Canadian Centennial - Centennial Projects

Centennial Projects

Under the Centennial Commission, convened in 1963, various projects were commissioned to commemorate the Centennial year. Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" was commissioned by the CBC for broadcast on January 1, 1967. The Canadian Government commissioned typographer Carl Dair to create a new and distinctively Canadian typeface. The first proof of Cartier was published as "the first Canadian type for text composition" to mark the centenary of Canadian Confederation.

Challenge for Change (in Quebec Societé Nouvelle) was a participatory film and video project created by the National Film Board of Canada in 1967 as a response to the Centennial. Active until 1980, Challenge for Change used film and video production to illuminate the social concerns of various communities within Canada, with funding from eight different departments of the Canadian government. The impetus for the program was the belief that film and video were useful tools for initiating social change and eliminating poverty.

In Toronto, the Caribana parade and festival was launched in 1967 as a celebration of Caribbean culture, and as a gift from Canada's West Indian community in tribute to the Centennial year. In November 1967, the Confederation of Tomorrow conference was held at the newly built Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower. Called by Ontario Premier John Robarts, the summit of provincial premiers led to a new round of federal-provincial negotiations to amend the Canadian Constitution.

The Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant was a canoe race started on May 24th in the Rocky Mountains by ten teams representing eight provinces and the two territories. Two provinces were not entered. 3,283 miles were paddled and portaged in 104 days by 100 men using six man shifts per team. They arrived in Montreal on September 4th. Other privately sponsored canoes from across the country made similar trips.