One of Canada’s six priorities for progress in Afghanistan was to help the Afghan government provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people, including refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons. This includes refugees who had recently returned to the country; widows, female-headed households, and persons internally displaced by violence or natural disasters.

Initiatives included:

Canada assumed responsibility for the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in August 2005. Twenty-seven PRTs throughout Afghanistan helped the democratically-elected government of Afghanistan extend its authority and ability to govern, rebuild the nation, and provide services to its citizens.

Located at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City in the southern province of Kandahar, the Canadian PRT was located in the former heartland of the Taliban regime, which previously controlled much of Afghanistan. Kandahar was one of the Afghan provinces in greatest need of support and also among those most targeted by insurgents.

The Canadian PRT combined the expertise of diplomats, corrections experts, development specialists, the Canadian police, including the RCMP, and the military. It supported key initiatives in the province and carried out a broad range of enabling roles such as police training and strengthening local governance capacity, in line with Canada’s priorities in Afghanistan.

The PRT worked on projects that had impact in the long, medium, and short term. The most important achievements would be those that fostered long-term, sustainable benefits to the Afghan people. At the same time, "quick impact" projects were also being carried out across the province to respond to the immediate needs that Afghans faced in their daily lives.

Another one of Canada’s important priorities was to help advance Afghanistan’s capacity for democratic governance, by contributing to effective, accountable public institutions and electoral processes.

Canada worked to:

Given the importance of national security in Afghanistan, one of Canada’s primary objectives was to help the Afghan government strengthen the Afghan National Army's (ANA)’s ability to conduct operations and sustain a more secure environment and to increase the Afghan National Police's (ANP) ability to promote law and order in the province of Kandahar.

A well-led, well-trained, and well-equipped ANA was essential if the Afghan government was to assume responsibility for national and provincial security, and thus enable governance and development to progress.

Canadian police and the Canadian Forces also contributed directly to the training of more than 650 members of the ANP through the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Canada provided funding for equipment, infrastructure (outposts) and police salaries.

While solid progress was achieved, challenges remain with advanced leadership and administration capabilities. Illiteracy, corruption and drug abuse among the ANA and ANP was common, and weakness in the judicial and correctional systems remain a threat to the integrity of the Afghan National Security Forces.

Another one of Canada’s priorities was to facilitate Afghan-led efforts towards political reconciliation. Canada’s approach recognized that Afghanistan would not be able to create the conditions for sustainable peace through military means alone. An Afghan-led reconciliation process was needed to weaken the insurgency, heal communal divisions, and foster sustainable peace.

While it was the Afghan government's responsibility to lead national reconciliation efforts, the international community played a valuable supporting role. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), was mandated to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan, and to support Afghan-led reconciliation programs.

Canada supported Afghan-led efforts to promote outreach and reconciliation in the interest of a sustainable peace, with the clear understanding that reconciliation only involved those individuals and organizations that agreed to renounce violence, respect human rights and the rule of law, and accept the legitimacy of the Afghan government and the Afghan constitution.

Canada contributed to the development of Afghan government-led mechanisms that encouraged dialogue and the improvement of the Government of Afghanistan’s capacity to communicate with its citizens, especially in the province of Kandahar.

Enhanced border security was another priority that Canada worked towards by helping to facilitate bilateral dialogue between officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan. This helped promote economic development, stability, and security in the border region.

The province of Kandahar is a critical gateway to Pakistan. A secure and well-managed border also helped promote much needed economic opportunities for border-region residents. It stimulated the flow of legitimate trade and travel while curtailing the movement of insurgents’ arms and drugs at such key crossings as between Baluchistan (Pakistan) and Kandahar.

In close co-operation with the Afghan government, Canada:

Two signature projects prominent among Canadian investments in the province of Kandahar included rehabilitation of the province’s main water source, the Dahla Dam, and its irrigation and canal system, helping to generate seasonal jobs, providing access to a more secure water supply and promoting agriculture.

The second signature project was the building, expanding or repairing of 50 schools in Kandahar over the course of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan. As a result, an entire generation of Afghan children in key districts of the province had increased access to learning through "Canada Schools".