The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the

Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

marked the

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

Planning

Major planning for the anniversary celebration began in 2010. The Institute of Public Administration of Canada held a conference called 150!Canada bringing together public servants, business leaders, and non-governmental organizations at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in Ottawa on March 11 and 12, 2010. More than 300 delegates heard from 25 speakers, with the goal of developing an action to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. The 150Alliance was established as a national network of groups with a goal to encourage communities and organizations to organize their own Canada 150 events. It held its first meeting in Ottawa on January 23, 2015.

Medal

As had been done in 1867, 1927, 1967, and 1992, a medal for the milestone anniversary of Confederation in 2017 was originally planned by

Minister of Canadian Heritage The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture is the minister of the Crown who heads Department of Canadian Heritage, Canadian Heritage, the department of the Government of Canada responsible for Canadian culture, culture, Media in Canada, medi ...

Shelly Glover Shelly A. Glover (born January 2, 1967) is a former member of the Winnipeg Police Service and former politician. Following the 2008 federal election, she became the first policewoman to become a Member of Parliament in Canadian history, repr ...

. She was succeeded in that office in 2015 by

Melanie Joly Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

for Queen Elizabeth II's signature. However, Joly cancelled the medal in 2016, without stated reason. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

commissioned the Royal Canadian Mint to cast honorary medallions commemorating the 150th anniversary of the upper chamber's first sitting. These were awarded to "Canadians or permanent residents actively involved in their communities who, through generosity, dedication, volunteerism, and hard work make their hometowns, communities, regions, provinces, or territories a better place to live." The honorary medallions, however, are not part of the Canadian honours system.

Federal initiatives

Funding

The

Canadian federal Government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ...

announced it would be spending an estimated half-billion dollars on 150th-anniversary events and projects. $300-million was to be spent by Canadian regional development agencies through a Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program. The fund was set up by the ministry headed by Stephen Harper and originally assigned a $150-million budget prior to the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election was held on October 19, 2015, to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 42nd Canadian Parliament, 42nd Parliament of Canada. In accordance with the Fixed election date ...

. The new Liberal ministry under

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

doubled the program's size in its first budget. $40-million for cultural projects was funded by the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

under its "New Chapter" program. The

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; , CRSH), often colloquially pronounced 'shirk' (), is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humani ...

also set up a grant program entitled Canada 150 Connection to support activities by post-secondary institutions and researchers that explore the contributions of social sciences and humanities research to Canadian society. Some projects were given special recognition under the designation "Signature Projects" as "large-scale, participation-oriented activities, of national scope and with high impact". One of the projects with the highest profiles was the Canada C3 Expedition, a 5-month sailing cruise around Canada aboard the icebreaker '' Canada C3''.

Logo

The official emblem of the sesquicentennial was designed by Ariana Cuvin, a then-19-year-old student in the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

's global business and digital arts program. It consists of 13 multi-coloured diamonds forming a

maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is most widely recognized as the national symbols of Canada, national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by ...

; Cuvin stated that the four diamonds forming the emblem's base represented Canada's four original provinces, while the others represented the provinces and territories that had joined since. The government described the emblem as reflecting Canada's unity and diversity. The emblem was chosen through a competition held by the government, and open to post-secondary students. The logo contains several stylized items within itself such as: a tulip, an aboriginal stone spear, a ship and the

Fleur de Lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the ( stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis ...

. These items were occasionally displayed on the background of the stage during the Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill. The emblem received mixed reviews from the professional community; two designers interviewed by the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' panned the logo for being the "minimum" of a usable logo and "student work" respectively, but another remarked that it was a "strong and simple design that should hold up well in all applications". The contest was criticized by the

Society of Graphic Designers of Canada Design Professionals of Canada (or DesCan, formerly known as the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, or GDC) is Canadaʼs national certification body for graphic and communication design and since 1956 has established standards for design pro ...

, which believed that the contest was "unethical" and "exploited" students, and expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that the contest was not open to design professionals. Cuvin, who received a prize of $5,000 for winning the contest, told the ''Ottawa Citizen'' that she did not feel that she was being exploited. Type designer

Ray Larabie Raymond Larabie (born 1970) is a Canadian designer of TrueType and OpenType computer fonts. He owns ''Typodermic Fonts'' type foundry, which distributes both commercially licensed and shareware/freeware fonts. Biography and career Larabie wa ...

donated Mesmerize, a

geometric sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

typeface from his freeware collection, to the government of Canada to serve as the official typeface for the festivities, adding as many of the characters from Canada's indigenous languages as he could. The resulting font was named "Canada 150." Larabie released a further expansion of that type, "Canada1500," into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

, when the festivities ended.

