Senior defence officials have ordered a curb on non-essential activities across the department, as they look to free up millions of dollars for military operations and other more critical tasks.
The Liberal government has taken the next step towards buying 18 Super Hornet fighter jets on an interim basis, a purchase it hopes to make official by year's end.
The U.S. wants information identifying, to the extent possible, who the asylum seekers are, where they came from, what travel documents were in their possession & how they obtained them, Goodale said.
Key questions for Monday's meeting between Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and his American counterpart: the ongoing commitment to NATO, defence spending levels and peacekeeping operations.
The options include holding a competition, buying a new warplane without a competition, or purchasing an "interim" aircraft as a stop-gap measure until a future competition.
The government says the month-long exercise is critical for training Canadian fighter pilots to work alongside allies — and the planes will return to Canada immediately if they are needed.