Our Pride Parade History

Started as protests and became a symbol of inclusion

Pride Parades are held in nearly every major city in Canada today, but four decades ago they were a rare sight.

Determining the first Pride Parade in Canada’s history is a bit murky.

Some consider the We Demand Rally, held on Aug. 28, 1971 at Parliament Hill to be Canada’s first Pride Parade. It is the first large scale gay rights demonstration in Canadian history, but isn’t typically recognized as a Pride Parade. It involved about 200 people marching in the rain in solidary with a rally held by the Gay Alliance Toward Equality Group in Vancouver.

The first unofficial Pride Parade in Canadian history is generally considered to be the one held in Vancouver in 1978. Within three years, both Vancouver and Montreal had official Pride Parades. Today, the Vancouver Pride Parade draws 150,000 participants, while Montreal has 100,000 people coming out.

Toronto’s Pride Parade emerged in June 1981 in response to Operation Soap, a raid on bathhouses in the city months earlier. It eventually grew into one of the largest Pride Parade sin the world. That first Pride Parade was attended by 1,500 participants.

Winnipeg held its first Pride Parade after the government included the provision of sexual orientation in its human rights code in 1987. The parade was a march of celebration rather than protest. It began at the Legislative Building as the crowd awaited the government’s announcement. Once the news came out, 250 people walked through the city celebrating. Today, 10,000 people typically take part.

Ottawa held its first Pride Parade in 1989 and quickly became one of the largest Pride Parades in the country.

While Ottawa's Pride Parade received a letter of support from Jean Chretien in 1998, Justin Trudeau was the first sitting Prime Minister to match in a Pride Parade. He marched in several that year including in Montreal, Halifax and Toronto.

He was not the first Prime Minister to take part in a parade though. In 2001, former Prime Minister Joe Clark marched in the Calgary Pride Parade. He was the first Prime Minister, sitting or otherwise, to do so.

In 2019, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all marched together in Vancouver's Pride Parade.

Today, nearly every major city in Canada celebrates Pride Month with a Pride Parade.