This article is about the public holiday in Canada. For the holiday in parts of Scotland, see Victoria Day (Scotland). For other uses, see Victoria Day (disambiguation).
Victoria Day
Victoria Day fireworks display from Ontario Place, Toronto, in 2010
Official name
Victoria Day
French: Fête de la Reine
Also called
May Long Weekend, May Long, May Two-Four, May Run, Firecracker Day
Observed by
Canadians
Type
Historical, cultural, nationalist
Significance
Birthday of Queen Victoria
Celebrations
Fireworks, parades
Date
Last Monday preceding May 25
2023 date
May 22, 2023
2024 date
May 20, 2024
2025 date
May 19, 2025
2026 date
May 18, 2026
Frequency
Annual
Related to
Sovereign's Birthday
Commonwealth Day (until 1977)
Victoria Day (French: Fête de la Reine, lit. 'Celebration of the Queen') is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Victoria's natural birthday, May 24. It falls on the Monday between the 18th and the 24th (inclusive) and, so, is always the penultimate Monday of May (May 20 in 2024 and May 19 in 2025). Victoria Day is a federal statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of Canada's ten provinces and all three of its territories. The holiday has always been a distinctly Canadian observance and continues to be celebrated across the country.[1][2] It is informally considered the start of the summer season in Canada.
The same date is also, since 1952, recognized as the currently reigning Canadian monarch's official birthday (though, previously, that event had been marked in Canada typically on each monarch's actual birthday).[3] In Quebec, before 2003, the Monday preceding May 25 of each year was unofficially the Fête de Dollard, a commemoration of Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, initiated in the 1920s to coincide with Victoria Day. In 2003, provincial legislation officially created National Patriots' Day (French: Journée nationale des Patriotes) on the same date.
^Parker, Alan (May 18, 2012), "Victoria Day: Only in Canada", Maclean's, Rogers Communications, archived from the original on November 3, 2013, retrieved May 21, 2012
^"Victoria Day: responsible rule and firecrackers", The Globe and Mail, May 20, 2012, archived from the original on May 26, 2012, retrieved May 22, 2012
^Government of Canada; Canadian Heritage, October 16, 2017, archived from the original on May 21, 2021, retrieved May 18, 2020
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