Last Post Fund

The Last Post Fund is a Canadian non-profit organization and registered charity which was founded in 1909. The Last Post Fund’s mission is to ensure that "no Veteran is denied a dignified funeral and burial, as well as a military gravestone, due to insufficient funds at time of death." Its primary mandate is to deliver the Veterans Affairs Canada Funeral & Burial Program which provides funeral, burial and grave marking benefits for eligible Canadian and Allied Veterans. The fund also delivers an Unmarked Grave Program which places military-style gravestones for Veterans are buried without commemoration. In addition to delivering these Programs, the Last Post Fund supports other initiatives designed to honour the memory of Canadian and Allied Veterans.

The Last Post Fund National Field of Honour in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, was established in 1930. It is now the final resting place for more than 22,000 servicemen and women, and their family members. In 2009, the centennial year of the Last Post Fund, the National Field of Honour was designated as a National Historic Site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Established in Montreal in 1909, the fund has grown from a private organization to a nationwide program supported by federal funds and private donations. In 1908 two Montreal police officers found a homeless man (James Daly), who they took to the hospital. The man was presumed drunk, and they staff set him to "sleep it off". Arthur Hair the head orderly of the hospital went to check on the man and saw an envelope in his pocket which he recognized as honorable discharge papers from the British War Office. Daly had served with the British military for over 20 years. Two days later Daly died (he had hypothermia and malnutrition, not drunk), as his body was unclaimed it was to be donated to research (as per standard practice). Not satisfied with what would happen to the veteran, Hair raised money to give him a proper burial at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery. The Last Post Fund was established in Montreal a year later. Initially the fund was financed through private donation, in 1921 it was incorporated and began receiving funds from the Government of Canada. Initially Catholic veterans were buried in Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery whilst Protestants were buried in Mount Royal Cemetery. As the two cemeteries filled the Quebec division of the Last Post Fund purchased land in Pointe-Claire, Quebec in 1929, which they developed into the National Field of Honour, established a year later.