Skip to main content

Revised CAF dress code allows for face tattoos, long hair and beards

Share

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall.

The new rules, unveiled Tuesday morning, allow for long nails, face tattoos, and coloured hair among other changes.

“The Canadian Forces Dress Instructions are about 50 years old and so the policy as a whole was overdue for revision. The appearance of the Canadian Armed Forces has not kept pace with the Canadian society which it serves,” the document reads.

The updated dress code is slated to take effect in September and, as was the case previously, commanders at all levels will be charged with ensuring personnel under their command are following the rules.

Part of the changes mean members can wear intermixed uniforms as both the male and female catalogues are open to all members.

“The overall aim of the updated Canadian Forces Dress Instructions is to make the policy more inclusive and less prohibitive, and to allow CAF members increased freedom to make personal choices regarding their appearance,” the document reads.

New recruits will not have to shave their head on basic training and there are no restrictions on the length of one’s hair but it must be tied when it extends beyond the shoulder and can’t cover a member’s face.

Similarly, sideburns, beards, moustaches and goatees at any length get the green light so long as they are “kept neatly groomed and symmetrical in style.”

Using hair dye and donning long fingernails are also permitted unless they impact operational duties and face tattoos are acceptable so long as they aren’t associated with criminal activities or express a form of discrimination.

The government announced their intent to create a gender-neutral dress code in March, as an attempt to address a much-needed culture shift as it struggles to recruit more diverse personnel.

“We've heard from our members that the existing dress instructions were not inclusive, and did not allow our members to represent their authentic selves while in uniform,” said Maj.-Gen. Lise Bourgon, acting chief of military personnel, at the time.

IN DEPTH

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84

Former Canadian prime minister and Conservative stalwart Brian Mulroney has died at age 84. Over his impressive career, the passionate and ambitious politician, businessman, husband, father, and grandfather left an unmistakable mark on the country.

Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?

Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

opinion

opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report

It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected