Remembrance Day Ceremony Ottawa 2026: Starts About 10:45 a.m.

The National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa is on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, and starts at approximately 10:45 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) with the arrival of dignitaries, according to Ottawa Tourism. Virginia Hicks, the 2026 National Silver Cross Mother, will place a wreath. This page sets out the day in order, converts the times for other Canadian time zones and links a printable timeline.

The Royal Canadian Legion organizes the ceremony. We could not read a detailed 2026 program from the Legion, so the order below is Ottawa Tourism’s. For the holiday question (who gets the day off), see Remembrance Day 2026 in Canada.

Remembrance Day in Ottawa: the day in order

Time (ET)	What happens	Source
8 a.m.	Canadian War Museum Lobby opens to the public	Canadian War Museum
9 a.m.	A limited number of free Memorial Hall tickets go out at the Information desk	Canadian War Museum
About 10:40 a.m.	Memorial Hall event begins, in English and French	Canadian War Museum
About 10:45 a.m.	Ceremony starts at the National War Memorial with dignitaries arriving	Ottawa Tourism
After the arrivals	National anthem, two minutes of silence, wreath-laying	Ottawa Tourism
11 a.m.	Sunlight shines through a single window in Memorial Hall at the museum	Canadian War Museum
End of the ceremony and through the day	Poppies placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier	Ottawa Tourism

Ottawa Tourism also lists a fly-past, “subject to weather,” but gives no time for it. The two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. comes from Veterans Affairs Canada, which asks the nation to pause then.

What time does the Ottawa ceremony air in each Canadian time zone?

Silence is observed at 11 a.m. local time everywhere in Canada. The table converts the Ottawa clock for anyone watching the ceremony live from elsewhere.

Zone	Dignitaries arrive (about 10:45 a.m. ET)	11 a.m. ET
Pacific	7:45 a.m.	8 a.m.
Mountain	8:45 a.m.	9 a.m.
Central	9:45 a.m.	10 a.m.
Eastern (Ottawa)	10:45 a.m.	11 a.m.
Atlantic	11:45 a.m.	Noon
Newfoundland	12:15 p.m.	12:30 p.m.

Who is the 2026 National Silver Cross Mother?

The Royal Canadian Legion has named Virginia Hicks the 2026 National Silver Cross Mother, The Canadian Press and the news service of Bell Media’s broadcast network (CTV) reported on Nov. 1. The Canadian Press quotes the Legion as saying she will place a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Nov. 11.

Hicks lost her daughter, Sapper Mariebeth Short, in a military training accident. The Canadian Press says Short died on Sept. 23, 2002 during a training exercise in Petawawa, Ont.; CTV News describes her as a 22-year-old of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, based at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa. Hicks served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 29 years, The Canadian Press reported. CTV News puts her service at nearly 30 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, in logistics and supply.

Is the Canadian War Museum event free?

The Canadian War Museum lists its Memorial Hall livestream event on Nov. 11, 2026 at 10:40 a.m., in English and French, as free. “At exactly 11 am, sunlight shines through a single window in Memorial Hall,” the museum says. A limited number of free tickets are available from 9 a.m. at the Information desk, and the Lobby is open to the public from 8 a.m. The museum’s page does not say that general admission is free, so check before you go.

Where can you watch the ceremony, and what is not yet posted?

The 2026 broadcast and livestream listings, City of Ottawa road closures and OC Transpo detours, and security rules had not been posted when we checked on Nov. 9. We do not name a channel or give closure hours without an official notice. The museum’s event page, named “Memorial Hall livestream,” is the only listing we found that mentions a livestream.

Printable for Remembrance Day in Ottawa

The one-page printable, Remembrance Day 2026 in Ottawa: Day-of Timeline, lists the five timed items above with ET, Central, Mountain and Pacific columns. Mark the date on the November 2026 printable calendar, and see When is Veterans Day? for the U.S. date. For the indigenous observance three days earlier, see National Indigenous Veterans Day on Nov. 8.