What is the National War Memorial in Ottawa?

The National War Memorial in Ottawa, formally titled The Response, is Canada's principal monument to those who served and died in war. The memorial stands in Confederation Square between Parliament Hill and the National Arts Centre at the intersection of Wellington Street, Elgin Street, and Sparks Street. King George VI dedicated the monument on May 21, 1939, three months and one day before the outbreak of the Second World War.

British sculptor Vernon March won the 1925 international competition to design the memorial. He died in 1930 with the work unfinished, and his six surviving siblings completed the bronze sculpture group at his Farnborough studio in 1932. The cast pieces were stored at the studio until 1937 when the federal government shipped them to Ottawa and the granite arch was erected on the present site. The design features 22 service members of the First World War passing through the arch, surmounted by allegorical figures of Peace and Liberty.

The memorial was rededicated in 1982 to honour all Canadians who have served in war, including the Second World War, the Korean War, peacekeeping missions, and the war in Afghanistan. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added at the foot of the memorial on May 28, 2000 with the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier killed near Vimy Ridge in 1917, exhumed from a Commonwealth cemetery in France and reinterred with full military honours.

The memorial is the focal point of national Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 11 each year, attended by the Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Silver Cross Mother, and members of the diplomatic corps. Sentries of the Canadian Armed Forces stand permanent guard during summer and on memorial days, a duty made permanent following the murder of Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the memorial on October 22, 2014.