OTTAWA — Environment and Climate Change Canada warned National Defence earlier this year that the CFB Kingston base had broken federal environmental regulations by failing to test air conditioners for refrigerant leaks. After inspecting a building on the base last year, an enforcement officer alleged in a January letter that National Defence had violated federal halocarbon regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Halocarbons are a category of chemicals widely used as refrigerants that qualify as greenhouse gases associated with both ozone depletion and climate change. The Environment Department warned National Defence in January the base had failed to conduct and log leak tests on five rooftop air conditioning units in 2023, according to National Defence documents from March obtained through Access to Information law. The Kingston base “experienced three large … halocarbon releases” of over 100 kilograms within the past two years, according to a memo signed by Peter Hammerschmidt, the assistant deputy minister for infrastructure and environment at National Defence “The non-compliance stemmed from limited maintenance resourcing and under use of Defence Resource Management Information System for scheduling and record-keeping,” the memo said. While breaking the federal regulations can lead to fines, the memo suggests no fines would be issued in this case because the problem was fixed. The memo said while this is the only warning received by CFB Kingston in the past decade, other National Defence establishments were hit with 37 such “enforcement measures” over the last decade, “primarily for similar administrative or maintenance deficiencies.” The memo says an influx of federal government spending on defence has enabled the department to address some of its maintenance shortcomings. “With the recent increase in Defence funding, DND is implementing a real property compliance framework which includes halocarbon containing systems and expanding resources where required,” the memo said. “At CFB Kingston, an additional position is being created to support local compliance activities, and new contracting initiatives are underway to enhance system maintenance, though reducing maintenance backlog will take time.” Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government hiked last year’s defence budget by $9 billion and plans to spend tens of billions of dollars more on defence over the coming years as Ottawa scrambles to meet its NATO commitments. CBC recently reported previously planned cuts to the department’s operations are also going ahead at the same time. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
