Every name has a face.
Every face has a story.
Faces to Names is a Canadian remembrance education platform that connects students with the people named on their local memorials, turning history into something personal and community-connected.
For registered classrooms participating in Faces to Names
Remembrance, reimagined.
On First and Second World War memorials across Canada, there are thousands of names. Behind every name is a person: someone who grew up in a community, had friends, interests, and a future. Faces to Names exists to reconnect those names with the lives they represent.
It’s a free platform where students research the lives behind the names on local memorials, uncovering who they were, where they came from, and how they are remembered.
Every Faces to Names project follows the same three-part process:
STEP 01
Investigate
Students are assigned a name from a local memorial and begin their research, exploring archives, and historical sources.
HOW IT WORKS
STEP 02
Build
They build a detailed profile on the platform, capturing the person’s life, service, and community, mapping the locations connected to their story.
STEP 03
Share
Profiles are reviewed, verified, and published as part of a growing, verified national collection of profiles.
The community angle is what separates Faces To Names from every other memorial site. Karen described it in the meeting as the “make them care” moment — when a student realises the person they’ve been researching walked up the stairs of their school. This section makes that emotional hook explicit on the home page.
“He lived on my street.”
That’s the moment Faces to Names is built for. When a student discovers that the person they’ve been researching walked their street or went to their school, remembrance stops being distant and becomes real. Through each person’s story, students begin to understand how the war affected their community and develop a deeper, more personal connection to that history.
Faces to Names is built by and for students.
Students don’t just learn history. They do history.
Their work becomes part of a growing national collection of profiles that is researched, verified, and shared beyond the classroom.
The stories they uncover, of soldiers, sailors, aviators, nurses, and more… are part of our shared history.
More than a record. A person’s story.
Each profile is built to represent a life, not just a set of facts. It connects identity, service, community, and the tributes that exist to honour them, all supported by verified evidence.
“I have reviewed the concept for Faces to Names and believe it would be a great asset to those undertaking this research, including youth across Canada.”
Alex Fitzgerald-Black | Executive Director, Juno Beach Centre Association
Designed for classrooms.
Connected to communities.
Teachers
Students engage in structured, evidence-based research that builds historical thinking skills and deepens their understanding of remembrance.
Students
Students take on the role of investigator, piecing together a life from historical records and discovering the person behind the name.
"Dying for freedom isn’t the worst that can happen. Being forgotten is."
Supporting Remembrance Education
Faces to Names works alongside educational, research, and community organizations whose work supports remembrance education.
These organizations support the development and delivery of Faces to Names.
Ready to bring remembrance to life?
Faces to Names is designed for secondary school history and social studies classrooms across Canada.
For registered classrooms participating in Faces to Names