Canada
Canada began using "Regimental Numbers" during the First World War.
During the Second World War, units were allocated blocks of Regimental Numbers to issue out, usually in the 5 or 6 digit range, though extremely low numbers were also possible due to the blocks.
- X12345 - the X was an alphabetic character denoting the Military District the soldier was recruited in (A represented MD1, B MD2, etc.) Up until 1945, officers never received numbers and were identified by name and rank only.
The Social Insurance Number (SIN) replaced the regimental number in the 1960s.
- 123 456 789
The SIN was itself replaced by a Service Number in the 1990s.
- X12 345 678
The use of the SIN was granted by Revenue Canada to the CF for service numbers as a temporary measure, and was revoked in the 1990s. The new Service Number used a random alphabetic letter and 8 numbers in the same format as SINs to avoid changing service forms.
Read more about this topic: Service Number
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“I see Canada as a country torn between a very northern, rather extraordinary, mystical spirit which it fears and its desire to present itself to the world as a Scotch banker.”
—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)
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—Irving Layton (b. 1912)
“What makes the United States government, on the whole, more tolerable—I mean for us lucky white men—is the fact that there is so much less of government with us.... But in Canada you are reminded of the government every day. It parades itself before you. It is not content to be the servant, but will be the master; and every day it goes out to the Plains of Abraham or to the Champs de Mars and exhibits itself and toots.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)