Joseph Gérard Maurice Baril, OC CMM MSM CD (born September 22, 1943) is a retired general officer in the Canadian Forces, a Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General & head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations from 1992 to 1997, and Chief of the Defence Staff in Canada from 1997 to 2001.

[2] Baril was in charge of the Military Division at DPKO during the Rwandan genocide where his countryman General Roméo Dallaire was force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

[1] In 1996 Canada's prime minister Jean Chretien appointed Baril to lead a multinational force, whose main task would be to provide humanitarian aid to refugees in Zaïre, with military assistance if required.

[3] In September 1997, Baril was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff by Governor General Roméo LeBlanc, on the advice of his Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien.

Maurice Baril was appointed chairman of the board of directors for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) in 2005, but resigned in January 2007.