On Jan. 17-18, nearly 120 soldiers with the Royal Canadian Dragoons participated in basic winter survival training while the temperature dropped to ‐31 C. The soldiers, part of the immediate response unit (IRU) vanguard, left in the morning on a 12-kilometre march and returned the next day after spending the night outside.
Approximately 20 soldiers reported frostbite or minor hypothermia, and "a very small number" had to be hospitalized for more serious cold-related injuries, said public affairs officer Capt. Daniel Mazurek...Richard Blanchette, a retired major-general and the chair of the Royal Canadian Legion's defence and security committee, said that the injuries sustained by the soldiers during the training were not "normal."
Blanchette said those types of injuries can occur when training conditions are extremely difficult ‐ but also if the equipment wasn't suitable for the situation.