The Canada Memorial Foundation has its origins in a Letter to the Editor published in a British newspaper in 1988 suggesting a monument in memory of the contribution of Canadians to World War I and World War II. By 1991 the Foundation has been set up, mostly on the initiative of Canadian-British businessman Conrad Black, and the first scholarships were awarded. Canadian students were given grants to study in the UK and British students to study in Canada. In 1992 the same Canada Memorial Foundation invited Canadian artists to participate in a competition to build a permanent memorial.
On the 3rd of June 1994 a memorial was unveiled in Green Park, London by the Queen. It is built from hundreds of pieces of stone cut from granite on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of the St Lawrence River and bronze castings made in Invemess, Quebec.
The monument sits behind the ‘Canada Gates’ in Green Park, immediately to the north of the entrance to Buckingham palace. The gates themselves were a present from the people of Canada to the people of Britain at the turn of the last century.
The memorial was built by a great number of distinguished Canadians and Britons, raising funds largely from the private sector. Today the Canada Memorial in Green Park is now maintained and supported by an agreement between the Canadian High Commission and the Royals Parks.