C. Civic Engagement, Service, and Action · Civic Engagement, Service, and Action

Pride and Commemoration: How Canada Remembers

C1.4 A1.4 A1.2About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe why people take pride in their country and how pride can lead to civic participation.
I can describe ways Canada commemorates events, issues, people and symbols.
I can analyse the significance of a commemoration and how it has changed over time.
I can explain how pride and honest reflection on the past can go together.

Words to know

commemorate
To honour and remember an event, person or group in a public way.

national symbol
An object, image, song or emblem that represents a country, such as a flag or anthem.

civic pride
A feeling of respect and belonging toward one's community or country that can motivate people to contribute.

memorial
A structure or event created to remember people or events, such as a monument or a ceremony.

stability and change
A concept of political thinking: what stays the same and what changes over time, and why.

reconciliation
Building respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, including facing the truth about past harms.

Two minutes

At 11 a.m. on November 11, much of Canada goes quiet. Students stand still in gyms. Workers pause. Veterans stand at cenotaphs in towns large and small. For two minutes, people remember Canadians who served and died in wars and peacekeeping missions.

Nobody is forced to be silent. Why do so many people choose to do it? This lesson looks at how and why Canadians commemorate events, people and symbols, and why many people take pride in their country.

Why pride in one's country matters

The curriculum asks you to describe the importance of taking pride in one's country. Civic pride is a feeling of respect and belonging. People in Canada name many reasons for pride, such as:

a democracy with free elections and peaceful changes of government;
rights and freedoms protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
the contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, Francophones, and people from all over the world;
achievements in science, arts, sport, peacekeeping and community service;
the land itself, from the Great Lakes to the Arctic.

Pride matters because it can motivate people to contribute: to vote, volunteer, serve and protect what they value. Pride does not mean pretending a country is perfect. Many people feel proud of Canada and want to understand and improve the hard parts of its history, such as the harm done by residential schools. Both are part of being an engaged citizen.

What do we commemorate?

Canada recognizes many events, issues, people and symbols. Some examples:

Canada Day (July 1) marks Confederation in 1867. It was called Dominion Day until 1982.
National Flag of Canada Day (February 15) marks the day in 1965 when the maple leaf flag was first raised.
Remembrance Day (November 11) honours those who served in wars and peacekeeping. The poppy comes from the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by Canadian doctor John McCrae.
National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) celebrates the cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30) honours residential school Survivors, the children who never returned home, and their families and communities. It is also Orange Shirt Day, inspired by Phyllis Webstad, a Survivor whose new orange shirt was taken from her on her first day at residential school.
Black History Month (February) was recognized by the House of Commons in 1995 after a motion by Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons. Emancipation Day (August 1) marks the day in 1834 when the law abolishing slavery took effect in most of the British Empire, including in what is now Canada.
Franco-Ontarian Day (September 25) celebrates Ontario's French-speaking community and its green and white flag.
Nunavut Day (July 9) and Louis Riel Day (November 16), marked by many Métis communities, recognize Inuit and Métis histories.

Some days when people in Ontario and across Canada commemorate events, people and communities (positions within each month are approximate). February is also Black History Month.

How do we commemorate?

Commemoration takes many forms:

Holidays and ceremonies: Canada Day celebrations, Remembrance Day services, flag raisings.
Monuments, memorials and plaques: the National War Memorial in Ottawa, local cenotaphs, historical plaques on buildings.
Money and stamps: Viola Desmond, who challenged racial segregation in a Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946, appears on the $10 bank note issued in 2018.
Names: schools, streets, parks and buildings named after people.
Symbols and music: the flag, O Canada, the maple leaf, the beaver, provincial symbols such as Ontario's trillium.
Education and media: school assemblies, museums, documentaries, short films such as Historica Canada's Heritage Minutes.

Each method sends a message about what a community thinks is important to remember.

Commemorations change

The political-thinking concept of stability and change helps us see that commemoration is not fixed. Some traditions stay steady for generations (the two minutes of silence). Others change as the country's understanding changes: new days are created, names change, and anthem lyrics are updated. When a community debates how to remember someone, that debate is itself part of civic life. Your job in civics is to understand the different perspectives and the evidence, and to discuss them respectfully.

