Systemic racism is rampant throughout the Canadian Armed Forces departments, as it "repels" new recruits and jeopardizes the country's national security if positions remain vacant, according to a new report.

In stark terms, the report investigating racism in the Canadian military illustrates the rationale behind reforming the "toxic" environment at the core of the army's ability to carry out the critical tasks assigned to it.

The report concluded that more Canadians will not be interested in joining the military until the army addresses its long-standing interconnected issues related to racism, abuse of power, gender discrimination, and sexual misconduct.

As part of this, the report says military officers must either accept that some involved members leave their positions or that they be isolated.

The Advisory Team’s report to the Department of National Defence on systemic racism and discrimination stated that "Racism in Canada is not a system malfunction, rather it is the system itself."

The report provided recommendations across 13 areas of military culture and systems, examining the full scope of racism and discrimination, including barriers faced by Black people, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2S+, and women in the ranks, as well as barriers faced by Canadians with disabilities.

The findings come at a time when the Canadian Forces are already facing what experts have repeatedly called an existential "crisis" over allegations of sexual misconduct among its senior ranks, as first reported by Global News in February 2021.

In the year since then, military culture has undergone intense scrutiny with countless experts pointing to a culture described as one in which abuse of power often thrives unchecked, where members who are non-white, men, and transgender face discrimination and retaliation for speaking out publicly.