Appendix 5 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Bar to the Special Service (SSM) 

1. The NATO bar was created on 26 November 1992.
2. Qualifying service from 1 January 1951 to 19 October 2004 is service while posted to a NATO unit, or to a CF or allied formation or unit outside the territorial limits of Canada under the operational control of a NATO headquarters, or in Canada on an operational staff directly participating in the operational control of such formations and units. In the latter case, only those staff personnel serving in an operations room directly participating in the control of ships and aircraft in NATO operations and exercises qualify for this service. A minimum of 180 cumulative days is required to qualify.
3. Canadian-based personnel deployed outside Canadian territorial limits for exercises and operations may count that service toward the aggregate; for example:
   1. ships sailing under NATO control;
   2. aircraft flying under NATO control; and
   3. army and air force units or personnel deployed for reinforcement or exercise in Europe under NATO control.
4. Military personnel who were in NATO-controlled positions, operations or taskings on 19 October 2004, or who have reached the required 180 days of honourable service under NATO control between 1 January 1951 and 19 October 2004, remain eligible for award as per original criteria until the end of the posting or deployment only. (Figure 9P5-1)
5. Military personnel posted to NATO positions, operations or taskings after 19 October 2004 fall under new regulations. The new criteria specify that service outside of Canada on or after 20 October 2004 onwards, as part of or in direct support of a NATO operation or mission, is eligible provided the said service is not acknowledged by another award. A minimum of 45 cumulative days in approved operations or missions is required to qualify.
6. Personnel who have eligible service as per paragraph 2 to 4 but did not meet 180 days criteria, and also have eligible service under paragraph 5, shall be allowed to combine all the eligible days of service towards the minimum 45 cumulative days of eligible service criteria. Essentially, personnel have to serve at least one eligible day under paragraph 5 to be able to cumulate all past eligible service toward the shorter criteria.
7. For those military personnel who have been posted to a NATO position or served on a NATO operation or tasking since 20 October 2004:
   1. eligibility is limited to those specific tasks which are approved by the CDS in consultation with AFC on the recommendation of the Canadian Forces Honours Policy Committee (CFHPC). (Figure 9P5-2);
   2. In keeping with the aim of service medals, which is to recognize operational service or service performed under exceptional circumstances as opposed to regular performance of duty, only overseas operational service under NATO command will be approved and, where appropriate, support to such operations or missions where the exceptional circumstances would justify the award; and
   3. Service in NATO transformation establishments, schools and colleges, NATO training, exercises and conferences, as well as other similar service not in direct support of NATO operations are excluded from eligibility.

(Reprint of Order in Council PC 1992-2436, as amended by PC 1995-2005, PC 2006-0810, and PC 2018-124 )

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, pursuant to subsections 4(3) and paragraph 5(b) of the Special Service Medal Regulations,

1. revokes Order in Council P.C. 1995-2005 of 28 November, 1995;
2. revokes Order in Council P.C. 2006-810 of 29 August, 2006;
3. determines as special service any service that meets the following conditions:
   1. the service
      1. is approved service, performed outside Canada, beginning on October 20, 2004 and still continuing as part of, or in direct support of, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operation or mission, or
      2. is performed in the context of a deployment, posting or tasking within the NATO’s area of responsibility, described as the territory of any of the Parties in Europe and North America, on the Algerian Departments of France, on the territory of Turkey and on the islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer, or with forces deployed on vessels or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over those territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any Parties were stationed, or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer, since its beginning on January 1, 1951 and ending
         1. on October 19, 2004, or
         2. at the end of the deployment, posting or tasking if the deployment, posting or tasking was ongoing on October 19, 2004,
   2. the service is honourable and consists of either
      1. a minimum of 45 days of the service referred to in clause (i)(A),
      2. a minimum of 180 days of the service referred to in clause (i)(B), or
      3. in the case where some of the days of service are referred to in clause (i)(A) but without meeting the minimum referred to in clause (A) and other days of service are referred to in clause (i)(B) but without meeting the minimum referred to in clause (B), the sum of those days of service if that sum is at least 45 days, and
   3. the days of service referred to in subparagraph (ii) are not counted towards any other Canadian or foreign service medal; and
4. specifies that the Bar that is awarded with the Special Service Medal, representing the special service referred to in paragraph (c), is to bear the NATO Star flanked by the words “NATO–OTAN”.

Figure 9P5-1
For NATO service between 1 January 1951 and 19 October 2004 (Pre 20 Oct 2004), 180 cumulative days of eligibility is required for the NATO bar to the SSM

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Figure 9P5-2
For NATO service Post 20 October 2004 and present,
forty-Five (45) cumulative days of eligibility is required
for the NATO bar to the SSM

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