CDS/CAF CWO Message: The Statistics Canada Survey of Sexual Misconduct in the CAF

October 11, 2022 - Defence Stories

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October 11 - January 26.
Closing soon.

As members of our nation’s armed forces, we all make enormous sacrifices to protect Canadians. But our right to serve in a safe, respectful and dignified work environment should never be one of them.

With your help, we are taking deliberate and coordinated actions at all levels of the institution to eliminate all forms of misconduct. We have adopted a more holistic approach because we know that building a culture that enables every member of our team to reach their full potential requires us to address the root causes of misconduct—racism, discrimination, biases, and harmful stereotypes.

That said, we aren’t starting from scratch. An enormous amount of positive work has been done on so many fronts in recent years and, with the help of the Chief, Professional Conduct and Culture group, we are identifying and leveraging best practices and ongoing initiatives that are proving to be effective.

Case in point: the Statistics Canada Survey of Sexual Misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). This survey has proven to be an invaluable tool in our efforts to understand and address sexual misconduct in our ranks, and we are fully committed to continuing with it on a regular basis.

Today, Statistics Canada began inviting eligible CAF members to participate in the next iteration of the survey. We strongly encourage all members to complete the survey because your opinion and perspectives matter.

The survey will be open until December 21, 2022 (deadline extended to January 26, 2023), so watch for your invitation. Statistics Canada has indicated that it will take between 25-45 minutes to complete, but given the sensitivity of the subject, completion times will vary. The information you provide to Statistics Canada is completely confidential. It will only be used for statistical purposes, but those statistics will be critical in guiding culture growth within our institution.

We continue to find that the most important data and measures of the impact and effectiveness of our culture efforts come directly from our members. This survey offers you the opportunity to be candid about what you are seeing and experiencing on the ground—without any concerns of triggering a formal reporting process or reprisals. That said, we appreciate that completing a survey of this nature can be difficult, and it may evoke strong emotional responses and/or cause trauma to resurface – either in the moment or later on. Should you or someone you know need help or support, please seek it out. There is a range of support services available to you.

We would like to thank members of the armed forces, past and present, who have come forward to share their lived experiences through this survey and so many other forums and platforms. Please know that your perspectives are being heard and integrated into the critical work underway. Evolving an institutional culture takes time but we are continuing to build on this momentum and set the conditions for positive and lasting cultural growth. 

General Wayne Eyre
Chief of the Defence Staff

CPO1 Gilles Grégoire
CAF Chief Warrant Officer