In the following tables, the middle column lists the abbreviations used by the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Forces (CF), and the right-hand column those used in non-DND/CF writing:
Rank | DND/CF writing | Non-DND/CF writing |
---|---|---|
General | Gen | Gen. |
Lieutenant-General | LGen | Lt.-Gen. |
Major-General | MGen | Maj.-Gen. |
Brigadier-General | BGen | Brig.-Gen. |
Colonel | Col | Col. |
Lieutenant-Colonel | LCol | Lt.-Col. |
Major | Maj | Maj. |
Captain | Capt | Capt. |
Lieutenant | Lt | Lieut. |
Second Lieutenant | 2Lt | 2nd Lieut. |
Officer Cadet | OCdt | (not abbreviated) |
Chief Warrant Officer | CWO | (not abbreviated) |
Master Warrant Officer | MWO | (not abbreviated) |
Warrant Officer | WO | (not abbreviated) |
Sergeant | Sgt | Sgt. |
Master Corporal | MCpl | (not abbreviated) |
Corporal | Cpl | Cpl. |
Private | Pte | Pte. |
Rank | DND/CF writing | Non-DND/CF writing |
---|---|---|
Admiral | Adm | (not abbreviated) |
Vice-Admiral | VAdm | (not abbreviated) |
Rear-Admiral | RAdm | (not abbreviated) |
Commodore | Cmdre | (not abbreviated) |
Captain(N) | Capt(N) | Capt. |
Commander | Cdr | Cmdr. |
Lieutenant-Commander | LCdr | Lt.-Cmdr. |
Lieutenant(N) | Lt(N) | Lieut. |
Sub-Lieutenant | SLt | Sub-Lieut. |
Acting Sub-Lieutenant | A/SLt | (not abbreviated) |
Naval Cadet | NCdt | (not abbreviated) |
Chief Petty Officer, 1st Class | CPO 1 | (not abbreviated) |
Chief Petty Officer, 2nd Class | CPO 2 | (not abbreviated) |
Petty Officer, 1st Class | PO 1 | (not abbreviated) |
Petty Officer, 2nd Class | PO 2 | (not abbreviated) |
Master Seaman | MS | M.S. |
Leading Seaman | LS | L.S. |
Able Seaman | AB | A.B. |
Ordinary Seaman | OS | O.S. |
In non-DND/CF writing, the plurals of these abbreviated titles are formed by adding s to the principal element, before the period:
- Gens.
- Maj.-Gens.
- Cols.
Note that at the Department of National Defence and within the Canadian Forces, the abbreviations for Retired and retired are Retd and retd (without a period).
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