Canada Nominates Senior Gen. Jennie Carignan for NATO Chair
Canada has put senior Gen. Jennie Carignan forward for NATO’s top military post, with Defence Minister David McGuinty announcing Wednesday that Ottawa is nominating her for chair of the NATO Military Committee. Carignan has served as Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff since 2024 and will stay in that role while the selection process unfolds.
The chair is the alliance’s most senior military role and serves as the principal military adviser to NATO Secretary General. The next chair will be chosen in September at the NATO Military Committee Conference in Copenhagen, setting up a contest for a post Canada has held only three times before.
McGuinty backs Carignan
McGuinty said in a statement released Wednesday: "General Carignan is an exceptional military leader whose experience, judgment, and deep commitment to allied collaboration make her an outstanding candidate to serve as the next Chair of the NATO Military Committee." Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is putting forward Canada’s top soldier for the role.
Carignan’s record stretches across more than 40 years in uniform, including senior leadership appointments throughout the Canadian Armed Forces. Her nomination places a Canadian officer in contention for a post that sits at the center of NATO’s military advice structure, where the chair works directly with the Secretary General on alliance-wide military issues.
Canada's NATO chair history
Canada has had three previous chairs of the NATO Military Committee: Gen. Charles Foulkes from 1952 to 1953, Adm. Robert Falls from 1980 to 1983, and Gen. Raymond Henault from 2005 to 2008. The current chair is Italy’s Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, whose term is expected to conclude in mid-2027.
That timeline gives NATO members a clear runway before the September vote in Copenhagen, but Canada has already signaled that Carignan will remain in her current post in the meantime. The nomination keeps Ottawa’s top military officer in place while the alliance decides whether to hand one of its most senior military jobs to Canada again.
