The Intelligence Branch () is a

personnel branch Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

(CF) that is concerned with providing relevant and correct information to enable commanders to make decisions. The branch works in a variety of challenging positions, at home and abroad, meeting the needs of commanders and operational planners of the Canadian Forces at all levels and in all environments. Since the branch's inception, members have deployed overseas to

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, Timor-Leste,

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, and

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. Branch members have also deployed domestically on a number of operations. These include tasks related to the ice storms in Quebec, floods in Winnipeg, fires in

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and the Canadian military's response to the

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History

The first intelligence guides unit in Canada was the "4th Troop of Volunteer Cavalry of Montreal (or Guides)", formed on 7 February 1862. Renamed "The Royal Guides or Governor General's Body Guard for Lower Canada", and later "The Guides", the unit was disbanded in 1869 after helping to repel Fenian raiders. During the North-West Rebellion (1885), various irregular cavalry units were used as scouts. One of these scout units, drawn from the

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

, was called the "Intelligence Corps". With a strength of three officers and 30 men performing long-range reconnaissance and light cavalry functions, it was the first unit to be designated an intelligence unit in the British Empire. These scout units, the forerunners of the Fort Garry Horse and North Saskatchewan Regiment, were disbanded by 18 September 1885. During the Boer War in

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, Canadian mounted troops gathered information of intelligence value with Strathcona's Horse and British scout units. Canadian intelligence efforts in South Africa led to the appointment on 6 February 1901 of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Brereton Rivers, RCA, as the first intelligence staff officer of the Canadian Militia. Shortly after, on 1 April 1903, the Corps of Guides was created in the Canadian Militia. Under the new structure, a district intelligence officer responsible to director general of military intelligence (DGMI) was appointed to oversee Corps of Guides units established in each of Canada's 12 military districts. The first DGMI, Lieutenant-Colonel W.A.C. Denny, had a very small staff overseeing information collection and mapping, and approximately 185 militia officers serving the Canadian Corps of Guides. By 1914, the Canadian Corps of Guides totalled some 500 all ranks. Given that their mounted scout role appeared inappropriate for war in Europe, many of the personnel serving with the Corps of Guides were absorbed into existing units and formations in the Canadian Militia and

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

. Others became intelligence staff officers and non-commissioned officers serving with the British Intelligence Corps. Some continued to serve in Canada with the Canadian Corps of Guides. The intelligence system created within the First Canadian Division prior to its deployment to France in 1915 served as the basis for the development of intelligence structures generally throughout the

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 19 ...

. After the war, a position for a director of military operations and intelligence was maintained in the Canadian Militia. Corps of Guides units in Canada were converted to cyclist companies charged with protecting the main force form surprise during time of war. After disbandment of these companies on 31 March 1929, a small staff in Ottawa and some districts performed intelligence duties. In 1932, intelligence staffs of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Militia were amalgamated. When Canada mobilized in September 1939, intelligence structures based on British organizations were rapidly developed and intelligence analysts were given new challenges. As of 16 December 1940, there were about 60 all ranks posted to Canadian intelligence duties. Foreseeing the need for 200 intelligence personnel, Major John Page proposed that field security (FS) functions be separated from the Canadian Provost Corps. Moreover, he worked to have an Intelligence Corps, formed in a manner similar to that of the British Intelligence Corps formed on 25 June 1940, recognized. Establishment of the First Canadian Army in April 1942 led to a tremendous demand for intelligence specialists, and on 29 October 1942 the Canadian Intelligence Corps (C Int C) was officially recognized as a corps. Canadians from universities, colleges, businesses and industries joined the C Int C to participate in a great variety of intelligence duties; a number became casualties at the Dieppe Raid, in Northwest Europe and the Adriatic. Army Intelligence sections or staffs were represented at army, corps, division, and district levels, with seven field security sections in existence as well. By 1943, for the first time in Canadian history, Canadian personnel filled all intelligence appointments within Canada's Army formations and units. In 1948, the Canadian Militia was authorized six intelligence training companies: No. 1 in Montreal, No. 2 in Toronto, No. 3 in Halifax, No. 4 in Vancouver, No. 5 in Winnipeg, and No. 6 in Edmonton. The basic aim of these companies was to provide a pool of trained intelligence personnel to augment the Regular Force when needed. During the 1950s and 1960s, members of the C Int C were engaged in a variety of intelligence duties in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Cyprus. Following unification of the Canadian Forces in the late 1960s, the C Int C, the clerk-intelligence trade, the Canadian Provost Corps, and the Air Force Police were united to become the CF Security Branch, and the Canadian Forces School of Intelligence and Security (CFSIS) was formed. In 1981, the CF Security Branch was divided into two separate branches: one for intelligence and the other for security. Sir William Stephenson ("A Man Called Intrepid") accepted the appointment as first colonel commandant of the Intelligence Branch, which was formed 1 October 1982. The actual re-badging occurred on 29 October 1982, the 40th anniversary of the birth of the C Int C. In 2000, a further split with the Security Branch occurred, with intelligence training moving from CFSIS at CFB Borden to the newly formed Canadian Forces School of Military Intelligence (CFSMI) at CFB Kingston. This ended the formal affiliation of the Intelligence Branch with the former CFSIS. During the

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the Intelligence Branch fielded the first Canadian all-source intelligence centres, which have today become the gold standard for intelligence support to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

on deployed operations.

Branch cap badge

When the Intelligence Branch was formed on 1 October 1982 the branch had a new badge. The colours scarlet, dark green and white denote the evolution of the branch from the Canadian Corps of Guides, the Canadian Intelligence Corps, and the Canadian Forces Security Branch, respectively. The North Star symbol embodied in the Canadian Intelligence Corps badge is also found in the branch badge, further preserving historic ties. The compass rose shape of the badge draws notice to the worldwide scope of branch responsibilities.

Branch today

The Canadian Forces School of Military Intelligence (CFSMI) in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, is the home of intelligence training for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Identical training is provided to both Regular Force and Reserve members. The CFSMI mission is to provide core and specialist intelligence training to officers and non-commissioned members of the Intelligence Branch and other military branches. Army reservists, employed at 6 Intelligence Company (

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

), 2 Intelligence Company (

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

) and 7 Intelligence Company (

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

), 4 Intelligence Company (platoons in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

), 3 Intelligence Company (

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

), make an important contribution to the Intelligence Branch for overseas deployments. As a result, individual movement between Regular and Reserve components is relatively fluid compared with other branches in the CAF. 160t-cintc correct approved sample

In December 2016, the ''Canadian Intelligence Corps'' was restored, and army-uniformed members of the Intelligence Branch resumed the use of this designation. Prior to this, the shoulder titles on army uniforms (navy and air force uniforms do not use shoulder titles) in English was "INT" and in French "". The current shoulder title is (English) or (French). Naval reservists are also employed as both intelligence officers and intelligence operators across the country at naval reserves units.

References

External links

Canadian Military Intelligence Association

Order of precedence