Students from the Durham Catholic District School Board — the Catholic board that serves families across Durham Region, including Ajax — have been presented with a Canadian flag flown atop Parliament Hill's Peace Tower, ahead of a pilgrimage to First World War battlefields in Belgium and France.
The flag flew at half-mast on April 9, 2026, and will travel with Canadian students taking part in the Return to the Western Front Tour, a national educational pilgrimage organized in partnership with WorldStrides, according to the Durham Catholic District School Board.
The ceremony took place on November 9 at Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa, where students gathered with educators, board representatives and community members for the presentation.
The journey carries added weight because April 9, 2027 marks the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a defining moment in Canadian history. Board students on the tour will visit historic First World War battlefields in Belgium and France to honour Canadian soldiers and preserve their legacy.
Dignitaries join students for ceremony
Rhonda Kirkland, Member of Parliament for Oshawa, and Jacob Mantle, Member of Parliament for York-Durham, took part in the presentation, alongside Ontario Minister of Education Paul Calandra and Oshawa MPP Jennifer French.
Durham Catholic District School Board representatives and trustees attended, as did students from Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School and Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School in Whitby, along with tour organizers.
Students received the Peace Tower flag and Canadian lapel pins to share throughout their journey. The board said the gifts reinforce the importance of remembrance, national pride and Canada's enduring relationships with its European allies.
The presentation comes just days after Remembrance Day commemorations across the region, and a year out from the milestone anniversary of the battle that began on Easter Monday in 1917, when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together for the first time and captured the ridge.
For local families, the tour offers Durham Catholic students a chance to walk the ground where those soldiers served, carrying with them a flag that flew over the nation's capital.
