Canada Day, celebrated on July 1, marks the union of British North American provinces into a nation called Canada in 1867. The holiday was officially established in 1879 as “Dominion Day” and later renamed. Celebrations have declined in popularity but include parades, concerts, and fireworks. The holiday is a chance for Canadians to rest and relax without pressure to follow formal traditions. Some citizens in Quebec resist the holiday due to a desire for independence.
Canada Day, formerly called Dominion Day, is celebrated every year on July 1 in Canada. Though first instituted in 1868, the annual festivities surrounding the holiday didn’t go into effect until nearly a century later. The holiday celebrates the union of the British North American provinces into a nation called Canada.
In 1867, the separate provinces of North America under British rule symbolically united. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec made up the new country, called Canada. The following year, the new nation’s governor requested that an anniversary celebration be held on July 1, 1868. The day was officially established as a holiday in 1879, officially titled “Dominion Day.”
Perhaps due to their continuing ties to England, Canadians were slow to embrace nationalism. Only in the 1980s was Canada fully established as an independent nation, although the British had held only nominal powers for several decades prior to that point. Canada Day celebrations have declined in popularity for many years, with no established official mode of celebration. In the mid-20th century, Canadian national pride became more prominent and the holiday was finally celebrated with some sense of official tradition.
Today, Canada Day is celebrated much like Independence Day in the United States. Common activities include local and government parades, including military ceremonies in the capital city of Ottawa. In order to boost the holiday’s popularity, the Canadian government has begun funding celebrations in towns and cities across the country. A popular feature is large-scale concerts, often held under the name Festival Canada or Fete du Canada. Fireworks are also a mainstay of the holiday.
Canada often uses the holiday as the starting point for major national events, such as the establishment of “O, Canada” as the national anthem in 1980. It was also used for the first color TV broadcast in the nation and the creation of the most the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. Despite Canada’s sovereign rule, the Queen of England attended the celebrations frequently, as a symbol of the continued friendly relations between the two countries.
For the average Canadian citizen, Canada Day is celebrated with barbecues, picnics, fireworks, and sometimes a local parade. The holiday is by no means universally celebrated and is often met with resistance and occasionally hostility in the province of Quebec, where many citizens have long desired independence from Canada. But Canada Day offers most Canadians a chance to rest and relax without the pressure of formal celebration traditions. Many of the big celebrations get more popular every year as more Canadians want to express pride in their nation, or at least want to enjoy celebrating.
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