We’d like to wish our valued clients, friends and family a very safe and happy Canada Day! Enjoy this short history lesson on the greatest country in the world!
- A proclamation signed by the Governor General on June 20, 1868, asked all Canadians to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the uniting of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the dominion of Canada on July 1st, 1867.
- The British North America Act proclaimed “one Dominion under the name of Canada,” hence the original title of the holiday, “Dominion Day”, which was established by statute in 1879.
- After the original declaration, there is no record of organized ceremonies until 1917 which was the 50th anniversary of Confederation.
- The first national broadcast took place on July 1, 1927 for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. Telegraph and telephone companies and 23 radio stations were able to broadcast live from the CN station in Ottawa.
- Cross-country television transmission by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) began on Canada Day in 1958. Colour television was introduced to Canada nine years later on Canada Day 1967.
- Canada Day almost exactly marks the middle of the year. July 1st is the 182nd day and after that 183 days are left to go.
- “O Canada” officially became Canada’s national anthem on July 1, 1980 as part of that year’s Dominion Day celebrations, even though it had been around since the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. O Canada was first performed on July 24, 1880 in Quebec City
- As the rest of Canada celebrates with face painting and fireworks, Quebec opts for a mass exodus of apartments. In keeping with a decades-old tradition, most leases in Quebec expire July 1.
- Some Americans celebrate it with us, and not just those of Canadian descent. Because they are less than a mile apart, since the 1950s, Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario have had a combined Canada Day/Independence Day celebration called the international Freedom Festival. A huge fireworks display is set off over the Detroit River, the only thing separating the two cities.
- Fireworks did not become a popular Canada Day activity until 1981.
Where will your Canada Day take you? Contact us for some awesome Canada Day long weekend getaway ideas!