The square is located between several major buildings and features, with Parliament Hill to the northwest, the Rideau Canal to the northeast, and the National Arts Centre to the east.

[6] Before each Remembrance Day ceremony, Public Works and Government Services Canada repairs and levels stones in the area of the war memorial, fill joints, waxes the bronzes, and applies a protective coating to the lettering on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Plywood is placed over surrounding flower beds and approximately 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) of cable is run to connect sound systems and 12 television cameras.

Any mementos or pictures attendees leave at the memorial following the ceremony are given to the Canadian War Museum for review and possible storage, while any money left is donated to The Perley & Rideau Veterans' Health Centre.

To avoid foreshortening from a pedestrian viewpoint, the group of figures is placed at a specific height above street level; each body is approximately 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) high, or one-third larger than life size.

[16] The postures are animated and strained, not in parade form, and the expressions "convey pride, longing, defiance, a strong sense of purpose, vacancy, camaraderie and perhaps a touch of dejection, but mostly firm resolve.

"[16] All are in historically correct and distinctly Canadian uniforms,[17] and they were deliberately rendered by the sculpture's artist, Vernon March, so as to not associate any with a particular region of the country nor any ethnicity or language, thus highlighting unity.

[17] Of the memorial, March wrote "[I intend] to perpetuate in this bronze group the people of Canada who went Overseas to the Great War, and to represent them, as we of today saw them, as a record for future generations..."[18] The allegorical representations of peace and freedom were meant to be seen "alighting on the world with the blessings of Victory, Peace and Liberty in the footsteps of the people's heroism and self-sacrifice who are passing through the archway below.

"[19] The persons emerging through the arch have also been interpreted as representing Canada's "rite of passage" or "coming of age",[12] its birth as a proper nation during the First World War, reflected in its attainment of a place in the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles at the conflict's end.

An early proposal in 1919 was a memorial hall in Ottawa, to act as a social centre for between 2,000 and 4,000 people as well as a monument to the Canadians who served in the Great War.

[27] A site in the Gatineau Hills was originally considered but it was determined the best option was the redevelopment and expansion of downtown Ottawa's Connaught Place into a plaza for the memorial,[3] giving it the parliament buildings—the seat of Canadian democracy—as a backdrop.

The government felt that a monument should be erected in the capital of Canada expressive of the feelings of the Canadian people as a whole to the memory of those who had participated in the Great War and had lost their lives in the service of humanity.

"[13] Indeed, the Prime Minister managed to force Members of Parliament who critiqued the idea of spending money on a memorial to defend their patriotism and gratitude for those who had died or been wounded in the war.

The competition regulations outlined the monument was intended to not be simply a tribute to those who contributed to Canada's effort in the First World War, but also an expression of the nation's character.

"[11] The competition brief explained "[w]hile the spirit of victory is essential it should be expressed so as to not only immortalize Canada's defenders but convey a feeling of gratitude that out of this great conflict a new hope has sprung for future prosperity under peaceful conditions.

[38] One hundred and twenty-seven entries were submitted—66 from Canada, 24 from England, 21 from France, seven from the United States, five from Belgium, two from Italy, one from Scotland, and one from Trinidad[18]—of which seven were asked to provide scale models for final judging.

His theme was the response of Canada to war, signified by the uniformed figures, in the then-correct order of precedence,[13] passing through the arch, but with a deliberate aim to avoid the glorification of armed conflict.

This work was finished in July 1932 and the bronzes were, with the permission of King George V,[47] put on display in Hyde Park, London, within a mock-up of the granite arch and plinth.

Those moves, though, created gaps on either side of the crowd of bronze statues, which Sydney March felt negatively impacted the overall appearance of the monument.

[48] This was approved, the bronze figures were cast,[49] and the entire collection was put in storage at the Marchs' foundry as the argument continued in Ottawa over the monument's location.

[52] However, after King pointed out that the park would not be as hospitable or accessible during the winter months, Gréber agreed and drew up plans for the Connaught Place site.

[56] Mackenzie King was optimistic: "Canada will remember throughout her history, that these two symbolical figures found their place at the top of the National Memorial on September the 30th, the day of the signing of the 4-power agreement which averted another Great War.

[67] In a brief given by the Royal Canadian Legion to the Cabinet on 10 November 1955, it was outlined that the organization wanted a national cenotaph, that would "honour the fallen of all wars", placed in front of the Peace Tower.

"[69] Architects from Toronto and Quebec City were asked by the Cabinet to draw up plans for such a memorial complex and the announcement was made on 19 February 1963 by the Minister of Public Works, Davie Fulton, that the project would be completed for the Canadian Centennial in 1967.

[68][70] However, this plan never came to fruition, as it was denounced by some of the media, various organizations, veterans, a large number of Canadians,[71] and eventually parliamentarians, even in the governing Liberal Party.

Wishing to not repeat the confusion and problems around the national shrine of remembrance, the then Minister of Veterans Affairs, Dan MacDonald, almost immediately agreed to the proposal.

In 2006, Dr. Michael Pilon, a retired Canadian Forces major, observed and photographed a group of young men urinating on the war memorial on the evening of Canada Day.

[79] The incident, along with the common sight of persons skateboarding and riding bicycles on the memorial's podium, prompted the posting of sentries at the site,[80] though they are only present between 9 am and 5 pm from 9 April to 10 November.

On 15 May 1939, the Post Office Department issued a stamp called National Memorial, designed by Herman Herbert Schwartz based on a picture engraved by Joseph Keller.