And yet they have sufficient volunteers to join the ranks. A quick look shows that soldiers there earn between 15,400 E to 70,000 E or CAD 24,000 for a private to CAD 110,000 for a general. That's roughly 60% of many of its northern neighbours but roughly 80% of that of France. It's even a higher percentage when calculated with purchasing power parity. Here's a slightly
older paper on that.
That's not exactly poverty rates but clearly lower. Albeit it does not explain the full aspect of the level of disparity.
Nonetheless, it leads to a n inevitable conclusion that if we want to bring up the level of equipment in the CAF we need either a) more money; or b) a lower paid workforce or c) a smaller work force. a) and c) are somewhat non starters. b) is equally problematic but can be achieved by adjusting the ratio of full-time to part-time workforce.