Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says more Canadian soldiers are helping in the battle to sandbag homes against the rising floodwaters in central and eastern Canada than are deployed overseas.
States of emergency have been declared in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick as waters reach or surpass historic flood levels reached, in some cases, just two years ago.
The mammoth military response now stands at two-thousand soldiers in flood-ravaged regions that have requested help, compared to about 16-hundred deployed overseas.
Sajjan says there is no limit to the number of troops that could be deployed, adding more could be sent if cities that have declared states of emergency ask for additional manpower.
The military's orders have been to protect property, but Quebec Premier Francois Legault wants the troops to stay in the province once the waters subside to help remove the sandbags, which have to be carefully disposed of after being exposed to potentially contaminated water.