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Avro Arrow, considered to be a cut above anything either the Russians or the Americans could field at the time, if only politics * didn't get it canceled.
The Canadian Forces as known today is formed by the unification of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Navy, and Army in 1968 to save on non-essential costs like uniforms. This had elicited some resistance from Canadian soldiers, but over time, accepted it — mostly. Then in August 2011, the names were changed back to the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Canadian Army. Reactions were just as mixed as during the unification; the return to tradition led some to rejoice, while others complained that it reinforces our connection to the British monarchy (which they see as detrimental to Canadian nationality). Either way, most people don't really care.
History
Until the 1860s, Canada was defended by British soldiers, in addition to any ad hoc militias formed by its own citizens. By the 1860s, however, the cost of maintaining a standing army in Canada was taking a toll on both Britain's treasury and Britain's patience. One of the major factors that led to Confederation was in fact the need for a stronger defense of the North American colonies, something which had become painfully apparent in the Fenian invasions coming from the U.S. After Confederation, fencible regiments were developed throughout the rest of the 19th century, until when Canada sent its own military units in the Boer War. A national navy would follow in 1910, motivated in part by the need to save British resources for its naval competition with Imperial Germany.
World War One was when the Canadian army began Growing the Beard, as it turned in an impressive performance at places like Passchendaele, Ypres, and of course Vimy Ridge, a performance that was integral to Canada's development both as a nation and on the world stage. Canadian soldiers later made their Badass Army reputation clear in World War II and the Korean War. Since then, though, they are usually deployed in UN peacekeeping, and that made some Canadian soldiers unhappy. Currently serving with their US allies in the War On Terror in Afghanistan, they also served in Bosnia and the First Gulf War.
Organization
Since the British monarch is also the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II is also (technically) the commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces. However, since Canada is a sovereign nation, the Governor General — who is the Queen's representative — carries out most royal duties in her name. In practice, both are no more than figureheads, and all military decision making either goes to parliament or the Ministry of Defence.
In spite of the unification, the Canadian Forces still possesses highly distinct military branches, all with their own separate roles and duties. In addition to the usual ground, air, and naval components, there is also Canada Command (analogous to the Northern Commmand in the States), Expeditionary Force Command (which coordinates almost all actions outside of the country), Special Operations Command (in charge of elite commando and counter-terrorist teams), Operational Support Command (handles logistics, medical care, and policing duties) and the Information Management Group (which specializes in electronic and cyber warfare). Aside from these primary forces, there's also the Reserve Force, which is split into a number of sub-components like the Primary Reserve and the Canadian Rangers.
As is the case in the United States, service is voluntary and more or less follows the same rules. Conscription has been introduced in the past, but is almost impossible to bring into the picture; the last two times it's been tried during the World Wars, rioting ensued (mostly by French-Canadians in Quebec) and the party in power got voted out. Today, with separation a definite option, the federal government even mulling over using conscription would be enough of a provocation for Quebec to immediately declare independence. Then again, the idea of conscription would probably elicit the same reaction in the rest of Canada as well.
Equipment
One interesting trait of the Canadian Forces is that they've done very good work with at times very crappy equipment. In World War I, the first Canadian troops were sent into combat with rifles that tended jam in mud or even disassemble when fired, and poorly stitched boots that tended to fall apart at the slightest wear. Yet in spite of these difficulties, Canadians still pulled off Crowning Moments of Awesome at places like Vimy Ridge and Ypres. More recently, the Canadian Forces had to make do with antiquated junk like the Sea King helicopters (that required up to 24 hours of maintenance for every one hour of flight time), although they continued to serve in the first Gulf War and in the Yugoslavian conflict.
Good years or bad, the Canadian military has tended to use their own variants of American and British equipment, possibly with modifications to better suit geographical or personnel requirements. The current standard issue weapon is the C7 Rifle, an M-16 variant which modified for more reliability and is commonly equipped with the C79 optical sight. Current ground vehicles prove to be an unusual exception to the above rule, as the current main battle tank is the German Leopard 2 (bought from the Netherlands and Germany) and the jack-of-all-trades armoured vehicle is the LAV III, derived from the Swiss MOWAG Piranha and in turn serves as the inspiration for the American Stryker.
In the air, the CF-18 (derived from the carrier-based F-18 Hornet) serves as the primary fighter craft of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Many Canadians bemoan the lack of presence of the Canadian military in fiction, having to endure being compared to their rivals to the south. This is mostly true, but it is just about the same for a large number of other countries and their militaries as well.
Seriously, however, in any case Canada is attacked by an outside enemy like the Russians With Rusting Rockets, their numbers, less than a hundred thousand, wouldn't be enough to stop them. So that is why the cooperation between the US and Canadian Armed Forces is important, and NORAD is just one visible proof of that. On the other hand, Canadian civilians (like the British) would fight to the last, and the Canadian Forces have enough surplus to arm them.
On the other hand, Canada is also in a nifty defensible position where the entire population, numbering only 34 million, could virtually vanish into the Arctic - and very few militaries in the world would be equipped to follow them. You see, General Winter does not just fight for the Russians.
The Canadian armed forces contributed heavily to the creation during World War II of the 1st Special Service Force , also known (and appears in the movie entitled) The Devil's Brigade, the ancestor to most North American special service forces.
Note that the chinook is the name of a mountain wind that can cause drastic temperature changes, most commonly happening in the Pacific Northwest, so the phrase "Canucks with Chinooks" might in Real Life be mistaken as referring to Calgary (In the US, it's more commonly called a foehn wind, or a Santa Ana in Los Angeles).
Fun Facts
The Canadian Military in Fiction
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alternative title(s): Canucks With Chinooks
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