Canadian Holidays

British Columbia Holidays & Public Holidays In Canada

Are you visiting during public Canadian holidays?

British Columbia celebrates public holidays in Canada and provincial British Columbia holidays.

In Canada national holiday can be statutory, also known as "general" or "public" holiday and is legislated at the national, provincial and territorial levels.

We calso celebrate non-statutory holidays, and while some people get the day off work, others do not.

Canada celebrates national public holidays across all provinces, and in addition, here in British Columbia we also commemorate British Columbia Day, a BC provincial holiday.

If you're here during summer, join in the sun for the Canada Day holiday weekend in July and British Columbia Day in August.

These are the best holiday long weekends in the Valley! There's tons of stuff going on, fireworks, entertainment, music, family activities ...the whole sha-bang!

Public Holidays In Canada Observed In British Columbia

There are nine provincial and national statutory holidays observed in BC.

Post offices, government offices, banks and many businesses and organizations, such as libraries, are closed on these national Canadian holidays. A few stores may be open depending on local customs. Public transport services may be reduced or may not run at all.

New Year's Day is celebrated on the first day of the year, January 1st. It is a statutory holiday throughout Canada. When New Year's Day Canadian holidays fall on a Sunday, the next working day is considered a legal holiday.

Pope Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar in 1582 setting January 1 as New Year's Day. It is the oldest and most universal holiday, first observed by the Romans in 153 B.C.

The celebration of this holiday begins the night before, New Year's Eve, and fireworks at the stroke of midnight, mark the beginning of the new year.

Good Friday holidays are federal public holidays in Canada. Post offices are closed on national, provincial, territorial holidays. Public transport services many run to their usual or limited schedules. The day is also known as Great Friday, Holy Friday, and Holy and Great Friday.

Easter is a "movable" season which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. Together with Easter Monday, this is a 4 day Canadian holidays weekend.

Good Friday Canadian holidays is part of a Christian celebration of Easter, occurs two days before Easter Sunday, and focuses on Jesus Christ's death, as described in the Christian bible. It is a day of mourning and quiet prayer among many Christians.

Early Christians were brought up in the Hebrew tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the Passover festival, a commemoration of the advent of the Messiah as foretold by the prophets. Easter occurs at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period begining on Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins its with the observance of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem where crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday (Good Friday) in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crucifixion, the day that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. The most important Good Friday symbol is the crucifix, or cross, which represents the way Jesus died.

The Sovereign's birthday has been celebrated in Canada since the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). May 24, Queen Victoria's birthday, was declared as public Canadian holidays by the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845.

After the Confederation of Canada, the Queen's birthday was celebrated every year on May 24 unless that date was a Sunday, in which case a proclamation was issued providing for the celebration on May 25. Queen Victoria died in 1901. In 1957, Victoria Day was permanently appointed as the Queen's birthday in Canada. In the United Kingdom, the Queen's birthday is celebrated in June.

One of the most important Canadian holidays is the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st, and was signed in a proclamation by the Governor General, Lord Monck, on June 20, 1868. (whew, that was a mouthful!) In short, it's the celebration of the Canadian Federation.

The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day. There are no records of organized ceremonies after this first anniversary, except for the 50th anniversary of Confederation in 1917. At that time the new Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, under construction, was dedicated as a memorial to the Fathers of Confederation and to the valour of Canadians fighting in the First World War in Europe.

Since 1958, the federal government has arranged for an annual observance of Canada's national day. On October 27, 1982, July 1st "Dominion Day" officially became "Canada Day".

Since 1985, Canada Day Committees are established in each province and territory to plan, organize and coordinate the Canada Day celebrations locally. Typical celebrations include parades, musical performances, carnivals, festivals, fireworks, barbecues, air and maritime shows, and citizenship ceremonies for new citizens.

Under the federal Holidays Act, Canada Day Canadian holidays is observed on 1 July unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case 2 July is the statutory holiday. If it falls on a Saturday, the following Monday is generally also a day off for those businesses ordinarily closed on Saturdays.

Labour Day in Canada is celebrated on the first Monday of September. It originally gave workers an opportunity to campaign for better working conditions and pay.

Post offices, many businesses, and many organizations are closed on Labour Day in Canadian holidays. Schools are also closed, as Labour Day falls at the end of the summer holiday season. Many public transport services run to a reduced service, and others may not run at all.

Peter J. McGuire, one of the founders of the American Federation of Labour has traditionally been known as the 'Father of Labour Day'.

Organised labor demonstrations began in Canada in 1872 with the Toronto Trades Assembly (TTA), and the first North American "workingman's demonstration". Thousands of workers attended the demonstration to listen to speeches calling for abolition of the law which declared that "trade unions were criminal conspiracies in restraint of trade". In September 1872, members of seven unions in Ottawa, Canada organized a parade that stretched for more than a mile long, where they carried Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald to the Ottawa City Hall by torch light. The Prime Minister declared that his party would "sweep away all such barbarous laws from the statute books". These laws were revoked by Parliament later that year and the tradition of holding parades and demonstrations was continued on into the early 1880's.

