About Canada Day
Canada Day, on 1 July, is the national day of Canada and commemorates the British North America Act of 1867, which united the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the single Dominion of Canada within the British Empire. From 1867 to 1982 the day was known as Dominion Day; it was renamed Canada Day on 27 October 1982, shortly after the patriation of the Constitution made Canada fully sovereign from the United Kingdom. The day predates the modern bilingual federation: Newfoundland did not join until 1949, and full sovereignty over constitutional amendments came only with the Constitution Act of 1982. Canada Day is a federal statutory holiday; in Quebec it falls one week after the Fête nationale of Saint-Jean-Baptiste on 24 June, which most Quebecers consider the more important date.
Canada Day is celebrated outdoors with parades, citizenship ceremonies, picnics, music and fireworks. The largest official event is on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, with a noon-hour ceremony attended by the Prime Minister and the Governor General, an evening concert and fireworks over the Ottawa River. Smaller cities and towns hold their own parades, family festivals, free outdoor concerts and pancake breakfasts. Beaver tails, butter tarts and Tim Hortons coffee are everywhere; many people wear red and white, and the maple leaf flag flies from porches across the country. Citizenship Canada holds large naturalisation ceremonies, where thousands take the oath of allegiance and become Canadian citizens. Federal offices, banks and most retail are closed. In British Columbia and Newfoundland the day is also called Memorial Day, marking soldiers killed at Beaumont-Hamel in 1916.