Canada Day was officially named in 1982, to commemorate the final step in the severance of Canada from United Kingdom making Canada a completely independent sovereign nation.

Prior to that time, Canada Day was known as "Dominion Day" (also the First of July or July First) when Great Britain established the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867, under the British North American Act. This act declared that the colonies forming the new confederation (comprised of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada) would be "one dominion under the name of Canada." At that time the Province of Canada was composed of two colonies: Upper Canada, which was predominantly English speaking, became Ontario and Lower Canada which was predominantly French speaking, became Quebec.

Although Dominion Day was promulgated as a day of celebration on July 1, 1868, by Governor General (the King's representative) Lord Monck, the day held little significance for most Canadians who felt they were more British than Canadian.

With the advent of the First World War, when Canadian troops volunteered to help England, a sense of Canadian nationalism began to emerge. On July 1, 1917, the new center block of the Parliament buildings, which was under construction at the time, was dedicated to the Fathers of the Confederation and to the Canadian soldiers fighting in Europe. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the Confederation.

A decade later, on the Diamond Jubilee of the confederation, the Carillion in the Peace Tower was installed and the cornerstone of the Confederation Building was laid.

Thirty years were to go by before the government decided to make Dominion Day an annual event celebrated on the front lawns of the Parliament building in Ottawa, Ontario. These were formal ceremonies with speeches by the Governor General and other dignitaries, Trooping of the Colors at noon and at sunset, band concerts and fireworks.

In 1967, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, attended Canada's Centennial celebrations. She was present to witness the raising of the new Canadian national flag in front of the Parliament building. The new flag held no suggestion of a link to Great Britain as had all previous flags. It was an entirely new design, selected from thousands of suggested entries, signifying that Canada was an independent nation.

The centennial celebrations marked a turning point for Dominion Day, introducing a month long event called "Festival Canada" featuring multicultural

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