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General Ray Henault is appointed Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff.
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Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, is assassinated by al-Qaida/Taliban.
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Al-Qaida terrorists attack the United States, killing thousands in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa.
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NATO, including Canada, announces that the attack against the United States is an attack against the entire alliance.
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Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government announces that Canada will contribute troops to the international force being formed to remove the Taliban government from power and dismantle the al-Qaida terrorist network. On Oct. 8, Defence Minister Art Eggleton announces the launch of Operation Apollo. Canada will send 2,000 troops, six warships and six planes to Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.
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The Northern Alliance and Western allies enter Kabul, defeating the Taliban-led government.
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Forty members of Joint Task Force 2 — the elite commando unit — arrive in Afghanistan, the first Canadian troops on the ground.
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The United Nations authorizes the creation of the International Security Force (ISAF) to bring peace to Afghanistan.
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Hamid Karzai is appointed interim leader of Afghanistan by the United Nations.
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Canada re-establishes diplomatic ties with Afghanistan.
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Canada sends 850 troops from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry to Kandahar as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
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Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith are the first Canadian soldiers to die in Afghanistan, killed by American friendly fire during a training exercise near Kandahar.
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John McCallum becomes the new minister of defence.
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Karzai is selected as president of Afghanistan’s Transitional Administration.
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Toronto resident Omar Khadr, 15, is wounded and captured during a firefight with American troops in Afghanistan. It is alleged he threw the grenade that killed U.S. Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer.
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Canadian troops are deployed to Kabul.
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Omar Khadr is transferred to a prison built to hold al-Qaida terror suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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Defence Minister John McCallum announces Canada has been asked to contribute more troops to Afghanistan.
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CIDA pledges $250 million in reconstruction aid to Afghanistan.
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Prime Minister Chretien announces Canada will not join the “Coalition of the Willing” to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
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Canada takes command of the 3,600-strong international peacekeeping force in Kabul.
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NATO takes command of the ISAF mission, which now extends beyond Kabul.
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The Canadian Embassy in Kabul reopens.
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Chretien makes a five-hour visit to Kabul and lunches with President Karzai.
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Paul Martin becomes prime minister and appoints David Pratt as the new minister of defence.
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Gen. Rick Hillier assumes command of all 5,500 ISAF troops from 30 countries for six months.
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Bill Graham becomes Canada’s minister of defence.
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NATO’s commitment is increased to 10,000 troops from 6,500.
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Presidential elections are held in Afghanistan. Karzai wins 55 per cent of the vote.
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Chief of Defence Staff Ray Henault is appointed NATO’s military commander.
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Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier is appointed Canada’s new Chief of Defence Staff.
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Canada announces plans to deploy 1,250 troops in the volatile region of Kandahar.
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Canada takes command of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar City; the forward operating base is named Camp Nathan Smith after one of the first Canadian soldiers to die in Afghanistan.
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700 Canadian troops move via convoy from Kabul to Kandahar Airfield. The move takes till December.
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Camp Julien, the Canadian base just outside Kabul, officially closes and ISAF transfers the land and buildings to the Afghan government.
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Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier signs an agreement with the government of Afghanistan related to the transfer of detainees into Afghan custody.
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A minority Conservative government under Stephen Harper is elected.
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Harper becomes prime minister and appoints retired brigadier-general Gordon O’Connor his minister of defence.
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Canadian Brig.-Gen David Fraser takes over command of the multinational brigade based in Kandahar.
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Harper travels to Kandahar and meets with Karzai.
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The House of Commons votes to extend the mission for another two years.
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The RCMP charges 12 adults and two juveniles with offences under the Anti-terrorism Act. The “Toronto 18” allegedly planned to kill the prime minister to force Canada’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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A Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut shop opens at Kandahar Airfield.
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Canada-led ISAF’s Operation Medusa attacks Taliban strongholds in Panjwaii and Zhari districts.
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Afghanistan asks Canada to stay longer than its February 2009 pullout deadline.
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Thousands of people attend a Red Friday rally on Parliament Hill, spawning a national movement to wear red on Fridays in support of the troops.
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NATO assumes command of all military operations in Afghanistan from the United States.
