Abstract
This thesis seeks to answer two core research questions: what roles and missions should the
Canadian Army be able to perform in the pursuit of Canadian foreign and defence policy
objectives, and what capabilities and force structure best allow the Army to meet these
objectives? By answering these core questions, this study will develop a strategy for Canadian
landpower which will seek to connect political ends (i.e., Canada’s current and future foreign and
defence policy objectives) to the nation’s military means (i.e., the Canadian Army’s roles,
missions, capabilities, and force structure post-Afghanistan). This strategy states that the
Canadian Army’s approach to force development should be “specialization if necessary, but not
necessarily specialization.” This means that for the Canadian Army, flexibility and adaptability
may be more effectively maintained by introducing a moderate degree of specialization into its
overall force structure, rather than pushing for the development of a completely balanced and
multipurpose Land Force.
