The Army operated in England for only six months as envisioned; in the summer of 1943, the 1st Canadian Division and 1st Army Tank Brigade departed for Sicily, and at the end of the year, the 1st Canadian Corps headquarters, 1st Canadian Army Group Royal Artillery, 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division and ancillary units also departed for the Mediterranean, all to serve with the British 8th Army in Italy.
The First Canadian Army continued to operate in the UK with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Armoured Divisions, 2nd Armoured Brigade, 2nd AGRA, and ancillary units, plus the addition of non-national units, which would be a common situation until 1945.