Appendix A: Veterans Affairs Canada Responsibilities identified in the Government of Canada Remembrance Policy

• Maintain primary responsibility for remembrance policy and the Canada Remembers Program through the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
• Chair the Advisory Council on remembrance of Canadian service in war and peace.
• Prepare ongoing strategic plans for remembrance.
• Provide leadership among federal government departments in the remembrance of the service of Canadians in the cause of international peace and freedom.
• Build knowledge and skills capacity in remembrance programming, calling upon the expertise of other government departments and stakeholders in this regard as required.
• Provide encouragement and guidance to other levels of government and other organizations whose responsibilities include the remembrance of Canadian and Newfoundland Veterans and service members.
• Ensure care and maintenance of grave markers and cemeteries for those who died in military operations in the service of Canada, both overseas and in Canada.
• Issue designated, delegated, and closed service medals, awards, and honours.
• Administer the Veterans Funeral and Burial Program.
• Prepare, produce and provide information and support materials related to those service members who served Canada overseas and on the home front in the post-Confederation (1867) wars and conflicts, peacekeeping, and aid missions.
• Promote citizen engagement in remembrance activities both at a national level and through regional remembrance program delivery.
• Organize commemorative ceremonies and events to honour officially designated periods of remembrance year-round across Canada.
• Ensure maintenance, preservation and presentation of Canada’s international monuments and memorials and battlefields.
• Organize and participate in appropriate official ceremonies and pilgrimages, both internationally and in Canada, whose primary purpose is commemorative, alone or in conjunction with other federal government departments, other groups, or other organizations.
• Present and maintain the Books of Remembrance and co-ordinate with the House of Commons for their official updating and display.
• Coordinate use of the National War Memorial site in Ottawa.

Source – Government of Canada Policy on Remembrance