OTTAWA, July 1, 2024

Happy Canada Day!

No matter where we are in this country today, we all share in a common, warm, and unifying feeling that we’re Canadian. We celebrate all the things that make it the best place to be.

While we spend this day listening to local live music, at barbecues with family or at community gatherings with neighbours, we see what makes our country so special in the little things. It’s in a friendly wave. It’s in insisting on opening the door for each other. It’s in the respect we show to our elders for all they’ve done to make Canada what it is today.

Our diversity is our strength—from our diversity of ideas to our diversity of experiences to our diversity of backgrounds. Our natural beauty connecting us coast to coast to coast makes us confident that those visiting Canada will walk away knowing more about who we are than when they arrived.

Canada isn’t one thing to everyone, but it’s a collection of things that make us all proud. We know, among other things, we’re compassionate, hopeful, welcoming, free, fair, creative and still growing. There are so many reasons to be proud to be Canadian.

July 1 is also an opportunity to acknowledge our past and learn from it to better our future. Canadians and all our governments must stay committed to the ongoing work of advancing on the path of reconciliation, helping us live up to the dream of a fully inclusive country for future generations.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I encourage you to come together with your friends, families and communities and explore the many activities taking place in Canada’s Capital Region and the hundreds of events happening across the country.

Let’s take this moment to cherish our togetherness, our vibrant communities and what makes our unique identity. Only in Canada is all this progress we’ve made possible.

Canada is a story still being told. Let’s take the best country on earth and make it even better.