January Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Calendar

Across Canada, January is proclaimed as Tamil Heritage Month, celebrating the many achievements of the Tamil Community in Richmond Hill and abroad. It is also Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, which provides an opportunity to learn more about Alzheimer’s and those who have been impacted by it.

City of Richmond Hill

January 1 is New Year’s Day, the first day of the year of the modern Gregorian calendar. Correspondingly, Orthodox New Year is celebrated on January 14.

January 4 marks World Braille Day. Celebrated since 2019, this day raises awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially-sighted people.

January 4 is National Ribbon Skirt Day. In Indigenous culture, a Ribbon Skirt is a centuries-old spiritual symbol of womanhood, identity, adaptation and survival, and is a way for women to honour themselves and their culture. The Ribbon Skirt represents a direct connection to Mother Earth and its sacred medicines.

January 5 marks the birth of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. As one of the most auspicious festivals in Sikhism, it is a time where Sikhs from around the world go to Gurudwaras to respect and commemorate the Guru who instituted Khalsa.

January 6 is the Christian holiday Epiphany, when Western Christians celebrate how a star led the Magi – also known as the Three Kings or the Wise Men – to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born. Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany on January 19 to commemorate the baptism of Jesus and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity.

January 7 is Orthodox Christmas in accordance with the Julian calendar and many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Day on or near this date. This coincides with Armenian Christmas, which takes place on January 6.

January 7 is Mahayana New Year. It is celebrated by Buddhists around the world and is a time for meditation and self-reflection, with the aim of finding ways to improve and learn from past mistakes.

January 13 is Lohri. This is a popular wintertime Punjabi folk festival that is celebrated primarily by Sikhs and Hindus from the Punjab region of India. Linked to the winter solstice, this festival is part of the harvest ritual marking the end of the winter and the onset of spring.

January 14 is Maghi. Celebrated in the Sikh faith, it commemorates the martyrdom of 40 Sikh volunteers known as ‘muktey’ (the liberated), stemming from a battle which was led by a woman named Maathaa Bhaag Kaur.

January 15 is World Religion Day. Started by the Baha’i Faith in 1950, its aim is to promote inter-faith understanding and harmony. The day also encourages all to learn about different religions.

January 15 to January 18 is the Pongal Festival. A popular four-day harvest festival in Southern India, mainly celebrated by those of Tamil Nadu descent, marking the beginning of Uttarayan, the sun’s journey northwards.

January 16 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American holiday which pays tribute to the achievements of civil rights leader and activist, Martin Luther King Jr.

January 17 is Raoul Wallenberg Day. Proclaimed by the Government of Canada in 2001, this day recognizes Raoul Wallenberg, Canada’s first honorary citizen who is credited with saving the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during WWII.

January 18 to January 25 is the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. An ecumenical Christian observance which takes place between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere, and between January 18 and January 25 in the Northern Hemisphere.

January 21 is Lincoln Alexander Day, commemorating The Honourable Lincoln Alexander, who was a pioneer in the fight for racial equity in Canada as the first Black Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first Black federal Minister, and the first Black Chair of the Worker’s Compensation Board of Ontario.

January 22 is Lunar New Year. Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, Tet for Vietnamese Canadians, or Solnal for Korean Canadians, it is celebrated in Canada and several other countries. 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, which symbolizes longevity, peace and prosperity.

January 24 is the International Day of Education. Designated by the United Nations (UN), this day celebrates the role of education for peace and development around the world.

January 24 is the World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture, celebrating the many vibrant cultures of the African continent and African Diasporas around the world, and promotes them as an important lever for sustainable development, dialogue and peace.

January 26 is Vasant Panchami, a Hindu festival that highlights the coming of spring, and is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Sarasvati, the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, learning and art.

January 27 is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms the international community’s commitment to counter anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence.

January 29 is the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia, which remembers those who we tragically lost as a result of an Islamophobic attack that occurred at the Grand Mosque in Quebec City, taking the lives of six people and seriously injuring 19 others.