Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Tobin joined the Canadian Armed Forces in June 2000 under the Regular Officer Training Program. Upon graduation from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2005, he was commissioned as an infantry officer and was posted to 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Tobin’s regimental service includes assignments as a rifle platoon commander, direct-fire support platoon commander, assistant adjutant, operations staff officer, rifle company second-in-command, adjutant, and rifle company commander. His diverse extra-regimental assignments include service at the Land Force Central Area (now 4th Canadian Division) Training Centre as Training Officer, Operations Officer, and Chief Instructor; a command tour as Officer Commanding Joint Personnel Support Unit Eastern Ontario Region; service on the Army Staff as a desk officer for the Canadian Army International Programme, and as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Commander Canadian Army. He most recently served on the Strategic Joint Staff, leading a team of strategic planners for the Middle East, Africa, and peace support operations.

Lieutenant-Colonel Tobin’s expeditionary deployments include Operation ATHENA in Kandahar, Afghanistan from 2008-2009, Operation IMPACT in Baghdad, Iraq as a member of Combined Joint Task Force Operation INHERENT RESOLVE Forward Headquarters in 2017, and Operation PRESENCE Mali in Bamako, Mali as a strategic planner for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali from 2022-2023, where he also served as the Deputy Task Force Commander for the contingent of Canadians deployed there. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Tobin is a graduate of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College and the Canadian Forces College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, and a Master of Arts from King’s College London. He is a recipient of the United States Joint Service Commendation Medal for his service in Iraq, and the Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for his service in Mali.

Lieutenant-Colonel Tobin is married to a remarkably understanding woman, who is an accomplished professional in her own right. Together, they are the proud parents of two exceptional teenage children. Lieutenant-Colonel Tobin is an outdoor enthusiast and avid whitewater canoeist. Having recently exhausted the goodwill of family and friends to accompany him on increasingly adventurous whitewater outings, he now spends his free time as a volunteer, planning and leading whitewater river expeditions for the Wilderness Canoe Association.