The Prime Minister is not Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, rather the role is held by the Queen of Canada and is held on behalf of the monarch by the Governor General of Canada.
| Prime Minister | Service | Rank | Active Service |
|---|
| Sir John A. Macdonald | Sedentary Militia | Private | Kingston during Upper Canada Rebellion 1837; Minister of Militia and Defence 1860-1867 |
| Alexander Mackenzie | Canadian Militia | Major | None; member of militia in Lambton, Ontario (1866–1874) |
| Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott | Canadian Militia | commanding officer (Lieutenant Colonel?) | None; officer of 11th Argenteuil Battalion militia in Montreal area (1866-1874?) |
| Sir John Sparrow David Thompson | none | none | none |
| Sir Mackenzie Bowell | Canadian Militia | Lieutenant Colonel | Canadian militia posted along the border during the American Civil War; member of 49th (Hastings) Battalion of Rifles militia unit in North Hastings, Ontario (1867–1872); Minister of Militia and Defence 1892 and 1896 (acting) |
| Sir Charles Tupper | none | none | none |
| Sir Wilfrid Laurier | none | none | none |
| Sir Robert Laird Borden | none | none | none |
| Arthur Meighen | none | none | none |
| William Lyon Mackenzie King | none | none | none |
| Richard Bedford Bennett | none | none | none |
| Louis St. Laurent | none | none | none |
| John Diefenbaker | Canadian Expeditionary Force (Permanent Active Militia) | Lieutenant | Served during World War I (1916–1917) in Britain as member of 196th Battalion (Western Universities), CEF |
| Lester Bowles Pearson | Canadian Expeditionary Force (Permanent Active Militia) | Lieutenant | Served during World War I in Greece and Egypt as member of Canadian Army Medical Corps and later in the Royal Flying Corps as Pilot (1915–1918) in Britain |
| Pierre Trudeau | Canadian Army Home Service / Canadian Army Reserve | Officer cadet | None; Served in Canadian Officers' Training Corps from 1943 to 1945 in Montreal during World War II, but never deployed overseas |
| Joe Clark | none | none | none |
| John Turner | none | none | none |
| Brian Mulroney | none | none | none |
| Kim Campbell | none | none | none; Minister of National Defence 1993 |
| Jean Chrétien | none | none | none |
| Paul Martin | none | none | none |
| Stephen Harper | none | none | none |
| Justin Trudeau | none | none | none |
Two Prime Ministers have been Minister of Militia and Defence (Macdonald and Bowell) and one as Minister of National Defence (Campbell).