Chief of Defense Staff (Canada)

The senior defense chief of staff follows immediately the commander in chief of the Canadian Forces , who appoints the chief and gives him his orders. However, in practice, the commander in chief - the Canadian monarch , represented by the governor general - usually acts only on the advice of his crown minister , that is, the chief reports directly to the minister of national defense .

Until 1964, there was the post of chief of staff of the Navy, who headed the Canadian naval forces , chief of general staff, who headed the Canadian army and chief of staff of the air force , who headed the Canadian air forces . The position of chairman of the committee of chiefs of staff gave freedom of coordination, although he did not have command and control powers, in contrast to the post of chief of staff that appeared later.

In 1964, the posts of chairman of the committee of chiefs of staff and chiefs of the three branches of the armed forces were abolished and replaced by the post of chief of staff. Since then, the chief has been responsible for four main priorities with numerous tasks: firstly, conducting operations, including the successful implementation of domestic and international operations, protecting the armed forces by improving risk management, ensuring that the military recruitment meets the level required to maintain operational forces in full readiness to fulfill their obligations. Secondly, the chief must expand the regular armed forces and reserve to comply with international and domestic obligations, that is, manage the Canadian Forces Recruitment Group in order to streamline the process of enlisting new employees. The third priority is to ensure that the national defense strategy defined by the Queen on the Council is implemented, including the acquisition of new equipment and the strengthening of diplomatic relations through the United Nations , the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the North American Aerospace Defense Command . Finally, the chief must ensure the implementation of the program of the armed forces to optimize the use of resources.

The Chief of Staff is also Chairman of the Canadian Armed Forces Advisory Committee on Awards. This means that the chief of staff ex officio is a member and chief commander of the Order of Military Merit . In particular, the chief of staff officially expresses gratitude to the chief of staff of the defense ( French Mention élogieuse du Chef d'état-major de la Défense ) in the form of a gold bar on which three maple leaves are located , on behalf of all the armed forces.

In 2011, the original names were returned to the Maritime Command, Ground Command, and Air Force Command; they became the Royal Canadian Navy , the Canadian Army , and the Royal Canadian Air Force , respectively ^[1] . The Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Commander of the Canadian Army, the Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force report to the chief of staff of defense, and not to the minister of national defense , as it was before 1964.

• Department of National Defense Chief of the Defense Staff (Neopr.) . Queen's Printer for Canada. Date of treatment August 5, 2011. Archived on May 15, 2012.