YORKVILLE UNIVERSITY - DIVERSITY CALENDAR - 2021 Note: This calendar includes a representation of days of significance/holidays from a diversity and inclusion perspective and is not exhaustive. These dates may vary from the indicated date, dependent on religious calendars (lunar, solar, etc.), government declarations, time zones, traditions, source website updates or date reporting conflicts between websites, etc. Some days of significance/holidays may also start at sunset the day before the date indicated. This calendar is a resource tool to help plan for educational events and other activities. For individual human rights-related accommodations/requests for time off please contact your manager (if you are faculty/staff) or the Student Success Centre’s academic accommodation and accessibility specialists (if you are a student).
For inquiries about the Diversity Calendar please contact Thamina Jaferi, Diversity Consultant at [email protected]. JANUARY 2021 • Tamil Heritage Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 New Year’s Day Kwanzaa ends Solar New Year/Temple Day (Buddhism) Gantan-Sai New Year (Shinto) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 World Braille Day Birth of Guru Epiphany (Christianity) Feast of the Nativity Gobind Singh (Sikhism) (Orthodox Christianity)
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Maghi (Sikhism) New Year Lohri (Hinduism) (Orthodox Christianity) Makar Sakranti (Hinduism) Thai Pongal (January 14-17) (Hinduism) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Tu BiShvat begins at Mahayana New Year sundown (Judaism) (Buddhism)
31 FEBRUARY 2021 • Black History Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 Imbolc-Lughnassad begins at Setusubun-Sai sundown (Wicca/Pagan) (Buddhism, Shinto)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Nirvana Day (Buddhism) Lunar New Year (also commemorated on (Buddhism, Confucianism, February 15th in other Daoism) traditions)
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Valentine’s Day Family Day Shrove Tuesday (Christianity) Ash Wednesday/Lent begins Nirvana Day (Buddhism, Vasant Panchami (Hinduism) (Christianity) Jainism)
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 International Mother National Human Trafficking National Pink Shirt Day Ayyam-i-Ha/Intercalary Days Language Day Awareness Day (anti-bullying) begin (Baha’i) Purim begins at sundown (Judaism)
28 Ayyam-i-Ha/Intercalary Days end (Baha’i)
MARCH 2021
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nineteen Day Fast begins Black Mental Health Day (Baha’i) (City of Toronto)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 International Lailat-al-Miraj begins at Maha Shivaratri Women’s Day sundown (Islam) (Hinduism)
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Sikh New Year (Sikhism) St. Patrick’s Day International Francophonie Day/B.C. Francophonie Day Spring Equinox / Ostara-Mabon (Wicca/Pagan) Nineteen Day Fast ends (Baha’i) Naw-Ruz begins at sundown (Baha’i) 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 International Day for the Khordad Sal (FC) Passover begins at Elimination of Racial Zoroastrianism) sundown (Judaism) Discrimination World Down Syndrome Day Feast of Orthodoxy (Orthodox Christianity) Naw-Ruz (FC) (Zoroastrianism)
28 29 30 31 Palm Sunday (Christianity) Hola Mohalla (Sikhism) Holi (Hinduism) Magha Puja Day (Buddhism) APRIL 2021 • Sikh Heritage Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 World Autism Awareness Day Good Friday (Christianity)
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Easter Sunday (Christianity) Easter Monday (Christianity) World Health Day Yom HaShoah begins at (NB) sundown (Judaism) Passover ends (Judaism) Farvardegan (FC) (Zoroastrianism)
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Ramadan begins Theravada New Year International Day of Pink at sundown (Islam) (Buddhism) (anti-bullying) New Year/Vasant Navratri Vaisakhi/Baisakhi Vaisakhi (Sikhism) begins (hinduism) (Hinduism)
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 First Day of Ridvan begins at Rama Navami (Hinduism) Zarthost-no-Diso (QC) sundown (Baha’i) (Zoroastrianism)
25 26 27 28 29 30 Palm Sunday (Orthodox Ninth Day of Ridvan National Day of Mourning/ Lag B’Omer begins at Holy Friday (Orthodox Christianity) begins at sundown (baha’i) Workers’ Mourning Day sundown (Judaism) Christianity)
Mahavir Jayanti (Jainism) Administrative Twelfth Day of Ridvan begins Professionals Day at sundown (Baha’i)
• Asian Heritage Month • Jewish Heritage Month • Sexual Assault Awareness MAY 2021 and Prevention Month • Speech and Hearing Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 Beltane (Wicca/Pagan)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Easter (Orthodox Jumatul Widha (Islam) Christianity) Laylat-al-Qadr begins at sundown (Islam)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Mother’s Day Ramadan ends/Eid al-Fitr begins at sundown (Is- lam)
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Shavuot begins at sundown International Day Against Declaration of the Bab (May 16-18) (Judaism) Homophobia, Transphobia begins at sundown (Baha’i) and Biphobia
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Pentacost (Christianity) Victoria Day Wesak/Buddha Day Ascension of Baha’u’llah Zarthost-no-Diso (SC) (Buddhism) begins at sundown (Baha’i) (Zoroastrianism)
30 31 National AccessAbility Week (May 30-June 5) • National Indigenous History Month • LGBTIQ2S+ Pride Month • Italian Heritage Month JUNE 2021 • Portguese Heritage Month • Filipino Heritage Month SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikhism)
