Canadian military bands

Canadian military bands are a group of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that performs musical duties for military functions. Military bands form a part of the Music Branch of the CAF, composed of six full-time professional Regular Force bands, 15 Regular Force voluntary bands, and 53 part-time reserve force bands.^[1] Bands of the Music Branch are often badged with the unit or Canadian Forces base insignia that they support.

Regular Force musicians are selected nationally by competitive audition prior to enlisting.^[2] Members of these bands often come from prestigious conservatories and schools of music. Reserve force musicians are hired and trained at the discretion of the local unit to which they apply. Prior to 1994, the Canadian Forces School of Music trained all recruits, regardless of musical level, to performance standard with Regular Force bands, but this practice was halted due to defense budget cuts.^[3]