Canada 150: A Year of Coming Together - More than 31 million people participated in Canada 150 celebrations

OTTAWA, Dec. 30, 2017 /CNW/ - As we move into the final hours of Canada 150, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage reflected on this past year that saw Canadians come together and celebrate what it means to be Canadian.

Canadians were invited to participate, celebrate and explore their country, their citizenship and their history. They responded with enthusiasm and vision: whether it was pan-Canadian Signature projects or small grass-roots community events. By the end of 2017, an anticipated 87 percent of Canadians got involved in ways that were meaningful to them.

The Government of Canada supported community infrastructure projects, free access to Parks Canada sites, and celebrations and community initiatives from coast to coast to coast. Some 5,800 Canada 150 projects and events were supported, not to mention 1,000 events led by 120 of our diplomatic missions abroad.

Each Canadian made Canada 150 their own, and the progress made in key areas is ours to share: better opportunities for youth, a healthy natural environment, newcomers better equipped to contribute to our society, equality for all Canadians, and a way forward in our dialogue with Indigenous Peoples.

Canadians can be proud of the legacy of this anniversary—a time when we came together as citizens, creating a sense of belonging, knowing that we can forge a bright future together.

Quotes

"Today, I want to thank each and every Canadian who participated in this wonderful anniversary. A legacy can be a building, a memory, a relationship or a new way of thinking, but for me, the legacy of Canada 150 will be the connections we forged together. The investments made this year will increase our sense of belonging and citizenship. As we reflect on Canada 150's legacy and the future, I want to highlight our continued obligation to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples: a commitment to make it right and get it right. There is no relationship more important."

—The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Quick Facts

Participate: An estimated 31 million people participated, with over 6 million youth across the country actively engaged in Canada 150 events and programs throughout the year. Here are a few examples:

• Dozens of volunteers organized the Inummariit Festival in Arviat in August, in which 2,200 people took part. It included concerts, a writing contest, a gospel show and lip sync contest.
• Around 50,000 people participated in the Walk for Reconciliation in Vancouver as part of Reconciliation Canada's initiative to explore and celebrate reconciliation and encourage future action.
• As part of the Rendez-vous 2017, more than 40 tall ships stopped at host ports in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes; 1,379,533 people attended, including 415,090 in Québec City alone.
• National Acadian Day was the biggest in history! 59 projects across the Atlantic provinces in communities both large and small received support through the Canada 150 Fund; reaching 56 official-language minority communities.
• The Canada Games Festival in Winnipeg featured over 150 cultural performances and showcased artists from different provinces and territories. It had over 232,000 visitors and 2,820 volunteers.
• MosaïCanada 150 in Gatineau welcomed 1.3 million visitors.
• For Canada 150, Toronto was selected to host the 2017 Invictus Games, welcoming more than 550 athletes from 17 nations to take part in 12 adaptive sports during 8 days of transformative competition.
• Many community projects are leaving lasting legacies, such as Tree Canada's 150 tree-planting initiatives in communities in every province and territory.

Celebrate: Keynote celebrations for Canada 150 included December 2016 New Year's Eve, Winterlude, the Celebrate Canada days that include Canada Day on July 1.These celebrations were enjoyed in over 1,700 communities across the country, with many millions watching online and on television. The Celebrate Canada events were mirrored in 19 cities across the country that drove the celebrations and acted as focal points for shared Canada 150 experiences.

Explore: Canadians took the opportunity this anniversary provided to explore their history and majestic environment. We travelled the country with our fellow Canadians and international visitors. Over 27.3 million people visited our national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas. Others journeyed into the past by attending exhibits, museums and other cultural activities.

Associated Links

• Canada 150, one last time! – Closing Events https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/canada-150-closing-events.html
• Canada 150 http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1468262573081

BACKGROUNDER

HIGHLIGHTS from a year-long pan-Canadian and global celebration…

• Extraordinary levels of participation with more than 31 million people anticipated to have joined in the year-long celebrations.
• Over 6 million youth across Canada have been actively engaged in Canada 150 initiatives in 2017.
• Canada ranked No.1 place to visit in 2017 (New York Times, Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure)
• At least 5,800 Canada 150 projects and events were supported across all provinces and territories and 1,000 events were led by 120 diplomatic missions abroad.
• Twitter Canada's 2017 Year in Review highlighted that the most mentioned Canadian news story of the year was the Canada 150 celebrations, with more than 1.8 million mentions of the "#Canada150" hashtag.
• To celebrate Canada Day 2017, there were 55 special citizenship ceremonies across Canada, including a special ceremony that took place on Parliament Hill.
• National Acadian Day (August 15) was the biggest in history!

