Joint Task Force Two

Although the Joint Task Force Two (JTF 2) is a Special Operations Forces unit rather than a traditional intelligence unit, its activities and operations are closely related to the world of military intelligence.

The mission of JTF 2 is to provide a force capable of rendering armed assistance in the resolution of an incident that is affecting, or has the potential to affect, the national interest. Although its primary focus remains counter-terrorism, the unit can expect to be employed on other high-value strategic tasks.

JTF 2 was created on 1 April 1993 when the Canadian Forces (CF) accepted responsibility for federal counter-terrorism operations from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Since its inception, the unit has continuously evolved to meet modern-day threats.

Click here to visit the Joint Task Force Two official website.

Resources

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Canada beefing up bomb task force
IEDs are considered such a threat that a group made up of a task force, intelligence officials, CSE, and the CF expeditionary and special operations commands, among others, meets every two weeks to review progress and deal with ongoing issues.
HTML | Published: 2008-05-19 | Added: 2008-06-30

Doubts raised about accuracy of controversial book on JTF2 commandos
Doubts are being raised about the accuracy of an incendiary first-hand account of Canada's secretive Joint Task Force 2 commando unit, a book whose author was arrested on the eve of its launch last week.
HTML | Published: 2008-04-30 | Added: 2008-05-05

Ex-commando held on eve of book release
Denis Morisset doesn't think it's a coincidence he was arrested this week just before he was to unveil a book about his eight years of service in the elite Joint Task Force 2.
HTML | Published: 2008-05-01 | Added: 2008-05-03

Elite troops quit for fat pay
Some of Canada's most elite and best-trained soldiers have abandoned the secretive Joint Task Force 2 unit for the promise of fat paycheques offered by private security firms working in Iraq and other hotspots, a top commander has confirmed.
HTML | Published: 2006-11-21 | Added: 2006-11-30

Elite troops get more pay to stay
Special forces units ranging from Canada's Joint Task Force 2 to the British Special Air Service are hiking pay in an effort to stem the flow of skilled personnel to private military firms.
HTML | Published: 2006-08-26 | Added: 2006-08-30

Anatomy of the Baghdad hostage rescue
The mission, led by Britain's secretive Task Force Black, involved the work of several Canadian agencies, including the RCMP, Department of Defence, CSIS and soldiers from the elite counterterrorism unit JTF 2.
HTML | Published: 2006-03-27 | Added: 2006-04-18

How 200 soldiers saved 3 pacifists
Agents with Canada's spy service, Mounties and analysts with CSE, rotated through Baghdad's Green Zone during the four months the hostages were held captive. Members of the Defence Department's elite JTF-2 were also on the ground.
HTML | Published: 2006-03-25 | Added: 2006-03-26

Canadian commando seriously hurt in Afghanistan firefight
One member of the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 is in hospital while two other members from the unit who were injured have returned to duty. It is thought to be the first time a JTF2 soldier has been injured in combat.
HTML | Published: 2005-12-08 | Added: 2005-12-17

3 Canadian special forces troops wounded in Afghan operations
Three Canadian special forces soldiers have been wounded on operations in southern Afghanistan, the first known casualties within the highly secretive Joint Task Force 2 in the troubled southeast Asian country.
HTML | Published: 2005-12-07 | Added: 2005-12-14

Canada's JTF-2 to hunt al Qaeda in Afghanistan
It is the first time that the Government confirms that members of Joint Task Force 2 -- Canada's elite and secretive commando unit -- will be involved in combat missions against al Qaeda supporters and remnants of the former Taliban regime.
HTML | Published: 2005-07-15 | Added: 2005-07-16

Canada Plans To Improve Light Infantry Units
Improving the capability of the light infantry by creating Tier 2 forces will give the JTF2 the added muscle it needs. The Army also plans to spend around $630 million on its intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance project.
HTML | Published: 2005-05-23 | Added: 2005-05-26

