158 Canadian soldiers died in the war in Afghanistan, a conflict fading from memory 25 years after it started.
Canada’s war in Afghanistan is the longest armed conflict in the nation’s history, yet it is increasingly described as a forgotten war. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, more than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to the region over a 13-year mission. The conflict cost an estimated $20 billion and claimed the lives of 158 Canadian soldiers, alongside seven Canadian civilians. Thousands more returned home with deep physical and psychological wounds. 2026 marks a major convergence of milestones—including 25 years since Canadian troops first arrived, 20 years since major combat began, and five years since the Taliban reclaimed Kabul…however many veterans feel the country has quietly moved on.
Despite sharp public backlash earlier this year when U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed the contributions of NATO allies in Afghanistan, domestic reflection remains muted. Ottawa held no major national public commemorations to mark the quarter-century anniversary, and a long-promised national monument has faced years of delays. According to analysts and former military leaders like retired general Wayne Eyre, this “institutional amnesia” stems partly from the war’s difficult conclusion. Watching the Taliban return to power in 2021 complicated how Canadians process the mission’s legacy, leaving the conflict largely absent from everyday public conversation. Still, as highlighted in recent reporting from CBC News and historical archives at the Canadian War Museum, veterans continue to push for official recognition so the sacrifices made in Kandahar and beyond are not lost to time.
Released by CBC News for Remembrance Day, Canada’s forgotten war: Afghanistan 25 years later explores the fading public memory of a conflict that claimed the lives of 158 Canadian soldiers. Reported by Murray Brewster, the 10-minute feature highlights an “institutional amnesia” in Ottawa as the nation marks 25 years since the initial post-9/11 deployment, 20 years since major combat, and five years since the fall of Kabul.