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Canada pledges another $200 million in aid to Afghanistan.
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The Military Police Complaints Commission announces it will investigate claims that prisoners transferred by the Canadian military to Afghan authorities were tortured.
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Canada renegotiates the prison transfer agreement with Afghanistan.
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A board of inquiry into the March 2006 death of Pte. Robert Costall finds he was accidentally killed by friendly fire, not the Taliban, during the firefight.
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Peter MacKay becomes defence minister.
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After tens of thousands of people sign an online petition, Highway 401 between CFB Trenton and Toronto is designated the “Highway of Heroes” to honour fallen soldiers.
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Harper announces the creation of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan.
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The Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan recommends Canada stay longer, change to a training mission by 2011, get a commitment from NATO to put more international forces in Kandahar and that the government buy more helicopters and surveillance equipment. The Harper government accepts all the recommendations.
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The House of Commons votes to extend the mission until July 2011.
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The NATO summit promises more troops to bolster the Canadians in Kandahar.
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The federal government announces a new 20-year, $30-billion “Canada First” defence policy.
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Canada announces foreign aid in Afghanistan will focus on three signature projects: rehabilitation of a dam, school construction and widespread polio vaccinations.
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Gen. Walt Natynczyk becomes the new Chief of Defence Staff.
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The first conviction in the “Toronto 18” case is recorded. Nishanthan Yogakrishnan is later sentenced to 2 1/2 years — time served — for participating in a terrorist group.
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Manslaughter charges against Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser for accidentally shooting Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh to death in August 2006 are dropped.
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Captain Robert Semrau is charged with second-degree murder of an unarmed, wounded Taliban insurgent in October 2008.
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Hamid Karzai is re-elected president of Afghanistan for another five years.
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Prime Minister Harper declares the military mission in Afghanistan will end by December 2011.
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American President Barack Obama announces a surge of an additional 30,000 troops for Afghanistan, bringing the overall total to almost 100,000 military personnel.
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Police arrest Col. Russell Williams in connection with the murder of two women in the Trenton, Ont., area. Williams is base commander of CFB Trenton, the transportation hub for the Afghanistan mission.
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Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin testifies at a Military Police Complaints Commission hearing that the Canadian Forces were blocking human rights monitors from visiting detainees transferred to Afghan custody.
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Col. Russell Williams is charged with dozens of break-and-enters in Ottawa and Tweed, a small town in Eastern Ontario. This is in addition to murder, confinement and assault charges.
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Brig.-Gen Daniel Menard, commander of Task Force Afghanistan, is sent home after allegations of sexual misconduct at Kandahar base.
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Canada transfers responsibility for Kandahar City to American troops.
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Omar Khadr's war crimes trial before a military tribunal gets under way at Guantanamo Bay.
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Capt. Robert Semrau is demoted and dismissed from the Canadian Forces after being convicted of disgraceful conduct for shooting a severely wounded Taliban fighter on an Afghan battlefield in October 2008.
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Col. Russell Williams, who pleaded guilty to murder charges, is sentenced to two life terms for killing Jessica Lloyd and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau. He was base commander of CFB Trenton at the time of the crimes.
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Omar Khadr pleads guilty to five war-crimes charges including the murder of American soldier Christopher Speer.
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Bill Harris, a senior American diplomat in Afghanistan, heaps praise on the Canadian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, saying “people will write dissertations” about it one day.
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The military tribunal sentences Khadr to 40 years in prison. He is eligible to apply for a transfer to a Canadian prison in one year.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces the Canadian military presence in Afghanistan will continue in a non-combat role until 2014.
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Canada commits another $300 million over three years in foreign aid to Afghanistan.
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Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who planned the 9/11 attacks, is killed by American commandos during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
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Harper visits the troops in Kandahar for a final time.
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Canada officially transfers command of the Kandahar region to American troops.
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Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard (retired) pleads guilty to two charges related to sexual misconduct with a subordinate while commanding Canadian troops in Afghanistan. He is demoted to colonel and fined.
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Former reservist Matthew Wilcox is sentenced to four years in prison for shooting his friend and tent mate Cpl. Kevin Megeney to death in Afghanistan in 2007.
