As a replacement for the Centurion Tank, Canada acquired 127 Leopard C1 tanks (equivalent to Leopard 1A3 with laser rangefinder) in 1978-79 for its Land Forces, with 114 being put into service.
Starting in 2000, the 114 Leopard C1 tanks in service were upgraded to C2 standard at a cost of CAD $139 million.