As many as 455 troops, armoured vehicles and a headquarters contingent are slated to deploy to Latvia in 2017. The Canadians will be joined in their sector by Italian, Albanian, Polish and Slovenian forces.
The decision by the Canadian government will see multiple troop rotations cycling through Latvia until at least the end of the 2019-2020 budget year, reported CBC.
Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan visited Rīga late October to meet officials and to see the airbase where Canadian troops will be stationed.
Latvia's 2016 defense budget is €367.86m and will be increased to 2% of GDP by 2018.