Colonel S.S. Strickey, CD

Colonel (Col) Steve Strickey was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and was raised in Fredericton New Brunswick. After receiving two undergraduate degrees at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), he attended UNB Law School graduating in 1998. Following his call to the New Brunswick Bar in 1999, Col Strickey worked in civilian law practice until he joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 2002. Following basic training, he was awarded the Labrie Sword as the top Officer Candidate along with the Royal Canadian Legion Comradeship Award. From 2002 until 2006, Col Strickey served as a Deputy Judge Advocate in Halifax where he advised senior leaders in the Army, Navy and Air Force along the spectrum of military law. In 2006, Col Strickey was posted to Ottawa where he worked in the Directorate of Military Justice Policy and Research and was a member of the Military Justice Strategic Response Team (MJSRT) that was responsible to advance legislation that enhanced the military justice system. Col Strickey received a Judge Advocate General (JAG) Commendation for his work on the MJSRT.
Col Strickey has advised both conventional and special forces on all aspects of international and operational law. In 2005-2006, he deployed to Afghanistan as the senior legal advisor for the Canadian Task Force during OP ATHENA/OP ARCHER that signified the shift in major operations from Kabul to Kandahar where he received a JAG Commendation for his efforts. In 2009, he deployed as the Canadian Task Force Legal Advisor on OP ARCHER where he advised on legal issues related to armed conflict.

In 2010, Col Strickey attended the Canadian Forces Language School in Asticou, Quebec. Following completion of advanced second language training, he was selected for post-graduate training in 2011 towards a Master of Laws (LLM) at Duke University School of Law in the United States. Col Strickey received an LLM (magna cum laude), was a staff editor on the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law and was selected degree marshal for the LLM class. His paper, “Anglo-American Military Justice Systems and the Wave of Civilianization: Will Discipline Survive?” was published in the Cambridge Journal of Comparative and International Law in 2013.

Upon promotion to lieutenant-colonel in 2012, Col Strickey returned to Ottawa where he assumed the duties as the Director of Law/Military Justice Strategic where he was responsible for the development and implementation of a strategic military justice vision for the Office of the JAG (OJAG). In 2015, Col Strickey was posted as the Assistant Deputy JAG (DJAG) /Operations. From late 2015 to 2016, he served as the Assistant DJAG/Administrative Law. In 2016, he was the Special Advisor to the JAG until his promotion to colonel in July 2018.

At his current rank, Col Strickey has served as the DJAG/Administrative Law from his promotion date until October 2018 where he was appointed DJAG/Military Justice. In July 2020, Col Strickey was seconded to the Department of Justice as a Visiting Senior Counsel and Special Advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Law and Legislative and Regulatory Services). During this secondment, Col Strickey worked with the secretariat supporting the Action Committee on Court Operations in Response to COVID-19 c0-chaired by the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of Canada. During this secondment Col Strickey also successfully completed the for In House Counsel offered by the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association in conjunction with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto where he received the designation “Certified In-House Counsel – Canada”.

In July 2021, Col Strickey was posted to lead the newest Division within the OJAG – the Military Justice Modernization Division - that is responsible to support the JAG in his role as the superintendent of the military justice system as it relates to the implementation of recommendations received from external reviews such as the Third Independent Review Authority.

In June 2023, Col Strickey was named as the first Vice JAG in the modern history of the CAF where he offered strategic support to the Judge Advocate General and act as Deputy Commander for the over 400 lawyers and civilian staff in Canada and around the globe.  

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of National Defence, appointed Col Strickey a military judge, effective 28 August 2024.

Col Strickey resides in Ottawa with his wife and three boys.