Everyone is invited to attend the Ontario Police Memorial Ceremony of Remembrance Sunday May 4, 2025 at 11am.
The Ontario Police Memorial Foundation will be hosting the annual 2025 Ceremony of Remembrance in person at the site of the Ontario Police Memorial across from Queen’s Park in Toronto as we honour our Ontario police officers who have died in the line of duty, our Heroes in Life, Not Death.
The ceremony will honour two historical officers who both were tragically injured and later passed away due to their injuries – Rainy River Police Constable Wilford Fairles and Thunder Bay Police Service Constable Craig Cameron Town.
In October 1910, devastating forest fires swept through Northwestern Ontario, causing an influx of people and placing a strain on the small town of Rainy River. During the night of October 8-9, 1910, Constable Fairles was attacked by unknown assailants. He was shot, severely beaten and left in a ditch. He was discovered the next morning and taken to hospital for treatment where he remained until he passed away December 21, 1910.
In 1991 Constable Craig Town sustained life altering injuries from a gun shot wound that left him a quadriplegic. Despite this, he continued to serve until his retirement. In February 2023 he was honoured with his 30-year Exemplary Service Bar for his commitment and strength. Unfortunately, due to complications related to his injuries, Constable Town passed away in August of 2023.
The parade mustering location will be in the northeast quadrant of Queens Park Cresent, between Wellesley and the north end of Queens Park. The parade step-off point will be at the north end of Queen’s Park Cres near the 48th Highlanders of Canada Regimental Memorial.
The following lists the Section for each Police Service, Pipe Band & Order of March.
- Column A: RCMP, MILITARY POLICE, OPP
- Column B: City Police A to Z
- Column C: Regional Services A to Z
- Column D: First Nations Police, Police from other Provinces and Nations, Military, Corrections, Customs, EMS, Municipal Services, and other agencies
The Toronto Police Service will be supplying a Command Post and the location of each Section will be marked.
Parade participants are to be assembled no later than 9:15am for an approximate march-off time of 10:15am.
A representative from each Section (responsible for drill commands) will attend the Command Post at 9:15am for a briefing.
Please note that there are several road closures in downtown Toronto on the date of this event for planned marathon. Please check local traffic and leave plenty of extra time to arrive at the destination. The specific road closures for the Ontario Police Memorial Ceremony of Remembrance on Sunday are listed below for your info:
Road Closure time: Sunday May 4, 2025 8am-2pm
Locations:
- Queen’s Park Cres East, from Bloor St W to College St
- Queen’s Park Cres West, from Bloor St W to College St
- Hoskin Ave, from St. George St to Queen’s Park Cres W (local only)
- Grosvenor St, from Surrey Place to Queen’s Park Cres E (local only)
- St. Josheph St to be closed at St Thomas St, traffic to be redirected to Bay St. W (local only)
- Charles St to close at St. Thomas St, traffic to be redirected to Bloor St. W. (local only)
The Ontario Police Memorial Foundation is hosting our 2025 Social Night Saturday May 3rd 7:30pm at “GRETA” (Arcade * Bar * Street Food), 590 King St W, Toronto. Early Bird Pricing – $40 (until April 11th), $50 after April 11th – No tickets will be sold at the door. Ticket includes $25 game card, drink ticket and appetizers. Email thurst@tpa.ca to purchase tickets while quantities last. Deadline to purchase tickets is April 23rd.
