Labor Day

Labor groups in the Canadian cities of Ottawa and Toronto first organized parades and rallies in 1872, ten years before the first Labor Day celebration in the United States. The parade in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, marched to the home of Canadian prime minister John A. Macdonald. At that time, union activity was illegal in Canada. Macdonald promised that such laws would be removed from the statute books, and the Canadian Parliament repealed the laws against union membership later in 1872.

Peter McGuire, the initiator of New York City’s first Labor Day parade, may have gotten the idea from Toronto. Toronto labor officials invited McGuire to their celebrations in 1882. That year he proposed the idea for a workers’ parade in New York.

The Canadian Parliament passed legislation making Labour Day an official holiday in 1894, the same year as the U.S. Congress. Labour Day celebrations in Canada are held on the first Monday in September and are similar to those in the United States.