A person rests their fingers on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider following the Remembrance Day service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
By The Canadian Press

Ottawa says 4,306 Canadian veterans of Second World War, Korea still alive today

Nov 10, 2026 | 2:00 AM

OTTAWA — The number of living Canadian veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War has fallen sharply since Remembrance Day last year.

Veterans Affairs Canada says the estimated population of living Canadian veterans from those two wars has dropped to approximately 4,306.

Last year, the federal government department estimated that figure at 5,649.

Veterans Affairs said it did not have a specific breakdown this year for the separate conflicts, or of the numbers of men and women who served.

In 2025, the department said it believed there were 3,691 surviving Second World War veterans and another 1,909 from the Korean War.

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Most veterans from the Second World War are at least in their late 90s now, while those who served in the Korean War are in their early to mid-90s.

The 2021 Census made a rare count of Canadians who served in the military and reported 461,240 Canadian Armed Forces vets living in Canada with an average age of 61.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2026.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

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