Honouring Canada’s Veterans

As we approach Remembrance Day during Veterans’ Week, it’s a time for all Canadians to reflect and honour those who fought for our freedom and values. It is a day to remind ourselves of the important role the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) play internationally and at home.

For the first time in 50 years, the 2021 Census of Population collected detailed data on members of the Canadian Armed Forces. In the spring of 2021, there were 97,625 Canadians serving in the CAF as members of the Regular Force or Primary Reserve Force, and 461,240 Canadians counted as Veterans.

In honour of Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Week, let’s take a look at what we know about Canada’s Veterans and currently serving military members, by the numbers.

How old are Canadian Veterans?

According to results from the 2021 Census, more than 4 in 10 (41.8%) Veterans were seniors aged 65 years and older, while almost one-third (32.0%) were in the core working age group of 25 to 54 years. There were 33,420 Veterans aged 85 and older.

Where do Canadian Veterans live?

Veterans represented 1.5% of the total population 17 years and older in 2021. The census metropolitan areas of Belleville–Quinte West (4.5%), Halifax (4.4%), Kingston (4.0%), Fredericton (3.8%) and Saint John (3.5%) had the highest shares of Veterans among the total population aged 17 and older.

In 2021, 3.6% of Canadians who reported being a Veteran were living in a collective dwelling, compared with 2.1% of the total population aged 17 and older. The vast majority (93.6%) of these Veterans lived in a health care or related facility.

Women in Canada’s military

During the First World War, more than 3,100 women served with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps, but during the First World War and also the Second World War, not all divisions of the military permitted women to serve.

On July 2, 1941, the federal Cabinet authorized the formation of the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (CWAAF), and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) became the first environment of the military that actively recruited women. Kathleen Oonah Walker and Jean Flatt Davey were the first two women to become members of the CWAAF, paving the way for many more women to follow in their footsteps.

The establishment of a women’s division in 1941 and 1942 led to the enlistment of 50,000 women during those years. In 1989, Dee Brasseur and Jane Foster became the first female fighter jet pilots in the RCAF.

April 1, 2024, marked 100 years of service for the RCAF as an independent military element. The Centennial is a unique opportunity to celebrate the historical accomplishments of the RCAF and highlight the contributions of women. 

In 1989, all military occupations became open to women, except for submarine service, which opened in 2001. When combat roles opened to women in the 1990s, the recruitment pool doubled.

In 2021, almost one in six Veterans (16.2%; almost 75,000 people) were women. The average age of female Veterans (59.1 years) was lower than that of their male counterparts (61.7 years).  Furthermore, 43.7% of male Veterans were 65 years of age and older, compared with just under one-third (32.3%) of female Veterans.

Indigenous Veterans and service members

In 2021, about 1 in 20 Veterans (5.2%) and currently serving military members living in a private household (5.5%) aged 17 years and older were First Nations, Métis or Inuit. These shares were higher than that of the total First Nations, Métis or Inuit population aged 17 years and older (4.4%).

Diversity in Canada’s military population

Racialized groups make up an important share of the population currently serving in the military. Black (2.8%), Chinese (2.5%), South Asian (2.3%), Filipino (1.4%) and Latin American (1.2%) people each accounted for more than 1% of the currently serving Canadian military personnel in private households in 2021.

In contrast, Black (1.1%), South Asian (0.8%), Chinese (0.7%), Filipino (0.3%) and Latin American (0.3%) people each accounted for a smaller share of Canada’s Veteran population.

Although the percentage is relatively small, the share of currently serving military members (2.1%) and Veterans (1.6%) in couples who were members of a same-gender (cisgender), transgender or non-binary couple, was higher than the total population aged 17 and older in same-gender (cisgender), transgender or non-binary couples (1.5%).

Canadian Veterans with disabilities

In 2022, 46% of Veterans in Canada had at least one disability. Veterans aged 65 years and older had the highest rate of disability (55%), followed by Veterans aged 45 to 64 (43%) and Veterans aged 17 to 44 (32%). The most common types of disabilities among Veterans with a disability were pain-related (72%), physical (66%), or sensory (51%) disability types.

Learn more and participate

Veterans and their contributions will always be a great asset worth recognizing. For more data on Veterans and currently serving members, see the infographics Diversity of Canada’s Veterans and military population and Snapshot of Canadian Veterans with Disabilities.

Each year, the Poppy Campaign runs from the last Friday of October to November 11. Canadians are invited to wear one as a visual pledge to honour Canada’s Veterans and to remember those who sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Visit the Veterans Affairs Canada website for more information and events commemorating this year’s Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Week.