Valcartier Garrison

About the Garrison

Valcartier has long been a training garrison: the Valcartier assembly camp was opened for the first time in 1914 to train Canadian expeditionary forces.

Today Valcartier is without a doubt one of the best-equipped garrisons in the country with its residential area, its many recreational clubs and one of the best biathlon sites in North America, the Myriam Bédard Centre.

Valcartier Garrison has two formations: 2nd Canadian Division Support Group and 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (5 CMBG). 2nd Cdn Div Support Group is a megabase with over 2500 members (civilian and military).

Services at Valcartier

There are also other satellite units or agencies (Dental Unit, Family Centre, etc) belonging to other formations or agencies, whose primary function is also to offer complementary services to all integral and lodger units. It is not uncommon for several units or agencies to handle similar matters. For example, the Valcartier Family Centre offers prenatal classes, while Personnel Support Programs (PSP), through Health Promotion, aim to educate the community on various health-related subjects.

Units and Formations

5 CMBG, one of 2nd Cdn Div Support Group main users, is an Army operational battle formation comprising approximately 3300 Canadian Armed Forces members divided into eight units; it has more than 1100 vehicles of all types. This formation accounts for the majority of the military population at Valcartier Garrison, and its headquarters are also on the garrison.

Two other formations consisting mostly of reservists, 35 Canadian Brigade Group (35 CBG) and the Naval Reserve, are located off the garrison, as is the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group (CFRG). Only the services, agencies or units of 2nd Cdn Div Support Group, 5 CMBG and 35 CBG and the other integral units report directly to 2^nd Canadian Division (2 Cdn Div).

Personnel Support Programs

The Canadian Forces Community Gateway is a series of linked websites (one for every base and wing) that provides a common national view of all local base/wing Non-Public Property (NPP) programs and activities including publicly-funded programs delivered through NPP. These are just some of the services available on the Community Gateway site:

• Fitness and Sports
• Messes
• Recreation and Leisure
• Health Programs
• Family Services
• CANEX
• SISIP Financial Services