Canadian Army creates new Edmonton division focused on defence

Canada's Army has begun a major restructuring that replaces geographybased divisions with units organized around specific roles. A new 1st Canadian Division has been stood up in Edmonton to lead largescale combat deployments and crisis response. The new formation will combine armour, artillery, light infantry, paratroopers, engineers and other capabilities to help the army deploy more quickly and sustain longer operations. Army leaders said the change is meant to make the force more agile and better prepared for modern conflict. As part of the same plan, the army is also creating a support division in Kingston, Ont., and a 2nd Canadian Division in Montreal focused on domestic defence and national emergencies. The 3rd Canadian Division, which has a long history dating to the First World War, is being moved to the supplementary Order of Battle as its personnel are redistributed into the new structure.