A defence plan likely to withstand any attack
A special operations group will expand Canada's commando unit, JTF2, and give it its own tactical helicopter, amphibious sea transport, intelligence, logistics and other support elements.
HTML | Published: 2005-04-21 | Added: 2005-04-24

JTF2 soldier missing since 2003 surfaces in Thailand
An explosives expert with Canada's elite commando JTF2 unit who disappeared after a two-week leave in August 2003 is now in military custody in Canada after showing up in Thailand; questions remain about what he did while he was missing.
HTML | Published: 2005-04-15 | Added: 2005-04-17

Canada's JTF2 captives vanish at Guantanamo
Individuals captured in Afghanistan by Canadian special forces were transported to the controversial U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, but American officials have been reluctant to provide the government with information on what has happened to the  [...]
HTML | Published: 2005-02-14 | Added: 2005-02-15

Spend more on spies, soldiers, Cellucci urges
The U.S. would like Canada to beef up its elite JTF2 special forces and would also like Canada's security agencies, such as the ultra-secret Communications Security Establishment, to help collect and interpret intelligence for its allies.
HTML | Published: 2005-02-04 | Added: 2005-02-07

Les soldats qui protègent certaines ambassades devraient être décorés
Les membres des forces spéciales en Afghanistan reçoivent tous les bénéfices d'un soldat envoyé en mission de combat, incluant décorations et honneurs militaires.
TEXT | Published: 2004-06-27 | Added: 2004-06-28

Watchdog links Canadians to 2 Afghan deaths
According to journalists, a tribal leader in his 80s was shot dead in a mosque and a 3-year-old girl drowned after she fell into a well trying to run away from U.S. forces. The organization alleged that the Canadian Joint Task Force 2 was involved.
HTML | Published: 2004-05-17 | Added: 2004-05-25

Bombings in Athens heighten concerns
Mark Lowry, the Canadian Olympic Committee's executive director of sport, said security measures are being drawn up by the RCMP, CSIS and Department of National Defence to guard the Canadian team, expected to number 275 athletes and 200 support  [...]
HTML | Published: 2004-05-05 | Added: 2004-05-10

Le Canada affirme être prêt à faire face à des attaques terroristes maritimes
Le Canada affirme être prêt à faire face à des attaques terroristes sur l'eau. Le JTF-2, une unité antiterroriste canadienne d'élite, s'entraîne depuis au moins un an à faire face à une telle attaque.
TEXT | Published: 2004-03-18 | Added: 2004-04-27

Key highlights in response to Chapter 3 of the Auditor General's Report "National Security in Canada - the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Initiative"
The Government is moving in the right direction, with efforts to more closely co-ordinate the collection of intelligence information and to encourage the exchange of information among analysts.
LINK | Published: 2004-03-30 | Added: 2004-04-14

Elite troops train for terror from sea
Joint Task Force 2 has been using Victoria, B.C., and Halifax, N.S., as well as offshore oil rigs, as areas for honing its skills to defend the country against a maritime assault.
HTML | Published: 2004-03-18 | Added: 2004-03-22

Terrorists could use B.C. coast, warns expert
The Canadian Forces counter-terrorism unit, Joint Task Force Two, is using port cities like Victoria to prepare for the possibility of a sea-based attack.
HTML | Published: 2004-03-18 | Added: 2004-03-22

Canadian troops to secure embassy in Haiti
Canadian troops were sent to Haiti Wednesday to help secure the embassy in the wake of increasing unrest. Canadian Press said they were likely part of special operations unit Joint Task Force 2.
HTML | Published: 2004-02-25 | Added: 2004-02-25

Des troupes canadiennes en Haïti
Ottawa va dépêcher des soldats canadiens en Haïti. Ce petit déploiement, vraisemblablement de membres de la Deuxième Force opérationnelle interarmées, aura pour mission de protéger le personnel de l'ambassade canadienne de Port-au-Prince.
HTML | Published: 2004-02-25 | Added: 2004-02-25

