Canada and weapons of mass destruction

Canada has never maintained or possessed their own weapons of mass destruction. Canada participated in NATO’s nuclear mission between 1963 and 1984, which included the hosting of US nuclear weapons on its soil. Canada ratified the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1970.

In 1950, the first US nuclear weapon entered Canadian soil when the US Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) stationed 11 model 1561 Fat Man atomic bombs at RCAF Station Goose Bay in Labrador. Goose Bay was used as an aircraft staging location for both the SAC and the Royal Air Force's V Force. The bombs were landed; crews relieved; aircraft refueled, or repaired; without returning to bases in the continental US. Nuclear weapons designs of the time were easily damaged but precise devices, that required off-aircraft inspection (after landing), and environmental sheltering (at a secure warm/dry location) while their carrier aircraft was on the ground for routine maintenance or repair.

From 1963 to 1984, the US deployed a total of four tactical nuclear weapons systems in Canada, which amounted to several hundred nuclear warheads.

Throughout the Cold War, Canada was closely aligned with defensive elements of United States programs in both NORAD and NATO. In 1964, Canada sent its White Paper on Defence to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to ensure he would not, "find anything in these references contrary to any views [he] may have expressed," although "references" may indicate quotes or glosses in the paper attributed to him, which they wished him to verify as authentic and correct, thus making the gesture a polite courtesy.

Three of the four nuclear-capable weapons systems were withdrawn by the United States by 1972. The single system retained, the AIR-2 Genie had a yield of 1.5 kilotons, and was designed to strike enemy aircraft as opposed to ground targets.