Middle School
Worksheets
Canada Day
Canada Day
Reading Comprehension for July 1
When you have a birthday, what do you do? You might have a party, get presents, or do something special. But what do you do when the birthday belongs to a country like Canada? Why, you have a very big party! It's called Canada Day!
On June 20, 1868, the government of Canada decided to celebrate the country's first birthday on July 1, 1868. (Canada became a country officially on July 1, 1867.) It was called Dominion Day. Canadians were proud to belong to Britain. In Canada, they have provinces, unlike the U.S.A., which has states. When the provinces decided to join together into one country, it was called a confederation.
After that first birthday, very little was done to celebrate the day. In fact, there were no official parties until Canada's 50th birthday in 1917. At that time, some new parliament buildings were being built. They were built to honor the soldiers who were fighting in World War I and also Canada's founding fathers.
