Civil holiday in Canada (01/08)

The purpose of the Civic Day Holiday in Canada, celebrated annually on the first Monday of August, has no «revolutionary» background — the purpose is precisely to «not work».

The idea that Canadians need a long weekend in mid-summer dates back a long time: City of Toronto documents from 1869 record the need for another summer day of rest — «day of recovery». And in 1871, the English House of Commons established a day off for the entire British Empire in early August, called the «bank weekend». At the same time, the famous English banker, politician, biologist and archaeologist Sir John Lubbock said that he recommended that the municipality of Toronto « consider the additional August holiday in Canada prudent and satisfactory».

Perhaps after the authoritative statement of John Lubbock, the municipality of Toronto approved the first Monday of August as a Civil Holiday in 1875.

Currently, this day is reserved in Canada for provincial and city holidays. Its names vary from province to province, however, it is invariable that the inhabitants of these provinces are not working today. And, no matter what this holiday is called in various provinces and cities, Canadians always spend it usefully: they relax, travel, have fun at festivals.

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