Canada, under pressure to spend more on its military, vowed on Monday to boost funding for the armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.

Canada will meet NATO’s military spending guideline by early next year and diversify defense spending away from the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday, asserting that Washington no longer plays a predominant role on the world stage.

The Canadian prime minister framed the spending as a necessary response to a world where the country is more vulnerable to threats — and less protected by Americans.