Canadian Armed Forces Personnel - Commissioned Officer

There are several “entry plans” (ways to join) for commissioned officers in the Canadian Armed Forces. For each plan, candidates must:

• Be Canadian citizens
• Meet age requirements
• Meet basic medical and physical standards
• Have no outstanding obligations to the judicial system, such as parole conditions
• Be willing to relocate

Entry is competitive. Not all entry plans are always open. Candidates for certain classifications are recruited only as needed. When openings are forecast, the Canadian Armed Forces reviews applications on file and chooses candidates.

There are 5 entry plans:

1. Regular Officer Training Plan (ROTP)

• For candidates who want to earn a degree at a military college or civilian university. The Canadian Armed Forces subsidizes the degree.
• Applicants must be at least 16 and completing a 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 leading to the completion of Grade 11 in an advanced high school curriculum.
• Graduates must serve for at least 5 years after graduation. For pilots, 7 years is standard.

2. Reserve Entry Training Plan (RETP)

• For candidates who want to earn a degree at a military college at their own expense. RETP cadets are not paid during the school year, but work in the summer. Scholarships, bursaries, and cadetships are available.
• Entry requirements are the same as for ROTP.
• There is no mandatory period of service in the regular forces.

3. Direct Entry Officer (DEO)

• For candidates who already hold a university degree for the classification they wish to enter.
• After graduation, there is a 7-year mandatory period of service for pilots and a 4-year mandatory period for air combat systems officers.

4. Medical Officer Training Plan (MOTP)

• Designed to subsidize candidates who have been accepted without condition in any of the last 3 years of medicine at a Canadian university, or those in their first or second year of internship and within 57 months of earning a licence to practise medicine.
• There is a 3-year period of mandatory service after a licence to practise is obtained for those whose training was subsidized for 46 months or less. There is a 4-year period of mandatory service for those subsidized longer.

5. Dental Officer Training Plan (DOTP)

• Designed to subsidize candidates who have been accepted without condition into any of the last 4 years of dentistry at a Canadian university.
• The period of mandatory service depends on how long the candidate’s training was subsidized.

All officers must complete a basic training course. These are conducted for most classifications at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) in St. Jean, Quebec. Unless they are fluently bilingual when they enrol, most officers take courses in their second official language in the period between basic officer training and initial classification training.

A special program, the Aboriginal Leadership Opportunities Year (ALOY), is a 1-year educational and leadership experience through the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. For more information, visit the Canadian Forces Indigenous programs website.

To expand or narrow your search for programs related to this occupation, visit Post-Secondary Programs.

Completing a program does not guarantee entrance into an occupation. Before enrolling in an education program, prospective students should look into various sources for education options and employment possibilities. For example, contact associations and employers in this field.

There is currently no provincial legislation regulating this occupation in Alberta.