Canada Medal

Canada Medal
Ribbon of the medal
Country	Canada
Eligibility	Canadians
Status	Abolished 1966
Post-nominals	CM (English) M du C (French)
Statistics
Established	27 August 1943
Total awarded	Never awarded
Order of Wear
Next (higher)	British Empire Medal
Next (lower)	Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service

The Canada Medal was an honour created in 1943 as part of an attempt to establish an indigenous honours system in Canada. It was meant to serve as the top award that could be awarded to civilians and military personnel. The increase in demand for civilian honours during the Second World War led to the creation of a committee to examine honours in Canada. While the committee mostly dealt with regulations regarding British honours, the committee did manage to have the Canada Medal created. Though established by Royal Warrant and added to the order of wear as early as 1947, the medal was never awarded. The medal was abolished in 1966, just prior to the creation of the Order of Canada. Despite the fact that it was never awarded, it continues to appear in the official order of wear published in the London Gazette.

In the aftermath of the First World War there was a sense of dissatisfaction in how honours were distributed. The effect was the passage of the Nickel Resolution. The resolution created a policy of Canadians not being appointed to peerages or titular honours, and the government of Canada only making recommendation for a handful of non-titular honours. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster reaffirmed the equality of the self-governing dominions of the British Empire, however there was no mechanism to establish honours specific to the dominions. In 1935, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal was established as the first award specifically for service in Canada. The Canadian government managed the creation of this medal by passing the recommendation for creating the honour on to the Dominions Office, who had experience with drafting Royal Warrants. In 1934, King George V signed the Royal Warrant creating the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal. Prime Minister R.B. Bennett countersigned the Royal Warrant 15 December 1934 signifying that the King was acting on the advice of his Canadian Ministry.

During the Second World War, a group of senior government civil servants was put together in the Awards Co-ordination Committee (ACC). The ACC primarily dealt with questions in regards to British awards being presented to Canadians. Working in the same period of time was a Parliamentary committee, the Special Committee on Honours and Awards, who came up with a recommendation to create a Canadian order. Though ultimately rejected, the name Order of Canada was brought up and subsequently stuck, until its establishment later.