Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Colonel-in-Chief

Each regiment within the Infantry Corps may invite a member of the Royal family to become their Colonel-in-Chief. This is the pinnacle of honorary appointments which can be held within a Canadian military organization. Branches and other elements of the service may also have a Colonel-in-Chief appointed to become their ceremonial figurehead. The granting authority for such an appointment is Her Majesty's pleasure.

To be eligible to have a Colonel-in-Chief, branches or units of the Canadian Forces must be proven to be fully deserving of the honour, and the appointment must be shown to be in the best interests of the CF. There is no obligation for any unit to have a Colonel-in-Chief, and some units have opted to not have one at all. However, in many cases the presence of such a personage has proven to have a very positive effect with regard to the prestige, esprit de corps, and public relations value which the unit may enjoy as a consequence of such an appointment.