July 1, 2026

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Hello everyone!

Today, I am celebrating my first Canada Day with you as governor general. I feel your energy. And I share it!

We’re celebrating an entire country!

From Quebec’s recent fête nationale to the FIFA World Cup matches in Toronto and Vancouver, and all the way to Los Angeles, where Canada was victorious, we’ve proven that we know how to party!

Whether in FIFA soccer stadiums or at the Olympics, one thing is clear: we know who we’re cheering for. Go Canada!

And when we play ferociously against each other—baseball, hockey—we don’t hate the other team, we just like them better when they lose!

This is us. We like to play. And we play by the rules.

We play by the rules and we love team sports. And we’ve shown that our women’s teams are among the best in the world.

That’s who we are.

We are a country of seasons. Seasons of joy and sadness. Graduation season, wedding season, moving season, seasons for every rite of passage.

Seasons when we mourn the police officers who have fallen in the line of duty and the victims who, sadly, found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And throughout the seasons, rain, shine or snow, we are in it together. When hardship strikes, we rally. From forest fires to ice storms, we fight to protect our land and each other, we share the sorrow of loss, we cherish our heroes.

When we travel, we’re always surprised to see just how different things are: the landscape, the people, their language or often just their accent.

I often had that reaction when I travelled across Canada. Our landscapes vary, sometimes dramatically, sometimes in subtle ways. And so do our people.

But every time, everywhere I go in Canada, whether in the Rockies or the far north, in the chaos of big cities, in small villages close to or far away from the ocean, I keep thinking: “I can’t believe that I’m still home.” What a gift.

This is our gift. Our country is our gift.

Today, we share it with one another with open minds and open hearts.

And tomorrow we’ll get back at it. Back to working hard to improve what is already the best country in the world.

With everyone pulling together!

Happy Canada Day.

Miigwetch, merci, thank you.