Biography
Brigadier-General M. Hainse, OMM, CD
Chief of Staff - Canada Command
Brigadier-General Hainse grew up in Thetford Mines. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1977 and studied at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. He was commissioned as an officer in August 1980, then joined the Royal 22e Régiment.
His operational postings began in 1980 with 2 Battalion Royal 22e Régiment at the Citadel in Quebec City. He served twice under the United Nations in Cyprus. In 1989, he was promoted to major and acted as a company commander, a position he held with 2 Battalion during the Oka crisis in 1990. In 1996, he assumed command of 1 Battalion Royal 22e Régiment in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as part of a UN mission. In this same position, he participated in OP RÉCUPÉRATION during the ice storm in 1998. In April 2002, he served as Commander of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Task Force for six months. On 2 September 2004, he has became the 21st commander of 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.
He has also held staff positions: at NDHQ, he was a staff officer for the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and aide-de-camp to the Chief of the Defence Staff. In summer 2001, he held the position of Chief of Staff of Land Force Quebec Area. He was transferred to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa as J3 International in fall 2002.
He was involved in training and education at two different institutions: in 1984, he served as an instructor at the Infantry School in Gagetown, and in July 1994, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and transferred to the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, as Director General Officer Cadets.
Brigadier-General Hainse has pursued professional development at the Land Force Command and Staff College in Kingston and at the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto. After commanding 1 Battalion Royal 22e Régiment for three years, he was promoted to colonel in July 1999 and began a master's program at the École nationale d'administration publique (ÉNAP) in Quebec City. Brigadier-General Hainse has a Master's in Public Administration and an advanced graduate diploma (DESS) in international administration.
In July 2006, he is appointed Chief of Staff of Canada Command in Ottawa.