PARTICIPATION from coast to coast to coast…

• Over 7,500 applications for use of the Canada 150 logo were approved, half of which were issued for commercial purposes bringing benefits to local economies.
• The $9.5 million invested in over 2,000 micro-grants through the Community Foundation of Canada (CFC), which leveraged almost 80,000 volunteers, reached 85 percent of Canadian communities and 17 million Canadians.
• 39 percent of all community projects that received grants celebrate Indigenous communities or reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
• Micro-grants have led to $23.5 million in municipal, provincial/territorial and private sector contributions, $19.5 million in in-kind contributions (volunteer hours, for example) and $7.4 million from community foundations and local organizations.
• 75,000 people discovered Canada 150 events and activities through the Passport 2017 app.
• Over 100,000 people, mostly youth, in 180 communities experienced I]innovation and STEM with Innovation150
• 18 percent of Canadians got moving with ParticipACTION's 150 Playlist, completing over 2.3 million activities!
• 655 communities joined in National Canadian Film Day 150, with 1,844 screening events.
• An accessible triathlon including athletes of all abilities was held with the theme of three Port Aberni icons in British Columbia. The race was complemented by cultural sessions led by local Indigenous groups.

CELEBRATIONS across the country all year…

• 3.3 million people joined in Celebrate Canada events in 19 urban centres; a further 32.1 million viewers joined in on multiple platforms. In addition, the government supported more than 1,700 community led celebrations.
• 120 missions abroad conducted an estimated 1,000 events involving 900,000 people globally.
• 38 pan-Canadian Signature projects and 636 Community projects focused on the four Canada 150 themes: diversity and inclusion, engaging and inspiring youth, Indigenous reconciliation and the environment.
• 50,000 people participated in the Walk for Reconciliation in Vancouver as part of Reconciliation Canada's initiative on exploring and celebrating reconciliation and encouraging future action.
• Dozens of volunteers organized the Inummariit Festival in Arviat in August, in which 2,200 people took part. It included concerts, a writing contest, a gospel show and lip sync contest.

Encouraging Canadians to EXPLORE Canada…

• 27.3 million people visited a national park, a national historic site or a marine conservation area in 2017.
• This year saw a 16 percent increase in the number of Canadian millennials who vacationed within the country (Destination Canada: Millennial Travel Program).
• VIA Rail pass holders travelled nearly 18 million kilometres in one month (July 1–31).
• Canada C3 ran for 150 days; its 15 legs covered over 12,000 nautical miles, touching upon 3 coasts and 7 ecozones.
• MosaïCanada 150 welcomed 1.3 million visitors.
• The Saint John River Society in New Brunswick worked with 38 partner organizations to provide opportunities for Canadians to connect with 35 heritage rivers across the country.
• Canada had its biggest tourism year ever in terms of international visitors.

A LEGACY for future generations…

• The Rick Hansen Foundation's Access4All project activated 55 large-scale infrastructure improvement projects and awareness-building events in communities across Canada.
• Many community projects are leaving lasting legacies, such as Tree Canada's 150 tree-planting initiatives in communities in every province and territory.
• The Canada 150 Rink will be donated to a local community and serve as a lasting legacy for the next 25 years.
• Through the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program, $300 million was invested in nearly 3,000 local projects to renovate, expand and improve community infrastructure, including rinks, libraries, theatres, community centres, hiking trails and arts centres.
• National cultural institutions completed significant revitalizations. From the new History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History and Arctic Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature, to the renovated National Arts Centre, the Canadian Gallery at the National Gallery of Canada, and the newly revitalized Canada Science and Technology Museum, 2017 saw the completion of updates to many centres of Canadian culture.

