Why do they celebrate Canada Day?

Canadians all across the globe celebrate Canada Day on July 1, commemorating the day three provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canada Province — became one country through the Constitution Act on July 1, 1867.

Three days before the USA sets the skies alight with fireworks as part of nationwide Independence Day celebrations, its friendly neighbor to the north pays tribute to its own origin story.

Many Canadians celebrate the annual holiday on July 1 pretty much the same way Americans approach Independence Day.

Canadians hoist red maple-leafed flags and wear Canada-themed red and white outfits.
Some paint their faces.

Festivals and fireworks are part of the deal, whether one lives in Vancouver, Toronto or Charlottetown, with barbecues and pancake breakfasts as traditions of the day.

However, while both the holidays bear many similarities, professor Matthew Hayday, chairperson of the Department of History at Ontario’s Guelph University, talking to CNN said Canadians don’t make “nearly as big a deal out of Canada Day as Americans do about Independence Day.”

Independence Day was established as a holiday in 1870 by the US Congress to mark the passage of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Originally called Dominion Day, the July 1 holiday to commemorate Canada’s Confederation became official in 1879.

The confederation was an “administrative” change, and not a “revolution”, said Forrest Pass, curator of Canada’s Library and Archives.

The day marks the occasion when the British North America Act came into effect in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada out of three British colonies.