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Over 650,000 Canadians served our country in the First World War. The survivors were welcomed home as heroes but were left to fend for themselves to obtain the medical care, financial support and social services they desperately needed. They did so by forming local Veterans’ associations–and in the process laid the foundations for what, in 1926, would become the Canadian Legion.

Fast-forward 100 years and the Legion is today woven into the very fabric of our nation, serving and advocating for Veterans and their families, ensuring we remember their service and sacrifice, and connecting Canadians in communities from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

The years between the Legion’s founding and its 2026 Centenary celebrations were filled with tragedies and triumphs, struggles and successes, conflicts and comradery. And they are captured in stunning detail in a new interactive website that chronicles the Legion’s history from its beginnings to the present day.

The new website delves deep into the Legion’s 100 years of service to Veterans and Canada, highlighting close to 50 key dates and milestones.

Did you know that Poppies, inspired by John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields’, were first used in Canada in 1921 to raise funds for Veterans? In 1948 an Act of Parliament granted the Legion trademark protection of the Poppy, safeguarding it as Canada’s enduring symbol of Remembrance. Or that in 1931, the Legion successfully advocated for a National Day of Remembrance each November 11, cementing Remembrance in Canada’s identity? Or that the Legion didn’t get its Royal designation until the early 1960s? Or that the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added at the National War Memorial as part of a Legion millennium project?

The website is organized in three main sections: Foundations and Advocacy (1914-1936); Postwar Rehabilitation and National Growth (1939-1984); and Modern Era & New Veterans (1990-present). Users can view the site in chronological order or by easily navigating directly to a year or event in the Legion’s history that interests them.

“We are very proud of this website, but most importantly, proud of the story that it tells,” says Berkley Lawrence, the Legion’s Dominion President. “The story of the Legion over its first century is a story of impact – for Veterans, for our communities, and for Canada. We encourage everyone to visit the website, to learn more about our work, and to join us as we enter our second century.”

Step into our history at Legion.ca/ourstory