Windsor's Canada Day Parade returns to downtown for 1st time since 2019

CBC
·2 min read

Several roads in Windsor's downtown core will be closed for a few hours on Monday when the city's Canada Day Parade passes through for the first time since 2019.

The theme of this year's festivities is "Canada Day in Downtown Windsor" to celebrate the parade's return to downtown. This year's parade is expected to feature at least 63 entries which will include floats as well as giant inflatables, marching bands and more.

The parade, which runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. will be staging between Giles and Wyandotte, so road access will be limited after 9 a.m.

The parade will get underway at the corner of Ouellette and Wyandotte before wrapping up at Riverside Drive at Caron Ave.

For the last four years, the parade route followed an east-to-west path along Wyandotte Street East, starting at Devonshire Road and ending at Aylmer Avenue.

"We're very excited to be back on the street," said Maggie Durocher.

Durocher is the executive director of Windsor Parade Corporation. She says bringing the parade back downtown is part of efforts to revitalize downtown.

"We'll let people see what truly can happen down there," Durocher said.

Durocher hinted that there will also be a pair of special guests she suspects kids will be very excited to see and potentially meet.

"They decided to pay us a special visit in the middle of the summer to check out this new parade route," Durocher said.

Prior to the parade, a fan zone with games, crafts will be set up on University Avenue — and that's where 3,000 free Canada Day cupcakes will be given out and you can pick up a small Canadian flag.

Durocher noted that there were several new entry applications for this year's parade including increased interest from multicultural communities and groups. She also noted that this year's parade will feature a lot of music — from marching bands in the procession to bands performing throughout the day as well as parade entrants who'll be playing music.

Downtown Windsor BIA executive director Debi Croucher announces the return of the Canada Day parade to downtown Windsor flanked by Paw Patrol and Sonic the Hedgehog who will be costumed characters in the parade.
In a file photo from March, Downtown Windsor BIA executive director Debi Croucher announces the return of the Canada Day parade to downtown Windsor flanked by Paw Patrol and Sonic the Hedgehog who will be costumed characters in the parade. (Dale Molnar/CBC)

Monday is also the Downtown Windsor Canada Day Arts Fair, which will take place on Pelissier Street between Wyandotte Street and Park Street West. Local vendors will sell and display unique items such as vintage clothing, home decor, collectibles, crafts and art pieces.

The Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association is using the parade as an opportunity to collect donations. The organization is urging residents to bring canned goods or monetary donations with them on Monday so volunteers pushing grocery carts can collect them.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Florida Panthers Championship Victory Parade Sunday at 11 a.m.

    Florida Panthers Championship Victory Parade Sunday at 11 a.m.

  • Some French voters remain puzzled as to why Macron dissolved National Assembly

    Macron announced the surprise vote earlier in June, after his centrist alliance suffered a crushing defeat in European Union elections.Voters in the two-round ballot on Sunday and July 7 are to choose who they'll send to the National Assembly, leading to the formation of a new government. LEGAL NOTICE: Subscribers should ensure their broadcasters on any medium during the period FRIDAY 28 JUNE AT 2200GMT TO SUNDAY 30 JUNE AT 1800GMT comply with the French electoral code, notably ARTICLE L49 ELECTORAL CODE, which prohibits the broadcast or publication by any means of communication, to the French public, messages that have the character of “electoral propaganda.”

  • Ontario's vape taxes go up on July 1. Here's what to expect

    Taxes on vaping products created in or imported to Canada are set to increase July 1 — but not everyone is convinced they'll change consumer behaviour.According to the 2024 federal budget, the increase to the excise tax is an attempt to discourage vaping among Canadians, with the country's tobacco strategy aiming to cut tobacco use to less than five per cent of the population by 2035.Statistics Canada says young adults are much more likely to vape than smoke.A 2022 survey by the agency showed al

  • Joe Biden's disastrous debate blamed on bad preparation, exhaustion

    (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's train-wreck debate with Republican opponent Donald Trump followed a series of decisions by his most senior advisers that critics now point to as wrong-headed, interviews with Democratic allies, donors and former and current aides show. Trump, 78, repeated a series of well-worn, glaring falsehoods during the 90-minute debate on Thursday, including claims that he actually won the 2020 election. Biden, 81, failed to refute them and his fumbling, halting performance has sparked calls from Democrats for him to end his quest for a second term and for "soul-searching" or resignations among top aides.

  • Glastonbury Festival 2024: Mixing pop and politics makes a heady brew at Worthy Farm

    From Shania Twain to SZA, the final day of the Glastonbury Festival was full of verve and vigour but not all the stars shined. Jonny Walfisz braved the long day and stayed up all night to see Worthy Farm close for another year.

  • Islanders can expect road closures due to Canada Day celebrations

    Canada Day events are being held across P.E.I. today, and Islanders can expect road closures and heavy traffic at times as a result of the celebrations.In Charlottetown, residents are encouraged to walk, bike or carpool to avoid traffic congestion, and a free "bike valet" service will provide secure parking for bicycles, scooters, skateboards and strollers.The T3 Transit service is operating on its regular schedule.Victoria Park Roadway is closed to all traffic for the majority of the day, from

  • Madonna celebrates NYC Pride at queer music fest: 'Most important day of the year'

    Madonna celebrated Pride Month during an appearance this weekend at LadyLand, a queer music festival in New York.

