People across Canada paused for a moment of silence on Saturday to mark Remembrance Day and honour the more than 100,000 Canadians killed in war and peacekeeping missions during the past century.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his wife and their two children attended the main ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa under rainy skies. Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean was also among the dignitaries.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets Cyprus peacekeeping veteran Gen. Clayton Beattie during Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa on Saturday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

The Canadian Forces chaplain-general led prayers as guns boomed and warplanes roared overhead.

Brig.-Gen. Stanley Johnston told the service that Canadians are still ready to protect liberty and peace.

The prime minister was asked for his comments after the ceremonies and praised the three remaining Canadian veterans of the First World War.

"I said earlier this week we think particularly about the people who are serving in Afghanistan now. But there's been a lot talk this year about the fact there are still three World War One veterans living, and I think we should cherish every moment they're still with us."

Veterans Percy Wilson and Lloyd Clemett, both 105, live in Toronto, while John Babcock, 106, lives in Spokane, Wash.

Silver cross mother Alice Murphy of Conception Harbour, N.L., laid a wreath in Ottawa on behalf of mothers who have lost a child in the military or merchant navy. Murphy's son, Cpl. Jamie Murphy, was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan.

Later, the Governor General walked into the crowd to shake hands with veterans and their families.

In Kandahar, Afghanistan, about 500 Canadian soldiers gathered on the parade square at National Command Headquarters in front of a grey stone cenotaph bearing the names and photographs of Canadians who have been killed in Afghanistan.

Canadian military personnel killed
First World War: 1914-1918	66,655
Second World War: 1939-1945	44,893
Korean conflict: 1950-1953	516
Peacekeeping: 1956-2006	121
Afghanistan: 2002-2006	42

At Bagram air base north of the Afghan capital Kabul, American forces held a Veterans Day ceremony to remember their war dead.

"Our veterans' time was historic and we honour them," said U.S. Maj.-Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley. "Our time, your time, will be just as historic and the nation honours you."

During a visit to Toronto on Friday, Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff, said the day has sadly become more relevant because of the deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Hillier said he's used to Remembrance Day sending a chill down his spine. "But this week, the chill down my spine and the emotion that I and all of us feel across this country is greater than it has ever been," he said during Ontario's first Tribute to the Fallen ceremony.