Canadian Armed Forces Personnel - Commissioned Officer

There are several entry plans for commissioned officers in the Canadian Armed Forces. For each plan, candidates must:

• be Canadian citizens
• meet age requirements and basic medical and physical standards
• have no outstanding obligations to the judicial system
• be willing to relocate.

Entry is competitive and not all entry plans are open at all times. Candidates for specific classifications are recruited only when there is a forecasted need for personnel in those classifications. When openings are forecast, applications on file are reviewed and candidates selected.

There are five entry plans:

1. Regular Officer Training Plan (ROTP)

• This entry plan is for candidates who want to obtain a degree at a military college or civilian university, subsidized by the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Applicants must be at least 16 years of age and completing a course of study leading to an advanced high school diploma with English Language Arts 30-1 (or French 30) and Pure Math 30. Math 31 is recommended. Applicants for science and engineering programs must have Physics 30, Chemistry 30 and Math 31. Applicants for the preparatory year must be in a program of study leading to the completion of Grade 11 in an advanced high school curriculum.
• There is a mandatory period of service of up to five years after graduation. Seven years is standard for pilots.

2. Reserve Entry Training Plan (RETP)

• This entry plan is for candidates who want to obtain a degree at a military college at their own expense. RETP cadets are not paid during the academic year but are employed in the summer. Scholarships, bursaries and cadetships are available.
• The entry requirements are the same as those for ROTP.
• There is no mandatory period of service in the regular forces.

3. Direct Entry Officer (DEO)

• This entry plan is for candidates who already hold an appropriate university degree for the classification they wish to enter.
• After wings graduation, there is a seven year mandatory period of service for Pilot and four years for Air Combat Systems Officer.

4. Medical Officer Training Plan (MOTP)

• This entry plan is designed to subsidize candidates who have been accepted without condition in any of the last three years of medicine at a Canadian university or are in their first or second year of internship and are within 57 months of obtaining a license to practice medicine.
• There is a three year period of mandatory service, after a license to practice is obtained, for those whose training was subsidized for 46 months or less (four years for those subsidized longer).

5. Dental Officer Training Plan (DOTP)

• This entry plan is designed to subsidize candidates who have been accepted without condition into any of the last four years of dentistry at a Canadian university.
• The period of mandatory service varies depending upon how long the candidate's training was subsidized.

All officers must successfully complete a basic training course which is conducted for most classifications at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruitment School (CFLRS) in St. Jean, Quebec. Unless they are fluently bilingual at the time of enrolment, most officers receive instruction in their second official language in the period between basic officer training and initial classification training.

For a broad list of programs and courses that may be related to this occupation try searching using keywords.

Certification is not required, as there is currently no legislation regulating this occupation.