Honouring Our Past
Canadians have long served their country by participating in numerous wars and conflicts. Over the years, individual citizens, veterans organizations and service clubs have raised thousands of memorials across the country to honour those sailors, soldiers and airmen and – women who made great sacrifices towards the restoration of world peace and served their country so well.
Memorials across Canada
In keeping with our proud military heritage, Canadians erected cenotaphs in municipal centres, raised monuments in parks, cemeteries and public areas. Church members have mounted plaques and stained glass windows as memorials, and cairns and fountains have been constructed as important landmarks marking various military involvement. All of this is done to mark the service of family, friends and comrades, and to ensure that these important and not so well known battles and events form part of our communal memory.
Remembering the Sacrifice
Some of the military memorials are old, beginning to decay, and are in need of refurbishing. Others are still in good condition – or relatively new – and need only periodic care. But they, too, could decay if we do nothing.
Canadians have a vested interest in ensuring that no memorial lies forgotten and neglected. This is one of the main principles behind this project. Another is the desire to connect veterans, those who will not forget fallen comrades, with youth, who should always remember the sacrifices that have been made to ensure that Canada is such a magnificent country.
A Millennium Project -- Partnership
Recording all military memorials across Canada is a formidable task. It was realized at the very outset that no single organization could undertake such a project on its own. Hence, a partnership was formed whereby the Directorate of History and Heritage (DHH) and the Organization of Military Museum of Canada, Inc. (OMMC) joined forces to research, record and maintain a comprehensive inventory of all military memorials found across Canada. With the assistance of OMMC, provincial co-ordination centres were set-up to initiate the project. Other contributors such as the Royal Canadian Legion and other federal departments also assisted with the development of this national memorial inventory.
Currently, there are over 5 100 memorials posted on our web site. Everyday, we continue to receive information on Canadian military memorials. If there is a memorial within your community that our web site has not yet listed please contact us.
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Heritage & Traditions
