The body of John Gallagher, a former Canadian soldier who was killed while fighting Islamic State militants in Syria, will be repatriated on Friday. 

Gallagher, 32, from Wheatley, died earlier this month while fighting with a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia known as the YPG.

The procession will start at Mackinnon & Bowes Funeral Home in Toronto on Friday at 12 p.m.

It will be heading up Leslie Street and then westbound on Highway 401, with planned rest stops at the Onroute service centres on the 401 westbound in Cambridge and West Lorne.  

Both stops are not expected to exceed more than 15 minutes.

It will then exit on Highway 40 and head south on Communication Road to Blenheim. It will go down Talbot Road to Catherine Street and drive by the Royal Canadian Legion.  

It will then head down Marlborough Street and Stanley to the Blenheim Community Funeral Home.

Canadians are encouraged to come out and welcome Gallagher home by lining the bridges for a Highway of Heroes ceremony between Toronto and Blenheim.

Gallagher had once served in Bosnia under the Canadian Armed Forces. He left the military in 2005.

With files from CTVNews.ca.