OTTAWA, ON–Registration is now open for the Canadian War Museum Conference 2025: Oral History and the Veterans’ Experience, which will be held from Thursday, October 2 to Sunday, October 5, 2025 at the Museum. This ground-breaking conference, one of the first to focus on the growing interest in the post-service veteran experience, will provide a forum for historians, veterans, military community members, and others to showcase and discuss the latest scholarship surrounding oral history and the effects of military service after the return to civilian life.
“The impact of service on veterans and their loved ones is a growing field of study,” said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “We look forward to hosting engaging discussions on the role that oral history can play in expanding our understanding of the impact of service across generations.”
The Canadian War Museum Conference 2025 will be held from Thursday, October 2 to Sunday, October 5, 2025
The conference also offers an opportunity to come together and explore the ways in which oral history helps to bring untold stories into the broader narrative around military service. This “hidden history” of the veteran experience adds to our understanding of the impact of conflict and military service over time on individuals, their families, and society at large.
Conference keynote speakers will include Dr. Michael Petrou, the Museum’s Historian, Veterans’ Experience, as well as Dr. Tim Cook, the Museum’s Chief Historian and Director of Research.
The event will also feature over 20 experts and veterans from across Canada presenting research grouped into six panels.
Using Veterans’ Oral Histories in Museums and Universities examines the use of veterans’ oral histories in museums and universities, focusing on innovative projects that preserve and share the experiences of military personnel and their families.
The Bonds of Veteranhood After Uncelebrated Missions explores the bonds formed among veterans of missions and units that have been forgotten, overlooked, or tarnished by scandal.
Personal Impacts of Military Service is a bilingual conversation about how veterans are shaped by their service in the armed forces, touching on veteran reintegration into civilian life and the lasting effects of military service.
Veteranhood and Veterans’ Communities examines veteranhood as it is experienced collectively — shaping not just individuals, but communities and the place of veterans within them.
Military Testimony and the Arts explores how some veterans use art to communicate their experiences. This panel will draw attention to creative works that reflect on the realities of military life, post-traumatic stress disorder, and war.
Recognizing, Compensating, and Accepting Veteranhood examines the relationship — both historical and contemporary — between veterans and the government, and between veterans and wider Canadian society.
For more information and to register for the Canadian War Museum Conference 2025, visit the conference website: warmuseum.ca/events/conference-2025. For those unable to attend in person, a virtual conference package will provide access to selected sessions on Friday and Saturday.
This conference is organized under the auspices of In Their Own Voices: Stories From Canadian Veterans and Their Loved Ones and is generously funded by donors including the A. Britton Smith Family; the Azrieli Foundation; Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M., K.C., and Judy Young Drache; The Royal Canadian Legion; The Legion National Foundation; Friends of the Canadian War Museum; the Crabtree Foundation; Robert Stollery, in honour of his service in the Second World War; Colonel (Ret’d) Stanley A. Milner, O.C., A.O.E., M.S.M., C.D., LL.D.; and individuals from across Canada.
The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national, and international dimensions.
