Canada was a part of the commonwealth and had very close ties with the british. We were in the war from the very beginning and actually declared war on japan before the US did. Canada was a manufacturing giant and played a huge part in training allied pilots and naval personell, by the end of the war we had the 5th largest navy in the world so I must ask what made canada minor? Juno was as important as any of the beaches on D-Day. The pre bombardment had a poor effect on the defensive positions at juno so canadian troops faced stiffer resistance at the shoreline. We uses DD tanks the way they were designed for so cracked the german defense open easier than the americans did at omaha who faced pretty stiff resistance as well but failed to employ their DD tanks properly that is dropping them off closer to the beach. Juno beach also held the only objective that was reached by any allied unit on d-day and had the furthest penetration by any allied unit.

It wasn't a minor nation, at least in terms of manpower. The Canadian army and air force numbered just under one million men; by comparison, the British army numbered 2.9 milliion. Both figures are for 1945, but they should give at least a rough ratio.

Canada obviously didn't have the population to draw from like the US or Britain but they were certainly not a minor nation, by the end of the war they had the worlds third largest navy and fourth largest Air Force. They were a part of the allied forces so it would only make sense that they took part in the landings. The 3rd Canadian infantry division had been training since 1943 to take part in landings in France as well.