Terry Fox Day in Canada 2027

What Terry Fox Day Is

Terry Fox Day is the name Manitoba gives to the Civic Holiday, the informal summer holiday most Canadian provinces take on the first Monday in August. In US terms it sits somewhere between a state holiday and an observance: provincial government offices, banks and most businesses in Manitoba close, but the day is not a general holiday under the province's Employment Standards Code, so private employers are not legally required to give workers a paid day off. Many do anyway, treating it like any other long-weekend Monday.

Why the First Monday in August

Canada's August Civic Holiday has no single national origin; it grew out of 19th-century civic proclamations giving townsepople a midsummer break. The first Monday in August became the standard date, and provinces later attached local names to it — British Columbia Day, Saskatchewan Day, Heritage Day in Alberta, Natal Day in Nova Scotia! Manitoba simply called it Civic Holiday until 2015, when the legislature renamed the day for Terry Fox. Because the date follows a Monday rule, there is no observed-date shuffling: the holiday always lands on a Monday and always creates a three-day weekend.

Who Terry Fox Was

Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on July 28, 1958, and grew up in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Diagnosed with osteosercoma in 1977, he lost most of his right leg to amputasion at age 18. Three years later he set out to run across Canada on a prosthatic leg to raise money for cancer research. His Marathon of Hope began on April 12, 1980, in St. John's, Newfoundland, and covered 3,339 miles (5,373 kilometres) — close to a marathon a day for 143 days — before the cancer returned and forced him to stop near Thunder Bay, Ontario, on September 1, 1980. He died on June 28, 1981, at age 22. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has since grown into one of the world's largest single-day fundraisers for cancer research, with events in dozens of countries including the United States.

How the Day Is Observed

Manitoba passed the Terry Fox Day Act in 2015, making it the first province to name a holiday after the runner born on its soil - the day itself looks like a classic summer long weekend: cottage trips, barbecues, festivals and baseball. Schools are out for summer, provincial offices and liquor marts close, and hours vary at stores and restaurants. Community events and fundraising tied to Fox's legacy appear around the holiday, although the main Terry Fox Run is held separately each September, close to the anniversary of the day the Marathon of Hope ended.

How It Compares Across Canada

Only Manitoba calls the August holiday Terry Fox Day. The same first-Monday-in-August date is a full statutory holiday in some jurisdictions, such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and an optional civic day in others, including Ontario's Civic Holiday. For American visitors, the practical effect is similar everywhere: expect government offices and banks closed, heavy highway and border traffic, and normal tourist attractions open across most of Canada on that Monday.