OTHER Interesting Facts

• More than 150 partners (federal, provincial, municipal, non-governmental, philanthropic and private-sector) contributed to Canada 150 celebrations.
• On social media, the marketing campaign reached 5.8 million and had nearly 20 million impressions on social media. Canada 150 ambassadors had a combined social media reach of more than 115 million impressions.
• To further reconciliation with Indigenous People, $28.6 million has been invested in 248 projects that contribute to celebrating Indigenous communities or reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
• Engaging and inspiring youth: 71 percent of young people aged 18 to 24 said that participating in Canada 150 has made them feel like they are a part of something important.
• Celebrate Canada participation:
• On National Aboriginal Day (June 21), an estimated 1.3 million people watched the festivities in person or on television and online. The Prime Minister also announced an important step forward for reconciliation with the government renaming the day National Indigenous Peoples Day.
• Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June 24) saw 200,000 Francophones and Francophiles take part across the country. An estimated 160,000 people participated in the festivities in Montréal. 
• On Canadian Multiculturalism Day (June 27), 40,000 Canadians attended celebrations.
• An estimated 3 million people attended Canada Day festivities in 19 cities on July 1.
• On December 31, 2016, Canada 150 kicked off with events in Canada's Capital Region and 18 urban centres that attracted more than 750,000 people. With over 1.3 million visits on Facebook and nearly 2.45 million viewers tuned in to the national broadcast, the event broke CBC and Radio-Canada viewership records for New Year's Eve.
• Canada was a forest of a new kind of maple leaf! In July 2017, 83 percent of Canadians knew about the Canada 150 logo. With nearly 10,000 applications for its use, 15,000 downloads of the electronic artwork files and tens of thousands of uses across Canada and around the world, the Canada 150 logo has reached Canadians in every corner of the country.
• Parks Canada issued 6 million free Discovery passes in 2017.
• The #OnThisDay campaign—highlighting 365 significant events that shaped our society—brought more than 55,000 unique visitors to Library and Archives Canada's website and reached an average of nearly half a million people per month through their social media channels. (Source: Library and Archives Canada)
• The Signature project Innovation150 was a nationwide celebration of Canada's innovative past, present and future. The collaborative program engaged more than 100,000 Canadian youth, families, and communities across the country. The tour came to more than 100 communities and 5 innovation festivals. There are more than 600 innovation stories in the crowdsourced digital storybook that serve as a useful and versatile platform for Canadians to share their stories of innovation that influenced Canada and the world.
• Canada 150 took part in the commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France and in Ottawa. In France, an estimated 25,000 people honoured the Canadians who died in the fighting.
• For Canada 150, Toronto was selected to host the 2017 Invictus Games, welcoming more than 550 athletes from 17 nations to take part in 12 adaptive sports during eight days of transformative competition.

FUNDING

The Government of Canada invested a total of $610 million in incremental funding for Canada 150:

• Canadian Heritage was initially allocated $210 million to support Canada 150. Of this total amount, $169 million was allocated for grants and contributions for Community and pan-Canadian Signature projects; 674 of these projects were delivered to Canadians from coast to coast to coast by non-governmental organizations. Of this amount, Canadian Heritage allocated $3.5 million to other Government organizations and Canadian Heritage programs for 9 Canada 150 activities.
• One of those projects, led by Community Foundations of Canada, provided small-scale grants to more than 2000 projects by local organizations, leveraging $50.4 in total investments.
• An additional $20 million was allocated by Canadian Heritage to deliver Major Events (Opening Events and the Celebrate Canada period) in 19 cities across the country, which brought Canadians together in record numbers. 
• Of this amount, $7 million in direct funding was used to enhance Canadian Heritage-led activities in the National Capital Region, including the Canada 150 Opening Ceremonies, Winterlude and Celebrate Canada events.
• Through the six Regional Development Agencies (ISED), the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program invested $300 million in nearly 3,000 local projects to renovate, expand and improve existing community infrastructure such as recreational facilities, libraries, theatres and arenas.
• $100 million has been allocated for free admission throughout 2017 to all sites operated by Parks Canada, as well as enhanced and expanded programming.

SOURCE Canadian Heritage