Canada's Cost Of Being In Afghanistan

Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion PPCLA (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) out of Edmonton patrol an area during an operation in the Zharey district, Southern Afghanistan May 20, 2008. Peter Andrews/Reuters. (Photo from the National Post)

Price Tag Of Canada's Afghanistan Mission: Up To $18 Billion -- Globe And Mail

OTTAWA — Canada's efforts in Afghanistan will carry a total price tag of about $14-billion to $18-billion by the time troops are withdrawn in 2011, about $1,500 extra for every household in Canada, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page reported today.

Mr. Page's report says the real extra cost of the Canadian military mission — over and above what would have been spent for the upkeep of the military anyway — is billions more than Ottawa has estimated, and perhaps almost twice as high.

Ottawa has so far reported that the extra "incremental" cost for the military mission alone, to the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year, has been about $3.8-billion. Mr. Page says it has been somewhere between $5.85-billion and $7.45-billion.

In a report that has sparked anticipation from political parties during the election campaign, Mr. Page concludes that the costs that the Department of National Defence has reported to Parliament are not the same as those it records on its internal books. It finds that the way government accounts for spending makes it hard to put a firm, separate price tag on the Afghan mission.

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More News On Canada's Involvement With Afghanistan

Canada's Afghanistan mission tally 10.5 billion dollars so far -- AFP
PM Harper faces attacks over Afghan war cost -- National Post
Afghanistan mission to cost Canada $18B: report -- CTV
Afghan war may cost Canada C$18B (US$15.7B) -- International Herald Tribune