Everything you need to know for Canada Day in Ottawa

Crowds watch the Snowbird flypast over Parliament Hill in 2025. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA

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Canada Day‘s annual celebration of unabashed true patriotism love comes on Wednesday, July 1, and our national capital will be full of celebrations of the 159th anniversary of the Great White North.

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Here’s everything you need to know about Canada Day 2026.

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A file photo from Canada Day festivities in Ottawa in 2025. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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LeBreton Flats

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The Flats will, once again, be Ground Zero for Ottawa-area celebrations, a sea of red and white for most of the day.

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The celebrations kick off at noon with a nationally broadcast ceremony live from LeBreton Flats Park.

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The ceremony, co-hosted by Julie St-Pierre and Melissa O’Neil, will highlight and illustrate “key moments” in Canada’s history, and bring together guests such as astronaut Jeremy Hansen and “Man in Motion” Rick Hansen.

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Television celebrity Isabelle Racicot hosts performances by Adam Baldwin, Alessia Cara, Barenaked Ladies, Beatrice Deer, Diane Dufresne, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Gab Bouchard, Isabelle Boulay, MICO, Noeline Hofmann, Paul Langlois, Pierre Lapointe, P’tit Belliveau and Sylvia Cloutier. Andrina Turenne, Begonia, from Winnipeg, and Lisa LeBlanc, from Moncton, will provide remote performances.

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If you can’t make it in person, the ceremony will be broadcast and streamed in English and French by CBC and Radio-Canada.

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The Snowbirds fly past Parliament Hill during the Canada Day festivities in Ottawa on July 1, 2025. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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Snowbirds’ swan song

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Canada Day 2026 is likely to be the swan song in Ottawa for the latest version of the beloved Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds.

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The jets, in service since the 1960s, are being retired and will be replaced with Swiss-made CT-157 Siskin II, a high-performance turboprop aircraft. The Swiss aircraft is already being introduced as the primary trainer for new RCAF pilots.

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Delivery and retraining schedules indicate the Snowbirds flight group won’t likely be back in action until the mid-2030s.

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Dancers participate in a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag during Canada Day festivities in Ottawa on July 01, 2025. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

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What to do on Parliament Hill

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On Parliament Hill, festivities through the day will include the music of the Canadian Forces Ceremonial Guard band and the Royal Canadian Air Force pipes and drums and a demonstration by the Snowbirds from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Festivities will wrap up with the Tim Hortons Canada Day fireworks at 10 p.m.

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Meanwhile, in the ByWard Market

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This year, Market officials are boasting a “throwback like no other” for Canada Day, with a free, all-ages ’80s concert featuring iconic bands Men Without Hats, Spoons, and The Box. Showtime will be between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. at Ottawa Tourism’s Concert Zone on York Street, between William and Dalhousie.