Acknowledging and supporting Canadian military spouses 

It’s no secret that military spouses wear the invisible uniform, supporting their military loved one in countless selfless ways that contribute to strengthening the defence of the nation.

To celebrate the crucial role of the military spouse, every Friday before Mother’s Day in May is recognized as National Military Spouse Appreciation Day in the United States.

This tradition traces back to 1984, when President Ronald Reagan first recognized the important contributions of military spouses and proclaimed that a day be designated to recognize these unsung heroes.

Although, National Military Spouse Appreciation Day is not recognized in the same way in Canada, the importance of military spouses is certainly recognized across the country and many organizations, in recent years, are beginning to offer more and more programs to support those who wear the invisible uniform.

Even organizations outside the traditional CAF structure are offering programming to support military spouses. Just recently, Canada Company launched its METSpouse program, to help military spouses attain meaningful deployment across the country.

Military Family Services (MFS) offers a variety of programs to support military spouses, from employment to deployment services and from providing support to and tools to caregivers to encouraging a healthy lifestyle through DFIT.

It also offers the Family Care Assistance Program, designed to help Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) single parents and service couples by offsetting increases in the normal cost of childcare.

“On behalf of Military Family Services, I’d like to acknowledge and thank all military spouses for the role they play in enabling our operational effectiveness.  As a serving member myself, I know how important my spouse’s support has been over the course of my career. Time and time again, our spouses are called upon to make great personal sacrifices in support of our service to Canada.  Their lives are greatly impacted in so many areas. On this day, join me in honouring our military spouses. They are truly deserving of our respect and admiration,” said Colonel Dan Harris, Director of Military Family Services.

To learn more about what Military Family Services offers to military spouses click here.