Conferences, Trainings and Events

A group of people sit at a desk in a conference room. The Canadian Red Cross helps disseminate International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to government bodies, the armed forces, academia, policy makers, teachers and youth. We hold a number of events across the country to help educate Canadians on the importance of IHL and to foster dialogue on contemporary challenges and debates.

Summer course on international humanitarian law

Three people pose for a photo smiling, at a IFRC convention

Each year, the Canadian Red Cross, in partnership with the Center for Research and Education on Human Rights at the University of Ottawa, offers a course allowing students and professionals to
learn the fundamental principles of IHL
and to put these notions into practice by exploring realistic case studies.

Academic conferences

One of our key objectives is to raise public awareness of the importance of IHL and its application as well as to encourage discussions on this chapter. Through conferences organized at Canadian universities across the country, the Canadian Red Cross engages in dialogue with professors, students and legislators on various issues related to IHL, and stays on the lookout for contemporary trends, challenges and debates.

List of Events

Polycrisis and international humanitarian law: the environment in times of armed conflict

April 16th, 2025, Cross-Canada, Online Humanitarian Education Youth Action Summit

The Cross-Canada Online Humanitarian Education Youth Action Summit is an opportunity for high school students and teachers across the country to learn with free, ready to deliver activities about the laws that protect people in situations of armed conflict, like Ukraine.

March 21, 2025: Humanitarian Education Training at Ottawa U Faculty of Ed

This training will give high school teachers and Teacher Candidates the opportunity to learn more about the issues surrounding past and present armed conflicts. It will also cover issues such as refugees, child soldiers, gender-based violence, the protection of civilians and international justice.

March 14 2025: Domestic Implementation of International Humanitarian Law in Canada

The University of New Brunswick, the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society and the Canadian Red Cross invite you to their 2025 International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Conference. This free and public conference featuring academics and practitioners will provide participants the opportunity to increase their understanding of International Humanitarian Law and its domestic perspectives.

March 7 – March 9, 2025: Peterborough, Ontario IHL Conference: Forgotten Conflicts

Trent University’s Global Justice and Development Department is partnering with the International Humanitarian Law team at the Canadian Red Cross to host the 18th annual Community Movements Conference, with this year’s theme: Forgotten Conflicts: A focus on Sudan and Yemen.

Postponed to fall 2025: Humanitarian Education Train the Trainer Workshops, BC

The Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian Education Train the Trainer Workshops are a professional development program intended for educators in British Columbia who wish to strengthen their capacity to help high school teachers in their district help students better understand the principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), justice, human rights, and humanitarian action.

February 20, 2025 – Using Storytelling to Facilitate International Humanitarian Law (Installment 2)

This event, hosted in partnership with the American Red Cross, will explore IHL using Star Wars films and TV shows to model how to use fiction as a method to teach IHL. Prepare for the jump to lightspeed as we journey from the Death Star to Dagobah in the 2nd installment of our learning series on using story to teach IHL with examples from Star Wars.

January 9-10, 2025: Exploring Humanitarian Law – Training for CEGEP Teachers

Exploring Humanitarian Law delves into history, ethics and politics, human psychology, and reveals a whole network of international organizations working to apply this very specific law, also known as the law of war.