Canada offers 200 ground troops to UN peacekeeping

Mr Trudeau promises to donate millions to help recruit women to foreign militaries

Canada has promised to give the United Nations up to 200 ground troops to aid in peacekeeping missions worldwide.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement at the at UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial conference in Vancouver.

Canada will also provide helicopters, cargo planes and military trainers as well as donate millions to help recruit women to foreign militaries.

The five-year commitment is a far cry from the 600 troops promised last year.

"We're asking peace operations to do more - not only to deal with violence when it erupts, but to respond to the entire life cycle of conflict: preventing its outbreak, supporting complicated peace processes and helping people to rebuild their lives when conflict ends," Mr Trudeau said during a press conference on Wednesday.

"That is the reality of modern peace operations."

An official told the Canada Broadcasting Corporation that negotiations with the UN are still under way to determine where the troops will be deployed. It could be as long as two years before troops and supplies are actually on their way, the official said.

Canada will also donate C$21m ($16.5m; £12.5m) to help foreign countries train and recruit women for peacekeeping missions, including $6m to help strengthen UN programmes.

Canada has come under pressure to ramp up its peacekeeping efforts as conflicts rage around the world and as the US undergoes a political shift towards protectionism.

Last August, the government committed 600 troops, 150 police officers and CA$450m to the UN over three years.

A recent study found that Canada is last among the group of leading industrial nations, the G7, in defence spending.

In June, Canada announced it would raise military spending by 73% over the next decade, but most funds would not begin rolling out until 2021.