The July 1 birthday bash we know as Canada Day, with fireworks and parades and music and cake with red and white icing, is enjoyed now by millions of Canadians coast to coast to coast. But it took a long time to become the celebration we know today.
Canada was born on July 1, 1867, the day the British North America Act united Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into one dominion. July 1 was called Dominion Day and a government decree made it a statutory holiday in 1879.
Little happened in the way of official celebration until 50 years later. On July 1, 1917, the Parliament buildings were dedicated to the Fathers of Confederation and to Canadians fighting overseas in the First World War. A decade later on July 1, 1927, the Peace Tower Carillon on Parliament Hill was inaugurated.
Not until 1958 did the federal government begin to put together Dominion Day ceremonies with military music and fireworks. By 1979, this had evolved into a big multicultural music and dance festival on Parliament Hill, and the grand bash was broadcast on television across the country.
But it still wasn’t called Canada Day until 1982, after the patriation of our constitution in April of that year. Celebrations outside of the capital began to take on lives of their own back then, with public gatherings and fireworks in cities and towns across Canada.
Other highlights in the intervening years: in 2010, Canada Day celebrations had the flavour of royalty, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh were in Ottawa to help celebrate Canada’s 143rd anniversary. The following year saw Their Royal Highnesses Prince William and Catherine, Duke and The Duchess of Cambridge, partied with Canadians on Parliament Hill. And in 2017, to mark Canada’s 150th, Charles and Camilla, now king and queen dropped into Ottawa to help us celebrate.
For 2025, Canada Day seemed to take on extra meaning as threats to Canadian sovereignty emanated from south of the border. For 2026, in additional to the usual party in Ottawa, Canada Day festivities in Ottawa will include a Snowbirds flyby, and an Order of Canada investiture ceremony.
It should be noted that not everyone thinks Canada Day is cause for celebration. For some, July 1 ignores the country’s history of what they would term oppression and genocide of First Nations peoples, systemic injustices for non-white minorities and institutional racism.
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