The federal government is not publishing the cost of Canada Day celebrations in the National Capital Region until after the festivities have come and gone, as they must wait to have final accurate counts. The initiative is made at a moment when the country is seeing heightened national pride, spurred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex the nation and ongoing trade tensions.
Heritage Canada asserted that the total cost would be published on demand later this summer, as ministers were mum.
The federal government has allocated a Canada Day programming budget this year in the National Capital Region but isn’t disclosing what it is.
The usual Canada Day celebration budget in Ottawa and over the river in Gatineau, Que., runs in the millions of dollars and covers items such as pyrotechnic displays, performances and national broadcasts.
A spokesperson for Heritage Canada issued a statement indicating that while the events have a budget, the department will not release the amount until the celebrations have concluded.
“To give the public the best information possible, the overall cost will be available on request once the final tallies are made this summer,” the spokesperson said.
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Neither Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne nor Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault had anything to say in response to requests for comment about the budget this Canada Day.
It is the first Canada Day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada and engaged most of the world in a trade war.
Angus Reid polling during the early part of the trade fray in February identified a surge of national pride following Trump’s “51st State” rhetoric.
A total of 44 per cent of Canadians answered at the time that they were “very proud” to be Canadian – up 10 points from just a few months earlier and reversing a long-term trend of declining national pride tracked by the pollster.
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A tide of “buy Canadian” sentiment surged in response to the United States’ imposition of tariffs on Canada.
A late May poll conducted by Research Co. found three out of five Canadians still boycotting American products whenever they could, though that was four percentage points down from a March poll.
Because the Angus Reid and Research Co. polls were conducted online, they cannot be placed into a margin of error.
Heritage Canada has been spending $4.25 million to $5.5 million on July 1 celebrations in the National Capital Region over the last several years.
Those figures fell under $3 million in 2020 and 2021 as the celebration became virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal government also invested more than $9 million on Canada 150 in 2017 to pay for three days of festivities that included a royal visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla, then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