  • Salt water invades some groundwater wells on P.E.I.

    CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — From Stanhope to parts of P.E.I.'s north shore, salt water has begun to intrude on a few groundwater wells, says a Dalhousie University researcher. Barret Kurylyk and his research team brought the evidence to a natural resources and environmental sustainability committee meeting on June 13 at the George Coles Building in Charlottetown. Due to shoreline erosion, storms, heavy precipitation and climate, the aquifer that separates groundwater from salt water has been vastly

  • A Kitchener dad-daughter team creates songs for July 1. This year's O Canada has a South African flavour

    Nigerian-born musician-songwriter Tolzee hopes a new song he has released for Canada Day will help younger Nigerians fall in love with the Canadian national anthem.Tolzee, who lives in Kitchener, Ont., with his family, said releasing a new song on July 1 is his way of contributing to the country he now calls home."I believe it's easy to learn things when it's in melodies and rhythms," Tolzee said on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition.Releasing a new song on Canada Day has become an ann

  • 'Peace, love, unity and respect': Thousands celebrate Pride in downtown Toronto

    TORONTO — Balloons, confetti and bubbles filled the air as thousands of people came together in downtown Toronto on Sunday for one of the biggest annual Pride celebrations in Canada, although the event abruptly ended as it was close to being over after a demonstration blocked the route.

  • Heavy fuel oil ban comes into effect in the Arctic, with a big exemption

    Environmental groups say a proposed ban on heavy fuel oil is so full of loopholes that the pollutant will go on being burned for another decade. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)Opponents of heavy fuel oil (HFO) have vivid metaphors for it."It's a very sludge-like substance … it's described as the bottom of the barrel, literally and figuratively," said Andrew Dumbrille of the Clean Arctic Alliance. It's cheap but dirty, and because of its tar-like consistency, HFO is nearly impossible to clea

  • 3 new freezer units now tucked away in hospital's underground garage, housing unclaimed dead

    Three new mobile freezer units have been built in the Health Sciences Centres’s garage to store unclaimed bodies. The storage units now have a wall built around them, blocking them from sight. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC News)Just one day after CBC News reported that the largest hospital in Newfoundland and Labrador was storing dozens of unclaimed bodies in temporary freezers in an alleyway, the province's health authority went shopping for new equipment. Three newly constructed freezer units have be

  • Parents now have up to 30 days to surrender their baby under new state law

    Nearly 200 Florida laws are set to take effect today and some of them could have big impacts on you. Governor Ron Desantis signed bills impacting parents, property owners, employment and health care.

  • Palm Beach prosecutor painted Epstein victims as prostitutes, grand jury records show

    The records were under seal for 16 years. Now they’re public.

  • On Quebec's traditional moving day, hundreds of renters are still looking for a home

    MONTREAL — It’s moving day in Quebec, and Mario Lortie is leaving his apartment of 27 years. It’s not by choice. His new landlords, who recently bought the Montreal duplex where he lives, want to convert the building into a single home, so Lortie got the boot. The problem is he has nowhere to go. The 62-year-old former social worker lives on welfare due to health problems, and was paying just $535 a month in rent. After a fruitless search for another apartment he could afford, Lortie turned to a

  • Colo. Man Killed Wife and Daughter with Ax, Then Called 911 and Told Police He Didn't Regret It

    Reginald Maclaren was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder

  • Woman Was Killed by Man Her Mom Had Forced Her to Marry — and Now the Mother Is Convicted

    Prosecutors in Australia said Sakina Muhammad Jan forced her daughter to marry a man she didn't want to wed in November 2019, weeks before he killed her

  • Man who pulled gun in smoke shop, was shot multiple times by owner pleads guilty

    The smoke shop owner told Wichita police Rayquwon Brazil tried to rob his store on Sept. 27. Brazil claimed he went there to confront the owner about a woman. A shootout sent both to the hospital.

  • Man charged in alleged $7.8M Ponzi scheme drowns in B.C. before Edmonton fraud trial

    A man accused of operating an alleged Ponzi scheme has drowned in a B.C. river, seven months before his criminal fraud trial was set to start in Edmonton.Curtis Quigley, 56, and his former common-law spouse Kathleen Treadgold, were jointly charged last summer with 80 counts of fraud over $5,000.The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) alleged that the $7.8-million scheme was ongoing for 12 years, with hundreds of victims in Alberta, B.C., the U.S. and Australia.The allegations against Quigley and Tread

  • 2 men were arrested on public road within Oprah's Hawaii ranch. They're suspected of illegal hunting

    KULA, Hawaii (AP) — Two men arrested last month on a public road within Oprah Winfrey 's property on the Hawaiian island of Maui are suspected of illegal night hunting, state officials said Monday.