Appendix 1 – Operational Service Medal (OSM) regulations

(Reprint of Regulations as modified by the following Orders in Council: P.C. 2010- 704, 2011-1380 and 2019-1222)

Interpretation

1. The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations.

• “Medal” means the Operational Service Medal (OSM) described in section 2. (Médaille)
• “Rotation Bar” means the bar described in subsection 2(5). (Barrette de rotation)

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Description

2. 1. The Medal shall be 36 mm across and shall consist of a silver-coloured circular medal with a claw at the top of the medal being attached to a straight, slotted bar.
   2. On the obverse of the Medal shall appear a contemporary effigy of the Sovereign of Canada, circumscribed with the inscription in capital letters of the Canadian Royal Title and the word "CANADA", separated by two maple leaves.
   3. On the reverse of the Medal shall appear from top to bottom:
      1. the Royal Crown on either side of which shall appear three maple leaves conjoined on one stem;
      2. a Goode interrupted homolosine equal-area projection of the globe; and
      3. a laurel branch crossed with an oak branch.
   4. The Medal shall be suspended from a ribbon that is representative of the type of service or the geographic area for which it is awarded, and that is specified by the Governor in Council under paragraph 5(b).
   5. The Rotation Bars to the Medal shall be silver-coloured with raised edges and shall bear either one or five maple leaves.
   6. The Medal shall be engraved on the rim with the military or police recipient’s service or regimental number, rank, forename initials and surname or with the civilian recipient’s forenames and surname.

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Eligibility

3. 1. Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Medal may be awarded to any person who:
      1. is a member of the Canadian Forces and
         1. has been deployed outside Canada either inside a theatre of operations, in a Special Duty Area or on a Special Duty Operation or provided direct support on a full-time basis to operations conducted in such a theatre or area or on such an operation while in an operational setting, or
         2. has served outside Canada under dangerous circumstances;
      2. is member of an allied force and has worked as an integral part of the Canadian Forces, such as exchange personnel, and otherwise meets the criteria applicable to a member of the Canadian Forces referred to in paragraph (a);
      3. is sworn as a police officer by a recognized Canadian police force and:
         1. has been deployed outside Canada at the initiative, by the nomination or with the agreement of the Government of Canada, either inside a theatre of operations, in a Special Duty Area or on a Special Duty Area Operation, or provided direct support on a full-time basis to operations conducted in such a theatre or area or on such an operation while in an operational setting, or
         2. has served outside Canada at the initiative, by the nomination or with the agreement of the Government of Canada, under dangerous circumstances;
      4. is a member of an allied police force and has worked as an integral part of a Canadian police force, such as exchange personnel, and otherwise meets the criteria applicable to a police officer referred to in paragraph (c); or
      5. is a Canadian citizen in the employ of the Crown in right of Canada or of the Staff of the Non-Public Funds, Canadian Forces, or under contract with the Government of Canada, other than a member of the Canadian Forces or a person sworn as a police officer by a recognized Canadian police force, and:
         1. has been deployed outside Canada at the initiative, by the nomination or with the agreement of the Government of Canada inside a theatre of operations, in a Special Duty Area or on a Special Duty Area Operation, or provided direct support on a full-time basis to operations conducted in such a theatre or area or on such an operation while in an operational setting, or
         2. has served outside Canada at the initiative, by the nomination or with the agreement of the Government of Canada, under dangerous circumstances.
   2. To be eligible to be awarded the Medal, the person must have served or provided the direct support under exceptional circumstances and must have been deployed specifically to provide that service or support on a full-time basis to the operations. Recognition may be provided only when the deployment involves a certain level of risk, threat, hardship or operational intensity. Any service or support that is comparable in nature to normal duty or performed from the relative safety of a country distant from the theatre or area shall be excluded from eligibility.
   3. The following do not constitute eligible service:
      1. visits and inspections for the purpose of leadership, command or familiarization purposes;
      2. ceremonial or morale-building visits by military, police or civilian dignitaries;
      3. visits by embedded journalists or war artists; and
      4. any other similar activity
4. The Medal shall be awarded with a ribbon that identifies the specific type of service rendered or the geographic area in which the recipient served.
5. The Governor in Council shall:
   1. determine the conditions that must be satisfied for service to be recognized as being worthy of the award of a specific ribbon; and
   2. specify the design of the ribbons.
6. 1. A recipient of the Medal may be awarded a Rotation Bar if the person has served an additional 180 cumulative days of service after qualifying for the Medal or the last Rotation Bar that the person has earned.
   2. (2) A recipient of one or more Rotation Bars may be awarded an additional Rotation Bar if the person has served an additional 180 cumulative days of service after qualifying for the last Rotation Bar that they have earned
7. The Medal and Rotation Bars shall be awarded for honourable service.
8. 1. Any person who dies or is evacuated for medical reasons that are directly attributable to service is deemed to have satisfied any condition that is determined by the Governor in Council under paragraph 5(a).
   2. Any recipient of the Medal who dies or is evacuated for medical reasons that are directly attributable to service shall be credited the entire period that they would have served had they completed their tour of duty for the purpose of calculating eligibility for Rotation Bars.
9. 1. The Medal with the same ribbon shall only be awarded to a person once, and any additional qualifying service in respect of the same type of service or in the same geographic area shall be recognized by the award of Rotation Bars.
   2. The service counted towards the Medal or Rotation Bars may not be counted towards any other Canadian or foreign service medal other than the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal where appropriate.

