How is Canada's involvement with Afghanistan significant in Canadian history?

Canada's involvement in Afghanistan is still very recent. Therefore, it is too soon to see just how significant the involvement was in Canadian history. However, we can look at some of the important facts about Canadian intervention in Afghanistan to point out some significant factors.
Canada had troops in Afghanistan from the very beginning of the NATO mission there, at the end of 2001. Overall, over 40,000 Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan over twelve years. This makes it the longest sustained conflict in Canadian history and the largest deployment of Canadian armed forces since the second world war.
In addition to military intervention, Canadian forces and contractors have been working steadily to build up the infrastructure of Afghanistan and aid in several social and health-related projects. These include the spending of $50 million to update irrigation systems, immunizing thousands of children against polio in an attempt to eradicate the disease in the country, and spending $12 million to improve education and schools in Kandahar. All in all, Canada has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to aid Afghanistan. This constitutes one of the largest foreign aid packages that Canada has ever put together.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/recently-completed.html