Commemorative currency

The

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

released a commemorative $10 banknote for Canada's sesquicentennial, which was broadly available by

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

. The

Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...

held a national contest titled ''My Canada, My Inspiration'' for the design of the reverses of each of five circulating

coins of the Canadian dollar The coins of Canada are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and denominated in Canadian dollars ($) and the subunit of dollars, cents (¢). An effigy of the reigning monarch always appears on the obverse of all coins. There are standard images w ...

, which would be part of the "Canada 150 Collection". Each coin had an associated theme. On November 2, 2016, it held an unveiling ceremony in the communities of each of the winners, selected by an online vote in September 2015. The winners received a trip to Ottawa, $2000 in cash, and a special edition set of the coins. The Royal Canadian Mint also produced commemorative coins, including a matte proof-finish silver coin with a

face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...

of $10, a 2017 variant based on the Silver Maple Leaf coin. It expects to release about fifty commemorative and circulating coin products, including Brilliant Uncirculated sets.

Commemorative stamps

All stamps produced by

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

during 2017 included references to the sesquicentennial.

National parks

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

announced it would give away free passes to Canada's national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas. The passes were available at Parks Canada sites and through partners until the end of 2017.

Official flower

The Canada 150 tulip, also known as the Maple Leaf tulip, is the official

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

of Canada 150 and was unveiled May 9, 2016, in Commissioners Park. The tulip was

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...

with white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

and red

flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

s, which resembles the

flag of Canada The National Flag of Canada (), popularly referred to as The Maple Leaf or l'Unifolié (), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in which is featured one stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf Charge (hera ...

. For Canada 150, the

Canadian Tulip Festival The Canadian Tulip Festival (; ) is a tulip festival held annually each May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The festival claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, displaying over one million tulips, with attendance of over 650,000 visitors ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

planted 30,000 Maple Leaf tulip bulbs.

National cultural initiatives

Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, Canada's sovereign, offered her best wishes and congratulations on the 150th anniversary of Confederation in a recorded message, released on January 1, 2017. Her son and heir-apparent, Prince Charles (now

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

), and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall (now

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

), toured

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

before attending the national celebration in Ottawa on July 1. A Canada 150 Mosaic project will see in 150 interconnected murals created across the country, depicting a train travelling coast-to-coast across Canada. Each mural will be made up of hundreds of tiles painted by individual Canadians. Roughly 100,000 individuals are expected to take part. Throughout the year, the

Canada On Screen Canada On Screen was a special screening series of culturally and artistically significant films from the history of cinema of Canada, which took place in 2017 as part of Canada 150. Curated and presented by the Toronto International Film Festival ...

series was jointly presented by the

TIFF Bell Lightbox TIFF Lightbox is a cultural centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the first five floors of the Lightbox and Festival Tower on the northwest corner of King Street and John Street. TIFF Lightbox features five cinemas, two restaurants, ma ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

The Cinematheque The Cinematheque (legal name: Pacific Cinémathèque Pacifique), founded in 1972, is a Canadian charity and non-profit film institute, media education centre, and film exhibitor based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The organization's mission is ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

and the

Cinémathèque québécoise The Cinémathèque québécoise () is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to preserve, document, film, and television footage and related documents and artifacts for future use by the public. The Cinémathèque's coll ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, offering free screenings of 150 works from throughout the history of Canadian cinema. On February 20, 2017, the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

(NFB) launched a four-part online series entitled ''1 Nation. 4 Lenses'', exploring Canadian stories through films from the NFB collection. The first chapter, ''What We Call Home,'' examines how Canadians define home. Subsequent chapters are ''What We Protect'' (launching April), ''What We Seek'' (June) and ''What We Fight For'' (September). It also published ''Legacies 150''—a series of 13 interactive essays on themes of legacy and inheritance. On April 19, National Canadian Film Day 150 showcased Canadian films on television, online as well as at more than 600 cinemas, libraries and public venues in close to 200 communities across the country. ''Lost Stories'' was inaugurated as an online film project initiated by

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

history professor Ronald Rudin, documenting unusual stories from Canadian history. Started in Montreal as a pilot project by Rudin, co-director of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia, ''Lost Stories'' was elevated to a national initiative, with $235,000 in Canada 150 funding from the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural develo ...

