Remembrance Day Canada 2024
In 2024 Remembrance Day is Monday, November 11.
On remembrance day members of the armed forces (soldiers, sailors and airmen) are commemorated.
The other common name for this day is Armistice Day which marks the date and time when armies stopped fighting World War I. on November 11th at 11am in 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). Some 100,000 Canadian soldiers died in the First and Second World Wars.
In Canada, Remembrance Day is a federal statutory holiday - with a notable exception of NS, NWT, ON and QC - as it is in many other countries in the world where this day is observed on the national level.
All government buildings fly the Canadian flag this day and people remember those who fought for Canada during a two minute silence at 11am. Many people wear poppies before and on Remembrance Day to show their respect and support for Canadian troops. Poppies are generally handed out free but often a voluntary donation is given in exchange.
In the United States this day is called Veteran's Day and is also observed on November 11.
Should Remembrance Day be a stat holiday in every province?
We continue to receive lots of messages from people all over the country who are outraged why Remembrance Day is not a stat holiday everywhere in Canada. Indeed, common sense (or sense of fairness, justice, or whatever the motivation is) dictates to make this a stat holiday in every province and territory - even in Ontario. But not everyone agrees.
Send us your thoughts about this issue in the comment area near the bottom of this page.
"Please DO NOT make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday in Ontario. Family Day is a much more appreciated break for families in the heart of the long cold depressing winter. Remembrance Day is better observered in a ceremony at your school, community centre or place of work.Jason
Could this be true? What would most people do with another day off work? Sleep in, watch TV, play video games or celebrate our war heroes? Compare to Thanksgiving Day when most people cook a turkey and drink lots of beer instead of being genuinely grateful about anything.
I asked my 8 year old: would you learn anything about remembrance day if you stayed at home or would you probably just watch movies and play with your little brother? Her answer was: "I would just play and watch movies. At school at least I don't forget to talk about why we should try and not go to war anymore. Well I can't forget because the teachers tell us all sorts of things and we have to listen."From a random dad
The comments at the bottom of this page overwhelmingly favour making this a stat holiday across Canada. Maybe it should be a stat holiday for adults and a mandatory school day for kids?
Bill C-597 aimed to make Remembrance Day a national legal holiday. It received a third reading but did not become law. Even if the bill had passed it would be up to the provinces to decide what days are statutory holidays. It's an often overlooked and little known fact that the Royal Canadian Legion does not endorse the bill out of concern that Canadians would not take time off to remember and would treat a day off as a holiday. They want the kids in school - so they can talk about it and learn about it - not sit at home and know nothing about it. It's about respecting the veterns and teaching about them not having a day off to do nothing.
Here's yet another note from a reader:
Remembrance Day should not be a legal holiday. The veterans did not want it to be one because everyone would just see it as a paid day off. I managed a motel for 20 years and one group of veterans came every year for a week and it was imporant to them that children learn about the war and the sacrifices the veterans made for our country. If it was just a paid day off soon no parades or gatherings or poppies would be held on November 11th.Alice E Marshall
If an organized observance was held at schools and workplaces people would be much more likely to spend time participating and keeping the importance of Remembrance Day top of mind, won't they?
Perhaphs we, as a nation, will never come to a consensus and agree that Remembrance Day should or should not be a holiday in every province but we should at the very least agree to the comments of a self-identified "Angry Canadian Preteen" who proposes that we spend more time preventing future atrocities and less time looking back: Let's use Remembrance Day as a reminder to all of us that for the remaining 364 days we need to focus our discussion and actions to ensure that future generations won't have to fight in wars at all.
P.S.: It seems disrespctful and outright greedy to stock shelves with Christmas gear before Remembrance Day. What do you think? When should stores start displaying Christmas decorations and gifts?
Send us your thoughts, comments and ideas about Remembrance Day in Canada. What should and should't be done on this day? How best to pay respect to current and past members of the armed forces?
There are many that don't have Remembrance Day as a holiday that had family in wars.
Seems to be unfair many that have it off may not even know a single person that went to war. Please don't make us like the silent supporters of Trump.
Should not be considered as a day not at work. Get to know what our Canadians sacrificed and suffered for years to enable folks these days to enjoy their freedoms and families.my dad and uncles would flip in their grave listening to the comments about not having 1 day,just 1 day to ponder the losses and the achievements of our countrymen.
It should be a no brainer and absolutely disgusting that one day is not observed for our Canadian heroes..it goes beyond politics,religion,race. Shame on the infamous four.
i would love that "DAY" at home , to watch the programs-documentary's on t.v., without distractions, in the morning threw to 11:00 a.m. and on , to reflect. it means the most to me , to be at home at that time ,and not at work .i used to do that, until they took it away. i still understand the meaning of the day , but i used to reflect more visually at home at 11:00a.m. Ontario should return it to a holiday is my opinion.
We should be fair to the province that Remembrance Day should be declared as a statutroy holiday in Ontario, because across Canada it is observed as a holiday of reflection of the soliders and the army who protect our country and many people who lost their lives in World War, Can 1 holiday hurt other businesses??. We should have a holiday to pay a respect to the Armed Forces and Soldiers who protected our country, we should be thankful for them, its our reflection, I would just pay a respect to the soldier and the Armed forces, who served and protected us. We all think that is unfair to us that everyone gets a holiday and we dont get a holiday.
LGBTQ gets a month of recognition while remembrance day should be a stat holiday. Imagine the community events which could be co-ordinated to celebrate rather than a minute at work and then back to the grind.
Kids can learn about the war, and still enjoy the day off to be with family who can further teach them about the significance of the day.
I consider it a disgrace to the memory of our veterans that Remembrance Day is not a holiday nationwide.