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Award

10. An award of the Medal and Rotation Bars shall be made:
    1. on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff, who shall make a list of all persons that are eligible to be awarded the Medal or a Rotation Bar, and who shall forward the list to the Governor General; and
    2. by an instrument signed by the Governor General.
11. The Medal and Rotation Bars may be awarded posthumously.

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Presentation

12. Unless the Governor General otherwise directs, the Medal and Rotation Bars shall be presented to a recipient, as arranged by the Chief of the Defence Staff.

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Wearing of medal and bars

13. 1. The Medal shall be worn on the left breast in ccordance with the order of precedence determined by the Governor in Council.
    2. One Rotation Bar shall be worn centred on the ribbon.
    3. One Rotation Bar bearing five maple leaves shall be worn instead of five single maple leaf Rotation Bars.
    4. When several Rotation Bars are awarded, they shall be spaced evenly on the ribbon in the order that they were earned. The first Rotation Bar earned shall be worn closest to the Medal.
    5. When the undress ribbon is worn, a silver maple leaf shall be worn centred on the ribbon of the Medal to indicate the award of a Rotation Bar, a gold maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a second Rotation Bar and a red maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a third Rotation Bar. If more than three Rotation Bars have been awarded, the maple leaves shall be worn in combination so as to indicate the total number of Rotation Bars awarded.
14. A person to whom the Medal has been awarded may wear a miniature of the Medal on all occasions when the wearing of miniatures is customary.

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Cancellation and reinstatement

15. 1. The Governor General may, on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff:
       1. cancel or annul the award of a Medal or Rotation Bar to any person; and
       2. restore the award of a Medal or Rotation Bar that has been cancelled or annulled.
    2. If the award of a Medal or Rotation Bar is cancelled or annulled, the recipient’s name shall be deleted from the register referred to in paragraph 16(c).

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Administration

16. The Director, Honours, Chancellery of Honours shall:
    1. acquire the Medals and the Rotation Bars;
    2. provide the Chief of the Defence Staff with the Medals and the Rotation Bars;
    3. maintain a register containing the names of recipients of the Medal and the Rotation Bars and any other records relating to the award that the Director considers necessary; and
    4. perform any other functions in respect of awards of the Medal and the Rotation Bars that the Governor General may require the Director to perform.

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General

17. Nothing in these Regulations limits the right of the Governor General to exercise all powers and authorities of the Sovereign of Canada in respect of the Medal and the Rotation Bars.

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