We live in a great country, so let’s celebrate it! Canada Day events are taking place throughout Toronto this Monday, July 1, and there are lots of places to enjoy fabulous fireworks displays.
If you want to stay closer to home on Monday night, this is one of two nights a year that you can actually light off fireworks in your backyard without a permit. Just keep your bucket of water nearby!
Note that the annual Queen’s Park Canada Celebrations have been cancelled for 2019.
All events with an asterisk (*) include fireworks displays. All times are for events on July 1, 2019.
Amesbury Park Canada Day Celebration*
NORTH YORK • 9 am–10 pm • Free
A live talent search show, a strongman and strongwoman, body-building competition, children’s games and rides, a live DJ, and music all lead up to the 9:45 pm fireworks display. Event website.
Canada Day at Downsview Park*
NORTH YORK • 4 pm–11 pm • Free
Downsview Park is throwing a free celebration, with face painters, bouncy castles, and games for the kids, a vendor village, live entertainment and food trucks. Don’t miss the fireworks display at the end of the night! Event website.
Canada Day at Fort York
DOWNTOWN • 10 am–5 pm
Fort York celebrates Canada Day with musket and cannon drills, music, free guided tours, crafts and activities, face painting, and cooking demonstrations of period-specific cooking methods and recipes—allowing visitors to experience life as the Fort’s 19th-century inhabitants had. Event website.
Celebration Canada*
VAUGHAN • 10 am–10 pm (festival dates: June 29–July 14)
Canada’s Wonderland fetes our home and native land with live music, street performers like stilt walkers and jugglers, and one of the biggest, most spectacular fireworks displays around. Included with park admission. Event website.
Destination Canada!
SCARBOROUGH • 10 am–5 pm • Free
Scarborough Museum welcomes visitors with Canada flags and temporary tattoos and then invites them to explore the historic buildings, sample traditional food, sign up for the pie-eating contest, and explore Scarborough’s past. Event website.
East York Toronto Canada Day Festival*
EAST YORK • 10 am–10 pm • Free
Toronto’s longest running Canada Day celebration begins with a parade, leading to Stan Wadlow Park, where there will be music, midway rides, children’s activities, an artisan market, and food. Then, at 10 pm, the sky will light up with an amazing fireworks display. Event website.
Party Like It’s 1867!
NORTH YORK • 11 am–5 pm • Free
Black Creek Pioneer Village offers free admission on Canada Day, with 19th-century type carnival performers, musicians, theatrical performances, and games. You can also welcome new Canadians as they receive their citizenship in a special Black Creek Village presentation. Event website.
Q107 Canada Day Picnic*
THE BEACH • noon–10:30 pm • Free
The radio station throws a free family event at Woodbine Park with live tribute bands performing all day, and food vendors to keep everyone satisfied. The day will end with Toronto’s largest fireworks display at dusk. Event website.
Toronto Ribfest*
ETOBICOKE • 1 am–10 pm (festival dates: June 28–July 1) • Free
Centennial Park hosts this annual four-day festival where, besides enjoying delicious food, you can check out the midway, live bands, magic shows, special performers, celebrity food judging, and a fireworks show to cap it all off. Event website.
Canada Day at Mel Lastman Square*
NORTH YORK • 6 pm–10:30 pm
Dance performances and a dance workshop, DJs and singers, face-painting, food and market vendors and more fête Canada on July 1. Fireworks are the grand finale. Event website.
Canada Day at Thomson Memorial Park*
SCARBOROUGH • 10 am–10:30 pm
Come by in the morning for a free pancake breakfast and stay all day for live music, inflatables, rides, a zip line, kids’ crafts, and much more. The annual parade along Brimley Road starts at 4 pm, with fireworks at 10 pm in Milliken District Park. Event website.
Ashbridges Bay Park Fireworks*
THE BEACH • 9 pm–10:30 pm
The huge fireworks display presented by the City of Toronto on the waterfront downtown typically starts at around 10 pm, but you should arrive early to find a spot. Parking is extremely limited.
