Civic Holiday

For the generic term, see Civic holiday.

Civic Holiday
Observed by	Canada
Date	First Monday in August
2023 date	August 7  (2023-08-07)
2024 date	August 5  (2024-08-05)
2025 date	August 4  (2025-08-04)
2026 date	August 3  (2026-08-03)
Frequency	annual

Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in most of Canada on the first Monday in August, though it is only officially known by that term by the governments of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island. The Civic holiday is recognized as a statutory holiday in those three provinces and territories.

The holiday is known by a variety of names in other provinces and municipalities, including British Columbia Day in British Columbia, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan. The holiday is celebrated as Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Terry Fox Day in Manitoba; however, though not a statutory holiday in Nova Scotia, it is in Manitoba.

In 1974 the Government of Alberta, acting through Minister of Culture Dr. Horst A. Schmid, declared the first Monday in August an annual holiday to recognize and celebrate the varied cultural heritage of Albertans, known as Heritage Day. This gave rise in 1976 to the Edmonton Heritage Festival, a three-day celebration of food, dance, and handicrafts of cultures from around the world. Heritage Day has been an "optional" civic holiday, having been downgraded from a statutory holiday following the introduction of Family Day in 1990.

The holiday was renamed Simcoe Day in Toronto effective 1969 in honour of the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada and the promulgator of the Act Against Slavery, but a motion at the Ontario Municipal Association to extend the name change across Ontario failed. According to a 2005 proclamation this name continues to apply in the present amalgamated city of Toronto. Civic Holiday is now known by one of a number of local appellations such as Colonel By Day in Ottawa, George Hamilton Day in Hamilton, Joseph Brant Day in Burlington, Founders' Day in Brantford, McLaughlin Day in Oshawa, Alexander Mackenzie Day in Sarnia, James Cockburn Day in Cobourg, Peter Robinson Day in Peterborough, and John Galt Day in Guelph, as well as numerous other names in smaller municipalities. When not given a local name, it is often referred to as 'Civic Holiday'. Although a work holiday is given to employees of the federal and many municipal governments, the Government of Ontario has not defined this day as a statutory holiday and it is not mentioned in either Ontario's Employment Standards Act or Retail Business Holidays Act. Schools are generally already closed, regardless of the holiday's status, because of summer vacation. The Caribbean Cultural Festival, formerly known as Caribana, is held this holiday weekend in Toronto, coinciding with Emancipation Day.

The first Monday in August is not generally observed as a holiday in Quebec, parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, or Yukon, but replacement summer holidays may be observed as follows:

• Quebec observes Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24.
• In Yukon, Discovery Day is observed on the third Monday of August instead, and commemorates the 1896 discovery of gold in the territory and the start of the Klondike Gold Rush.
• In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Shops Closing Act provides for a civic holiday on the date of the Royal St. John's Regatta (usually the first Wednesday of August) in St. John's, the date of the Harbour Grace Regatta (usually the fourth Saturday in July) in Harbour Grace, and a date fixed by the applicable municipal council in all other municipalities. Several of these communities use the first Monday in August as a civic holiday, while others have not selected any date.

See also

• Public holidays in Canada