The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem traces its origins to the Knights Hospitaller who were formed in Jerusalem in 1099.  The Hospitallers had both a military and medical role and would care for anyone regardless of race or religion.  The order would move their headquarters first to Cyprus, then Rhodes, and finally Malta.  After the Order’s expulsion from Malta after it was conquered by Napoleon in 1798, a group of members would attempt to reestablish the Order in England in the 1830’s.  This group would form the St John Ambulance Association in 1877.  In recognition of their work, Queen Victoria granted the Order a Royal Charter in 1888.  The Order would be formally added to the relatively new Canadian Honours System in 1990.

The Order became active in Canada in the year 1883 when inaugural First Aid courses were held in Quebec City followed by one at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.  This would be the beginning of a long relationship between St John Ambulance and the Canadian Armed Forces which continues to this day.

Between 1892 and 1898 Nursing and Training centres were established in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan.The first St. John Ambulance Association Centre was formed in Halifax in 1892. St John Ambulance issued the first certificate for first aid training in 1883, and by 1892, SJA had 12 branches teaching first aid from coast-to-coast. The Centre for the Province of Ontario was formed in Toronto in 1895. This was upgraded to a Dominion Council in 1897. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) opened Vancouver's first St. John Ambulance First Aid Training Centre in BC on October 12, 1907. Nursing units and community services were established in Edmonton and Calgary in 1897. The Canadian Branch of the St. John Ambulance Association was formed in 1910. The St. John Ambulance British Columbia Council was established on June 24, 1911. Provincial Councils were formed in all nine provinces in 1910-1911. The Dominion of Newfoundland received their first Association Centre in 1910.  The first ambulance division was formed in London in 1909.  This would be followed by the first nursing division in Toronto in 1912.  By 1913 the St. John Ambulance Brigade in Canada included 24 ambulance and three nursing divisions. From here St. John Ambulance would expand around the country as well as across the Commonwealth.

During the First World War, St. John Ambulance would train over 200,000 members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  St. John Ambulance also established Volunteer Aid Detachments that were made up of nurses and other women who volunteered to serve in Canada and overseas. In Canada, St John Ambulance sent 360 volunteers overseas, with other Canadians crossing the ocean to sign up directly in London.  During the course of the First World War, 22 St John members were killed in action or died while on duty in a St. John Ambulance uniform, or while serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  They are commemorated in the Order’s Roll of Honour for the First World War located at St. John’s Gate in London, United Kingdom.

St. John Ambulance in Alberta was instrumental in bringing compulsory First Aid training to the workplace through joint lobbying with the Workers Compensation Board in the 1920s.  1931 would see the formation of the Commandery in Canada of the Grand Priory of the Order.  The first St John Ambulance Brigade unit in British Columbia was formed in Victoria in 1935, this would be followed by Nursing and Cadet divisions later.

During the Second World War, most members of the military were trained in First Aid by St. John Ambulance. St. John Ambulance also formed Air Raid Protection Committees, which included ensuring that the public were trained in emergency procedures such as the use of gas masks. During the war, 221 Canadian women went overseas as part of the Volunteer Aid Detachments to serve in hospitals around the world, prisoner of war camps, and even liberated concentration camps.  Many more served in civilian and military hospitals in Canada. Many female St. John Ambulance members took part in the a civil defence unit called the Women’s Ambulance Corps (WAC),  serving across BC, trained  to become comprehensive nurses, firefighters and stretcher-bearers, and remained on active duty until the end of the Second World War.

1946 would see the Commandery in Canada become the Priory of Canada of the Order. St John Ambulance has for a long time been involved with workplace safety. St. John Ambulance Alberta lobbied for statutory First Aid standards in the 1960s and 70s, and also advised the Government of needed changes to the First Aid Regulations throughout the 1990s.

St. John Ambulance has responded to a number of natural and man-made disasters.  These includes the Halifax Explosion (1917), the Spanish Flu (1918-19), fires on sister ships SS Harmonic and SS Noronic on the Great Lakes (1945 and 1949), Hurricane Hazel (1954), the crash of Air Canada Flight 621 (1970), the Mississauga Train Derailment (1979), the 1998 Ice Storm, the SARS outbreak (2003), British Columbia Forest Fires (2017 to present), Flooding in British Columbia (2021)  and the recent COVID-19 Pandemic. 

1974 saw the amalgamation of the St. John Ambulance Association and the St. John Ambulance Brigade into one organization. In the present day, the Brigade has become the St John Ambulance Medical First Responders who provide medical coverage at public events and at times of emergency.  These are the St. John Ambulance volunteers that the public will have the greatest interaction with. Ski Patrol Divisions are also present in Quebec, originating in 1928.  Campus Response Divisions were added in the 1990’s with the inaugural division being formed at Queen’s University in Kingston and can now be found at many post-secondary institutions.

The St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program began in Peterborough, Ontario in 1992 with eight dogs involved. The program now includes 3,500 dogs and their handlers across the country. This program sees the volunteers and dogs enter hospitals, schools, seniors’ residences, and other locations in order to provide emotional support to those who can benefit from it.

The first Cadet divisions were formed for youth in 1933.  The Cadets allow 6-17 year olds the opportunity to learn First Aid skills and to volunteer in their community.  St. John Ambulance has recently launched the SJA Connect program to allow opportunity for even more youth to become involved. 

St. John Ambulance continues to be one of Canada’s leaders in the provision of First Aid Instruction.  On top of Standard First Aid, other topics including Wilderness and Pet First Aid are now offered to the public.

The Order of St. John is one of five national honours in the Canadian Honours System, including The Order of Canada. The Order of St. John is a humanitarian order that was recognized as a national order in the Canadian Honours System in 1990. Sanctioned by the Governor General of Canada, members of St. John Ambulance who are appointed or promoted, receive the Order of St. John appear in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Government of Canada since 1841. As one of the recognized Orders in the Canadian Honours System, the Insignia of the Order may be worn with other decorations, medals and badges that have also been granted or authorized by the Sovereign, The King of Canada.

Throughout our history, St. John Ambulance volunteers have been ready to serve where needed, be it world wars or global pandemics and everything in between.  St John Ambulance volunteers have been able to apply their life-saving skills across the country in order to help those from all walks of life in the spirit of the Order’s two mottos:  Pro Fide (For the Faith) and Pro Utilitate Hominum meaning In the service of humanity.