Canadian commandos were on afghan frontlines
Canadian commandos were part of a U.S.-led task force that killed at least 115 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters and captured another 107 over a six-month period in Afghanistan.
HTML | Published: 2002-09-29 | Added: 2004-02-11

Elite Canadian commandos get marching orders
Members of the Canadian army's secretive anti-terrorist unit Joint Task Force Two or JTF-2, are on the move and may be heading to Afghanistan.
LINK | Published: 2001-12-06 | Added: 2004-01-14

Joint Task Force Two
Official site of the Joint Task Force Two.
LINK | Published: 2003-12-17 | Added: 2004-01-14

JTF2 recruiting now
The CF counter-terrorist unit Joint Task Force Two (JTF2), is looking for service members with these qualities to join their team. Once again this year JTF 2 recruiters will be visiting bases across the country as part of their annual recruiting  [...]
LINK | Published: 2003-01-22 | Added: 2004-01-14

Special Ops: you fight dirty, we fight dirty
Being relatively new, Canada's JTF2 is considered a junior partner, but is acknowledged to have special expertise in cold-climate operations, having spent much time training in the Arctic.
LINK | Published: 2001-10-01 | Added: 2004-01-14

Canadian elite unit operating in Afghanistan: Eggleton
Special forces belonging to Canada's JTF-2 commando unit are operating in Kandahar, making them the first Canadian troops to set foot in Afghanistan in the war on terrorism.
HTML | Published: 2001-12-19 | Added: 2003-07-31

Canadian special forces join war on terrorism
Members of a Canadian special forces unit have gone to the Middle East location to join the U.S.-led military campaign against terrorism.
HTML | Published: 2001-12-07 | Added: 2003-07-31

Anti-Terrorism Unit Efficient, But Low-Profile
The Canadian Armed Forces unit Joint Task Force 2 is a shadowy, highly skilled counter-terrorist force of undetermined size, based somewhere near Ottawa with an anonymous commanding officer. And that's the way the military wants to keep it.
TEXT | Published: 1995-04-05 | Added: 2003-07-30

Canada's Counter-Terrorism Arrangements
If the on-scene police commander feels that he needs to have recourse to JTF-2 to resolve the situation, he will have to convince his commanding officer that police resources will not be enough and the commanding officer, in turn, will have to convince  [...]
HTML | Published: 1994-05-27 | Added: 2003-07-30

Canada's Elite Secret Army
The most secret, unpublicized and least known branch of the Canadian military is also its most controversial and, arguably at the root of many of the problems that have beset our Armed Forces in the past decade. It's something called JTF2.
HTML | Published: 2001-07-15 | Added: 2003-07-30

Defence Highlights: Budget 2001
Budget 2001 provides $119 million (between now and fiscal year 2006-07) to enhance the capacity of Joint Task Force 2. The additional funding will improve JTF 2's ability to respond to incidents both at home and abroad.
HTML | Published: 2002-12-10 | Added: 2003-07-30

Dwyer Hill Training Center
Map of the location of JTF 2 Dwyer Hill Training Centre in Goulbourn, near Ottawa.
JPG | Published: 2003-01-01 | Added: 2003-07-30

Eggleton confirms Canadian troops operating in Afghanistan
For the first time Defence Minister Art Eggleton is offering some details about the use of Joint Task Force Two. JTF-2 is Canada's top secret commando unit. Its members are the first Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
TEXT | Published: 2001-12-21 | Added: 2003-07-30

JTF2 at close range
Like a photo slowly emerging under a darkroom light, Joint Task Force Two is becoming visible to the public eye.
LINK | Published: 2002-03-08 | Added: 2003-07-30

JTF2: Canada's super-secret commandos
If truth is one of the first casualties of war, secrecy is one of war's first exigencies. There is no better instance of this than Canada's elite commando unit, which is so secretive Canadian authorities are hesitant even to refer to it as an elite  [...]
HTML | Published: 2003-01-08 | Added: 2003-07-30

