Religious and Special Days 2021JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH 1 New Year’s Day Black History Month 1 Nineteen-Day Fast* - Baha’i (to Mar. 19) Gantan-sai (New Year’s Day) - Shinto  2 Candlemas - Presentation of Christ in the Temple - Christian 7 Meatfare Sunday - Orthodox Christian Feast Day of St. Basil - Orthodox Christian Imbolc* - Wicca/Pagan Mary, Mother of God - Catholic Christian 8 International Women’s Day 3 S t. Blaze Day - Christian 2 Day After New Year’s Day (Que.) 11 Laylat al Miraj* - Islam Setsubun-sai (beginning of spring) - Shinto 12 Maha Shivaratri - Hindu 5 Twelfth Night - Christian 5 Four Chaplains Sunday – Interfaith Guru Gobind Singh birthday - Sikh 14 Daylight Savings Time starts 12 Chinese New Year - Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist 15 St. Patrick’s Day (N.L.) 6 Epiphany - Christian (Year of the Ox) Feast of the Epiphany (Theophany) - Orthodox Christian 17 St. Patrick’s Day - Christian Dia de los Reyes (Three Kings’ Day) - Christian 14 St. Valentine’s Day - Christian Transfiguration Sunday - Christian 20 Spring Equinox 7 Orthodox Christmas Day - Orthodox Christian Memorial Marches for Missing and Murdered 21 Naw-Rúz (New Year)* - Baha’i 10 Baptism of the Lord Jesus - Christian Indigenous Women and Girls Norooz (New Year) - Persian/Zoroastrian 13 Maghi - Sikh 15 F amily Day (B.C., Atla., Sask., Ont., N.B.), Ostara-Mabon - Wicca/Pagan 14 Orthodox New Year Heritage Day (N.S.; 2021 observes 11th Anniversary International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 17 Blessing of the Animals - Hispanic Catholic Christian of the Africville Apology) Islander Day (P.E.I.), Louis Riel Day (Man.) Orthodox Sunday - Orthodox Christian 25 Conversion of St. Paul - Christian Nirvana Day - Buddhist 25 Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Christian 28 Tu BiShvat* - Jewish 16 Shrove Tuesday - Christian 26 Khordad Sal (Birth of Prophet Zarathushtra) - Zoroastrian Mahayana New Year - Buddhist Vasant Panchami - Hindu 28 Passover (Pesach)* - Jewish (to Apr. 4) 17 Ash Wednesday - Lent begins - Christian Magha Puja Day - Buddhist 25 Intercalary Days begin - Baha’i (to Feb. 28) Palm Sunday - Christian Lord’s Evening Meal - Jehovah’s Witness Christian APRIL 26 Yukon Heritage Day 1 Maundy Thursday - Christian Purim* - Jewish 31 International Transgender Day of Visibility 2 Good Friday (except Que.: Easter Monday as alternate) Good Friday - Christian 4 Easter - Christian 5 Easter Monday - Christian (Y.T., N.B., N.W.T., Nvt. MAY JUNE (Que.: Good Friday as alternate) Asian Heritage Month Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, 9 Yom HaShoah* - Holocaust Remembrance Day - Jewish  Jewish Heritage Month Transgender Pride Month 13 Ramadan Begins - Islam Ramayana - Hindu (to Apr. 21) 1 Beltane* - Wicca International Workers’ Day - May Day National Indigenous History 14 Baisakhi (Vaisakhi) - Sikh 2 Pascha (Easter) - Orthodox Christian Month 15 Yom Ha’Atzmaut* - Jewish 8 Buddha Day - Visakha Puja – Buddhist 3 Corpus Christi - Catholic Christian 20 F irst Day of Ridván* - Baha’i (Ninth Day: Apr. 28, 11 Sacred Heart of Jesus - Catholic Christian Last Day: May 1) 9 Mother’s Day Laylat al Qadr* - Islam 12 World Day Against Child Labour 21 Rama Navami - Hindu 13 Eid al Fitr* (Ramadan Ends) - Islam 16 Guru Arjan Martyrdom - Sikh 22 Earth Day Ascension of Jesus - Christian 20 Father’s Day 23 St. George’s Day – Christian 17 International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia 21 Na tional Indigenous Peoples Day (N.W.T., Y.T.) and Biphobia 24 Lazarus Saturday - Orthodox Christian June Day (N.L.) Shavuot* - Jewish (to May 18) 25 Mahavir Jayanti - Jain National Indigenous Peoples Day Palm Sunday - Orthodox Christian 23 P entecost - Christian Summer Solstice* (Litha) - Wicca Declaration of the Bab* - Baha’i 26 St. George’s Day - Christian (N.L.) 24 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (Que.) 24 Victoria Day (except Que., N.S., N.L., P.E.I.), 27 T heravada New Year - Buddhist (to Apr. 29) 29 Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul – Christian Hanuman Jayanti - Hindu National Patriots’ Day (Que.) 28 National Day of Mourning for Workers Injured 29 Ascension of Baha’u’llah* - Baha’i or Killed on the Job 30 Trinity Sunday - Christian 30 Holy Friday - Orthodox Christian Lag B’Omer* - Jewish SEPTEMBER St. James the Great Day - Orthodox Christian 1 Ecclesiastical year begins - Orthodox Christian AUGUST 5 Paryushana Parva - Jain (to Sept. 11) 1 Lammas - Christian Lughnassad - Wicca/Pagan 6 Labour Day JULY 2 British Columbia Day (B.C.), Civic Day (N.W.T., NU, 7 Rosh Hashanah* - Jewish (to Sept. 8) Ont., P.E.I.), Heritage Day (Alta.), Terry Fox Day 8 Nativity of Virgin Mary – Christian (Man.), New Brunswick Day ( N.B.), Natal Day 14 Holy Cross Day – Christian Tibetan Heritage Month (Ont.) (N.S.), Saskatchewan Day (Sask.) 1 Canada Day, Memorial Day (N.L.) 15 International Day of Democracy* 4 Regatta Day (N.L.) 9 Nunavut Day (Nvt.) 16 Yom Kippur* - Jewish 6 Transfiguration of the Lord - Orthodox Christian Martyrdom of the Bab* - Baha’i 21 Sukkot* - Jewish (to Sept. 27) 10 Hijra - New Year* - Islam 12 Orangemen’s Day (N.L.) 22 Fall Equinox* - Wicca 13 Obon (Ullambana) - Buddhist/Shinto (to Aug. 15) 18 Tish’a B’av* - Jewish 27 Hoshana Rabbah* - Jewish 19 Day of Arafat* - Islam 15 Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary - Catholic Christian Meskel - Ethiopian Eritrean Orthodox Christian Dormition of the Theotokos - Orthodox Christian 20 Eid al-Adha* - Islam (to July 23) 28 Shemini Atzeret* - Ethiopian Eritrean Orthodox 16 Discovery Day (Y.T.) 24 Asalha Puja Day - Buddhist Christian Pioneer Day - Mormon Christian 19 Ashura* - Islam 29 Simchat Torah* - Jewish 27 Fast of the 17th of Tammuz* - Jewish 20 Gold Cup Parade (P.E.I.) 22 Raksha Bandhan - Hindu 29 Beheading of St. John the Baptist - Christian OCTOBER 30 Krishna Janmashtami - Hindu DECEMBER Women’s History Month, 1 World AIDS Day Islamic Heritage Month (Ont.) 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 4 National Day to Commemorate Missing and NOVEMBER 6 National Day of Remembrance and Action Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls 1 Samhain - Wicca on Violence against Women St Francis Day - Catholic Christian All Saints’ Day - Christian 8 Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) - Buddhism 7 Navaratri - Hindu (to Oct. 25) 2 All Souls’ Day - Catholic Christian Immaculate Conception of Mary - Catholic Christian 11 Thanksgiving 4 Diwali (Deepavali) - Sikh - Hindu - Jain 10 Human Rights Day 15 Dasara - Hindu 11 Remembrance Day (except Man., N.S., Ont., Que.) 12 Feast Day - Our Lady of Guadalupe - Catholic Christian 19 Mawlid an Nabi* - Prophet Muhammad’s birthday - 12 Birth of Baha’u’llah* - Baha’i 18 International Migrants Day Islam 13 Jain New Year - Jain 22 Winter Solstice* - Yule - Wicca/Pagan 20 Birth of Báb* - Baha’i 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance Yule - Christian Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth - Sikh 21 Christ the King – Christian 25 Christmas Day - Christian 31 Hallowe’en Feast of the Nativity - Orthodox Christian Reformation Day - Protestant Christian 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 26 Bo xing Day (Y.T., Ont., N.B., N.L., P.E.I., N.W.T.) Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra) • Asterick* Indicates holy days that usually begin at sundown the day before the date listed. 26 Day of the Covenant* - Baha’i Zoroastrian • The dates cited above represent either statutory holidays or the holiest days for that particular faith. 28 Advent Begins - Christian (to Dec. 24) Kwanzaa - African Cultural Heritage (to Jan. 1) All efforts should be made not to schedule union events on days of religious significance. • Adapted from www.interfaith-calendar.org and www.timeanddate.com. 29 Hannukah* - Jewish (to Dec. 6) 28 Holy Innocents - Christian 30 St. Andrew’s Day - Christian 31 New Year’s Eve www.usw.ca [email protected] sru-sdr, cope-sepb 343 > sru-sdr, < uswmetallos @SteelworkersCA