In 1882, the Toronto Trades and Labour Council organized the annual demonstration and picnic for July 22. Peter J. McGuire of New York attended as a speaker. McGuire was the founder and general secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters which had organized the previous year.

The same year,McGuire proposed at a meeting of the New York Central Labour Union that a festive day be set aside for a demonstration and picnic. Labour Day was first celebrated in New York on September 5,1882.

Pressure for legislation to declare a national holiday for Labour Day was soon thrust upon both Canada and the United States. The government of Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1892 to 1894, enacted such legislation on July 23, 1894.

Labor Day Canadian holidays are now part of a long weekend for many Canadians and celebrates economic and social achievements of workers.

Thanksgiving Day in Canada has been a holiday on the second Monday of October since 1957. It is linked to the European tradition of harvest festivals, and during this time we give thanks for a good harvest and other fortunes in the past year.

The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness. There is no record of celebration of Thanksgiving Day in Canada between 1872 and 1879.

From the end of World War I until 1930, both Thanksgiving Day and Armistice Day were celebrated on the Monday closest to November 11, the anniversary of the official end of hostilities in World War I. In 1931, Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving Day was moved to a Monday in October. Since 1957, Thanksgiving Day has always been held on the second Monday in October.

Thanksgiving Day are paid Canadian holidays in all Canadian provinces and territories. Many people have the day off work and all schools, banks and post offices are closed. Many stores and other local businesses and organizations are also closed.

Since Canada is a country of multiculturalism, you'll find a wide variety of celebrations on Thanksgiving. And it's generally spent with family and friends. But the one thing we all have in common.... delicious dinners!!

Remembrance Day commemorates the sacrifices of people in all armed conflicts, particularly World War I, World War II and the Korean Conflict. It is also known as Armistice Day and Poppy Day.

In Canada, Remembrance Day is a public holiday for federal government employees, private businesses, provincial governments and schools. Its status varies by province. When Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday or Saturday that is a non-working day, the working day immediately preceding or following the general holiday is the day off.

Remembrance Day in Canadian holidays tradition, is symbolized by the artificial poppies that people wear and place at war memorials. The poppy is a symbol of remembrance comes from a poem called 'In Flanders Fields', written by John McCrae, a Canadian doctor serving in the military. It describes the poppies growing in the Flemish graveyards where soldiers were buried.

Poppies grew in large numbers on battle fields. The red color of their petals reminds people of the blood lost by victims of and casualties in the conflict. Some people choose to wear white poppies as a symbol to campaign for non-military interventions in conflict.

Military parades and memorial services held on November 11 are symbolic of Remembrance Day. "The Last Post", a reading of the fourth verse of the 'Ode of Remembrance', two minutes silence at 11:00 a.m. and wreaths laid at local war memorials are part of this day.

Most Christians in Canada mark the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, which is known as Christmas Day. It is a day of celebration when many Canadians exchange gifts and enjoy festive meals.

This is a Canadian holidays National Public holiday during which schools, post offices and many businesses and organizations are closed. Some stores may be open. Many public transport services are closed or offer a reduced service.

British Columbia Provincial Statutory Holidays

Along with national Canadian holidays, we recognize Provincial holidays in BC plus Easter Monday, which is a bank holiday and commemorated by federal employees. Banks, post offices, government offices, libraries, and some stores will be closed on Provincial holidays.

The first Monday in August is a statutory holiday in most Canadian Provinces and Territories. As Canadian holidays are, it's considered a 'civic holiday', and it's name changes from province to province, and even amongst different regions within a province, and here we call it British Columbia Day.

The British Columbia Day Act was first introduced to the Legislative Assembly in 1974. The aim of the Bill was to create a statutory holiday on the first Monday in August to recognize the pioneers in the province and the act gained royal assent in 1996.

Post offices and many businesses and organizations, such as libraries, are closed. A few stores may be open depending on local customs. Public transport services may be reduced or may not run at all. Mostly we spend a relaxing day with family and friends.

Other Important Dates & Canadian Holidays

Easter Sunday, Easter Monday and Boxing Day are not statutory holidays, however some local businesses choose to remain closed on these days.

Because Easter Monday is considered a holiday at the National level, federal and other government agencies such as post offices are closed. Banks remain open on Easter Monday Canadian holidays.

The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day, and is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, with blow out boxing day sales everywhere.

The term Boxing Day may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day, or possibly from the earthenware boxes with which young boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters' clients. Other stories relate to servants being allowed to take a portion of the food left over from the Christmas celebrations in a box to their families.

The International Ice Hockey Federation world junior hockey championships often start on December 26, Boxing Day and watching them on television is a popular, and to some, an important activity.