Prince Harry Surprises Students in Canada with Invictus Games Program Launch: It 'Had a Profound Impact on Me'

Only 81 days remain until the next iteration of the Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler, which will include winter sports for the first time

Prince Harry is stepping out in Canada to inspire the next generation with his Invictus Games.

On Nov. 18, the Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared at the Seaforth Armoury in Vancouver to launch the School Program from the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, presented by ATCO and Boeing. Prince Harry, a former captain in the British Army, created the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, in 2014 as a means for healing, and the next iteration will be held in Vancouver and Whistler in February of next year.

Prince Harry visited the historic military facility to join students in a range of activities, marking the launch of an online program aimed at introducing the Invictus Games to schools everywhere. As a father to two young children — Prince Archie, 5 and Princess Lilibet, 3 — Harry’s natural parenting skills were on full display as he interacted with the kids.

"Seeing them learn about the Invictus Games has had a profound impact on me because this is where Invictus starts to go even wider outside of the Invictus community, into schools in Canada and hopefully around the world," Prince Harry said in a speech shared to X.

The visit comes 81 days before the next cycle of the Invictus Games begins. In February, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially kicked off the countdown by attending the Invictus Games One Year to Go celebrations in British Columbia, spending time at the Winter Training Camp with athletes due to participate in the next iteration of the Games. 

In video shared to X by St. John Alexander of CTV News Vancouver, Prince Harry sat at a table with kids and asked, "Do you guys play sports? Which ones?"

In another clip on X from Cecilia Hua of CityNews Vancouver, the Duke of Sussex joined children for a round of sitting volleyball, one of Invictus' original sports.

Related: How Prince Harry's Invictus Games Are Transforming Veterans' Lives Worldwide: 'We're Healing'

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2022, Prince Harry credited the Invictus Games community as "a major part of my growth and learning."

"Creating the Games involved listening to military and veteran families — and hearing directly from them about their lives — and that offered so much perspective. It’s been a lesson in serving a purpose greater than ourselves, and the benefit that comes from that extends to both the individual and the community," Prince Harry previously told PEOPLE. "I truly believe that we are at our best when we’re in service to others, and Invictus is all about upholding that value."

The Duke of Sussex launched the Invictus Games in London in 2014, and the competition has previously been held in Toronto (2017), Sydney, Australia (2018), The Hague, the Netherlands (2022, rescheduled from 2020 amid the COVID pandemic) and Dusseldorf, Germany (2023). In August 2023, the Invictus Games hit Netflix queues through the limited series Heart of Invictus, which followed several athletes as they prepared to compete at The Hague. The five-episode series came from Archewell Productions, Prince Harry and Meghan's production hub, in partnership with the Invictus Games Foundation. The Duke of Sussex appeared in the series and served as an executive producer.

Related: All the Best Photos from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Trip to Canada for the Invictus Games Countdown

Gabriel “Gabe” George, a medically retired Navy Corpsman, was one of the athletes that Netflix cameras followed for the show and told PEOPLE that getting to know Harry was like talking to "a brother."

"Every conversation that I've had with him has been just like I'm talking to a friend, a brother, maybe because of the military connection that we have," George said about the Duke of Sussex. "We share where we just left off. The conversation just continues to go on."

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In May, King Charles' son traveled to London to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games in the city where it all began. Over the summer, the Invictus Games Foundation announced that the next Invictus Games after Vancouver and Whistler will be in Birmingham, England in 2027, marking a tournament return to the U.K. for the first time since the initial Games.

The upcoming Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 will be the first time the event returns to a former host country and features a new debut of winter sports — alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling — in the competition.

Drumming up excitement, Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at Toronto's Grey Cup on Nov. 17 to promote the next Invictus Games.