Veterans

The Halton Naval Veterans Club has re-opened at full capacity. Stay home if you feel unwell.

The Halton Naval Veterans Associations was a Veterans club from its inception as the name implies. Several Veterans from the Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton areas gathered to reminisce about their past experiences while in the Canadian Armed Forces. They were mainly Naval Veterans at the beginning but eventually encompassed all branches of the CAF. They subsequently invited their families and friends to join them which substantially expanded the membership base. Then, they successfully reached out further to members of the general public. Our HNVA currently has approximately 40 Veterans in good standing. We invite any Veterans or current Canadian Armed Force Members who are reading this to join us. (Please see the directions icon).
The Burl-Oak Naval Veterans group meet at the club every Wednesday in the “Messdeck” for an informal lunch during which time some hilarious stories from both their past and present unfold.

Past Events

The Remembrance Ceremonies on November 11th, held both at Spencer Smith Park in Burlington as well as the one held at the City Hall, were well attended by our members despite the brutal weather. Kudos to those who attended.

The Halton Naval Veterans Association (HNVA) is now a member of the National Council of Veterans Associations. (NCVA). As such we attended their Annual General Meeting that was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the airport. The NCVA is a powerful Lobby group of 66 Veterans organizations from across Canada. The Federal Government recognizes that this organization is basically the grassroots “Voice” for many of the Veterans in Canada. As such the Federal Government as well as the Provincial and Territorial Governments rely on their input to accommodate the Veterans’ needs.

This year the 41 recommendations relating to the wellbeing of the Veterans have been forwarded to the Minister of Veterans Affairs as well as the Prime Minister. These recommendations are shown in a separate section of this website.

The Annual President’s Levy was held on January 1st at the club. It was a great success again with approximately 350 visitors streaming through the HNVA Club during the day. The free “Moose Milk” was doled out by our Veterans much to the delight of those in attendance. A great time was held by all.

Preparations for the Annual President's New Year's Levee
From left to right: Mike Vencel, Dan Ward, Ron Kirk, Andy Barber and Fred Norman

Upcoming Events

February 15th 2020
The Colour Party from the Burl-Oak Naval Veterans, who are also members of the HNVA, will be “Marching on the Colours” at the Accessibilities Sales Event on February 15th at the Oakville Conference Centre.

Friday May 1st
Friday May 1st is the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic (BOA) Week in Canada. The Burl-Oak Naval Veterans will be raising the White Naval Ensign at Burlington City Hall.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest running battle in World War Two. It lasted 6 years and cost the lives of 2200 Canadian Naval Seamen as well as 1700 Merchant Naval Seaman. The Canadian Navy lost 24 ships and the Canadian Merchant Navy lost 58 ships.

Sunday May 3rd
The Annual Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony will take place at Spencer Smith Park commencing at 11:00 a.m. Many dignitaries are expected to attend. We also welcome the members of the public to come along and pay their respects to the aforementioned Canadian Naval and Merchant crew members that gave their lives in the Defence of Freedom.

Saturday June 6
There will be a D-Day Ceremony held at Spencer Smith Park commencing at 11:00 a.m. All HNVA members as well as members of the public are invited to attend.

Sunday June 14th
The Halton Naval Veterans Association will be sponsoring their Annual Veterans Luncheon. The lunch will be free along with the first beverage. Cocktails will be served at 12 noon followed by a sumptuous lunch. Our Guest Speaker is yet to be determined. We are hoping to have someone from Veterans Affairs address the Veterans.

Sunday July 26th
The Annual Ceremony commemorating the Canadian Ships that Served in Korea will be held at Spencer Smith Park commencing at 11:00 a.m. Special homage will be paid to the 9 crew members of those ships that gave their lives in supporting the Freedom that South Korea enjoys today.

Other Veterans Events

Citizenship Ceremonies

Veterans from the Burl-Oak Naval Veterans also participate at Citizenship Ceremonies (CC) as the Duty Veterans. They are tasked with marching on the Citizenship Judge as well as offering a few very brief comments towards the end of the Ceremony.

School and Social Club Visits

Members of the Burl-Oak Naval Veterans also provide Veterans for visits to schools, Senior’s Homes and other Social Clubs.

One such visit will take place on Thursday March 12th to a school in Waterloo. Ontario. The subject of the presentation is what life was like aboard a ship in a war zone as well as in Peacetime.

Please ask the HNVA club staff to reach out to Mike Vencel or Andy Barber on your behalf should you wish to avail yourself of one of our visits

Meeting and Listings

Both the Executive and Monthly Membership Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month.
The Executive meeting is at 5:30pm prior to the Membership meetings which commence at 7:00pm.

At our meeting on December 6th, 2019, the Chairman introduced the proposed NCVA Legislative Program for the upcoming year, presented in four parts with extensive discussion after each part. You can learn more about these recommendations on the NCVA Legislative Program website by following the links below:

With regard to partial entitlements, the Chairman suggested that all NCVA groups should canvas their members to determine whether they have something less than four-fifths for their disabilities. Is so, these could potentially be increased. Increases are not automatic, and the VAC has said that they require “new evidence”, but the Chairman noted that he is discussing this requirement with department officials. 

It was MOVED and SECONDED that the 2019 Legislative Program be adopted as presented.  

Contact us

The Halton naval Veterans Association is located at 2444 Industrial Street Burlington Ontario, L7P 1A5. You can call us at 905 336-3326 or reach us by email at haltonnavalveterans@gmail.com. Please feel free to contact us should you require more information.

The Halton Naval Veterans Club re-opens on Monday, March 22, 2021. See our hours of operation.