Why Canada day is celebrated on 1st July; Read history and background also 

Canada Day, also known as Dominion Day, is celebrated on July 1st each year in Canada. The date commemorates the anniversary of the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867, which united the three separate colonies of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into a single Dominion within the British Empire.

On July 1, 1867, the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly known as the British North America Act, 1867), came into effect, creating the Dominion of Canada. This act established Canada as a federal dominion, giving it a significant level of autonomy while remaining a part of the British Empire.

The choice of July 1st as the date for Canada Day was primarily due to historical reasons.

History and Background of Canada Day 

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (French: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the British North America Act, 1867, when the three separate colonies of the United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada.

Originally called Dominion Day (French: Le Jour de la Confédération), the holiday was renamed in 1982, the same year that the Canadian constitution was patriated by the Canada Act, 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[3] Canada Day celebrations take place throughout the country, as well as in various locations around the world attended by Canadians living abroad.

Commemoration
Canada Day is often informally referred to as "Canada's birthday", particularly in the popular press.[8] However, the term "birthday" can be seen as an oversimplification, as Canada Day is the anniversary of only one important national milestone on the way to the country's full sovereignty, namely the joining on July 1, 1867, of the colonies of Canada (divided into Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a wider British federation of four provinces.[9] Canada became a "kingdom in its own right" within the British Empire, commonly known as the Dominion of Canada.

Although a British dominion, Canada gained an increased level of political control and governance over its own affairs, the British parliament and cabinet maintaining political control over certain areas, such as foreign affairs, national defence, and constitutional changes. Canada gradually gained increasing sovereignty over the years—notably with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931—until finally becoming completely sovereign with the passing of the Constitution Act, 1982, which served to fully patriate the Canadian constitution.

Under the federal Holidays Act,[17] Canada Day is observed on July 1, unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case July 2 is the statutory holiday. Celebratory events will generally still take place on July 1, even though it is not the legal holiday.[18] If it falls on a weekend, businesses normally closed that day will usually dedicate the following Monday as a day off.

History

A crowd in Vancouver celebrates Dominion Day in 1917, the golden jubilee of Confederation
The enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which confederated Canada, was celebrated on July 1, 1867, with the ringing of the bells at the Cathedral Church of St James in Toronto and "bonfires, fireworks, and illuminations, excursions, military displays, and musical and other entertainments", as described in contemporary accounts.[20] On June 20 of the following year, Governor General the Viscount Monck issued a royal proclamation asking for Canadians to celebrate the anniversary of Confederation,[21] However, the holiday was not established statutorily until May 15, 1879,[22] when it was designated as Dominion Day, alluding to the reference in the British North America Act to the country as a dominion.[23] The holiday was initially not dominant in the national calendar; any celebrations were mounted by local communities and the governor general hosted a party at Rideau Hall.[20] No larger celebrations were held until 1917, and then none again for a further decade—the gold and diamond anniversaries of Confederation, respectively.

In 1946, Philéas Côté, a Quebec member of the House of Commons, introduced a private member's bill to rename Dominion Day as Canada Day.[25] The bill was passed quickly by the lower chamber but was stalled by the Senate, which returned it to the commons with the recommendation that the holiday be renamed The National Holiday of Canada, an amendment that effectively killed the bill.

The Canadian government began in 1958 to orchestrate Dominion Day celebrations. That year, then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker requested that Secretary of State Ellen Fairclough organize appropriate events, with a budget of $14,000. Parliament was traditionally in session on July 1, but Fairclough persuaded Diefenbaker and the rest of the federal cabinet to attend.[20] Official celebrations thereafter consisted usually of trooping the colour ceremonies on Parliament Hill in the afternoon and evening, followed by a mass band concert and fireworks display. Fairclough, who became Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, later expanded the bills to include performing folk and ethnic groups. The day also became more casual and family oriented.

Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, with her cabinet, including Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, in the ballroom of Rideau Hall, Ottawa, on Dominion Day, 1967, the centennial of Confederation
Canada's centennial in 1967 is often seen as an important milestone in the history of Canadian nationalism and in Canada's maturing as a distinct, independent country, after which Dominion Day became more popular with average Canadians. Into the late 1960s, nationally televised, multi-cultural concerts held in Ottawa were added and the fête became known as Festival Canada. After 1980, the Canadian government began to promote celebrating Dominion Day beyond the national capital, giving grants and aid to cities across the country to help fund local activities.

Some Canadians were, by the early 1980s, informally referring to the holiday as Canada Day,[n 2] a practice that caused some controversy:[34] Proponents argued that the name Dominion Day was a holdover from the colonial era—an argument given some impetus by the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982—and others asserted that an alternative was needed as the term does not translate well into French.[28] Conversely, numerous politicians, journalists, and authors, such as Robertson Davies,[35] decried the change at the time and some continue to maintain that it was illegitimate and an unnecessary break with tradition.[28] Others claimed dominion was widely misunderstood and conservatively inclined commenters saw the change as part of a much larger attempt by Liberals to "re-brand" or re-define Canadian history.[28][35][36] Columnist Andrew Cohen called Canada Day a term of "crushing banality" and criticized it as "a renunciation of the past [and] a misreading of history, laden with political correctness and historical ignorance".

The holiday was officially renamed as a result of a private member's bill that was passed through the House of Commons on July 9, 1982, two years after its first reading.[20] Only 12 members of parliament were present when the bill was taken up again, eight fewer than the necessary quorum; however, according to parliamentary rules, the quorum is enforceable only at the start of a sitting or when a member calls attention to it.[38] The group passed the bill in five minutes, without debate,[34] inspiring "grumblings about the underhandedness of the process".[20] It met with stronger resistance in the Senate. Ernest Manning argued that the rationale for the change was based on a misperception of the name and George McIlraith did not agree with the manner in which the bill was passed, urging the government to proceed in a more "dignified way". However, the Senate did eventually pass the bill, regardless.[28] With the granting of royal assent, the holiday's name was officially changed to Canada Day on October 27, 1982.

Source: Wikipedia