The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as , is a military academy and, since 1959, a degree-granting university of the Canadian Armed Forces. It was established in 1874 and conducted its first classes on June 1, 1876. Programs are offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels, both on campus as well as through the college's distance learning program via the Division of Continuing Studies.
Located on Point Frederick, a peninsula in Kingston, Ontario, the college is a mix of historic buildings and more modern academic, athletic, and dormitory facilities. RMC officer cadets are trained in what are known as the "four pillars": academics, officership, athletics, and bilingualism.
Purpose
The Royal Military College of Canada prepares officer cadets for a long career in the profession of arms and continues the development of other Canadian Armed Forces members and civilians with an interest in defence issues. RMC provides programs and courses of higher education and professional development to meet the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence.Canadian Defence Academy Planning Directive FY 06/07 – FY09/10
RMC is responsible to: Provide a university education in both official languages in appropriate disciplines designed on a broad base to meet the unique needs of the Canadian Armed Forces Develop qualities of leadership in officer cadets Develop the ability to communicate in both official languages for officer cadets Develop a high standard of physical fitness Stimulate an awareness of the ethic of the military profession Conduct research activities in support of RMC and to meet the needs of Defence Research Agencies The RMC priorities are: To build high quality, world-class programs in areas of importance to the Canadian Armed Forces and to Canada To promote national and international collaborations and partnerships To promote interdisciplinary co-operation.
History
Early history Long before the Royal Military College was established in 1876, there were proposals for military colleges in Canada. As early as 1815, the Assembly of Lower Canada decided to establish a military college, but agreement upon its organization was blocked by religious and linguistic conflicts.Richard Preston 'Canada's RMC: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada' published by the RMC Club by U of Toronto Press. Subsequent attempts also proved to be abortive, although some military schools were established.
Following the withdrawal of British forces from Canada in 1870–71, the federal government recognized the need for an officer training college in Canada. In 1874, during the administration of Alexander Mackenzie, "the real founder of the college", An Act to Establish a Military College, was passed by the Parliament of Canada. The legislation provided for the establishment of a college "providing a complete education in all branches of military tactics, fortification, engineering, and general scientific knowledge in subjects connected with and necessary to thorough knowledge of the military profession" in one of the Garrison Towns of Canada"."An Act to Establish a Military College" was reproduced in full in Canada's RMC, Preston pp. 387–388. About RMC
The new college, named Military College of Canada, opened on June 1, 1876 in Kingston, Ontario on the grounds of Point Frederick, with 18 cadets under Lt.-Col. Edward Osborne Hewett, R.E. The names of these "Old Eighteen" are memorized by all cadets today. Entrance was by examination, and the high standards for admissions initially depressed the number of applicants. In 1878, Queen Victoria granted the college permission to use the prefix "Royal"; the college became the Royal Military College of Canada. It was the first military college to be established in a colonial dependency.
The college offered, like West Point but unlike the British service academies, a four-year course, heavily geared towards science and engineering. Uniquely among its peers, there was no expectation that its graduates would automatically become career army officers. As Canada had very limited permanent armed forces at the time, most of the cadets had to seek careers in the private sector, and many families sent their sons to the college to prepare them for civilian careers. Some received commissions in the Permanent Force or in the British Army, which agreed to offer the college's graduates four commissions every year. Many graduates who did not accept permanent military commissions continued to serve in the part-time Militia.
As a House of Commons report from 1881 put it:The Government of the Dominion have also established, at Kingston, an institution where young men may receive a training to fit them for the military profession—an institution something on the model of West Point—the practical benefits of which, however, are not as yet appreciable in a country like this, which has no regular army, and cannot afford employment suitable for the peculiar studies necessarily followed in the Academy."Another issue was the lack of French-speaking cadets: in the college's first 23 years of existence, there were 20 French-Canadian cadets out of 500. In the next 14 years, there were 19 out of 500. The entrance examinations were in English, which impeded recruitment.
The college experienced a period of decline in the early 1890s, until Gerald Kitson's successful term as superintendent, during which he purged ineffective staff members and reduced the length of the course to three years. His successors maintained the dual civil-military model, but put greater emphasis on the military aspect of the college's education. After 1910, all cadets were required to attend one militia camp to graduate, and to take up either a permanent or militia commission.
World wars During the First World War, the RMC continued to operate, although the course was shortened to two years and more military instruction was added. 982 ex-cadets served in the war: they represented 86% of those who had attended the college before November 1919 who were healthy and under the age of 55. Despite being a minority of Canadian Expeditionary Force officers, RMC graduates occupied a large share of senior and staff appointments.
