We’re all excited for the upcoming long weekend—it’s the unofficial start of summer! Victoria Day is on Monday, but who was the woman the day is named after? And what was her connection to Canada? Quite a bit, actually!
Queen Victoria was technically the first Queen of Canada. Before her reign, what we now know as Canada was part of British North America.
With her support, all our provinces came together to form a country on July 1, 1867! Today, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy.
Here are some quick facts about Queen Victoria and her close ties to our country:
- She selected Bytown (now Ottawa) as the capital of Canada.
- Although she never visited Canada, her children did—and some even lived here.
- She was just under 5 feet tall.
- She survived around eight assassination attempts.
- After her husband Albert died, she wore black for the rest of her life.
There you go—some info you might not have known about the woman behind Victoria Day!
