Best of 2017 #11 Government of Canada launches new CAF recruiting campaign

To boost recruitment and retention rates, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are debuting a new national recruiting advertising campaign this summer.

The “Dare to be Extraordinary” campaign will air in Cineplex theatres across the country beginning on June 23.

The campaign hopes to attract millennials and raise awareness about the opportunities the CAF has to offer.

“The new advertising campaign will help to kick-start efforts to ensure that we have a dedicated, motivated and highly skilled CAF, to defend Canada and promote Canadian values and interests at home and abroad,” said LGen. Charles Lamarre, Commander, Military Personnel Command.

The campaign captures various angles of military jobs in extraordinary settings. For example “ medical technician providing essential health care in a portable clinic, a specialist working on a satellite in a remote location or a helicopter pilot executing a precision landing just in time to save a life,” according to a DND press release.

The campaign sets the stage for future more targeted campaigns to attract more women or increase the reserve force.

The “Dare to be Extraordinary” campaign will also be running on Facebook and YouTube beginning in June and will later be expanded to other platforms.

The new campaign aligns with the government’s new defence policy, that lays emphasis on improving recruitment and retention rates.

Several steps have been taken to improve the recruitment process by reducing the recruitment process time; focusing on diversity by prioritizing the recruitment of under-represented populations including women, Indigenous Peoples and other visible minorities; prioritizing recruitment into highly technical domains including space and cyber space; restoring the Royal Military College Saint-Jean as a full degree-granting institution; and increasing the capacity of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School.