Canada's desire for a new soldier system dated back to November 1988 and closely followed efforts in many NATO countries.

The first research effort, called Integrated Protective Clothing and Equipment (IPCE) Technology Demonstration, was initiated in 1995 but then was cancelled, due to high systems cost and failure to meet the majority of the requirements.

After satisfactory results, CADPAT was adopted by the Canadian Army in 1997; however, testing was not concluded until 2001 once the pattern was trademarked.

[5] The first operational use of the temperate woodland pattern was reported in September 2001 with Canadian soldiers serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Palladium Rotation 09.

This nearly made things complicated for the Department of National Defence (DND), since it had said that no Canadian commandos were officially in Afghanistan.

[10] Under the Soldier Operational Clothing and Equipment Modernization (SOCEM) project, DND sought feedback and advice from users for the trial camouflage known as Prototype J before it made its decision.

After Canadian Forces were deployed to Afghanistan, the AR pattern was expedited with the intent that it would be issued to soldiers in summer 2002.

[16] Beginning in 2019, as part of the Soldier Operational Clothing and Equipment Modernization (SOCEM) programme, a 'transitional' pattern began to be tested by the Canadian Armed Forces.

[17] The MT pattern is designed to blend into the wide range of environments, and is planned to serve as the day-to-day working uniform of the Canadian Armed Forces.

[15][17] In 2024, the Canadian Forces announced that issuance of MT-patterned uniforms would begin in February 2024 for high-readiness units first;[18] They also claimed that the transition to the new pattern would be complete by 2026.