[2] Following Royal Navy practice, promotion to the rank of lieutenant-commander was previously automatic following accumulation of eight years' seniority as a lieutenant (N).
Typical appointments for a lieutenant-commander include: The rank insignia for a lieutenant-commander is two 1⁄2-inch (1.3 cm) stripes with a 1⁄4-inch (0.6 cm) stripe between, worn on the cuffs of the service dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms.
As senior officers, they wear one row of gold oak leaves along the edge of the visor of their service caps.
Lieutenant-commanders of the Naval Operations Branch wear the officer's pattern of the branch cap badge: an anchor on a black oval, surrounded by a wreath of maple leaves at the sides and base of the oval, the whole surmounted by St Edward's Crown.
Prior to unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, rank structure and insignia followed the British pattern.