Vigils will be held across the country Thursday marking the 29th anniversary of the massacre at Montreal's École Polytechnique.

On the evening of December 6th, 1989, Marc Lepine entered a classroom at the school, separated the male and female students, and began shooting all the women. 

He then walked through the school, continuing to fire before taking his own life. 

A total of 28 people were shot and 14 women were killed. 

The Prime Minister and his wife will take part in a candlelight vigil Thursday afternoon in Montreal. 

And in Timmins, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women was observed Thursday morning.

At Timmins High and Vocational School, female students hosted a ceremony to honour the victims of the Montreal Massacre 29 years ago.

Students lit a candle for each of the 14 women who were killed that day. 

Staff who helped organize the ceremony says although the tragedy took place long before the students were born, the message is still as relevant today.

“There wasn't a lot of awareness of the actual day, of the event, but just because, the entire school was sitting in here and when the girls were getting ready to light the candles or lay the roses down, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. So, I think that they took it seriously and I think that the message came across in the end that the violence has to stop.” said Tammy Belanger-Lamothe, of Timmins High and Vocational School.

A vigil will be held outside Timmins City Hall Thursday evening to honour the victims of the Montreal Massacre as well.

And a new report out is shining a light on domestic homicide in Canada and shows the victims are primarily women.

The report from The Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative tracked data over a five year period from 2010 to 2015. 

It found not only were three-quarters of domestic homicide victims female, but more than half of the victims were either refugees and immigrants, people of Indigenous heritage, people living rurally, or children. 

One of the study's co-author says the results should serve as a wake-up call to society about the safety of women and vulnerable populations.