Public Holidays in the Republic of Canada
New Year's Day – January 1
Constitution Day – January 24
Celebrated in honour of the promulgation of the Constitution by the Chief Magistrate of the British Isles in 1837. This celebration consists of fireworks, flag-waving, and feasting. However celebrating Canada’s national day on 24 January is controversial as this is the same date as the British Isles’ national day, Charter Day. As such, many believe this day inherently associates Canadian identity with the British Isles. Calls exist for replacing it with a day in honour of the 1948 Amendment declaring Canada a republic, among other suggestions, but these calls are as of yet unsuccessful.
St Patrick's Day – March 17
Sheelah’s Day – March 18
Brought over by Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1820s, these two Irish national days are marked by a celebration of Irishness, including a vast parade in Toronto. Despite repeated attempts to make this a church holiday, St. Patrick’s Day continues to be marked with pub crawls and copious amounts of drinking. This drinking continues until the morning of Sheelah’s Day, named after a woman who, according to Irish folklore, was St. Patrick’s wife. Historically this celebration was limited to Catholics and some Presbyterians, but it has since spread across Canada as more and more Irish cultural attributes have become stressed in order to create an identity distinct from both the British Isles and the United States.
Good Friday – March or April
Easter Monday – The Monday after Good Friday
May Day – May 1
O’Connell Day – August 6
Celebrated on the birthday of Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), the great Irish political leader who fought for religious equality, Irish autonomy, anti-slavery, and many often great liberal causes. In particular, he is often credited for Section IX of the British Charter which assured universal religious equality. This day was spread by Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine of the 1820s, who took with them an intense love for the imprisoned leader of the Irish people, and this day was for them a way to honour their politics while calling for further organization. As O’Connell became an increasingly-prominent figure in Radical circles in the 1830s and 40s, across the pond many non-Irish celebrated his life as well. Ultimately, it was after the great and massive 1875 centennial celebration of his birth that O’Connell Day became a fixed celebration, becoming statutory in 1879.
Today this day consists of large commemorative ceremonies, and it is a practice for the Governor of Canada to give a speech in Hampden Square, Toronto honouring O’Connell’s work for liberty. Recent shifts in historiography towards his intense anti-slavery have shifted the tenor of the holiday, though only partially. It is also a day of peaceful protest for a great number of political causes, owing to O’Connell’s association with peaceful protest. This day is similarly celebrated across the border in Laurentie (especially Montreal), in Newfoundland, in parts of the United States and Buenaventura, and of course it is especially celebrated in Ireland.
Flag Day - August 24
Celebrated in honour of the first flying of Canada’s national flag in 1949 at the stroke of midnight.
Humboldt Day – September 14
Celebrated in honour of the great Prussian scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1759-1859), whose vast contributions to biology, geography, and virtually every related field through exploring Spanish America and India made him an icon in his lifetime. This day was originally celebrated by German immigrants in particular in honour of their culture’s great contribution to the Americas, but after the unification of Germany without Prussia it came to celebrate Humboldt and his contributions to science. More recently, attention has been paid to his belief in environmental conservation and his opposition to colonialism, and as a result he has been positively contrasted with Columbus and his exploration through conquest. As such, this holiday has only increased in magnitude as a result.
Thanksgiving – Second Monday of October
Halloween – October 31
Brought over by Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine in the 1820s, this holiday consists of children “guising”, or wearing costumes while going between houses to ask for some sort of food. “Stingy Jacks”, or carved pumpkins, are put outside doors. This holiday was originally exclusively Irish, but it gradually spread to other communities, and in the late nineteenth century it came to be viewed as distinctively Canadian despite related holidays existing in Newfoundland, parts of the United States and Buenaventura, and Ireland. As a result, it only grew more prominent. Today, Halloween is a public holiday, centred around the vast Halloween parade in Toronto.
Christmas – December 25
St. Stephen’s Day – December 26