By: Ebenezer Adugyamfi/ Emmanuel Ayiku for GhanaianNewsCanada
September 11, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks by remembering the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives, including 24 Canadians, while calling on Canadians to honour the victims through service, solidarity and acts of kindness.
In a statement issued from Ottawa on Friday, September 11, Carney described the attacks as one of the darkest moments in modern history and said the passage of 25 years had not diminished the grief of those who lost loved ones.
He also used the anniversary to reflect on how Canadians responded when the United States was attacked, highlighting the country’s decision to receive hundreds of diverted aircraft and the extraordinary welcome offered to thousands of stranded passengers in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Remembering the victims
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, which targeted the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and resulted in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.
Among those killed were 24 Canadians, making the anniversary particularly significant for communities across Canada.
Carney said Canadians continue to stand with their American neighbours in mourning and remembrance.
He stressed that the human cost of the attacks extended far beyond those who died on September 11, with thousands wounded and many others continuing to live with the physical and emotional consequences of the tragedy.
“Twenty-five years on, our grief has not faded,” Carney said, while emphasizing that neither had Canada’s determination to stand against hatred and terrorism.
Canada’s extraordinary response on 9/11
One of the most significant parts of Carney’s statement focused on what happened in Canada after U.S. airspace was closed following the attacks.
With flights unable to continue into the United States, Canada accepted 224 aircraft, which landed at 17 airports across the country.
For many passengers, the unexpected diversion turned into several days of uncertainty as they waited for air travel to resume.
But communities across Canada responded by opening their doors to strangers.
Carney specifically highlighted the Newfoundland town of Gander, which had a population of about 10,000 at the time.
The community welcomed nearly 7,000 stranded passengers, providing them with accommodation, food, transportation and other assistance.
The prime minister described the response as an example of ordinary people choosing compassion during an extraordinary crisis.
Residents provided beds, meals and opportunities for stranded travellers to contact their families, often without expecting anything in return.
Carney said that generosity demonstrated how kindness can spread from one person to another.
Gander’s legacy remains part of Canada’s 9/11 story
Gander’s response has become one of the most enduring examples of Canadian solidarity associated with September 11.
While the attacks were unfolding thousands of kilometres away, residents of the small Newfoundland community found themselves playing an unexpected role in helping people caught in the international aviation shutdown.
The town’s actions have since become an important part of Canada’s national memory of September 11.
For Carney, the lesson remains relevant 25 years later.
He argued that the response to tragedy demonstrated that hatred and violence can produce destruction, but communities can answer that destruction with courage, generosity and humanity.
NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time
The September 11 attacks also had major consequences for international security.
Carney pointed out that, for the first time in its history, NATO invoked Article 5, the alliance’s collective-defence provision stating that an armed attack against one member is treated as an attack against all.
The decision fundamentally changed Canada’s military and foreign-policy engagement in the years that followed.
Canada subsequently participated in the international military campaign in Afghanistan.
According to Carney, more than 40,000 Canadians served in Afghanistan in the years after the attacks.
The conflict also came at a significant cost for Canada, with 158 Canadian Armed Forces members losing their lives, alongside a Canadian diplomat, a journalist and two aid workers.
A tribute to Canada’s fallen
Carney also remembered the Canadians who served overseas following the attacks and never returned home.
He referred to the Highway of Heroes, the stretch of Ontario highway along which communities gathered to honour fallen Canadian soldiers as their remains were transported from military facilities toward Toronto.
For many Canadians, the Highway of Heroes became a powerful symbol of national grief, gratitude and solidarity.
Carney’s remarks placed those sacrifices within the broader story of Canada’s response to the September 11 attacks.
National Day of Service
The prime minister connected the 25th anniversary with Canada’s National Day of Service, arguing that remembrance should not simply be about looking back at tragedy.
Instead, he encouraged Canadians to serve one another and help people in their communities.
He described helping a neighbour, a stranger or a community in need as one of the strongest responses to those who seek to divide society.
The message was particularly significant because Carney linked the memory of September 11 with a broader principle of community responsibility.
The anniversary, he suggested, should encourage Canadians to transform remembrance into action.
A message beyond September 11
Twenty-five years after the attacks, the effects of September 11 continue to shape international politics, national security and the lives of families who lost loved ones.
But Carney’s statement placed particular emphasis on another part of the legacy: how people responded to suffering.
From firefighters and rescue workers who entered burning buildings to Canadians who opened their homes to stranded passengers, he pointed to acts of courage and compassion that emerged during one of the world’s darkest moments.
He said the ultimate tribute to those who died is not simply to remember them, but to continue helping others.
“The truest tribute is to serve,” Carney said, urging Canadians to look after strangers and members of their communities simply because help is needed.
Twenty-five years later
The 25th anniversary of September 11 therefore carries both grief and reflection for Canada.
The country remembers the 24 Canadians who were among those killed, honours the thousands of Americans and others who lost their lives, and recognizes the emergency responders and service members whose lives were changed by the events that followed.
But Canada’s own September 11 story also includes the people who answered tragedy with generosity.
From Gander’s welcome to the service of Canadian troops abroad, Carney’s message was that the response to hatred does not have to be hatred itself.
For the prime minister, the most meaningful way to remember September 11 is to continue choosing courage, compassion and service.
And 25 years later, his message remains clear: we will never forget.
