Canadian Army

The Canadian Army (French: Armée canadienne) is the branch of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) responsible for conventional land operations. As of 2024, it includes about 22,500 Regular Force personnel, 21,500 reservists, and 5,300 Canadian Rangers. Headquartered at NDHQ Carling in Ottawa, it maintains bases and facilities across Canada. The Army is led by the Commander of the Canadian Army, under the authority of the Chief of the Defence Staff.

The Army traces its roots to the colonial-era Canadian militia, though nearly all of its existing units were established after the Militia Act of 1855, which created the Active Militia in the Province of Canada. Shortly after Confederation, the Active Militia became Canada's sole functional military force, participating in several conflicts before being renamed the Canadian Army during the Second World War. It was reorganized as Force Mobile Command in 1965, ahead of the 1968 unification of Canada's military. Renamed Land Force Command in 1992, it reverted to the Canadian Army name in 2011.

The Army is organized into five formations, which includes four geographically based divisions comprising Regular and Reserve Force elements, and the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre for training and doctrine development. The four divisions includes several brigade groups made up of units from the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, and Royal Canadian Infantry Corps. The Army operates a variety of equipment sourced domestically and from other countries.

The Canadian Army traces its origins to colonial militias established in New France and British North America. These community-based militias supported French and British military actions on the continent. Prior to Canadian Confederation in 1867, the Militia Acts of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick required males aged 16 to between 50 and 60 to serve in local Sedentary Militias, unorganized, mostly untrained forces mustered only infrequently each year.

Some of the Canadian Army's oldest units trace their lineage to these sedentary militia units, like the predecessor of the Governor General's Horse Guards, the Governor General's Body Guard. Several modern Army units also perpetuate the lineage of Canadian units raised during the War of 1812. However, the nearly all modern Army units were formed after the transformation of Canada's military system through the Militia Acts of 1846 and 1855.

Plans for a trained volunteer "active militia" in the Province of Canada began with the Militia Act of 1846, although actual active militia units were not formed until after a more practical framework was established through the Militia Act of 1855. The Militia Act of 1868 formally integrated the colonial Canadian Militia, both the Sedentary and Active components, into the new federal framework. However, the Sedentary Militia fell into disuse by 1873, leaving the Active Militia as Canada's only functional military force.

In 1871, the Active Militia formed its first full-time volunteer units, which later became the nucleus of Permanent Force. By the 1880s, Permanent Force had expanded beyond artillery to include infantry and cavalry corps. During the late 19th century, the Active Militia repelled the Fenian raids from 1866 to 1871 and defeated the North-West Resistance in 1885. Active Militia officers first participated in overseas service during the Nile Expedition of 1884 to 1885, while Active Militia units undertook their first official overseas deployment during the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902.

However, by the end of the 19th century, the militia remained limited in capability. Major-General Edward Hutton, former General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada, described the Militia as "a collection of military units without cohesion, without staff, and without those military departments by which an army is moved, fed, or ministered to in sickness."