Canada Day at Canada Place

Metro Vancouver’s largest Canada Day event usually happens downtown at and around Canada Place. The party includes concerts and loads of fun!

The Canada Day event was back with in-person concerts and celebrations in 2024. However, the event is different from what it was before the pandemic. There are no fireworks anymore as Vancouver’s annual July 1st pyrotechnic show has been permanently cancelled.

See below for information about the following topics:

Canada Day at Canada Place | Canada Day Boat Parties | Entertainment Schedule | Canada Day Fireworks | Other Information

Click on any of the above links to jump to specific information, or continue reading to learn all about Vancouver’s July 1st celebrations at Canada Place.

CANADA DAY OUTSIDE ART GALLERY & QUEEN E. THEATRE

In addition to all the activities that take place around Canada Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre on July 1st, another free event happens just up the road outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival is a great event and in 2024 it ran from June 29th until July 6th.

On June 29th to July 1st there were free performances, market vendors and other activities outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. On July 1st, there were also special activities in the plaza outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Canada Day at Vancouver’s Canada Place

On Canada Day there are family-friendly activities by the waterfront all day, including at Canada Place and around the Convention Centre and Jack Poole Plaza.

The event was re-named Canada Together in 2022. Activities are organized with local Indigenous communities and the theme is “Weaving together the fabric of a nation.”

In years past, the Canada Day celebrations at Canada Place were arguably the largest July 1st celebrations in the country after Ottawa. There have been tens if not up to hundreds of thousands of people at the festivities (at least in the years when there were fireworks). There is great music and a festive atmosphere.

For information about Canada Day events at Canada Place and downtown Vancouver, see below. Or, for information on July 1st events throughout the region, click Lower Mainland Canada Day Celebrations. To learn about festivities elsewhere within the City of Vancouver, see our article about Granville Island on Canada Day.

Canada Day at Canada Place — Canada Day by the Vancouver Convention Centre

Activities at Canada Place

To celebrate the country’s birthday, Canada Place hosts family-friendly activities from around 11:00 am until 6:00 pm on July 1st.

The Canada Together event in 2024 featured live performances throughout the day. The entertainment lineup included Said The Whale, Fake Shark, the free label, Myc Sharratt and more.

On this celebratory day, food trucks are along Canada Place Way between Howe and Thurlow. There is a Kids’ Zone in Jack Poole Plaza with kid-friendly entertainers, a dance party and other fun activities. The event also features Indigenous carving and weaving displays made by local artists.

CANADA DAY BOAT PARTIES

An exceptional way to enjoy Canada Day is out on the water on a party boat cruise. Vancouver Boat Parties offers popular nightclub-style Canada Day cruises for adults ages 19+. In 2025 there is the Canada Day Boat Party on Tuesday, July 1st, and the Canada Day Weekend Latin X Hip Hop Boat Party on Saturday, July 5th. For full details, see the vancouverboatparties.com website.

Entertainment Schedule

Live entertainment takes place on two stages during the Canada Place July 1st event. Below was the schedule for 2024.

On the Main Stage (in 2024)

11:00 am – Indigenous Blessing and Welcome
11:20 am – DJ O Show & Madelaine McCallum
11:55 am – Krystle Dos Santos
12:30 pm – Myc Sharratt
1:10 pm – Fionn
2:00 pm – 538 st.
2:50 pm – the free label
3:50 pm – Fake Shark
4:55 pm – Said The Whale

On the Kids’ Stage (in 2024)

12:25 pm – Indigenous Blessing and Welcome
12:30 pm – Rock’N’Beau Dance Party
12:50 pm – Squamish Nation Storytime
1:20 pm – Karima Essa
1:50 pm – Rock’N’Beau Dance Party
2:15 pm – School of Rock
2:55 pm – Tsleil-Waututh Nation Storytime
3:15 pm – Rock’N’Beau Dance Party
3:15 pm – Mascot Dance-Off
3:50 pm – Musqueam Nation Storytime
4:15 pm – Higher Ground Dance Company
4:50 pm – Rock’N’Beau Dance Party

The Canada Day Fireworks

In past years, pre-COVID-19, fireworks used to be launched starting at about 10:30 pm off a barge in Burrard Inlet a ways off Canada Place. The show typically lasted for about 20 minutes. The fireworks haven’t happened since 2019. In 2023 the organizers of the event announced that the fireworks are permanently cancelled.

OTHER FIREWORKS VENUES

Many other communities around the Lower Mainland also have evening fireworks most years including in Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey, New Westminster, West Vancouver and White Rock.

Click Lower Mainland Fireworks for information about other Canada Day fireworks venues.

For information about Vancouver’s biggest fireworks events of the year (which happen at the end of July), see our article about the Celebration of Light.