Organizational structure of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces

Senior Leadership

The Governor General of Canada is the Commander-in-Chief of Canada. DND is headed by the Minister of National Defence, a federal Cabinet Minister. The Associate Minister of National Defence supports the Minister of National Defence and is also a federal Cabinet Minister. The Deputy Minister of National Defence is the Department’s senior civil servant. The CAF are headed by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Canada’s senior serving officer. Each has different responsibilities:

Independent of the reporting structure, the Chief Military Judge, an arm’s-length organization, is considered part of the Defence portfolio.

Reporting to the Minister of National Defence are:

Reporting to both the Deputy Minister of National Defence and the Chief of the Defence Staff are:

Reporting to the Deputy Minister of National Defence are:

Reporting to the Chief of the Defence Staff are:

An illustration of the Department of National Defence’s high-level reporting structure from the Minister of National Defence to senior levels of the organization.

Organizational structure

Page details

Date modified: