The federal government will mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 22 Parliament Hill attack with a sombre service on Thursday at the site where the shocking violence began — the National War Memorial, the Toronto Star has learned.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston will preside over the ceremony meant to mark the "terrorist" event that rattled the nation and honour the memories of the two soldiers killed a year ago and the first responders who rushed to the scene, a source told the Star.

Featuring elements of the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day service that will follow in just a few weeks, Thursday's event will feature a fighter jet flypast, a 21-gun salute, an honour guard and moments of reflection.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is expected to attend and lay a wreath on behalf of all Canadians.

The service, expected to take place Thursday morning, will be open to the public.

"This event will honour, as the government said it would, the sacrifice ... of those who died," the source said Sunday. "We all have a responsibility to remember."

Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was standing as a ceremonial guard at the National War Memorial in the morning of Oct. 22, 2014, when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau approached from behind and fired into his back. The gunman fired twice more as the defenceless soldier tried to crawl away.

Zehaf-Bibeau then crossed the street to Parliament Hill, commandeered a car and drove to Centre Block where he burst through the doors. Commons guard Constable Samearn Son wrestled with him at the front door and was wounded in the leg.

Zehaf-Bibeau then rang the length of the Hall of Honour and was wounded several times before he was fatally shot outside the Library of Parliament.

A review by the Ontario Provincial Police would later conclude that it was fortunate that Zehaf-Bibeau, armed with only an old hunting rifle and knife, was "disorganized," suggesting the toll could have been much worse.

Thursday's event will feature the attendance of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, the Hamilton-based reserve unit that Cirillo served with. It will also have the participation of other soldiers who stand sentry at the war memorial between April and November.

The remembrance ceremony will also mark the sacrifice of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, who was run down and killed down in a targeted hit-and-run attack two days earlier in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. His attacker, Martin Couture-Rouleau, was later shot and killed by police officers.

Vincent was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force and his loss will be marked Thursday with the flypast of a CF-18 fighter jet.

As Canadian soldiers take part in the military mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the two lone wolf attacks raised fears about extremist-inspired attacks on Canadian soil.

In a cellphone video taped just prior to his attack, Bibeau said his assault was meant as retaliation for Canada's participation in military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Police had also been concerned about the radicalization Vincent's attacker.

There will also be an unveiling of a plaque at the National War Memorial.