A scene from the a past Labour Day Parade in Port Elgin. Hub photo.
Jane Glenn | 28 August 2026
Union members, retirees, families and community supporters are invited to take part in Port Elgin’s Labour Day parade and celebration on September 7.
Observed on the first Monday in September, Labour Day has been a statutory holiday in Canada since 1894. It recognizes the labour movement and the gains workers have achieved through collective action.
“Despite powerful forces trying to tear down the labour movement, workers and their representatives are not going anywhere,” says Grey Bruce Labour Council President Kevin Smith. “This is worth celebrating.”
In Port Elgin, participants and volunteers are asked to arrive by 10:30 a.m. at the Home Hardware and Shoreline Baptist Church area on Highway 21 at the north end of town. The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and travel south along Goderich Street to Maple Square.
Unifor floats will marshal at Home Hardware, while other floats and participants will gather behind Shoreline Baptist Church. Parade marshals will direct arrivals, including overflow and groups joining the route nearby.
After the parade, the celebration will move to the Unifor Family Education Centre at 115 Shipley Avenue. Free lunch and brief speeches from local labour leaders and activists are planned. Parking is available at the centre and a marked shuttle bus will operate between the parade area and the Shipley Avenue site.
The event coincides with the Grey Bruce Labour Council’s 70th year of worker advocacy in Grey and Bruce counties. The council is inviting residents to watch, march, help prepare floats or volunteer with traffic direction and parade marshalling.
For parade information or to volunteer, contact the Grey Bruce Labour Council at gblcpresident@live.ca.
