About almost 1,000 people braved the cold as they gathered at Place du 6-Décembre, a park dedicated to the 14 women who were killed at the Ecole polytechnique. Another 12 students were injured in the shooting.
As family members placed flowers at memorial markers, the names of each of the 14 victims were read aloud.
On Dec. 6, 1989, Marc Lepine, 25, walked into the engineering school with a semi-automatic rifle and, according to witnesses, shouted "I want the women. I hate feminists. You're all a bunch of feminists!"
A woman places flowers on the monument dedicated to Maryse Leclair during Saturday's ceremony (CP photo)
Lepine confronted 60 engineering students in their classroom and separated the men from the women. He told the men to leave the classroom, threatening them with his rifle.
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The Montreal massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage over violence against women.
The shooting also led to the white ribbon campaign that raises awareness of the issue, and annual memorial services across the country.
Petitions started after the atrocity helped the gun registry legislation pass through Parliament.
- FROM CBC ARCHIVES: The Montreal Massacre
Heidi Rathjen, a fourth-year engineering student at the time of the massacre, started the Ecole polytechnique petition in December 1989. It demanded stricter laws preventing possession of military and paramilitary weapons.
In a matter of months, Rathjen had collected 500,000 signatures.
