Montreal hosts one of the longest-running and largest Saint Patrick’s Day parades in North America. The yearly celebration has always been organised by the United Irish Societies of Montreal since 1929. In Saint John, New Brunswick Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated as a week-long celebration; shortly after the JP Collins Celtic Festival is an Irish festival celebrating Saint John’s Irish heritage.
In Manitoba, the Irish Association of Manitoba runs a yearly three-day festival of music and culture based around St Patrick’s Day. In Quebec City, there was a parade from 1837 to 1926. The Quebec City St-Patrick Parade returned in 2010 after more than 84 years. There has been a parade held in Toronto since at least 1863. There is a large parade in the city’s downtown on the Sunday before 17 March.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was known as the Toronto St. Patricks from 1919 to 1927, and wore green jerseys. In 1999, when the Maple Leafs played on St Patrick’s Day, they wore green St Patrick’s retro uniforms. In March 2009, the Calgary Tower changed its top exterior lights to new green CFL bulbs just in time for St Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish.
In March 2009, the Calgary Tower changed its top exterior lights to new green CFL bulbs just in time for St Patrick’s Day.
