The Band

General Information

The Band of the Ceremonial Guard is part of the Canadian Forces Primary Reserves. It forms each year for the purpose of providing musical support for the world famous Changing the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill - Ottawa. During this period the band is also tasked with supporting official functions held at Rideau Hall, foreign embassies, and other sites around the national capital region.

Distinctive in the scarlet uniform and bearskin headdress, the Band of the Ceremonial Guard attracts huge crowds wherever it performs. The band provides an excellent summer employment opportunity for music students to experience life in the Canadian Forces. Selected candidates are not only excellent musicians, but also fine ambassadors of the Canadian people.

This military band has been given many awards and is considered the top military marching band in the country. In 1997, the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, in recognition of the Ceremonial Guards long association with the City of Ottawa, acknowledged the Ceremonial Guard as the most prominent tourist attraction in the Nation's capital.

Many outstanding musicians from universities and colleges across Canada have been members of the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in the past. Several of these have gone on to musical careers as members of professional symphonies or military bands and as music teachers or educators.

The Band of the Ceremonial Guard also participates in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, and in 2008 the Band participated in Oslo, Norway as part of HM King Harald V Kings Guard Inspection and the Norwegian Changing of the Guard along with numerous concerts in Oslo.