. The

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

also launched a digital content hub to mark Canada's 150th birthday with stories, images, videos and featured events, as well as experts who will address topics such as Canada's constitution, Canadian literature, Indigenous issues, wildlife conservation and climate change. CTV created and aired the documentary film '' Canada in a Day'', in which director Trish Dolman selected footage from over 16,000 videos submitted by Canadians to present a portrait of 24 hours in the life of Canada.

Criticism

Some

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

criticised the Canada 150 celebrations for ignoring indigenous history and downplaying the contemporary hardships faced by aboriginals. Others criticised the amount of money the Canadian government spent on the celebrations.

Regional projects

British Columbia

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

established a funding program "to celebrate B.C. communities and their contribution to Canada," with $8 million invested in museums and heritage sites throughout the province. As part of an effort to recognize the Indigenous population of the region that had lived there since prior to colonialization,

's celebrations of the sesquicentennial were branded as ''Canada 150+'' with the slogan "Moving Forward Together". The city organized three "signature" events in partnership with Reconciliation Canada to highlight Vancouver's First Nations communities, including The Drum is Calling Festival at Larwill Park, the Gathering of Canoes at

Jericho Beach Jericho Beach, known originally as ''iy'a'l'mexw'' in Squamish language, Squamish, a Vancouver beach, is located west of the seaside neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It is surrounded by Jericho Beach Park, a grassy area with a pond, which is a picn ...

, and the Walk for Reconciliation in September 2017.

New Brunswick

The

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

government launched a website, canada150nb.ca, to promote events and celebrate New Brunswick pride as part of Canada's 150th anniversary. The website includes marketing tools to help community groups promote their Canada 150 events. The website also invites the public to submit their own video clips and photos of the province.

Newfoundland and Labrador

The Newfoundland Insectarium and Butterfly Garden will be updating their exhibits and making them bilingual. These changes were put in place to celebrate the unity of Canada 150 and the influx of Franco-Canadian tourists to the island of Newfoundland in the recent years.

Nova Scotia

The province's 150 Forward Fund provides funding for organizations to help Nova Scotians celebrate Canada 150, with events or programs that honour Nova Scotian achievements, celebrate the province's cultural identity and diversity, or recognize innovation over the past 150 years. Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister

Tony Ince Robert Anthony "Tony" Ince (born 1958) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election, representing the electoral district of Cole Harbour for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party where ...

announced January 30 that 39 non-profit enterprises and co-operatives had been awarded a total of $841,000 through the first round of grants. A second round of applications runs until February 28. Canada 150 celebrations in Nova Scotia will also include Rendez-Vous 2017, which will see tall ships visit 11 communities across the province over the summer.

Ontario

The province of

spent $7 million to support more than 350 Canada 150 events across the province. It opted to create its own Ontario 150 anniversary logo, or

wordmark A wordmark or word mark is a text-only statement of the name of a product, service, company, organization, or institution which is used for purposes of identification and branding. A wordmark can be an actual word (e.g., Apple), a made-up term ...

, at a cost of $30,000. It was criticized for featuring a giant rubber duck as part of the celebration, with one critic saying, "It's an absurd waste of taxpayers' dollars."

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

officially launched its Canada 150 activities at a flag raising ceremony on January 27, with former Toronto Maple Leaf

Johnny Bower John William Bower (né Kiszkan; November 8, 1924 – December 26, 2017) nicknamed "The China Wall", was a Canadians, Canadian ice hockey goaltender and inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame, who won four Stanley Cups during his career with the Toro ...

in attendance. The city has allocated $150,000 for Canada 150 events.

Ottawa

Canada's capital of Ottawa is home to a vast number of events during the sesquicentennial under the banner "Ottawa 2017". The 2017 Juno Awards, took place March 27 – April 2 at the

Canadian Tire Centre Canadian Tire Centre () is a multi-purpose arena in the suburb of Kanata in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Centre () from 1996 to 2006 and Scotiabank Place () from 2006 to 2013. ...

in the city's west end. The awards were hosted by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

and

Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born 29 September 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' Forbes Celebrity 100, list o ...

