Canadian Joint Response Force HQ: New name, continued excellence for CAF’s deployable crisis response headquarters

September 18, 2026 – Defence Stories

Estimated read time: 1:28

By: Major Brad Roy, CJRF HQ Public Affairs Officer

The 1st Canadian Division flag has flown in Kingston, Ontario for the past 16 years in front of the Canadian Joint Operation Command’s (CJOC) high-readiness, deployable joint headquarters. Effective September 2, the name and flag returned to the Canadian Army; however, the headquarters in Kingston started a new and exciting chapter as the Canadian Joint Response Force (CJRF) HQ, a name that more accurately reflects the unit's enduring mission to provide a high-readiness, deployable, joint command and control force capable of leading crisis response at home and abroad.

Our past

The CJRF HQ’s history in Kingston predates its 2010 designation as the 1st Canadian Division. As early as the mid-1990s, then part of the Joint Operations Group, the unit has led Canada’s military crisis response operations around the world, particularly humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and non-combatant evacuation missions.

Over the years, personnel from the headquarters have deployed in support of operations in Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami, Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, Lebanon during the 2006 evacuation of civilians, Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, Libya in 2011, the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, and Nepal after the 2015 earthquake.

More recently, the headquarters has been involved in Operations AEGIS, ION, LUMEN, SAVANNE, GLOBE, REASSURANCE, and RENAISSANCE to name a few. On each mission, the organization deployed at very short notice, integrated joint capabilities quickly, and coordinated complex operations in concert with Allies and partners to produce excellence for CJOC and results for Canada.

Agile, versatile, ready

Deployable on very short notice, CJRF HQ is postured to command and control Canadian Armed Forces crisis response operations globally to meet Chief of the Defence Staff and Commander CJOC intent by bringing together a variety of organizations, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, other government departments, non-government organizations, international organizations, and partners and Allies.

Today, under its new name, CJRF HQ remains focused on the future based on decades worth of observations from myriad operational experiences. Let there be no doubt, CJRF HQ remains agile, versatile, and ready to provide a joint response force to deliver effects for Canada.