Officer Cadet - Canada

Canada

In the Canadian Forces the rank of officer cadet (OCdt) or élève-officier (élof) in French is held by any beginning officer, as well as students attending the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario or the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec. Officer cadets may sometimes hold a staff or even line appointments within a unit, such as second-in-command of a platoon within a company-sized or larger unit; this is usually done for training purposes, but may also be done to fill holes in an establishment due to manpower shortages within the officer cadre.

For Royal Canadian Navy members of the same rank, naval cadet (NCdt) or aspirant de marine (aspm) in French is used in lieu of officer cadet.

Officer cadets and naval cadets are referred to and addressed as "Mr Smith" or "Miss Smith", or more formally as "Officer Cadet Smith" or "Naval Cadet Smith". There is also a tendency in less cordial environments to refer to an officer cadet as "OC Smith". Further, as pointed out above, they are generally addressed as "mister" or "miss" by commissioned officers and non-commissioned members, Officer cadets and Naval Cadets are not referred to as "sir" or "ma'am" by non-commissioned members.

Officer cadets and naval cadets in the CF are subordinate officers, but generally billet or mess with other officers. They do not carry the Queen's commission and are not entitled to be saluted.

The rank insignia is a narrow gold braid (1/4-inch; note difference with standard braid size) on the cuff of the distinctive environmental uniform jacket, and on the epaulettes of all other uniforms. The peak of the service cap (if worn) is plain. This gives rise to the somewhat derogatory term 'quarter-inch admiral' as a term for cadets who try to insist that they be treated as commissioned officers (i.e. be accorded salutes, etc.)