The Whitehall Cenotaph was erected in memory of those who lost their lives in the First World War. The Imperial Order of the Daughters commenced movement for a cenotaph in April of 1925 and invited 50 organizations and societies to join them. A permanent Cenotaph Committee was formed on February 12, 1934. A 1921 bequest from the Estate of S. Notley, for a memorial in Victoria Park in memory of fallen Canadians, was put towards the funding. A replica of the Whitehall Cenotaph in London, England, but in a smaller version, would be erected. The plans were purchased in 1929, from architect Sir Edward Lutyens.
Up to and including 1933, the cenotaph was a temporary wooden replica erected every year in the center of Dundas Street. On November 10, 1934, the limestone memorial was dedicated at the south east corner of Victoria Park. Hundreds of citizens of London and surrounding area, along with Veterans, militia and permanent force troops, attended this impressive service. The band of the Royal Canadian Regiment, Canada's oldest permanent force regiment, supplied the music and the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral sang.
The City of London provided a grant of $4,000 to assist the committee comprised of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, city council, Veterans, women and other organizations. The contractor was A & E Hobbs Company who had submitted a tender of $8,300. The work was completed on November 3, 1934, with the first Remembrance Day service held on Sunday, November 11, 1934, one day after the dedication ceremony of the Cenotaph.
Additional inscriptions and small plaques were added in later years to honour other wars and conflicts, including peacekeeping. In 2005, the Year of the Veteran, a remembrance garden was added.
In 2017, internal structural repairs and updating of the engravings were completed to include the dates for the conflict in Afghanistan and UN peacekeeping missions. The mistake with the dates for Afghanistan 2010 - 2014, was corrected to 2001 - 2014. The Royal Canadian Legion held a rededication ceremony on September 17, 2017.
