Known colloquially in English as the Van Doos (representing an anglicized pronunciation of the French number twenty-two, vingt-deux)[6] or in French as le Vingt-deuxième,[7] the mostly francophone regiment comprises three Regular Force battalions, two Primary Reserve battalions, and a band, making it the largest regiment in the Canadian Army.

The existing reserve regiments were not mobilized, due to the belief of the Defence Minister, Sam Hughes, that a new "efficient" structure was required.

The second contingent was more logically based on battalions raised and trained in the various military districts in which they were recruited, but remained using an impersonal numerical basis (with the exception of those with a Highland or Irish identity).

Considerable political pressure in Quebec, along with public rallies, demanded the creation of French-speaking units to fight a war many viewed as being right and necessary, despite Regulation 17 in Ontario.

[9] Borden had recently committed Canada to provide half a million soldiers to the Allied cause, and was just realising how demanding it would be to honour this promise.

While other French speaking units were also created, they were all broken up upon arrival in France to provide reinforcements for the 22nd, which suffered close to 4000 wounded and killed in the course of the war.

On 16 March 1945, the regiment moved with the I Canadian Corps as part of Operation Goldflake to North-West Europe, where it fought until the end of the war.

[18] On 1 June 1945, a second Active Force component of the regiment was mobilized for service in the Pacific theatre of operations as the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Royal 22e Régiment), CASF.

The regiment subsequently mobilized the 1st Battalion, Le Régiment de Châteauguay (Mitrailleuses), CASF for active service on 18 March 1942.

The regiment subsequently mobilized the 1st Battalion, Le Régiment de St. Hyacinthe, CASF for active service on 3 January 1942.

Three battalions of the Royal 22e Régiment served in the Republic of Korea as part of the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Commonwealth Division.

In the summer of 1990, the Attorney General of Quebec requisitioned the Canadian Armed Forces, including the Van Doos, to challenge Mohawk activists and warriors in Kanehsatà꞉ke and Kahnawake in a confrontation called the Oka Crisis.

'C' Company from the 1st Battalion, then based at CFB Lahr in West Germany as part of 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, served in Doha, Qatar, providing airfield security from 24 December 1990 to the end of March 1991.

The 3rd Battalion, along with an attached mechanized company from the 1st, provided the basis for the Canadian ISAF contingent in Kabul, Afghanistan, from February to August 2004.

Light infantry elements often fought toe-to-toe with the Taliban, relying heavily on sniper fire and man-portable grenade launchers to gain the edge over the militants.

The many wounded included Captain Simon Mailloux, a Van Doos platoon commander who returned two years later to Kandahar even though his leg had to be amputated.

[20] A second Van Doos battle group, this time based on the 2nd Battalion, deployed to Kandahar from March to November 2009 and was the vanguard of the much-vaunted "key villages" [21] program, wherein Canadian soldiers cleared urban areas of Taliban activity during sweeping combat operations and then installed sub-units permanently in those hamlets, guarding the approaches to Kandahar City.

The composition of this battle group was nearly identical to previous incarnations, and it was able to rely heavily on the recently deployed CH-146 Griffon and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to perform a wide variety of airmobile operations, as well as traditional mechanized manoeuvres.

Five additional Canadian soldiers, all belonging to the battle group's parent organization, Task Force Kandahar, also died during that period.

The final Canadian combat mission began in the fall of 2010 with the 1st Battalion Battle Group (BG) commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Michel-Henri St. Louis.

There is a group of 28 gravestones of members of the Royal 22e Régiment who died between 1929 and 1960 in the Notre Dame de Belmont Cemetery in Quebec City.

[35] The film features an English-speaking Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group, reflecting the language of the target audience.

The first line is: Gloire au vailland 22ème, a lui la palme de vainqueur; Refrain: Vaillants soldats, vos noms dans notre histoire.