Canada awareness days and key dates

Sunday 4 January 2026

• National Ribbon Skirt Day

  Awareness

  National Ribbon Skirt Day on 4 January recognises the ribbon skirt as a symbol of Indigenous identity, womanhood and survival.

• World Braille Day

  Awareness

  World Braille Day on 4 January highlights braille as an essential means of communication for blind and partially sighted people.

Tuesday 6 January 2026

• Epiphany

  Religious and cultural

  Epiphany on 6 January is the Christian feast marking the visit of the Magi and the revealing of Jesus to the wider world.

Wednesday 14 January 2026

• Makar Sankranti

  Religious and cultural

  Makar Sankranti is a Hindu harvest festival in mid-January marking the sun's move into Capricorn, known as Uttarayan in Gujarat.

• World Logic Day

  Awareness

  A UNESCO day on 14 January that celebrates logic and its place in science, technology and everyday reasoning.

Saturday 17 January 2026

• Raoul Wallenberg Day

  Awareness

  Marked in Canada on 17 January, honouring the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jewish people in Hungary in 1944.

Sunday 18 January 2026

• National Non-Smoking Week

  Awareness18 to 24 January 2026

  A Canadian week held in the third full week of January that encourages people to quit smoking and vaping and promotes smoke-free spaces.

• Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

  Religious and cultural18 to 25 January 2026

  Observed from 18 to 25 January, when churches of different traditions pray together for Christian unity.

Wednesday 21 January 2026

• Bell Let's Talk Day

  Awareness

  A Canadian day in late January when Bell invites people to talk openly about mental health and supports mental health organisations across the country.

• Lincoln Alexander Day

  Awareness

  Marked on 21 January, the birthday of Lincoln Alexander, the first Black Canadian elected to the House of Commons and appointed to Cabinet.

• Weedless Wednesday

  Awareness

  The Wednesday of Canada's National Non-Smoking Week in January, when smokers are challenged to go a full day without tobacco or cannabis.

Friday 23 January 2026

• Vasant Panchami

  Religious and cultural

  Vasant Panchami is a Hindu festival in late January or February that welcomes spring and honours Saraswati, goddess of learning.

Saturday 24 January 2026

• International Day of Education

  Awareness

  The International Day of Education on 24 January celebrates the role of education in peace, development and fairer societies.

Sunday 25 January 2026

• Burns Night

  Religious and cultural

  An evening on 25 January celebrating Scotland's national poet Robert Burns with suppers, haggis and readings of his work.

• World Leprosy Day

  Awareness

  An international day on the last Sunday of January that raises awareness of leprosy and the stigma faced by people affected by it.

Monday 26 January 2026

• Australia Day

  Religious and cultural

  Australia Day on 26 January is Australia's national day, with events at home and among Australians abroad.

• International Day of Clean Energy

  Awareness

  The International Day of Clean Energy on 26 January calls for a fair and inclusive move away from fossil fuels towards clean energy.

Tuesday 27 January 2026

• Holocaust Memorial Day

  Awareness

  A day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the victims of Nazi persecution and later genocides.

• International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

  Awareness

  On 27 January the UN remembers the victims of the Holocaust, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.

Wednesday 28 January 2026

• Data Protection Day

  Awareness

  Marked on 28 January to raise awareness of personal data protection and privacy rights, and known in some countries as Privacy Day.

• International Day of Peaceful Coexistence

  Awareness

  The International Day of Peaceful Coexistence on 28 January promotes tolerance, respect for diversity and peace through education and dialogue.

Thursday 29 January 2026

• National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia

  Awareness

  Observed on 29 January, the anniversary of the 2017 attack on the Quebec City mosque, and a day to act against Islamophobia.

Friday 30 January 2026

• World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day

  Awareness

  A global day on 30 January that calls for action to end neglected tropical diseases, which affect more than a billion people.