, who replaced singer

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

, who had to drop out because his son had cancer. During the summer, an interactive area promoting Canada called Inspiration Village was created in the

Byward Market The ByWard Market (), is a retail and entertainment district in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located east of the government and business district. The Market district includes the market buildings and open-air market alo ...

. Talks from inspirational speakers and other performances were held in an amphitheatre, and workshops and exhibits were hosted by the different provinces and territories within converted cargo containers. The word "Ottawa" was displayed in large 3-D letters that visitors could climb upon. At the end of July, La Machine, an enormous urban street theatre production from France made its North American debut. The production involved large marionettes and street performers travelling through the Byward Market area and other downtown streets. Ottawa hosted several notable sporting events in 2017, including the

2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials (branded as the 2017 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings for sponsorship reasons) were held from December 2 to 10 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario, Kanata, Ottawa, Ontario. The winners of the men's a ...

, the 2017

Canadian Track and Field Championships The Canadian Track and Field Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organized by Athletics Canada, which serves as the Canadian national championships for the sport. The championships serve as part of the selection proces ...

, and the 2017 Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship (with a course built along the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

beside the Chateau Laurier). Ottawa's

TD Place Stadium TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street (Ottawa), Bank S ...

hosted the

105th Grey Cup The 105th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 2017, between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. In a re-match of the 100th Grey Cup, the Argonauts won the game 27–24, winning their 17th cham ...

(the 2017 championship game of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

), as well as two outdoor ice hockey games; the

NHL 100 Classic The NHL 100 Classic (branded as the Scotiabank NHL 100 Classic for sponsorship reasons) was a regular season outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game held on December 16, 2017. The game featured the Ottawa Senators playing the Montreal Canadie ...

(an outdoor

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

game between the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

and

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, which additionally celebrated the league's centennial year), and a

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

interleague game between the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play thei ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(a team which was established in the year of Canada's centennial and named in its honour) and the

Gatineau Olympiques The Gatineau Olympiques are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Gatineau, Quebec, that plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Starting with the 2021–22 season, the Olympiques play home games at Centre Slush Puppi ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL).

Toronto

The

City of Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's ''TO Canada with Love'' (the TO referring to the city's nickname, T.O.) is the year-long program of events related to the 150th anniversary of Canada. The city's iconic

3D Toronto sign The original Toronto sign at night in 2018 The Toronto Sign is an illuminated three-dimensional sign in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that spells the city's name. It is tall and long (prior to the addition of the maple l ...

was fitted with a large illuminated 3-D structure of a maple leaf prior to 2017 at the end of the sign. ''Canada Mosaic'' is a cross-country celebration of Canadian music and musicians administered by the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

, with $7.5 million in funding from the government of Canada. The program will involve 40 orchestras and as many as 60 new commissions. Canada Mosaic had its first performance January 21 at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, with conductors

Alain Trudel Alain Trudel (born 13 June 1966) is a Canadian conductor, trombonist and composer. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Trudel first became known to the public as a trombone soloist. He made his solo debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit a ...

and

Victor Feldbrill Victor Feldbrill, (April 4, 1924 – June 17, 2020) was a Canadian conductor and violinist. Early life and education Feldbrill was born in Toronto,John Weinzweig John Jacob Weinzweig (March 11, 1913 – August 24, 2006) was a composer, teacher, and advocate of contemporary Canadian concert music. Born in Toronto, Weinzweig went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, then studied music at the University of Tor ...

Godfrey Ridout Godfrey Ridout (6 May 1918 in Toronto – 24 November 1984 in Toronto) was a Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and writer. Life and career Ridout was a descendant of Thomas Ridout, the first Surveyor General of Upper Canada during ...

Pierre Mercure Pierre Mercure (21 February 1927 – 29 January 1966) was a Canadian composer, TV producer, bassoonist, and administrator. Mercure was born in Montreal. As a student at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, he earned honour ...

