Canada Will Officially Get A National Holiday Next Week To Mark The Queen's Death
Conversations are ongoing with the provinces, too.
Canadians will be given a federal holiday to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Justin Trudeau has confirmed.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the PM announced that Canada will have an official Day of Mourning on Monday, September 19.
It will coincide with the queen's state funeral in the U.K., as well as Canada's own plans for a commemorative ceremony on the same day.
Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said that the government had decided to move forward with a federal holiday on Monday as it is "important" for Canadians to have an opportunity to mourn the monarch, who died last week.
"We will be working with the provinces and the territories to try to see that we're aligned on this," he continued.
"There are still a few details to be worked out but declaring an opportunity for Canadians to mourn on Monday is going to be important."
"So, for our part we will be letting federal employees know that Monday will be a day of mourning where they will not work," he said.
Canada follows Australia and New Zealand, who both confirmed on Monday that they would observe their own national holidays to honour the queen on September 22 and September 26 respectively.
Whether the majority of Canadians will be given a day off work remains to be seen, as that would require the provinces and territories to be aligned with the plan to have a holiday on Monday.
Per CBC News, 85 to 90% of Canadian workers would miss out on the time off if provincial governments did not agree to a holiday.
Having an extra national holiday to honour the queen following her death could cost billions too, with Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter giving CBC an estimate between $2 billion and $4 billion.
Before Tuesday, it had been unclear whether or not Canadians would be given a day off for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, as the decision is ultimately made at the discretion of the prime minister.
