Small, pared-down Remembrance Day ceremonies taking place in the Prairies, North

Remembrance Day events in parts of Canada were subdued this year as some provinces and territories continue to grapple with a devastating fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of events on the Prairies went online or were only open to a limited number of people - including veterans, active military members and their families.

The 38 Canadian Brigade Group hosted a virtual ceremony, with dozens of military members, from the Minto Armoury in Winnipeg. The event, which was watched by about 250 people online, included speeches, a parade and a nearly 10-minute long moment in prayer.

Col. Cameron Buchanan shared a piece of his family's history in hopes of spreading a message of unity.

He spoke about how his father rarely talked about his time in the war of the, “horrors and challenges snipers faced on the front lines.”

But he said his father would often share one story about his sniper partner or scout who was known as Chief.

“He was an Oji-Cree man that knew all about living and surviving on the land,” Buchanan said. “He knew all about stealth and concealment and my dad often said that without these skills he probably would have been killed.”

He said the story became a valuable lesson for him as he served with many men and women over the years from different cultures and backgrounds.

“Welcome diversity, learn from each other's backgrounds and cultures so that you can train and fight together as a diverse yet uniformed team serving this great country.”

In Alberta, some ceremonies took place both online and in person.

Ed Moore, a 100-year-old war veteran who worked as a navigator for Royal Canadian Air Force, marked the day at the Cameron Heights assisted living facility in Edmonton.

He took time to think about, “some friends, some that made it and some that didn't,” he said Thursday morning.

Moore said the facility held a Remembrance Day ceremony earlier this week for all veterans, and they also celebrated his upcoming birthday on Nov. 24.

A brief ceremony took place outside the Cenotaph at Edmonton's City Hall Plaza to replace the public ceremony that usually takes place inside City Hall.

Several ceremonies in Calgary were livestreamed by local media, including the Field of Crosses Remembrance Day ceremony and the service at the Hangar Flight Museum.

In the North, children dressed in snowsuits lined with fox fur and local Canadian Rangers wearing sealskin mittens watched as wreaths were laid outside the Royal Canadian Legion in Iqaluit.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, this year's ceremony was held outdoors only.

About 200 people gathered to watch the half-hour ceremony, with temperatures about -20 C.

The annual ceremony included a parade from the city's RCMP detachment to the Legion, where officers marched through a snowy street.

Wearing a sealskin jacket, Nunavut commissioner and former premier Eva Ariak laid a wreath outside the Legion along with Nunavut's Senator Dennis Patterson and Nunavut's Member of Parliament Lori Idlout.

With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton and Emma Tranter in Iqaluit

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2021.