After the war, the RMC returned to its pre-war footing, and the course was restored to four years. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, a military-run and -styled relief camp on Barriefield lower common was set up under the command of the RMC Commandant. Extensive public works projects at the college relied on the labour of single unemployed men, the 'Royal Twenty Centres' supplied by the Unemployment Relief Commission. From 1937, academic specialization was progressively introduced in the cadet course.
In 1942, the last cadet class at RMC for the duration of hostilities graduated, a final parade was held and the college colours were laid up in St. George's Cathedral. For the remainder of the war the college served as a wartime training facility, offering courses such as the Company Commanders Course, Military Intelligence Course, and the War Staff Course. Once again, most eligible cadets fought in the war, and they were disproportionately represented in the Canadian Army's senior ranks, including all four wartime Chiefs of the General Staff.
1945 to the present day There were doubts as to whether the RMC would reopen after the war, and alumni mobilized to save it. In 1946, the Chesley committee, headed by Brigadier Leonard McEwan Chelsey (RMC 1917), made recommendations about the provision of officers for the active force, about the educational requirements of candidates, and about the way they should be trained. It recommended the elimination of the RMC as a cadet-training college, in favour of university-based training, followed by a period of military training at RMC. A second committee, chaired by Brigadier Sherwood Lett, recommended re-opening the RMC as a cadet college, alongside a university intake route.
Ultimately, the college was re-opened as a tri-service institution in 1948, with the "New One Hundred" cadets reporting on 20 September 1948. In 1959, it became the first military college in the British Commonwealth to achieve degree-granting status." Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh visited RMC on 12 October 1951.
In 1959, the province of Ontario granted a university charter to RMC by passing "The Royal Military College of Canada Degrees Act, 1959" enabling RMC to offer degrees in arts, science, and engineering at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Royal Military College of Canada Degrees Act, 1959 was passed by the Ontario legislature and given Royal Assent on 26 March 1959. That year, the Canadian historian, Desmond Morton O.C., was the first graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada to receive a degree from the military college. Previously, cadets transferred for their final year to a civilian university, where they earned a degree.
His Excellency the Governor General presented the RMC colours in June 1961 and took the salute on the marchpast.Royal Military College of Canada – Review Yearbook (Kingston, Ontario Canada)- Class of 1962 p 96 On 26 May 1967, over 500 cadets trooped the colours on Parliament Hill in honour of the centennial of the Confederation of Canada, with the troops being reviewed by the Governor General.
In 1969, RMC became bilingual. In 1979, military colleges opened their doors to women with the admission of UTPNCM female officer cadets and post graduate students.
In 1976, RMC celebrated the centennial of its opening. The Cadet Wing paraded on Parliament Hill on 1 July in honour of that milestone.
In September 1980, the first 32 female cadets were accepted into first year at RMC. Among them was Kate Armstrong, who detailed her experience in the novel The Stone Frigate.
YearSignificance1878The full dress uniform of an officer cadet has remained essentially the same; however, the pillbox hat has replaced the shako. The pith helmet remains in use for parade (military) only.1878Private schools were established to prepare boys for entrance to RMC, including the Rothesay Netherwood School and the Hillfield Strathallan College.1883RMC certificates of graduation, first or second class, were replaced by RMC diplomas of graduation with or without honours. This distinguished RMC graduates from militia holders of drill certificates issued by a school of artillery.1883–84The first recorded first aid class taught in Ontario was held at the RMC. A plaque commemorates the 125th anniversary of the completion of the inaugural St. John Ambulance Canada first aid course conducted in Ontario. St. John Ambulance Canada first aid course plaque1886The first annual RMC alumni dinner was held in Ottawa Hockey game played between students of Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada.1891The RMC Club Proceedings, the predecessor of The Review, the Log of HMS Stone Frigate, the Club Newsletter, and current Veritas was published 194 LCol Edward Theodore Barclay Gillmore composed ‘The R.M.C. waltzes for piano [music]‘ dedicated to the Gentlemen Cadets of the Royal Military College of Canada, which was published by A. & S. Nordheimer in 1891. 6955 A. John Bailey presented his collection of RMC Waltzes to RMC in 19651906The tradition of the roll call, which continues today in the Old Brigade, began1915200 men undertook a seven-day, highly competitive examination for the 53 positions at the Royal Military College in the year following the outbreak of the Great War. Cadets completed an intensive wartime one-year course.