JTF2 set to expand Ottawa base
The Canadian Forces has decided against moving its controversial and secretive commando installation from Ottawa to Petawawa, and will instead began full-scale expansion of the base at its present Dwyer Hill location.
HTML | Published: 2003-07-22 | Added: 2003-07-28

Canadiens sous uniforme étranger?
Le conservateur David Price a repris ses accusations sur la présence de forces spéciales canadiennes au Kosovo, ajoutant que ces troupes pourraient agir sous des uniformes américains ou britanniques.
JPG | Published: 1999-04-21 | Added: 2003-03-09

Art Eggleton envisage l'expansion de la force secrète antiterroriste
L'armée canadienne évalue la possibilité de faire prendre de l'expansion à sa force secrète antiterroriste JTF-2.
HTML | Published: 2001-10-04 | Added: 2002-11-27

Hommes de la JTF-2 et leurs prisonniers en Afghanistan
Picture of JTF 2 soldiers with their prisoners in Afghanistan.
JPG | Published: 2002-01-29 | Added: 2002-11-27

In the terrorism crunch, Canada has JTF2
In Canada, it is Joint Task Force Two, or JTF2. Defence Minister Art Eggleton mentioned JTF2 after the attacks on the World Trade Center as a resource Canada may offer in the war against terrorism. In December, Eggleton announced JTF2 was preparing to  [...]
HTML | Published: 2001-12-06 | Added: 2002-11-27

Joint Task Force Two - Canada's Secret Soldiers
It was a stunning allegation--that elite commandos were operating secretly on the ground in Kosovo, helping NATO planes choose targets. In this case, the soldiers are Canadians.
LINK | Published: 1999-04-22 | Added: 2002-11-27

Les forces spéciales canadiennes ont quitté l'Afghanistan
Les forces spéciales canadiennes, la discrète Joint Task Force 2, ont finalement quitté l'Afghanistan pour rentrer au bercail, a annoncé mercredi le ministre de la Défense, John McCallum.
HTML | Published: 2002-11-27 | Added: 2002-11-27

Les militaires canadiens ont procédé à des arrestations en Afghanistan
Les membres des forces spéciales canadiennes déployés en Afghanistan ont remis à l'armée américaine des hommes qu'ils avaient arrêtés.
HTML | Published: 2002-01-29 | Added: 2002-11-27

Un commando d'élite canadien se trouve à Kandahar
Un commando de 40 militaires de l'unité spéciale canadienne «JTF-2» se trouve depuis quelques jours à Kandahar, l'ancien fief des talibans. Ce sont les toutes premières troupes canadiennes à mettre le pied en Afghanistan.
HTML | Published: 2001-12-19 | Added: 2002-11-27

Joint Task Force Two (JTF 2) Personnel Section 98/99
JTF 2 is the CF Unit responsible for federal level counter-terrorist/hostage rescue operations. This mandate demand personnel who possess very specific personal attributes and capabilities and who can be trained to perform a diverse range of unique  [...]
HTML | Published: 1998-10-01 | Added: 2002-10-29

Dare to be Challenged
JTF 2 is recruiting in all categories this year. Both regular force members and reservists can apply and a specialist allowance comes with the job.
PDF | Published: 2002-01-01 | Added: 2002-08-03

Expansion Of JTF2 Dangerous
The government's recent decision to more than double the size of Canada's current special forces unit, the Joint Task
TEXT | Published: 2002-02-07 | Added: 2002-05-25

Joint Task Force 2
Joint Task Force Two (JTF2) is the Canadian Armed Forces elite counter-terrorist/special operations unit. Although the Joint Task Force is trained in counter-terrorism, it is believed that the unit operates more like an SAS-type special operations  [...]
LINK | Published: 2001-01-01 | Added: 2002-05-14