Heritage Day in Canada (21/02)

Heritage Day is celebrated in Canada on the third Monday in February. In some provinces, Heritage Day is celebrated as an additional civil holiday. In Alberta, where the third Sunday in February is occupied by Family Day celebrations, Heritage Day is celebrated on the first Monday in August, Yukon celebrates Heritage Day on the Friday before the last Sunday in February, and the province of Saskatchewan — on February 17.

As the name suggests, it is the day of everything that is part of Canadian national heritage. Heritage scholars define this concept as a collection of all physical and cultural resources (such as archaeological and historical areas and sites) that have received public recognition, supported by national identities and political ideologies. It’s a complex definition, but the concept itself is not simple.

Heritage attracts public attention because it creates a sense of place, a sense of difference, and uniqueness for each local community or territory. Of course, it does not boil down to studying only the recent past within the lifetime of one or two generations. Collective identity is very often based on the heritage of the distant past. Many researchers believe that heritage sites and other reminders of the past create, maintain, and enhance the cultural identities of groups of people at the local, regional, national, supranational, or even global level.

Memory of the past, heritage — is a very significant part in the self-awareness of every person as a seed of his nation, including in Canada. Canadian researcher K. expressed this idea well. Cameron, who wrote about national heritage: «Canadian historical sites contain the spirit of the nation. They are the fabric that binds us together as Canadians. Our relationships with historical sites help us determine who we are. They are as important to our identity, our sense of devotion and the sense of our country as the maple leaf, the wide expanses of the prairies or Mount Rocky. They involve physical contact with the past, which improves our understanding of where we were...».

The presence of Heritage Day — in the Canadian calendar is a reminder to people across the country to study its history in order to be rightfully proud of their heritage. Although attempts are currently being made to make this holiday national, it is not yet such, which does not prevent Canadians from realizing the importance of this day and celebrating it.

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