The accusations against Major General Dany Fortin date back to 1988 when he was a student at the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, Quebec, according to comments his lawyer made to local media.

Fortin denies any wrongdoing. In a statement on Wednesday he vowed to "vigorously defend myself against the charge." Fortin spoke outside a police station in the city of Gatineau, Quebec where the charge was filed, near the capital Ottawa.

The battle-hardened general who has 36 years of military service, including a stint as chief of NATO's mission in Iraq, said the single charge against him related to "some form of sexual misconduct alleged to have occurred more than 30 years ago." He did not give further details.

Fortin said being stripped of his post and now criminally charged was an ordeal for him and his family, like "living a nightmare."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented on sexual misconduct in the military, saying: "We have seen over the past number of months the extent to which the Canadian Armed Forces has not been to the level it needs to be to protect all women and men who choose to serve."

He recalled that his government in April tasked former International Criminal Court prosecutor Louise Arbour with reviewing the handling of accusations against soldiers, five years after a previous taskforce failed to stamp out sexual misconduct within the military's ranks.

"We've brought forward a number of different measures over the past number of years to improve the culture in the military," Trudeau said. "But we know there's more to do."

The military recently reported to parliament 581 sexual assaults and 221 incidents of sexual harassment since 2015.

Fortin was removed in May 2021 as head of Canada's Covid-19 vaccine distribution task force, after the accusations against him surfaced. He is one of several top military commanders who lost their posts due to sexual misconduct allegations over the past year.

In July, former chief of defense staff Jonathan Vance was charged with obstruction of justice related to an ongoing sexual assault investigation against him.

His successor Admiral Art McDonald was placed on administrative leave in February -- just one month into the job -- following similar accusations.

Although military investigators decided last week not to press charges against McDonald and closed the case, the government has declined to reinstate him and he continues to be on administrative leave.

Fortin is scheduled to appear in court on September 20.