For many Canadians, the phrase Flanders Fields is familiar from schoolbooks, Remembrance Day ceremonies, and the haunting lines of John McCrae’s poem. Yet for most Torontonians, it remains an abstract idea—something historical, distant, and European. In reality, Flanders Fields in Belgium is one of the most important places in Canadian history, and a journey there offers something far deeper than a typical European vacation. It is a pilgrimage into part of the story of Canada.
Between 1914 and 1918, more than 620,000 Canadians served in the First World War. Over 66,000 never returned home. A large number of those who fought and died came from Ontario, including Toronto and its surrounding communities. Their experiences are etched into the fields, villages, and cemeteries of the Flanders region of Belgium. Walking these landscapes is not simply about learning history; it is about standing where Canada came of age on the world stage.
The connection between Toronto and Flanders Fields is both national and deeply personal. Soldiers from Toronto enlisted in battalions such as the 48th Highlanders, whose legacy still shapes the city’s military and cultural life today. Names of Toronto men are carved into headstones and memorials across Flanders: at Essex Farm Cemetery, where McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields; at Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world; and at the Menin Gate in Ypres, where thousands of missing soldiers are commemorated. Each evening, the Last Post is sounded beneath the gate, just as it has been for decades, a ritual of remembrance that speaks across generations.
For Canadians, Flanders is also the place where the young nation proved itself. Battles such as Ypres and Passchendaele were fought in conditions almost unimaginable today. Canadian troops earned a reputation for determination and sacrifice that helped shape Canada’s identity as a country willing to shoulder responsibility on the global stage. Visiting these battlefields brings that story out of textbooks and poetry and into lived experience. The landscape is quiet now. But beneath the rolling farmland, small villages, poplar-lined roads, part of Canadian history that still resonates.
Torontonians, in particular, often find unexpected emotional connections. Many visitors discover family names in cemetery registers or on memorial panels. Others are struck by how carefully the Belgians continue to care for Canadian graves more than a century later. In towns such as Ypres, Poperinge, and Zonnebeke, Canadian flags are flown on commemorative days, and schoolchildren learn about Canada’s role in their region’s liberation. It is a reminder that Canadian valour and bravery are not taken for granted, but are, in fact, remembered and honoured overseas.
Yet Flanders Fields is not only about mourning. It is also about understanding the cost of peace and the responsibility of memory. Modern visitors encounter interactive museums, preserved trenches, and thoughtful exhibitions that contextualize the war in human terms—through letters, photographs, and personal stories. These experiences resonate strongly with Canadians, whose national culture places deep value on remembrance, service, and quiet reflection.
For Torontonians accustomed to fast-paced urban life, the journey offers something rare: space to pause. A walk among the white headstones of Tyne Cot or a moment of silence at Essex Farm invites reflection not just on the past, but on the privileges of the present. Many visitors describe leaving with a renewed sense of gratitude and perspective.
Traveling to Flanders Fields is also remarkably accessible. Belgium’s compact size and excellent transportation make it easy to combine historical touring with cultural exploration. Visitors can enjoy Flemish cuisine, medieval architecture, and warm hospitality, all while engaging with sites of profound historical importance. For Canadians, this blend of cultural discovery and remembrance creates a uniquely meaningful travel experience.
At Visit Flanders Fields, we often meet Canadians who arrive curious and leave deeply moved. They come expecting a history lesson and depart with a personal connection to their country’s story. For Torontonians, whose city sent so many sons and daughters overseas a century ago, the journey feels especially intimate. It is not merely about seeing where battles were fought. The experience is about honouring the people who once walked Toronto’s streets, boarded trains for Halifax, and crossed the Atlantic into a world forever changed.
In an age when international travel often revolves around landmarks and leisure, Flanders Fields offers something different: purpose. To stand in those quiet fields is to understand that Canada’s freedoms, values, and place in the world were shaped there. For Torontonians and all Canadians, visiting Flanders Fields is not just a trip abroad—it is a journey into the heart of our shared history, and a powerful reminder that remembrance is not confined to one day each November.
By Niels Declercq
Niels Declercq is the owner of Visit Flanders Fields, which offers personalized historian-led tours of Flanders.
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