New Westminster marks Remembrance Day on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, with a ceremony at the City Hall Cenotaph, 511 Royal Avenue, hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 2 and the Royal Westminster Regiment. Everyone is welcome to attend.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” Royal Canadian Legion, New Westminster

The short version

When: Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
Where: the City Hall Cenotaph, 511 Royal Avenue, New Westminster.
Host: the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 2 and the Royal Westminster Regiment.
Parade: assembly at Queen’s Avenue and Sixth Street at 10:15am.
Service: outdoor service at the City Hall Cenotaph, 10:25am to 12:30pm.
Wreath pickup: from 9:00am on the City Hall front lawn.
Livestream: on the City’s YouTube channel from 10:25am.
Cost: free, and open to the public.

A red poppy wreath on a stone cenotaph in front of a historic city hall, autumn trees, no people

The parade

The parade assembles at Queen’s Avenue and Sixth Street at 10:15am, near the Royal Westminster Regiment Armouries at 530 Queens Avenue, and makes its way to City Hall for the main civic ceremony. Members of the public are welcome to line the route and watch as the column passes.

A stone memorial plaque with red poppies at its base beside a city hall lawn, autumn trees, no people

The ceremony at City Hall

The Remembrance Day ceremony takes place at the City Hall Cenotaph, from 10:25am to 12:30pm. The service includes the act of remembrance, the Last Post, two minutes of silence at 11am, and wreath laying by local organisations, branches, and cadets. See the full Remembrance Day New Westminster listing for details. A sign-language interpreter will also be present at the service.

A Canadian Legion poppy pin on a black wool coat, four red flocked petals, flat black centre, no leaf, a riverfront blurred behind

Getting there, parking, and road closures

City Hall, at 511 Royal Avenue, is centrally located in New Westminster. Road closures are in effect on November 11 from 6:00am to 1:00pm, including Royal Avenue from Eighth Street to Third Street, Sixth Street, and Queens Avenue, with additional parking restrictions from 5:00am to 1:00pm. An accessible parking and pickup/drop-off area is available on Seventh Street. Arrive early to find parking and secure a good viewing spot. The Q to Q Ferry starts at 9:00am on Remembrance Day for those travelling to City Hall by ferry.

A red poppy wreath on a stone bench overlooking a river at dawn, city skyline blurred behind, no people

The poppy, and what changed this year

The poppy campaign funds Veterans and their families, and money raised locally stays in the community where it was donated.

The biggest change for 2026 is the date. The National Poppy Campaign now starts on October 24, which the Legion has made a permanent annual start date. It used to begin on the last Friday of October, so poppies are out roughly a week earlier than people are used to. The campaign runs to November 11.

How you can give:

Traditional boxes in shops and Legion branches, still the most common.
Pay Tribute tap boxes, run with RBC, in hundreds of locations. One tap of a credit or debit card, or a phone or watch wallet, donates $5.
Point of sale at partners such as Starbucks, which passes local donations to the local branch.
TD branches, which distribute poppies across the country.
At the door, through the Legion’s Amazon Canada collaboration, now in its third year. The poppies are biodegradable.
Online through the Legion’s national site.

The Legion also unveils a new donation technology on October 24, a first for a national fundraising campaign that has not yet been detailed publicly. It sits alongside the tap boxes rather than replacing them.

Flypasts, and why there is no time to give you yet

The Royal Canadian Air Force marks Remembrance Day with flypasts over ceremonies across the country. Routes and times are released only in the day or two before November 11, not weeks out, so no 2026 Lower Mainland route had been published as of late October. Any precise time printed now would be invented.

Be at the cenotaph by 10:15am in case a flypast is confirmed and announced locally in the first week of November.

Questions often asked

What time is the ceremony? The outdoor service at the City Hall Cenotaph runs from 10:25am to 12:30pm on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, with two minutes of silence at 11am.

Do I need tickets? No. It is free and open to the public.

Where exactly is the cenotaph? At the City Hall Cenotaph, 511 Royal Avenue, New Westminster.

Where do I get a poppy? From traditional boxes in shops and Legion branches, from the tap boxes in partner locations, at Starbucks tills, at TD branches, online through the Legion, or delivered through the Legion’s Amazon storefront. The campaign now opens on October 24.