Media reports indicate that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will officially announce next Tuesday the appointment of Lieutenant General Jennie Carignan as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, the day after the official holiday for Canada Day and one week before the 75th NATO summit, which will be held in the U.S. capital, Washington, from July 9 to 11.

Carignan's appointment is a historic first for Canada.

The incoming leader of the Canadian Armed Forces was born in the city of Val-d'Or (formerly Asbestos) in Quebec, and she will succeed General Wayne Eyre, who will retire after 40 years of service.

Since its establishment in 1964, 21 men have served as Chief of Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Since April 2021, Carignan has held the position of Head of the Professional Conduct and Culture Group in the Canadian Armed Forces, a new role appointed to her by Trudeau's Liberal government to combat sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces and to introduce change to military culture.

Carignan is regarded as a trailblazer for Canadian women serving in combat roles.

Her career in the Canadian Armed Forces spans more than three decades; she entered the Royal Military College of Canada in 1986, six years after the college began accepting women.

In 2016, Carignan became the first woman to rise from the combat arms to the rank of general.

She has also held several senior positions in the staff, including Chief of Staff of Army Operations at Army Command Headquarters.

In 2019, Carignan led the response efforts during the emergencies when the Canadian Armed Forces were deployed to Quebec to assist residents of various cities and towns coping with severe spring floods.

Later that year, she was tasked with leading the NATO training mission in Iraq.

Her overseas missions have also included operations in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the former Yugoslavia, as well as leading a task force of engineers in Kandahar between 2009 and 2010 at the height of the Taliban insurgency in that Afghan province.