The Golden Years (1950-1964) - part 9

To date, Canada is the only member of the Commonwealth to unify its armed forces.

Unification has its roots in the concept of “integration”, which has been adopted by other Commonwealth nations and the United States. With integration, certain functions common to the Army, Navy and Air Force are assigned to one service and then shared by all three. For instance, instead of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) each having their own medical, dental and postal services, the Army was assigned these responsibilities and provided access to the Navy and Air Force.

Unification started with Bill C-90 on July 16, 1964, creating one unified headquarters with Air Chief Marshal Frank Robert Miller as the first Chief of the Defence Staff.

Bill C-243, the Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, received its final reading in Parliament in May 1967 and received Royal Assent soon after.

Unification took place on February 1, 1968, when the Act came into effect. As a result, the Canadian Armed Forces, whose personnel wore a common green uniform and were assigned a common military rank structure, came into being.