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The Civic Holiday is a holiday observed in most provinces and territories on the first Monday of August. The holiday has various names from Civic Holiday (in Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and in parts of Ontario and Nova Scotia), Heritage Day (Alberta), Natal Day (in parts of Nova Scotia), New Brunswick Day, Saskatchewan Day, British Columbia Day to the individual municipal holidays in Ontario (eg, Simcoe Day, Toronto; John Galt Day, Guelph; Colonel By Day, Ottawa). Quebec, Yukon, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador do not have this mid-summer holiday.
There are references to civic holidays dating back to the mid 1850s when various cities in Upper Canada (now Ontario) began to have a public holiday in August (eg, London, 1856; Hamilton, 1862) or at the close of summer (eg, Toronto, 1861 and the town of Guelph, 1862). The date of the holiday varied year by year and was proclaimed by the mayor. Shops were closed and the day was spent with picnics and railway and steamer excursions. The idea spread quickly, even into neighbouring Manitoba; Winnipeg had its first public holiday in 1874. The civic holiday eventually solidified on the first Monday of August.
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