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pentecost (Orthodox National Indigenous Peoples Poson (Buddhism) Christianity) Day (Indigenous Worldview) Summer Solstice/Litha (may be observed June 19-23) (Wicca/Pagan) Father’s Day
27 28 29 30 Canadian Multiculturalism Day Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day All Saints Day (Orthodox Christianity)
JULY 2021
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 Canada Day
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Martyrdom of the Bab Jalsa Salana (July 9-11) begins at sundown (Ba- (Islam) ha’i)
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Imamat Day (Islam) Tisha B’Av starts at sundown (Judaism) Naw-Ruz (QC) (Zoroastrianism)
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Waqf-al-Arafa (Hajj) begins Eid al-Adha begins at Special Olympics Global Day Khordad Sal (QC) Guru Purnima (Hinduism, International Self-Care Day at sundown (Islam) of Inclusion (Zoroastrianism) Jainism) sundown (Islam) Asalha Puja Day/Dharma Day (Buddhism)
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 AUGUST 2021 • Emancipation Month (Toronto)
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lughnassad/Lammas Civic Day/ Farvardegan (QC) (Wicca/Pagan) British Columbia Day (Zoroastrianism) Emancipation Day New Brunswick Day (Toronto, Vancouver) Simcoe Day (Ontario)
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 International Day of the International Youth Day Obon Festival (August 13-15) World’s Indigenous People (Buddhism, Shinto) Al Hijra (New Year) begins at sundown (Islam)
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 National Acadian Day Naw-Ruz (SC) Ashura begins at Khordad Sal (SC) (Zoroastrianism) sundown (Islam) (Zoroastrianism) Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism)
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
29 30 31 Sri Krishna Janmaashtami International Overdose (Hinduism) Awareness Day SEPTEMBER 2021
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 Installation of Holy Scriptures Paryushan Parva begins Farvardegan (SC) of Guru Granth Sahib (Jainism) (Zoroastrianism) (Sikhism)
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Labour Day Samvatsari/Paryushan Parva World Suicide ends/Daslakshan Parva Prevention Day Rosh Hashanah begins at begins (Jainism) sundown (September 6-8) Ganesh/Vinayak Chauth (Judaism) (Hinduism)
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Yom Kippur begins at Kshmavani/Daslakshan sundown (Judaism) Parva ends (Jainism)
Anant Chaturdashi (Jainism)
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Powley Day (Indigenous Sukkot begins at sundown Mid Autumn Festival Autumn Equinox/Harvestide/ International Day of Sign Franco-Ontarian Day Worldview) (September 20-27) (Judaism) Languages International Day of Peace Mabon (Wicca/Pagan) Anant Chaturdashi (Hinduism)
26 27 28 29 30
Arbaeen begins at Orange Shirt Day sundown (Islam) (Residential Schools Shemini Atzeret/Simchat awareness) Torah begins at sundown (Indigenous Worldview) (September 27-29) (Judaism) • Women’s History Month • Latin American Heritage Month OCTOBER 2021 • Islamic Heritage Month • Autism Awareness Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 National Seniors Day
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mental Illness Awareness Sisters in Spirit (Missing and Sharad Navratri begins Week (October 3-9) Murdered Indigenous Women (October 6-14) (Hinduism) and Girls)
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
World Mental Health Day Thanksgiving Durgaashtami (Hinduism) Vijaya Dashmi/Dassehra (Hinduism)
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 International Day for the Persons Day Installation of Guru Granth Karva Chauth Eradication of Poverty Milad-un-Nabi begins at as Guru (Sikhism) (October 23-24) (Hinduism) sundown (Islam)
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 Halloween Samhain begins at sundown (Wicca/Pagan) NOVEMBER 2021 • Hindu Heritage Month
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 Treaties Recognition Week Día de los Muertos/ Bandi Chhor Divas (Sikhism) Veterans Week Birth of the Bab (Baha’i) (November 1-5) (Ontario) Day of the Dead Diwali (Hinduism, Jainism, (November 5-11) Birth of Baha’u’llah begins All Saints Day (Christianity) Sikhism) at sundown (Baha’i)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 International Inuit Day National Indigenous Remembrance Day (NB,BC) Veterans Day Gyan Panchami (Jainism)
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Louis Riel Day (Indigenous Birth of Guru Nanak Transgender Day of Worldview) (Sikhism) Remembrance
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Day of the Covenant (Baha’i) Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha Bahadur (Sikhism) begins at sundown (Baha’i)
28 29 30 First day of Advent (Christianity) Hanukkah begins at sundown (Judaism) DECEMBER 2021
SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 World AIDS Day International Day of Persons with Disabilities
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hanukkah ends (Judaism) Bodhi Day (Buddhism) International Human Rights Day National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Birthday of Imam Aga Khan International Migrants Day (Islam)
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Yule/Winter Solstice Christmas Eve (Christianity) Christmas (Christianity) (Wicca/Pagan)
26 27 28 29 30 31 Boxing Day
Kwanzaa (December 26- January 1,2022) Zarthost-no-Diso (FC) (Zoroastrianism)