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There are seven prime ministers of Canada with military service. Four prime ministers served with the sedentary militias or active militias of the Province of Canada, or the succeeding Canadian Confederation during the 19th century. Two served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during First World War. The last prime minister to serve in the military was Pierre Trudeau, who joined the Canadian Officers' Training Corps during the Second World War.
The prime ministers with military experience have only served with the land forces of Canada, the active militias/Canadian Army, [note 1] or the CEF. No prime minister has served in the other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces: the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy. Lester B. Pearson is the only prime minister to serve in the British Army, having transferred to the Royal Flying Corps from the CEF.
In addition to military service, two prime ministers served as a defence minister prior to their premiership. Although John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister of confederated Canada, he previously served as the minister of militia and defence for the Province of Canada. Kim Campbell is the only prime minister to serve as prime minister, and simultaneously hold the defence portfolio (as the minister of national defence). [note 2]
The prime minister is not commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, rather the role is held by the monarch of Canada and is held on behalf of the monarch by the governor general of Canada.
| Prime Minister | Service | Rank | Active service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sir John A. Macdonald | Sedentary militia | Private | Kingston during Upper Canada Rebellion 1837; Minister of Militia and Defence 1860-1867 |
| Alexander Mackenzie | Active militia [note 1] | Major | None; member of militia in Lambton, Ontario (1866–1874) |
| Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott | Active Militia [note 1] | commanding officer (Lieutenant Colonel?) | None; officer of 11th Argenteuil Battalion militia in Montreal area (1866-1874?) |
| Sir John Sparrow David Thompson | none | none | none |
| Sir Mackenzie Bowell | Active militia [note 1] | Lieutenant Colonel | Canadian militia posted along the border during the American Civil War; member of 49th (Hastings) Battalion of Rifles militia unit in North Hastings, Ontario (1867–1872); Minister of Militia and Defence 1892 and 1896 (acting) |
| Sir Charles Tupper | none | none | none |
| Sir Wilfrid Laurier | none | none | none |
| Sir Robert Laird Borden | none | none | none |
| Arthur Meighen | none | none | none |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | none | none | none |
| Richard Bedford Bennett | none | none | none |
| Louis St. Laurent | none | none | none |
| John Diefenbaker | Canadian Expeditionary Force [note 3] | Lieutenant | Served during World War I (1916–1917) in Britain as member of 196th Battalion (Western Universities), CEF |
| Lester Bowles Pearson | Canadian Expeditionary Force [note 3] | Lieutenant | Served during World War I in Greece and Egypt as member of Canadian Army Medical Corps and later in the Royal Flying Corps as Pilot (1915–1918) in Britain |
| Pierre Trudeau | Canadian Army | Officer cadet | None; Served in Canadian Officers' Training Corps from 1943 to 1945 in Montreal during World War II, but never deployed overseas |
| Joe Clark | none | none | none |
| John Turner | none | none | none |
| Brian Mulroney | none | none | none |
| Kim Campbell | none | none | none; Minister of National Defence 1993 |
| Jean Chrétien | none | none | none |
| Paul Martin | none | none | none |
| Stephen Harper | none | none | none |
| Justin Trudeau | none | none | none |
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The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
The Canadian Armed Forces are the unified military forces of Canada, including land, sea, and air commands referred to as the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The CAF also operates several other commands, including the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, the Canadian Joint Operations Command, and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Personnel may belong to either the Regular Force or the Reserve Force, which has four sub-components: the Primary Reserve, Supplementary Reserve, Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service, and the Canadian Rangers. Under the National Defence Act, the Canadian Armed Forces are an entity separate and distinct from the Department of National Defence, which also exists as the civilian support system for the forces.
The Canadian Army is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also responsible for the Army Reserve, the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army is headed by the Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Army is also supported by 3,000 civilian employees from the public service.
Canadian Forces Base Borden, formerly RCAF Station Camp Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, CFB Borden is home to the largest training wing in the Canadian Armed Forces. The base is run by Canadian Forces Support Training Group (CFSTG) and reports to the Canadian Defence Academy (CDA) in Kingston.
The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadian Army infantry regiments, but in a quirk of the rules of seniority, its 4th battalion is ninth.
