Canada’s top solider says he is 'wrestling' with the fact Ottawa has asked the Department of National Defence to cut roughly $1 billion from its budget.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan offered a grim assessment Wednesday of the state of the military, saying years of underfunding has hollowed out the armed forces and left it struggling to do even basic tasks.

The upcoming federal budget is not expected to commit to a broad increase in military spending, say several defence sources.