[1] Recipients of the Sea Cadet Service Medal must be in the sea element at the time of receiving the award, though time spent in army or air cadets also counts towards the award.

[2] Time spent in other Royal Canadian Sea Cadet corps also counts towards the medal.

This medal is not part of the Canadian Honours System and should only be worn on cadet uniforms.

While the application process varies on a corps-by-corps basis, Cadets must be nominated by a member of their local supporting branch of the Navy League of Canada.

This can be done using the Navy League form NL(104)E, and the application must be approved at both the local and divisional levels.