Queen’s Funeral: How Canada Marks the Day


As the Commonwealth mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Canada marks her state funeral with a national day of mourning and commemorations in the capital.

A celebration for some, the dark day will be marked in various ways across the country. In Ottawa, following the morning’s events in London, there will be a memorial parade at 12:10 p.m. ET and a service at a historically significant cathedral at 1 p.m. ET. CTV News will have live coverage all afternoon.

The memorial parade will begin at the Cartier Square Armoury, a military training center located next to Ottawa City Hall along the Rideau Canal. The parade will pass the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument and the National War Memorial on Elgin Street, before turning onto Wellington Street toward Christ Church Cathedral.

Canadian Heritage says the parade will include two RCMP Musical Ride detachments, as well as a 100-person military honor guard made up of navy, army, air force and special forces personnel.

A member of the National Sentinel Program will carry Her Majesty’s Personal Canadian Flag, and members of the military band will also participate, along with representatives from each of Her Majesty’s 16 military regiments.

A 96-gun salute – one shot for each year of Queen Elizabeth II’s life – will be fired during the parade from a location west of the city centre.

The service at Christ Church Cathedral is by invitation only and is expected to include some 600 guests, MPs, dignitaries and members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of various religious communities and charities with whom Queen Elizabeth II has had a close connection.

Confirmed guests in the nation’s capital include former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark. Mulroney and former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson will deliver remarks at the ceremony.

Over the weekend, Canadian Heritage confirmed other participants, including: Chief Justice Richard Wagner, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Chief NDP Jagmeet Singh, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Chief of the Defense Staff General Wayne Eyre, former astronaut Roberta Bondar and former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon will not be present as they represent Canada in London alongside more than a dozen prominent Canadians at the state funeral.

The cathedral is where many state funeral services have been held and where a memorial ceremony was held for Prince Philip in 2021.

Officials said the ceremony will involve religious and non-religious elements, reflecting the diversity of religions seen in Canada. Algonquin Spiritual Advisor and Ottawa Poet Laureate Albert Dumont will also pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.

The ceremony will include hymns and songs, a tribute video featuring an original piece composed by the Canadian Armed Forces for the occasion, and musical interludes by Canadian artists.

Canadian talents Ginette Reno and Rufus Wainwright will each perform a song, and the national anthem will be performed by singer and comedian Kim Richardson. There will also be a minute of silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

People are invited to gather along the parade route to watch, and screens have been set up at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories on Wellington Street for spectators to enjoy the historic occasion.

At the end of the ceremony, the church bells will ring and there will be a flypast of Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18s in the “Missing Persons Formation” moving over Parliament Hill, towards the cathedral.

The Canadian flags that fly at half-mast on all federal buildings and establishments in Canada and abroad, including the Peace Tower, are expected to be raised at sunset on Monday, marking the end of Canada’s official period of mourning. .