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Victoria Day (Fête de la Reine), sometimes referred to as Firecracker Day, is a public holiday in Canada, celebrated on the Monday on or before May 24, Queen Victoria's birthday. It is the official celebration in Canada of the birthdays of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria Day was established as a holiday in Canada West (Now Ontario) in 1845, and became a national holiday in 1901.

The Sovereign's birthday has been celebrated in Canada since the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). May 24, Queen Victoria's birthday, was declared a holiday by the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845.

Before Victoria Day became a national Holiday, people had celebrated Empire Day , beginning in the 1890s as Victoria approached her Diamond jubilee in 1897.

After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing a legal holiday on May 24 in each year (or May 25 if May 24 fell on a Sunday) under the name Victoria Day. The birthday of King Edward VII, who was born on November 9, was by yearly proclamation during his reign (1901-1910) celebrated on Victoria Day.

It was not an innovation to celebrate the birthday of the reigning sovereign on the anniversary of the birth of a predecessor. In Great Britain, the birthdays of George IV (1820-1830) and William IV (1830-1837) were celebrated on June 4, birthday of George III (1760-1820). The birthday of King George V, who reigned from 1910 to 1935, was celebrated on the actual date, June 3 or, when that was a Sunday, by proclamation on June 4. The one birthday of King Edward VIII, who reigned in 1936, was also celebrated on the actual date, June 23. King George VI's birthday, which fell on December 14, was officially celebrated in the United Kingdom on a Thursday early in June. Up to 1947 Canada proclaimed the same day but in 1948 and further years settled on the Monday of the week in which the United Kingdom celebration took place. George VI reigned from 1936 to 1952. The first birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1952, was also celebrated in June.

Observance in Canada of the Sovereign's Birthday

Sovereign's Name Official Celebration Date Natural Birth date
Queen Victoria
(1837-1901)
May 24 May 24
King Edward VII
(1901-1910)
May 24 (Victoria Day) Nov. 9
King George V
(1910-1935)
June 3 June 3
King Edward VIII
(1936)
June 23 June 23
King George VI
(1936-1952)
June 9, 1937
June 9, 1938
May 20, 1939
June 13, 1940
June 9,1941
June 8, 1942
June 2, 1943
June 8, 1944
June14, 1945
June 10, 1946
June 10, 1947
June 7, 1948
June 6, 1949
June 5, 1950
June 4, 1951
Dec. 14
Queen Elizabeth II
(1952 -)
Mon., June 9, 1952
Since 1953, on Victoria Day
April 21

 
   
 
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