What is the Royal Canadian Legion?

The Royal Canadian Legion is Canada's largest veterans' organisation, founded as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League at a unity conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 25, 1925. It received its 'Royal' designation from Queen Elizabeth II on June 19, 1960. The Legion is a non-profit, member-funded organisation with about 250,000 members in 1,350 branches across Canada, the United States, and several other countries.

The Legion's most visible national role is the Poppy Campaign, run every year from the last Friday of October until November 11, Remembrance Day. The campaign distributes more than twenty million lapel poppies and raises tens of millions of dollars annually to support veterans, their families, the Veterans and Tribute fund, and community programmes. The Legion holds the Canadian trademark on the lapel poppy and licenses it for the campaign each year.

The Legion's other national programmes include the Cadet League partnerships supporting the Royal Canadian Sea, Army, and Air Cadets, the Legion Foundation scholarships for the children of fallen and ill or injured Canadian Armed Forces members, the National Track and Field Championships for youth, and the Pilgrimage of Remembrance to European battlefields. Many local branches operate community halls used for Remembrance Day services, social events, and fundraisers.

The Legion's executive structure includes a Dominion Command in Ottawa, provincial Commands in each province and territory, and elected officers at every level. The Dominion President serves as the public face of the organisation, attending the National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial each November 11. The Legion magazine, founded in 1926, is the country's longest-running veterans' publication.