OTTAWA - Canadian military spending is expected to remain stagnant this year despite calls from the U.S. to step it up.
That could make for some tough moments when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets other leaders from the NATO military alliance in London next week.
All 29 members of NATO agreed in 2014 to work toward spending two per cent of their gross domestic products on the military within a decade.
That pledge has taken on new importance in recent years, as U.S. President Donald Trump demands all NATO allies spend their fair share on defence.
New NATO figures published ahead of the London summit estimate Canada will spend only around 1.31 per cent of its GDP on its military this year.
That is the same number as last year and leaves Canada 20th out of NATO's 29 members in terms of GDP spent on the military.