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Current Affairs

Canada steps up at Rimpac to rebut Trump’s freeriding charge

Canada is deploying two frigates and a submarine to the world’s largest multinational naval exercise this week, in what analysts describe as both a display…

By Samantha Johnson / June 22, 2026
Canada is deploying two frigates and a submarine to the world’s largest multinational naval exercise this week, in what analysts describe as both a display of Indo-Pacific seriousness and a pointed rebuttal to Washington’s “freeriding” charge.

HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Regina and submarine HMCS Corner Brook are slated to join the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac) from Wednesday to July 31, which is expected to draw more than 25,000 military personnel from 31 countries, including Australia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the UK.

Lieutenant Commander Linda Coleman, spokeswoman for Canada’s Maritime Forces Pacific, told local media that Rimpac “provides a valuable training environment” for its military assets, with Canadian sailors set to conduct anti-submarine warfare exercises alongside allied ships and aircraft.

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The Canadian contingent, which also encompasses maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, cyber specialists, divers, medical teams and command staff, represents the most operationally substantive Canadian package Ottawa has fielded in years.

Canada hosts a South Korean submarine at a naval base in British Columbia last month. Photo: The Canadian Press/AP
Canada hosts a South Korean submarine at a naval base in British Columbia last month. Photo: The Canadian Press/AP

In a further signal of its ambitions, Canada is poised to command the air component of the Rimpac exercise, with South Korea taking the maritime lead. Both are roles traditionally reserved for major powers.

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