Royal Canadian Legion marks 100 years in Winnipeg

CTV’s Joseph Bernacki has the latest on Royal Canadian Legions celebrating 100 years.

Few organizations survive a century. On Friday, the Royal Canadian Legion celebrated just that — bolstered by a recruitment blitz aimed at drawing in new members and renewed interest.

Veterans, dignitaries and community members gathered in Charleswood to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion — the country’s largest veterans’ organization — as similar events took place across Manitoba.

“To me, it is huge,” said Dan Whittaker, president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch #100 in Winnipeg’s Charleswood neighbourhood. “The Legion has strengthened Canada’s national identity and community spirit.”

“It’s not only important that we recognize 100 years of service for the Royal Canadian Legion, but it’s essential to keep people remembering the sacrifices,” Whittaker said, “to let people understand and know that we still remember and care about our veterans, their families and their communities.”

The occasion was marked with speeches and a wreath-laying ceremony, attended by representatives from all three levels of government.

Whittaker said the Royal Canadian Legion began with a “clear mission” — to support veterans, advocate for their rights, and ensure acts of remembrance continue.

Several veterans’ organizations emerged following the First World War before ultimately merging. Whittaker said the organization’s origins trace to a 1925 meeting at the Marlborough Hotel in downtown Winnipeg — known as the Unity Conference — where delegates signed a proclamation creating the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League, the forerunner of today’s Legion.

It wasn’t officially incorporated by a special Act of Parliament, however, until July 17, 1926 — the date now recognized as its anniversary.

From there, branches spread nationwide.

According to Tom Crew, chairman of the Charleswood Legion, Charleswood’s own branch wasn’t formed until 1932.

Doug Eyolfson, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg West, addressed the crowd, describing the Legion’s anniversary as an “extraordinary milestone.”

“It has provided support for veterans and their families, created opportunities for fellowship and service, and served as a gathering place where the values of remembrance and citizenship are passed on to future generations,” Eyolfson said.

Eyolfson also praised the volunteers who sustain the branch. “Organizations do not endure over 100 years by accident,” he said. “They endure because people dedicate their time, energy, and passion to a cause they believe in.”

The centennial comes as Legions works to counter years of declining membership tied to an aging veteran population.

Cohen Rutledge, the provincial executive director for the Royal Canadian Legion in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, said they’re marking the year with a major recruitment push for the organization.

“For 2026, for our 100th anniversary year, the Legion is offering free one-year membership to any new member,” Rutledge said. “If you were a member in the past, you won’t get a free membership, but instead you can be entered into a draw to win a Ford F-150.”

He said the campaign is already working. “What I’ve really seen over this past year is reinvigoration of membership.”

Rutledge said there are 125 active branches across Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, with membership at roughly 18,000 before the push began among those two regions.

“There’s a common narrative that the Legion is maybe doomed and going downhill,” he said, “but the fact that people are willing to volunteer and put on events like this... speaks to the fact that they’re alive and well.”

Last year, Royal Canadian Legion Branch #90 closed in the Fort Garry neighbourhood after opening its doors in 1947, merging with Royal Canadian Legion Branch #252 in South Osborne. While Rutledge said there’s been a few closures in the past couple of years, he said they have largely been amalgamations.

Gary Parrington, sergeant-at-arms of the Charleswood Legion, said the branch is working to attract new members through social events — such as meat draws, “Track the Jack” and a dart league — while stressing membership is open to everyone, not just veterans.

“That seems to be the stigma — ‘Oh, Legions, that’s hands off, because that’s strictly a veteran’s organization,’” he said. “While we have a lot of veterans, it’s open to all the public.”

Rutledge said the Legion’s Dominion Convention, where delegates from across the country set the organization’s direction, will be held in August at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg, capping years of planning by the national team.

There’s also a preservation effort tied to the Legion’s birthplace. The Marlborough Hotel is being converted into housing, Rutledge said — but after talks with the developer and the City of Winnipeg, the boardroom where the founding proclamation was signed will be preserved as is “for commemoration purposes.”

When asked how Legions like Charleswood’s stick around for another 100 years, Rutledge said there’s no simple formula.

“It’s about being present in the community, just making yourself known,” he said. “It’s nothing spectacular. It’s just showing up and putting out for your community.”

With files from CTV’s Joseph Bernacki