The rank of Brigadier General predated the 20th Century and was considered the most junior of the general officer ranks. This rank was considered the appropriate appointment for an officer in command of a brigade and officers commanding brigades were almost always promoted to this rank.

The insignia for a Brigadier General also included a set of gorget patches.

Following the First World War, the rank of Brigadier General was briefly abolished in the British (and consequently, Canadian) Army in favour of a rank called "Colonel Commandant". This rank persisted from 1922 until 1928, when it was renamed as Brigadier. Officers holding the new rank after 1928 were not considered General officers, reflected by the fact that their insignia deleted the crossed baton and sabre in favour of conventional officer's rank stars.

Responsibilities

It was extremely common for a Lieutenant Colonel to be promoted directly to Brigadier General in the field, then, as the rank of Colonel was not normally held by field officers.

Pre-Unification	Post-Unification
1900-1922	Canadian Forces Slip-On

Post-Unification

After Unification in 1968, the rank of Brigadier General replaced that of Brigadier, and the rank was again considered a general officer. The crossed baton and sabre were reintroduced to the epaulette rank, surmounted by the crown and a single maple leaf replacing the rank star. The number of maple leaves matched the number of stars an American General employed in his rank insignia, and the rank was sometimes referred to colloquially as a "One Leaf General" in emulation of US colloquialisms such as "One Star General".

In the late 1990s, the standard rank for an Army brigade commander became Colonel, a decision by the Chief of the Land Staff in line with a decision in the early 1990s to downgrade Land Force Areas from a Major General commander to a Brigadier General. Brigade commanders were rolled back in rank to conform to this practice, from Brigadier General to Colonel. A common concern in the early 1990s was the number of general officers in the Canadian military.