Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan makes history today as Canada's newest chief of the defence staff

Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan officially takes command of the Canadian Armed Forces today as chief of the defence staff, making her the first woman ever to be promoted to the role.

Carignan also will be promoted to the rank of general during today's change-of-command ceremony at the Canadian War Museum.

She replaces Gen. Wayne Eyre, who is retiring after 40 years in uniform.

"It's momentous because it's going to give young women a hope for their own dreams to come true," said Sandra Perron, Canada's first female infantry officer and a retired major. 

Carignan has long been considered a trailblazer in the forces. She became the first Canadian woman to command a combat arms unit in 2008.

A combat engineer by profession, Carignan has been front and centre for some extraordinary global events during her three-decade career.

She commanded the NATO training mission in Iraq in 2020, led the Task Force Kandahar Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and served in Bosnia in 2002, clearing explosive ordnance from farmers' fields.

Until recently, Carignan was in charge of transforming the military's culture in response to a sexual misconduct crisis that saw multiple senior leaders removed from some of the most prestigious military positions.

Her appointment comes as Canada marks 35 years since women were first allowed to serve in most military occupations.

Carignan takes over at a very difficult time for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), which is struggling to reverse a long slide in recruitment and massive personnel shortfalls.

"The military is in a state of crisis today," said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute who studies military culture and personnel. "Right now, we have aging equipment and a lack of personnel. As we're bringing in more and more equipment, the personnel recruitment and retention is not keeping pace."

Earlier this year, CBC News reported that only 58 per cent of the CAF would be able to respond if called upon in a crisis by NATO allies right now — and almost half of the military's equipment is considered "unavailable and unserviceable."

In March, Defence Minister Bill Blair said the CAF is facing a "death spiral" because three years of data show the people leaving military service outnumber the ones joining up. He called for innovative solutions to turn the situation around.

The latest data shows the CAF heard from more than 70,000 people interested in joining in 2023-2024 but the military was only able to get 4,301 of them into uniform due to a backlog in the screening process.