Events

Veterans’ Week and Remembrance Day

veteransweek

Alberta schools recognize Veterans’ Week November 5 - 11

Veterans' Week and Remembrance Day honour those who sacrificed their lives in the cause of freedom. The online resources on this page can help teachers, students and families learn more, honour and remember all those who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace.

Learning about our national history is an important and valued part of the revised Alberta Social Studies curriculum.  First introduced in 2005, the new K-12 curriculum has been phased into Alberta's classrooms and is now being taught at every grade level across the province. The revised program includes an increased focus on teaching and learning history and emphasizes our country’s origins, Canada’s role in significant world events, and the ways in which Canada’s cultural mosaic has shaped our society.

For information about local school or school board activities, please contact the school or school jurisdiction directly.

Remembrance Day Online Resources

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Vimy Ridge Remembered. This web page describes the battle at Vimy Ridge including eyewitness accounts, links to information on the memorial and articles on student visits to the site.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Digital Archives
CBC’s Digital Archives provide highlighted selections from its radio and television archives on a number of topics including Canada’s involvement in war. A section for teachers includes educational materials that complement the topics on the site. The following pages may be useful for Veteran’s Week and Remembrance Day:

Canadian War Museum
This website contains history and statistics on Canada 's involvement in military conflicts. Resources for students and teachers, including a Remembrance Day toolkit, are available.

Histori.ca
Marion Orr. This webpage gives a brief history and Historica Minute video of at least one Canadian woman who managed to fly military aircraft during WWII.
John McCrae. This webpage gives a brief history and Historica Minute video of John McCrae, a Canadian and the author of ‘In Flanders Fields’. The site also includes a lesson plan to accompany the video.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Aboriginal Veterans - Stories of Honour and Heroism. The website contains information about the stories of Aboriginal men and women who fought and contributed to the war effort in the World Wars. Links and an activity for students are listed at the bottom of the page. 

Juno Beach Centre
Juno Beach Centre. This website contains information on Juno Beach where Canadians landed on D-Day. There are photos and a virtual tour of the Juno Beach Centre, a museum and cultural centre dedicated to the War efforts of all Canadians during the Second World War. 

LearnAlberta.ca
Critical Challenge: Three Dramatic Events. This webpage provides suggested activities and resources for about the dramatic effects of World War I, the Great Depression of the 1930s and the economic boom immediately following World War II by assessing the impact of these events on the economic well-being of the nation. 

Literacy and Archives Canada
Canada at War: A Guide to Library and Archives Canada's Websites Recalling the Canadian War Experience. This site provides resources exploring Canada's contribution to military and peacekeeping operations at home and around the world. Each link leads to a virtual exhibition or a database of primary documents.   

National Defence and the Canadian Forces 
National Speaker Program. Information on how to request Canadian Forces members to speak at schools and community events during Veterans’ Week. 

Public Broadcasting System
This website examines the forces, values, events and ideas that helped shape the global economic system from the beginning of the First World War until 2003. A main feature of the site is the video documentary, Commanding Heights, which is presented as three two-hour episodes or as a collection of clips called chapters. The website includes interviews, essays, charts, reports, an interactive historical atlas and economic data related to the topics of globalization, economic development and international trade.

Royal Canadian Legion
The website contains information about the Legion's “Poppy and Remembrance Campaign,” and resources including a teacher’s guide and a discussion guide. 

Music for Remembrance. This Royal Canadian Legion web page has several remembrance songs including ‘A Pittance of Time’ by Terry Kelly.

Veteran Affairs Canada
VAC Canada Remembers. The website is dedicated to keeping alive the achievements and sacrifices made by those who served Canada in times of war, armed conflict and peace. It contains educational resources that may be ordered online or downloaded and a listing of some of the Veteran's Week activities that are occurring in Alberta. 

  • VAC 90th Anniversary of the End of the First World War. The web page offers Canadians the opportunity to learn about Canada's role in the First World War.
  • Native Soldiers, Foreign Battlefields. The web page contains information about the response of Aboriginal soldiers to the wars, and their sacrifices, achievements and outstanding accomplishments in World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War.
  • VAC Canada Remembers: Canadian Women's Contribution During Wartime. The web page contains information on the contribution of Canadian women to the wars. First person stories, photographs and links are provided.
  • Lieutenant Colonel John McRae. The web page contains biographical information on Lieutenant Colonel John McRae, the author of the poem, “On Flanders Fields.”
  • VAC Canada Remembers: Canadian Virtual War Memorial. The web page contains a registry of information about the graves and memorials of more than 116,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who gave their lives for their country. Included on this site are the memorials of more than 100 soldiers who died in service to Canada since the Korean War, including peacekeeping and other operations. The site also contains digital images of photographs and personal memorabilia about individual Canadians.