Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan to be named next leader of the Canadian Armed Forces

CityNews has learned Lt.-Gen. Jennie Carignan will be named the next chief of the defence staff.

Carignan, who currently leads the military’s reform efforts as the head of conduct and culture change, will replace General Wayne Eyre as the head of Canada’s military.

Carignan will become the first woman to serve in the role.

It’s not clear when the official announcement will be made.

Carignan is a married mother of four children, two of whom “proudly serve in the Canadian Armed Forces,” her official military bio states.

She led NATO Mission Iraq from November 2019 to November 2020 and participated in three previous expeditionary operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Golan Heights, and Afghanistan.

She’s also earned two Master’s degrees, one in Business Administration from Université Laval and a second from the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies.

Gen. Eyre announced plans last January to retire from the post after a 40-year career and a change-of-command ceremony is set for July 18.

Eyre’s tenure is set to end in August.

With files from Cormac Mac Sweeney