A number of ceremonies will be held in B.C. on Monday as veterans and communities gather to mark Remembrance Day.
The annual commemoration is held on Nov. 11 every year to honour armed forces members who died in service of their country.
The City of Vancouver will be holding its annual ceremony at the city’s Victory Square starting at 10 a.m. PT. CBC News will carry the event live.
It will be the 100th time Remembrance Day is commemorated in front of the cenotaph at Victory Square, which was erected in 1924 at the corner of Hastings and Cambie streets to honour those who died in the First World War.
The city’s official program for the event says processions are expected to close nearby streets before the event starts. There will also be a commemorative flyover by the Royal Canadian Air Force, if the weather permits.
Elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, the Royal Canadian Legion’s Cloverdale Branch will hold an event and procession at 10 a.m. at Surrey’s Veterans Square.
In Victoria, the official provincial ceremony will be held at the Parliament Buildings, as usual. It will start with a parade at 10:30 a.m. PT followed by a ceremony at the Victoria Cenotaph.
Other events will be held throughout B.C., with the legion maintaining a list of some of them on its website.
An Ipsos poll conducted in October for Historica Canada shows that many Canadians are unaware of their history ahead of Remembrance Day, with some veterans saying it’s more important than ever to remember veterans’ sacrifices.
The same poll suggests an increasing number of Canadians intend to attend Nov. 11 events, though, with 37 per cent of respondents saying they will do so, up from around a quarter pre-pandemic.