The Canadian Armed Forces and the Institutional Challenges of 1960–1970

The 1960s and 1970s have often been described as the golden age of peacekeeping operations for the Canadian Forces. From Cyprus to Haiti to Congo, the Canadian Forces have earned a reputation for excellence during their peacekeeping missions. However, these years were also marked by institutional turmoil, which has mostly gone unnoticed outside the Canadian defense world. Two major institutional innovations, namely the unification of the armed forces into a single command structure during the 1960s, and the creation of a national headquarters within the administrative structure of the Ministry of Defense in the early 1970s, had a significant impact on the Canadian Forces and this impact is still being felt today. This article proposes to examine these profound changes in the Canadian Forces in the light of institutional analysis in order to highlight institutional dynamics specific to the defense of Canada, namely the oscillation between efficiency and effectiveness.