The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG) is a reserve infantry regiment in the 34 Canadian Brigade Group, 2nd Canadian Division, of the Canadian Army. The regiment is the oldest and second-most-senior infantry regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. Located in Montreal, its main role is the provision of combat-ready light infantry troops in support of Canadian regular infantry. It is a Household Foot Guard regiment and also provides soldiers for public ceremonial duties, performing similar ceremonial duties as the Guards regiments of the British Army. This primarily entails mounting the guard at Government House, the King's and Governor General's residence, and performing the "Changing the Guard" ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a task it shares with Canada's senior Household Foot Guard regiment, the Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa. The Canadian Grenadier Guards is an allied regiment to the British Grenadier Guards.
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on 15 August 1914 following Britain’s declaration of war on the German Empire, with an initial strength of one infantry division. The division subsequently fought at Ypres on the Western Front, with a newly raised second division reinforcing the committed units to form the Canadian Corps. The CEF and corps was eventually expanded to four infantry divisions, which were all committed to the fighting in France and Belgium along the Western Front. A fifth division was partially raised in 1917, but was broken up in 1918 and used as reinforcements following heavy casualties.
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment) (RHLI) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, based at John Weir Foote VC Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario. The RHLI is part of 31 Canadian Brigade Group, which is part of 4th Canadian Division.
The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (PWOR) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army.
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in St. Catharines, Ontario.
The Brockville Rifles is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The unit is a part of the 33 Canadian Brigade Group, 4th Canadian Division. It is fifteenth in the order of precedence of Canadian Army Infantry Regiments.
The history of the Canadian Army, began when the title first came into official use in November 1940, during the Second World War, and is still used today. Although the official titles, Mobile Command, and later Land Force Command, were used from February 1968 to August 2011, "Canadian Army" continued to be unofficially used to refer to the ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces, much as it has been from Confederation in 1867 to the present. The term was often even used in official military publications, for example in recruiting literature and the official newspaper of the Canadian Forces, The Maple Leaf. On August 16, 2011, the title, "Canadian Army", was officially restored, once again bringing the official designation in line with common and historical usage.
The Royal Regina Rifles is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Prior to 1982 the regiment was known as The Regina Rifle Regiment. The Royal Regina Rifles are part of 3rd Canadian Division's 38 Canadian Brigade Group.
The Queen's York Rangers (RCAC) is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve Royal Canadian Armoured Corps regiment based in Toronto and Aurora. The regiment is part of 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. The regiment consists of one cavalry squadron, as well as the Headquarters and Training Squadron. The regimental family also includes The Queen's York Rangers Band (volunteer), along with two Royal Canadian Army Cadet corps and a Royal Canadian Air Cadet squadron. The unit mottos are pristinae virtutis memor – 'remembering their glories in former days' – and celer et audax – 'swift and bold'. Among its own members and those of other regiments, the unit is referred to as the Rangers. The name is abbreviated as QY Rang, and sometimes pronounced KWY-rang.
Permanent Active Militia (PAM), also known as Permanent Force (PF), was the proper name of Canada's full-time professional land forces from 1855 to 1940, when it was reorganized into the Canadian Army. PAM was in effect Canada's standing army, consisting of one regular infantry regiment and two cavalry regiments in 1914.
The Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) was the name of Canada's part-time volunteer military force from 1855 to 1940. The NPAM was composed of several dozen infantry battalions and cavalry regiments. With the withdrawal of the British forces in Canada after the turn of the 20th century, supporting corps were created in Canada as part of both the PAM and the NPAM.
The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Canada and post-confederated Canada, referred to as the active militias.
Canadian military bands are a group of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that performs musical duties for military functions. Military bands form a part of the Music Branch of the CAF, composed of six full-time professional Regular Force bands, 15 Regular Force voluntary bands, and 53 part-time reserve force bands. Bands of the Music Branch are often badged with the unit or Canadian Forces base insignia that they support.
37 Canadian Brigade Group is a reserve component brigade of the Canadian Army, which supervises Militia units in 5th Canadian Division for New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. It was created by merging the New Brunswick Militia District and the Newfoundland and Labrador Militia District.
The Otter Commission, or Otter Committee, was established after the First World War to tackle a problem created by the chaotic mobilization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. In 1919 units of the CEF, intended as a wartime expeditionary force, returned to Canada where the Canadian Militia had served during the war performing home defence duties, staffing internment camps, and raising recruits for overseas. Both the CEF and the Militia desired to be perpetuated in the post-war world. The CEF units were proud of their wartime record, while the pre-war Militia had long-standing roots in the community and battle honours dating back as far as the War of 1812.
