Lieutenant-General Frances Allen, CMM, CD

Vice Chief of the Defence Staff

Lieutenant-General Frances Allen enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983. After graduation from Queen's University in 1987 with an Honours Degree in Statistics, Lieutenant-General Allen completed her CELE Air training in 1988. Following CELE training, her early operational postings were to 764 Communications Squadron, the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics in Kingston, Canadian Forces Station Carp and 76 Communications Group.

Lieutenant-General Allen has commanded at multiple levels throughout her career including Officer Commanding the National Systems Management Centre in Ottawa, at the Aerospace and Telecommunications Engineering Support Squadron in Trenton as well as the Canadian Forces Network Operations Centre and the Canadian Forces Information Operations Group.

Staff appointments have included the Operations Officer for the Information Protection Centre, Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, Director Support Operations in the Strategic Joint Staff. On promotion in 2014 to Brigadier-General, she assumed the post of Director General Defence Security at NDHQ. Lieutenant-General Allen also served as Director General Cyberspace, Director General Information Management Operations at NDHQ and Joint Force Cyber Component Commander. She was appointed Deputy Vice Chief of the Defence Staff after being promoted to Major-General in June 2018. She was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General in July 2020.

In July 2020, Lieutenant-General Allen was appointed to serve as Military Representative of Canada to the NATO Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium. She returned to Canada in June 2021 to assume the role of Vice Chief of Defence Staff, the first woman to hold this position in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Lieutenant-General Allen is a graduate of Queen's University, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College and Canadian Forces College National Security Program. She holds a Masters' Degree in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College and has been invested as a Commander of the Order of Military Merit.