Commander of the Canadian Army

Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff
Flag of the Chief of the Army Staff
Canadian Army
Type	Commissioned Officer
Status	Currently constituted
Abbreviation	CCA
Reports to	Chief of the Defence Staff
Deputy	Deputy Commander of the Canadian Army

The Commander of the Canadian Army (French: commandant de l'Armée canadienne) is the institutional head of the Canadian Army. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Army Staff (French: chef de l'état-major de l'Armée) and is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

Prior to 1904, militia land forces in Canada were commanded by British Army senior officers appointed as General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia. British regular forces in the Dominion had their own commander until the withdrawal of the last British garrison in 1906. In 1903–1904, Canada's Army embarked on a new period of modernization that included the creation of a new office of Chief of the General Staff. Eighteen officers held the position between 1904 and 1964. The last of these, Lieutenant General Geoffrey Walsh, officially stood down the appointment on 31 August 1964 following the official integration of the three armed services into a single Canadian Armed Forces. Following the unification of Canada's military forces in February 1968, the majority of Canada's land element was assigned to the newly created Mobile Command and the senior Canadian army officer was then known as Commander of Mobile Command from 1965–1993. The command was renamed Land Force Command and the senior Canadian army officer was known as Chief of the Land Staff from 1993–2011. In 2011 Land Force Command was officially re-designated as the Canadian Army, at which time the appointment was also renamed Commander of the Canadian Army to reflect these organizational changes.