Canadian Armed Forces
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; French: Forces armées canadiennes, FAC) 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.
| Canadian Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Forces armées canadiennes | |
Badge of the Canadian Armed Forces | |
Flag of the Canadian Armed Forces | |
| Current form | 1 February 1968 |
| Service branches |
|
| Headquarters | National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa, Ontario |
| Website | www |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Charles III, King of Canada Represented by Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Minister of National Defence | Bill Blair |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | General Wayne Eyre |
| Vice Chief of the Defence Staff | Lieutenant-General Frances J. Allen |
| Chief Warrant Officer | CWO Bob McCann |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 16–60 years old |
| Conscription | No |
| Active personnel | approx. 68,000 (2021) |
| Reserve personnel | approx. 27,000 (2021) |
| Deployed personnel | approx. 3,000 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | US$26.9 billion (2022) (ranked 14th) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.2% (2022) |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | List
L-3 Communications MAS Bombardier Aerospace CAE Meggitt Training Systems Canada Colt Canada Textron Systems Canada Kongsberg Protech Systems Canada Rheinmetall Defence Canada Irving Shipbuilding Inc. General Dynamics Land Systems Canada Raytheon Canada Limited Seaspan Marine Corporation Thales Canada Boeing Canada |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Canada
List of engagements
Fenian Raids Wolseley Expedition North-West Rebellion Second Boer War World War I Russian Civil War World War II Cold War Korean War October Crisis Gulf War Oka Crisis Bosnian War Somali Civil War Kosovo War Afghanistan War 2011 Libyan Civil War Operation Serval 2014 military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Operation Unifier, aid to Ukrainian Armed Forces 2015-present |
| Ranks | Canadian Armed Forces ranks and insignia |
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 (the federal government department responsible for the administration and formation of defence policy), which also exists as the civilian support system for the forces.
The command-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces is constitutionally vested in the monarch, Charles III. The chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the Canadian Armed Forces, who under the direction of the minister of national defence and together with the assistance of the Armed Forces Council, manages the operations of the Canadian Armed Forces. In 2022, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately US$26.9 billion, or around 1.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) — placing it 14th for military expenditure by country.
The Canadian Armed Forces are a professional volunteer force that consists of approximately 68,000 active personnel and 27,000 reserve personnel, with a sub-component of approximately 5,000 Canadian Rangers. Alongside many domestic obligations and its ongoing peacekeeping missions such as the Multinational Force and Observers operation in the Sinai Peninsula, the Canadian Armed Forces currently has over 3,000 personnel deployed in multiple foreign operations. Notable missions include; Operation Unifier in the Ukraine training military personnel, Operation Caribbe in the Caribbean Sea related to the elimination of organized crime, Operation Projection in the Asia-Pacific, Euro-Atlantic and African regions in support of NATO operations related to maritime security and Operation Impact as part of the military intervention against ISIL