Labor Day is one of the nine Ontario holidays. This means that many employees will receive the day off with vacation pay. It also means that many businesses and city offices will be closed. All LCBO stores will be closed, as well as all branches of the Toronto Public Library. TTC operates on its holiday schedule on Labor Day and Go Transit on its Sunday schedule.
Labor Day in Toronto is celebrated by different groups in different ways. For the labor movement, it is a day of political action. For students, parents, and school staff, Labor Day is typically the last day of vacation before it’s time to go back to school. And almost everyone thinks that Labor Day marks the end of the summer season (even though the autumnal equinox won’t last for other weeks).
Why is there Labor Day?
Curious about the meaning of Labor Day and why we have it? As the name implies, Labor Day in Toronto began as part of the labor rights movement. In March 1872, local printers who wanted to shorten their working week to 58 hours went on strike to demand the change. Other workers supported the printers, and in April of the same year, a large crowd marched into Queen’s Park. Some of the union leaders were jailed, but eventually, the government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald passed the Trade Union Act, decriminalizing union activities.
The first US Labor Day parade was held in September 1872, and the Toronto march became an annual event. Labor Day became a national holiday in Canada in 1894.
Toronto Labor Day Parade
The annual Labor Day parade takes place on Monday morning, starting near Queen and the University. The protesters head southwest through the city (often along Queen and then onto Dufferin) and the parade ends inside the CNE around 11 a.m. Participating unions and other groups organize through the Labor Council of the Toronto and York Region.
More Labor Day events in Toronto
If you’re not coming home from the cabin or getting the kids ready for school on Labor Day, there are a few things to do in town, depending on what you feel like.
For starters, Labor Day is always the last day of the Canadian National Dog Show, so if you haven’t yet taken advantage of the annual fun fair, now is your chance to see it before it closes for another year. It is also during the three days of Labor Day weekend that the Canadian International Air Show soars into the skies over Lake Ontario, which many people watch from inside the Exhibition Place fairgrounds.
In a more recent tradition, the Toronto Argonauts head to Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the CFL Labor Day Classic (although the game was not held in 2011).
Not much in the way of public fireworks during the last long weekend of summer. The only exception is Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, which generally hosts a Labor Day fireworks display on Labor Day weekend Sunday (see the website’s “Live Entertainment” section for more details). Fireworks generally start around 10pm, weather permitting.
You can also visit the Downsview Park Ribfest, which traditionally takes place on Labor Day weekend in Toronto, as well as the ever-vibrant Buskerfest, which takes place in Woodbine Park.
Many Toronto attractions remain open for Labor Day, including the Toronto Zoo, Ontario Science Center, Royal Ontario Museum, Gardiner Museum, Bata Shoe Museum, Casa Loma, Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower and Black Creek Pioneer Pueblo.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is closed on Labor Day.
