The Fort York Drums wear the uniform of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, a unit that saw action throughout Canada during the War of 1812, and was garrisoned at Fort York in 1815.  It makes sense that the Drums should represent this regiment, as the fort that stands today was for the most part complete in 1815 and the entire regiment was garrisoned there.

This regiment was a yellow faced battalion, meaning that the regular infantryman wore a red coat with yellow facings (collar and cuffs).  This colour distinction allowed commanders to distinguish between regiments, as every regiment was assigned its own facing colour.

The drummers of a non-Royal regiment wore "reversed colours".  This means, that their coats were yellow with red facings.  This reversal allowed the drummers to stand out from the infantrymen.  This may have been due to the fact that a Corps of Drums was an object of pride for a regiment, and so it made sense to dress them differently.  It is also a functional difference, as music was used to communicate with the army, so it was necessary to be able to identify the drummers quickly in garrison or on the battle field.

Each drummer (or fifer) was issued a fife case and sword.  The fife case was likely a brass tubular case, worn over the shoulder and suspended by a belt.  The sword was similar to the NCO.'s sword of the period, and was suspended from a sword belt over the opposite shoulder of the fife case.  The sword was intended as a symbol of importance rather than a weapon.  In addition, many regiments gave their fifers and drummers a more traditional bear skin caps rather than the more common shacko.  It is quite possible that the drummers of the Canadian Regiment had bear skin caps.