Canada in the First and Second World Wars

The two world wars are among the most tested parts of Discover Canada's history chapter, and several of the dates live on in holidays you will see every year. This follows the guide's chapter on Canada's history, checked on 23 September 2026.

The First World War, 1914 to 1918

More than 600,000 Canadians served, most of them volunteers.

• Vimy Ridge, April 1917. The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge, with 10,000 killed or wounded, securing its reputation as the "shock troops of the British Empire". One Canadian officer said of it: "In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation." April 9 is Vimy Day.
• The last hundred days. General Sir Arthur Currie, whom the guide calls Canada's greatest soldier, commanded the Canadian Corps, including the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, "the black day of the German Army".
• Internment. From 1914 to 1920, Ottawa interned over 8,000 former Austro-Hungarian subjects, mainly Ukrainian men, as "enemy aliens" in labour camps.

The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918. In total, 60,000 Canadians were killed and 170,000 wounded.

The war also changed Canada at home. Women won the vote, starting with Manitoba in 1916, and in 1917 federally, first for nurses at the front. After the war, Canada adopted its own coat of arms and national motto.

The Second World War, 1939 to 1945

The war began in 1939, when Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator of Germany, invaded Poland. More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served, and 44,000 were killed.

• Hong Kong (1941) and Dieppe (1942) were costly defeats.
• D-Day, June 6, 1944. 15,000 Canadian troops stormed and captured Juno Beach. About one Allied soldier in ten on D-Day was Canadian.
• The Netherlands. The Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands in 1944 and 1945 and helped force the German surrender of May 8, 1945.
• The air and the sea. More than 130,000 Allied air crew trained in Canada, and the Royal Canadian Navy had its finest hour in the Battle of the Atlantic, ending the war as the third-largest navy in the world.
• Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.

The guide also records a wrong done at home: Canadians of Japanese origin were forcibly relocated and their property sold without compensation. The Government of Canada apologized in 1988 and compensated the victims.

Remembering

Remembrance Day, November 11, marks the Armistice of 1918. In Ottawa, the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill was completed in 1927 in memory of the First World War, and its Memorial Chamber holds the Books of Remembrance, with the names of those who died serving Canada.

For the test

The dates asked most are April 9 (Vimy), November 11 (the Armistice) and June 6, 1944 (Juno Beach). Our study notes on Canada's history and the practice questions cover these and the rest of the chapter.