Canada’s Merchant Navy veterans occupy a unique and long-complicated place in the country’s military history. For decades following the Second World War, their service was not formally recognized alongside that of the Royal Canadian Navy, Army, and Air Force — a gap that left many veterans and their families without access to the benefits and honours their service warranted. That has changed. Today, eligible Merchant Navy veterans hold a full place of honour in Canada’s National Military Cemetery.
Who served in the Merchant Navy
Canada’s Merchant Navy was the fleet of civilian cargo and transport ships that carried troops, equipment, food, and supplies across the Atlantic and Pacific during the Second World War. Some 12,000 men and women served in Canada’s Merchant Navy during the Second World War, crewing the vessels that carried personnel, equipment and supplies across the Atlantic while pursued by enemy U-boats. Over 25,000 of those voyages were completed. By the end of the war, nearly 1,600 of Canada’s merchant mariners had been killed or lost at sea — a rate of loss of roughly one in eight of those who served.
A long road to recognition
Despite their sacrifices, Merchant Navy veterans were not granted veteran status under Canadian law until 1992 — nearly fifty years after the war’s end. The delay meant that many veterans died without receiving the recognition or benefits they had earned. The formal acknowledgment, when it came, was both overdue and meaningful. Merchant Navy service during wartime is now recognized as equivalent to military service for the purposes of federal benefits, honours, and interment rights.
Eligibility for the National Military Cemetery
Veterans of Canada’s Merchant Navy who served during wartime are eligible for interment in the National Military Cemetery. The application process is the same as for CAF members — Form DND 2277-E is submitted to the Director of Casualty Support Management, who verifies eligibility and notifies the applicant of approval. As with CAF members, eligible Merchant Navy veterans may designate one immediate family member to be interred in the same plot.
For families researching a veteran’s service
Some families of Merchant Navy veterans may be uncertain whether their loved one’s service qualifies, particularly if records are incomplete or the veteran passed away before formal recognition was granted. Library and Archives Canada holds Merchant Navy service records and can assist with research. Any documentation the family can provide — discharge papers, sailing records, union cards — will help expedite the DND eligibility review.
Honouring a long-overdue recognition
For surviving Merchant Navy veterans and their families, interment at the National Military Cemetery represents not just a resting place but a formal acknowledgment of service that was too long in coming. The National Military Cemetery makes no distinction between branches or theatres — those who served at sea rest alongside those who served on land and in the air, as equals.
Figures in this article are drawn from the Government of Canada statement Minister MacAulay and Minister Anand mark Merchant Navy Veterans Day, National Defence, 3 September 2022.
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