Canada has 540 troops in Latvia, where they form the core of a 1,500-strong multinational battlegroup established by NATO three years ago.

Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande says the Polaris aircraft carrying about 70 military members and aircrew took off from Canadian Forces Base Trenton on July 2 and those on board had spent two weeks in quarantine.

A dozen Estonian border guards removed all signs directing vehicles to stop at the border and huddled together at the roadside for cake and coffee.

Members of the Calgary Highlanders will spend six months as part of a mortar platoon in Latvia.

A group of soldiers left Edmonton International Airport on Wednesday to head to Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance, a NATO mission involving the Canadian Armed Forces.

Jens Stoltenberg listed Canada's deployment of hundreds of troops to Latvia and Iraq as critical to helping protect North America and Europe and strengthening the alliance.

The Reddit user then slowly documented himself dismantling the large object, ignoring the advice of others.

The exercise attempts to mimic an attack by a country like Russia and test how Latvian and NATO forces respond.

Canada is expected to spend an estimated 1.23 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2018 - down from 1.36 per cent last year

The Canadians say they've been winning the information war, of late, as the attacks have slowed down recently.