Jean Coulthard Jean Coulthard, (February 10, 1908 – March 9, 2000) was a Canadian composer and music educator. She was one of a trio of women composers who dominated Western Canadian music in the twentieth century: Coulthard, Barbara Pentland, and Violet Ar ...

and

André Mathieu André Mathieu (18 February 1929 – 2 June 1968) was a Canadian pianist and composer. Life Mathieu was born René André Rodolphe Mathieu on 18 February 1929 in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the parish of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur ...

. The concert began with a two-minute fanfare by Trudel – one of 40 such so-called "sesquies" commissioned by Canada Mosaic. Hundreds of musicians were expected to perform together in Toronto to set a

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the largest rock performance, by playing four as-yet-unannounced Canadian rock classics. Organizers of Canada Rocks 150 hoped to attract 1,500 musicians, which did not come to fruition. The

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

wore special red-and-white uniforms throughout the 2017 season, during Sunday games and other selected home games.

Windsor

Dubbed the Great Canadian Flag Project,

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

is erecting a 150-foot (45.7-metre) flagpole to fly a 60 feet by 30 feet (18 metres by nine metres) Canadian flag. Four upward-facing spotlights will illuminate the flag at night. A smaller 24 feet by 12 feet (7.3 metres by 3.7 metres) flag will fly during periods of strong winds. As of January 14, 2017, $300,000 has been raised for the project, including $150,000 from the federal government.

Quebec

Canada 150 in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

coincides with celebrations marking the 375th anniversary of

, where notable projects include decorative lights for the

Jacques Cartier Bridge The Jacques Cartier Bridge () is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec, to the South Shore (Montreal), south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The bridge crosses Saint Helen's ...

and a new headquarters for the

in the Quartier des spectacles.

Northern Canada

A Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour will be a series of

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

s across Canada's North, with plans to visit close to 100 northern communities. The tour will begin in June at Alberta's Rocky Mountain House Airport. The Canada C3 was scheduled to sail through the Northwest Passage, visiting many northern Aboriginal communities along the way, during the summer of 2017.

International responses

To celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, the

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...

(Feb 15–26) has selected a program entitled "True North: New Canadian Cinema." Films include ''

Weirdos ''WeirdOs'' is the debut full-length studio album by British band O. It has received positive reviews from critics. Reception Editors at AllMusic rated this album 4.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Heather Phares writing this music shows the band ...

'' by Bruce McDonald, who is scheduled to attend the festival, along with ''

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

'' by

Ashley McKenzie Ashley McKenzie (born 17 July 1989) is a judoka competing at the men's 60 kg division. Born in England, he represents Jamaica internationally and has competed for Great Britain in the past. He was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Ju ...

, '' Old Stone'' by Johnny Ma, '' Below Her Mouth'' by

April Mullen April Mullen () is a Canadian director, actress, and producer. Career In 2012, Mullen became the first woman to direct a live action, fully stereoscopic 3D film, 3D feature film, ''Dead Before Dawn'' (2012)''.'' In 2015, she directed the neo-n ...

and '' Hello Destroyer'' by

Kevan Funk Kevan Funk is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His debut feature film, '' Hello Destroyer'', was released in 2016.

Other activities

In January 2017, the journal '' G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics'' published a paper by molecular researchers from

The Hospital for Sick Children ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in Toronto who had sequenced the genome of ''

Castor canadensis The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and has been introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Fi ...

'' (North American beaver) to celebrate the sesquicentennial. In May 2017, a newly identified species of beetle (''

Apimela canadensis ''Apimela canadensis'' is a species of Staphylinid (rove beetle) first described in 2017 from specimens collected in New Brunswick, Canada. Its species name, ''canadensis'', was given in honour of the 150th anniversary of Canada's Confederation ...

''), first discovered in

, was named in celebration of Canada'a 150th anniversary. In June 2017, the

issued a Canadian ten-dollar note commemorative design, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada featuring

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadians, Canadian statesman and Fathers of Confederation, Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, th ...

Agnes MacPhail Agnes Campbell Macphail (March 24, 1890 – February 13, 1954) was a Canadian politician and the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons. She served as a Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1921 to 1940; from 1 ...

and James Gladstone.

References

External links

* (Government of Canada)
The 150 Alliance
*The Queen of Canada's message for 150th birthday of Canada
EnglishFrench
{{Canada topics Canadian historical anniversaries 2017 in Canada