We regret to advise of the death of Corporal Vijayalayan “Vijay” Mathiyalaghan (Ret’d) of Ottawa on 14 Jun 2022 at age 28 in a motorcycle crash. An Ottawa Police Service officer, Vijay was a former Combat Engineer and had served as a Parachutist.

Vijay was born in Sri Lanka but grew up in Ottawa as the youngest child in his family. He joined the Primary Reserve in Ottawa while attending Merrivale High School. Vijay served a number of Class A, B, and C duties over the next few years with 33 Combat Engineer Regiment as well as in Meaford, Kingston, Gagetown, Ottawa and Gatineau.

Vijay transferred to the Regular Force and qualified as a Combat Engineer at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering in Gagetown NB in 2016. He was posted to 2 Combat Engineer in Petawawa ON where he served until taking his release from the Canadian Forces in 2020. Vijay deployed to Ukraine on Operation UNIFIER in 2018.

After his release, Vijay completed the Police Foundations Course at Algonquin College and joined the Ottawa Police Service’s Class of 2020. He served in A Platoon Central, policing downtown Ottawa. Vijay also volunteered with Ottawa Police Hoopstars, an outreach program that uses sport to engage with the community and was passionate about motorcycles. 

The flags at OPS buildings were lowered to half-mast in Vijay’s honour. Funeral arrangements will be published when available.