to the ongoing war in Iran.
“It’s up to Parliament to say whether or not we’re ever going to deploy our troops into conflict,” Conservative defense critic James Bezon told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday. “With transparency in the House of Commons let’s have the conversation in public where it needs to be.”
The prime minister originally expressed unequivocal support for the launch of US airstrikes on Iran last weekend – but later did so with “regret” because the bombing campaign appeared to be inconsistent with international law.
Bezon argued that those changes made no sense — and neither did Ottawa’s insistence on a diplomatic solution to end the airstrikes it had approved.
Stephen Fuhr, the MP who oversees defense procurement, said he was not part of the discussion about any potential military involvement in Iran.
“The region is very unstable and there’s conflict going on, so Canada will make a decision on how that looks for Canada,” he told reporters.
Lieutenant-General Steve Bovin, commander of Canada’s Joint Operations Command, told reporters at a defense and security conference in Ottawa on Thursday that about 200 armed forces have been deployed to the Middle East in six operations.
Bowin revealed the number after Defense Minister David McGuinty and his department declined to provide the figure earlier in the week.
Some of those troops have been relocated to another country in the region, Boivin said, and some have been brought back to Canada since the war began.
The Canadian Joint Operations Command is an entity called upon to assist the federal government in the event of an evacuation or assisted evacuation of civilians in the region.
Bowin said there are no Canadian navy ships or air force aircraft to assist with such a mission at this time. He said the military is in the process of sending six liaison officers to the Middle East if asked to help.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Thursday evening that as of March 5, more than 107,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents are registered in the Middle East.
It said the number of people in the Canadian Abroad system’s voluntary registration does not reflect the exact number of Canadians in a given country or whether or not they actually want to leave.
The statement said Global Affairs Canada is working on a “range of options” to support the potential departure of Canadians from several countries in the Middle East, “where conditions permit and when safe.”
The department said it is working to secure seats on charter flights or commercial flights for Canadians in the region as they become available in the coming days.
“It depends on the security situation, including the viability of the airspace,” the statement read.
– With files by Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison
© 2026 The Canadian Press
(tags to translate)Iran
