A majority of Canadians are calling for more spending on defence for the first time in decades, polls suggest.

Canada's armed forces are on a major recruiting drive to boost their numbers, which have dropped from 85,000 to only 57,000.

The Forces happened to launch their recruiting drive days before the dramatic U.S. attacks.

Recruitment could shift to focus on military as a vocation

Ottawa-based recruiter Lt. Ian Pacey says a typical applicant is the downsized high-tech worker or a recent graduate worried about job prospects during a time of economic uncertainty.

The Forces say they need 7,000 new recruits just to return to their minimum mandated strenth of 60,000. Another 7,000 recruits each subsequent year are needed to maintain the level.

Prospective infantry officer Natalie Roussy, 23, thinks the September 11 attacks may have helped her decide to apply.

"It hit me, it made me think about it more," said Roussy.

The Forces say they're on target to meet their recruiting quota for this year, and halt the decade-long decline in numbers.

Recruitment drive on to build, sustain Forces

Some say the Forces can meet their recruitment targets if they focus less on competing with civilian industry and sell the military as a vocation.

Former general Charles Belzile chairs the Conference of Defence Associations. "We tend to say we'll just pour a little more money on the salary and they'll come. I don't think they will."

Despite talk of hardship, Canadian soldiers earn more than their counterparts in either the British or U.S. Forces.

But Belzile says Canadian soldiers often don't get realistic training and the chance to serve in real war.