The Toronto Vigil The vigil will take place at Toronto City Hall in Nathan Phillps Square. As with every vigil, it runs for seven nights, starting at 5:00pm each evening, The first name appears at 5:15pm. Each night’s vigil will be 13 hours long, ending at sunrise the following day. The vigil will then recommence at 5:00pm and run another 13 hours. The last name will appear as dawn breaks on November 11th.

The Names The vigil will commence in Toronto November 4th 2008. More than 9,700 names will appear each night. Each individual name will appear only once during the seven nights. The names include those killed in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Canadian Merchant Navy and the Canadian Army Medical Corps. The names appear in the same sequence in each vigil location.

The Toronto Vigil The Mayor and the City of Toronto are pleased to host the vigil in Nathan Phillips Square. The Toronto Vigil was made possible by the participation of Toronto City Hall and its staff and the support of Margaret and Jim Fleck, other generous private citizens, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

Many young men left the City of Toronto to fight on the battlefields of the First World War. Many young men returned from the war, permanently wounded or disabled from exposure to poison gas. These veterans occupied the streets and hospitals of Toronto for years after the war.

Searching The Names To find the exact night and time when a specific name will appear, use the Search Names tab located at the top of this page. The names appearing in the vigil will have no order or ranking. Each man or woman was equal in death.

Vigil Locations This vigil is also taking place in other Canadian cities and in London, England. You can access these vigils by using the Time Zones, Ottawa or London tabs located above. We encourage you to attend in person or to view the simultaneous vigil presentations created on each region’s webpage.

Time Zones This vigil is being presented across 9 time zones. Bear in mind the time difference when viewing a vigil online in another region. For example, the Toronto Vigil will start 5 hours after the London, England Vigil and one hour after the Halifax Vigil. But wherever you live, the vigil will commence at 5:00pm local time.

Educational Opportunities The History Society is helping to organize local schools and community groups to animate all of the vigil sites. If interested in participating in the vigil go to www.historysociety.ca. Teachers are encouraged to explore the educational resources available for classes at the website.

Memory is what makes us human.