#FIRSTLOOK: CBC ANNOUNCE CANADA DAY 2026 PROGRAMMING

CBC is offering a full day of live original programming on Wednesday, July 1, inviting audiences across the country to celebrate Canada Day 2026 together on all platforms. CBC News will provide live coverage from locations across the country beginning at 6 a.m. ET, connecting and reflecting the spirit of the day from coast to coast to coast. The day culminates with a live concert special Celebrating our Canada! at 8 p.m. (9 AT, 9:30 NT), from LeBreton Flats Park in Ottawa with host Isabelle Racicot and featuring performances by Alessia Cara, Barenaked Ladies, Beatrice Deer, Diane Dufresne and Paul Langlois (The Tragically Hip), among others. 

CBC also kicks off It’s a Canada Thing Summer Tour in four cities on July 1. Canadians are invited to join CBC to celebrate in-person at colourful pop-up kiosks at Bower Ponds in Red Deer, Alta., Wascana Park in Regina, Sask., The Forks in Winnipeg, Man., and Chinguacousy Park in Brampton, Ont., where they can participate in a “My Canada Thing is…” photo opp, compete in Canadiana trivia, and win fun CBC prizes.

Full details about Canada Day programming and related content can be found at cbc.ca/canadaday. 

CBC’s Canada Day programming lineup: 

CBC News will provide live coverage from across the country beginning at 6 a.m. ET on CBC News Network, CBC Gem and CBC News streaming platforms (8 a.m. ET on CBC TV), with David Common live from Halifax. Adrienne Arsenault and Omar Dabaghi-Pacheco will be live in Ottawa beginning at 10 a.m. ET, showcasing the July 1 program from LeBreton Flats Park with reporters and special guests. An ASL live stream of the program will be available on CBC Gem beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET. 

On CBC Radio and CBC Listen, live coverage begins at 11 a.m. ET from LeBreton Flats Park with hosts Elamin Abdelmahmoud and Catherine Cullen. 

The day continues at 2 p.m. ET across all CBC broadcast, streaming and audio platforms with Call-In Canada, a live Canada Day call-in show hosted by Saroja Coelho and offering Canadians the opportunity to share their thoughts on what it means to be Canadian in 2026, before Ian Hanomansing and Gloria Macarenko take over from Banff at 4 p.m. ET to connect with Canadians celebrating across the country. 

At 7 p.m. (8 AT, 8:30 NT), the special concert pre-show hosted by Arsenault and Abdelmahmoud will feature interviews with performers and highlight how Canadians from coast to coast to coast are celebrating Canada. 

Beginning at 8 p.m. (9 AT, 9:30 NT) across all CBC broadcast and streaming platforms and live from Ottawa, Isabelle Racicot will host the evening concert special Celebrating our Canada!, featuring memorable performances from across the country. Canadian artists and special guests include: Alessia Cara, Barenaked Ladies, Beatrice Deer, Diane Dufresne, Paul Langlois (The Tragically Hip), Adam Baldwin, Andrina Turenne (Winnipeg), Begonia (Winnipeg), Dominique Fils-Aimé, Gabs Bouchard, Isabelle Boulay, Lisa LeBlanc (Moncton), MICO, Noeline Hofmann, Pierre Lapointe, P’tit Belliveau, and Sylvia Cloutier. A live stream with bilingual ASL-LSQ interpretation will be available on CBC Gem. On CBC Radio, CBC Listen and CBC Music, live coverage of the Celebrating our Canada! concert from 8 p.m. (9 AT, 9:30 NT) will be hosted by Rich Terfry. 

July 1 on CBC Music, Mornings guest-host Grant Lawrence will present a special Trans-Canada Playlist of songs all about our home and native land from coast to coast to coast, while Julie Nesrallah will present the very best in Canadian classical music on Tempo. About Time’s Tim Allen will share music by composers from every province and territory, and Drive with host Rich Terfry celebrates with an all-Canadian road trip show, paying homage to the exhilarating and exhausting life on the road for Canadian musicians. Following the Celebrating our Canada! concert hosted by Terfry, Afterdark with Odario Williams brings an all-Canadian line up of moody grooves and tunes for late-night celebrations.

On CBCMusic.ca, coverage will include 10 Songs with Surprising Canadian Connections as well as live coverage on social media from the Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa. 

The CBC Comedy and Murdoch Mysteries FAST channels will also be marking Canada Day with special programming. On July 1, the Murdoch Mysteries channel will be highlighting episodes of the long-running drama series that feature real-life historic Canadians, while CBC Comedy will be offering a Still Standing marathon, showcasing the beauty of Canada and the hidden comedy found in its small towns.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages: Dëne Sųłıné, Dene Kǝdǝ́, Dene Zhatıé, Eastern Cree, Dinjii Zhuʼ Ginjik, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and Tłı̨chǫ. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.