. . . . . . .
There are "non-official" medals that can be worn with the CF uniform. QR&O 18.12 refers.
18.12 – NON-MILITARY DECORATIONS AND
MEDALS
(1) No officer or non-commissioned member when in
uniform shall wear a non-military decoration or medal, or
the ribbon representing any such decoration or medal,
except:
(a) the Albert Medal, the Edward Medal, a Board of
Trade Medal, a Life Saving Medal of the Order of St.
John of Jerusalem;
(b) the Medals of the Royal Humane Society, the
Royal Canadian Humane Association Medal, a Medal
of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution; and
(c) a decoration or medal awarded by or on behalf of
a foreign government.
(2) The decorations and medals mentioned in
subparagraph (1)(a) are classified as official and those
mentioned in subparagraphs (1)(b) and (c) are classified
as non-official.
(3) Only one official and one non-official decoration or
medal, or the ribbon representing the decoration or
medal, may be worn for one act of gallantry.
(M)
The bravery and lifesaving medals awarded by societies, associations, etc are (or were) traditionally worn on the right breast as they did not emanate from a "fount of honour" (The Queen or her predecessors in Canada's case) and thus are not included in the order of precedence for Canadian orders, decorations and medals. I recall seeing an official reference about the wear of these medals on the right breast, however I have been unable to find mention in any of the current references available online. (I thought it was in the quoted QR&O, but it may have been amended or perhaps I'm mistaken about where I saw it.)
Years ago I served with a fellow officer who had received one such medal (he also had a M.B.) He wore the ribbon on the right side when in service dress (with both tunic and shirtsleeve orders of dress), and probably wore the medal when the occasion called for it. I don't specifically recall whether there was a miniature version for wear with mess dress, but if there was, he would have had it.
As an example of the wear of such awards, here is a link to an article about the awarding of Royal Canadian Humane Association medals to several people, including members of the RCMP.
http://bc.rcmp.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=707&languageId=1&contentId=11054
As can be seen in the photo that accompanied the article, the medal is clearly worn on the right breast (and not just by the uniformed recipients but by all).
