Vancouver’s 2025 Remembrance Day ceremony held at Victory Square

Vancouver’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony was held on Nov. 11, 2025.

Thousands of people lined the area around Victory Square to pay their respects to people who have served and continue to serve Canada.

A Remembrance Day event has been held at Victory Square every year since 1924.

1:54 Thousands pack Victory Square for annual Remembrance Day ceremony

“Victory Square is such a beautiful place,” retired Lt. Col Doug Poitras, who is the director of ceremony for the event, said.

“It’s similar, with everybody gathered so closely, like being in a church or a synagogue, any place of worship, and it’s just a heartwarming ceremony where, you know, the sights, the sounds, the musical instruments — it just contributes to social connectivity.”

2:20 Many veterans proud of the recent federal gov’t investment into Canadian Armed Forces

Poitras said the ceremony has evolved as Canada and British Columbia have evolved.

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“Especially here in Vancouver, where we have the school student poem contest and we have paraded numerous veteran groups from other countries,” he said.

Poitras added that he is deeply humbled to be the director of the ceremony this year and represent veterans and their families.

“I hope that indeed (it) meets the aim of being a heartwarming, perhaps therapeutic experience,” he said.

“Learn a little bit more about Canadian history, and also feel proud to belong to this community and appreciate the peace that we enjoy. Freedom is not free.”

Here is a link to the program and the parade route for the ceremony.

Traffic around Victory Square was closed for the event.