The Canadian Liberal government is looking to cut the annual budget for the Department of National Defence (DND) by nearly a billion dollars - a request that the country’s top military leader says has sparked "difficult" discussions within the military.

Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre testified alongside Deputy Minister of Defence Bill Matthews before the House of Commons Defence Committee on Thursday, where they provided more details on the impact of the federal government's spending cuts plan.

Earlier this month, Eyre and Matthews issued a joint internal statement warning that the department is expected to contribute to the federal government's overall spending cuts plan.

Eyre told the committee that it is impossible to draw nearly a billion dollars from the defence budget without any impact.

The main estimates from the Department of National Defence (DND) for the 2023-2024 period indicate that the department's budget for this year is expected to be $26.5 billion.

On Thursday, Eyre described how he had a very difficult session earlier in the day with the leaders of various branches. He said the meeting was held to explain this to our people at a time when the international situation has become increasingly dangerous - partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The news of the planned cuts, which have not yet been specified, comes after weeks of the Liberal government agreeing with other NATO allies on a pledge to raise the defense spending standard to 2% of GDP, a permanent commitment.

Meeting this promise will require a significant increase in defence allocations.