Commemorations are not fixed: they change as a country changes. This is the political-thinking concept of stability and change. Dots are placed to scale from 1960 to 2025.

Worked example

Let's analyse a commemoration

Analyse Remembrance Day as a commemoration: what it recognizes, how, why it is significant, and how it has changed or stayed the same.

What it recognizes: Canadians who served, and those who died, in the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, peacekeeping missions and later conflicts.
Methods: ceremonies at cenotaphs and the National War Memorial, two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., wearing poppies, school assemblies, reading In Flanders Fields.
Significance: it connects generations, honours sacrifice and reminds people of the cost of war. It reaches almost every community in Canada.
Stability: the date, the 11 a.m. silence and the poppy have stayed the same for about a century.
Change: the people being remembered now include veterans of later missions, and more attention is given to groups whose service was once overlooked, such as First Nations, Métis and Inuit veterans (National Indigenous Veterans Day is November 8).
Perspectives: veterans and families may see it as personal; newcomers may connect it to conflicts in their own family histories; others focus on hopes for peace.

Remembrance Day is a highly significant, long-lasting commemoration that has kept its core traditions while broadening whom it recognizes.

Just for fun

Funny but true: the beaver became an official symbol of Canada in 1975. That makes it, technically, a government-approved rodent, and it has appeared on most five-cent coins since 1937.

Hands-on activity

Commemoration detective

You need: a phone or notebook, and a walk around your town or a look at your town's website with a grown-up. Optional: coins and bills from a wallet.

Find three commemorations near you: a cenotaph, a plaque, a named park or school, a mural, a statue, or a symbol on money.
For each, record: what or who is commemorated, what method is used, and what message it sends.
Look at the coins in a wallet. List what each coin shows (for example, the loon on the $1 coin and the beaver on the 5-cent coin) and why you think it was chosen.
Choose one commemoration and write a short paragraph: Is it significant? Has it changed over time? Whose stories could be added?

What to look for: accurate descriptions, a clear method for each, and a thoughtful, respectful paragraph.

Your turn

Give two reasons why people may take pride in Canada.

How can pride lead to civic participation?

What does Remembrance Day commemorate, and what symbol is linked to it?

What does the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honour?

Name four methods of commemoration.

Give one example of how a commemoration has changed over time.

Why might a person feel proud of Canada and also want to learn about harmful parts of its history?

More practice: warm-up

What does commemorate mean?

On what date is Canada Day?

Who wrote In Flanders Fields?

Which person appears on the $10 bank note issued in 2018?

What month is Black History Month in Canada?

More practice: on your own

Explain the significance of choosing Viola Desmond for the $10 note.

Why is Franco-Ontarian Day important to Ontario's French-speaking community?

Compare a monument and a holiday as methods of commemoration. Give one strength of each.

Use the concept of stability and change to describe O Canada.

Why do new commemorations (such as September 30) get created?

Challenge

A community debates whether to rename a school named after a historical figure whose actions harmed some groups. Describe at least two perspectives fairly and explain how a community could make a fair decision.

Design a commemoration for a person or group from your community who has not been recognized. Explain your choice of method and its message.

Evaluate the statement: "Commemorations are about the past, so they don't matter to young people today."

Check your understanding

Quiz

What does the two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. on November 11 commemorate?

In what year was the maple leaf flag first raised?

Orange Shirt Day is held on the same date as:

Renaming Dominion Day as Canada Day in 1982 is an example of which concept of political thinking?

Which list contains only methods of commemoration?

Which statement best reflects this lesson?

Viola Desmond is commemorated mainly for:

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation C1.4 asks students to describe the importance of taking pride in one's country and to analyse how Canadian events, issues, people and symbols are commemorated. The lesson balances pride with honest reflection, and uses the concept of stability and change.

How to help: Share your own family's traditions for days like Canada Day, Remembrance Day or September 30, and any family connections to military service, immigration or Indigenous communities. Visit a local cenotaph or plaque together.

Sensitive content: The lesson mentions residential schools and war. Keep conversations calm and factual, and let your teen ask questions. If they want to discuss debates about renaming or statues, model respect for different perspectives; the course asks students to understand views and evidence, not to adopt a particular position.

Common difficulties: Mixing up dates and days is common; the calendar figure helps. Some teens think pride and criticism cannot go together; discuss how loving something can include wanting it to be better.