Canadian Forces casualties in Afghanistan The number of Canadian Forces ' fatalities resulting from Canadian military activities in Afghanistan is the largest for any single Canadian military mission since the Korean War between 1950 and 1953 . A total of 158 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed in the war since 2002 . Specifics . The first casualties occurred in the Tarnak Farm incident , in which four Canadians were killed and eight seriously wounded when a United States warplane dropped a bomb on a training exercise in the belief that the Canadians were enemy soldiers . The four servicemen were honoured at an event unprecedented in Canada 2002 , Skyreach Centre in Edmonton , Alberta , was filled to capacity for a tribute ceremony for the four deceased soldiers that included personal messages from the Governor General Adrienne Clarkson , Prime Minister Jean Chretien , the Chief of Defence Staff , Premier of Alberta and Premier of Manitoba , and the Mayor of Edmonton , Alberta , most of whom also attended the service . Subsequently , deceased soldiers have been honoured by much smaller services , though , at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on 9 April 2007 , Elizabeth II , Queen of Canada , made reference to all the deceased Canadians in Afghanistan when she rededicated the monument " to their eternal remembrance , to Canada , to all who would serve the cause of freedom , and to those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan . " Further , in honour of all those who died during the Afghan mission , the section of Ontario ' s Highway 401 along which deceased soldiers are carried from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to Toronto after repatriation was named the " Highway of Heroes " . All those Canadian Forces personnel who are killed during the mission are posthumously awarded the Sacrifice Medal and their spouse or next of kin receive the Memorial Cross . The first deployed Canadian woman to die in combat was Captain Nichola Goddard , and the death of Anthony Boneca initiated debate around the combat readiness of Canadian reservists , wherein questions were asked not only about the suitability of employing reservists , but also the role of the media in reporting comments by grief - stricken relatives , such as those made by Boneca ' s partner ' s father . The suitability of the Iltis vehicle was also questioned heavily following a land mine incident that claimed the lives of Canadian soldiers , leading the military to thereafter acquire Mercedes - Benz G - Class and RG - 31 Nyala armoured patrol vehicles . The first Canadian woman to commit suicide on an overseas deployment was Major Michelle Mendes , an intelligence officer , who died from self - inflicted gunshot wounds at Kandahar Airfield only a few days after her arrival . The first gravely injured Canadian soldier to redeploy in Kandahar was Captain Simon Mailloux in November 2009 . Capt Mailloux had been gravely injured in November 2007 following an IED incident in the Panjwayi district and his left leg had to be amputated . Two more Canadian soldiers , Corporal Nicholas Beauchamp and Private Michel Levesque , died in the same incident . The highest ranking casualty was sustained on 18 May 2010 , when Colonel Geoff Parker was killed after a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a NATO convoy during a morning rush hour on the edge of Kabul . 5 U . S . soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians were also killed in this attack . Notable fatalities . The first Canadian casualties came on 18 April 2002 , in what is known as the Tarnak Farm incident . Four soldiers ( Privates Richard Green and Nathan Smith , Corporal Ainsworth Dyer and Sergeant Marc Léger ) were killed and eight others wounded when an American F - 16 fighter jet dropped a laser - guided 225 - kg bomb on the Canadians who were on an exercise at Tarnak Farm , near Kandahar . On 17 May 2006 , 26 year old Captain Nichola Goddard from the 1 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was killed during operations against insurgents . She was the first Canadian female soldier to die in combat . On 4 September the same year , Olympic athlete Private Mark Anthony Graham from the 1st Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment was killed by a US A - 10 Warthog attack aircraft in a friendly fire incident . Dozens of other Canadians were wounded in the incident . Non - fatal casualties . Figures released by DND in January 2011 show that the total number of Canadian soldiers injured and wounded in more than nine years of war reached 1 , 859 by the end of December 2010 . 1 , 244 of these are listed as NBI ( Non battle injuries ) and 615 are listed as WIA ( wounded in action ) . Following a policy change at the beginning of 2010 , the Canadian military began to withhold all injury reports , releasing only statistics after the end of a calendar year , citing security reasons . The Department of National Defence also refuses to disclose the nature or severity of injuries and wounds , claiming that information is an operational secret .