Holodomor Memorial Day in Canada: Date, History and How to Mark It

The UAFest organising team

November 2026 · 6 min read

Holodomor Memorial Day falls on the fourth Saturday of November every year: 28 November in 2026 and 27 November in 2027. On that day Ukrainian Canadians remember the millions of people who died in the famine of 1932–33, which the Soviet regime created in Ukraine. Canada recognised the Holodomor as a genocide by law in 2008, and Ontario and British Columbia passed their own acts. This guide explains what happened, what the day means in Canada, and how people mark it.

What was the Holodomor

Holodomor means "killing by hunger" in Ukrainian. In 1932 and 1933 the Soviet government under Stalin set grain quotas that Ukrainian villages could not meet, sent brigades to take the food that was left, blacklisted villages that fell short and stopped peasants from leaving to look for bread. Millions of people in Ukraine died of hunger, most of them in the villages, many of them children.

For decades the famine was denied in the Soviet Union. The memory was kept by survivors and by the Ukrainian diaspora, including in Canada, until Ukraine's independence made it possible to study and commemorate it openly.

Holodomor Memorial Day in Canada

In 2008 Parliament passed the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide ("Holodomor") Memorial Day Act. It recognises the Holodomor as a genocide and sets the fourth Saturday in November, every year and throughout Canada, as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide ("Holodomor") Memorial Day. The date matches the national day of remembrance Ukraine set in 1998. The day is a day of remembrance and is not a statutory holiday.

Ontario proclaimed the same Saturday Holodomor Memorial Day in 2009, and British Columbia passed a similar act in 2019. Toronto unveiled a Holodomor memorial in 2018.

2026 — Saturday, 28 November
2027 — Saturday, 27 November
2028 — Saturday, 25 November

How Ukrainian Canadians mark the day

The central gesture is simple: a lit candle in the window in the evening, in memory of the people who died. Churches hold memorial services, communities gather at memorials and city halls, and some schools hold remembrance lessons that week.

Wheat ears and bread are the other symbols. Some families put a few ears of wheat or a small loaf on the table beside the candle, for the bread that the villages were denied.

Remembering, and the community today

For the Ukrainian community in Canada the day is also about the present. Many of the people who came to Canada from Ukraine after 2022 fled another war, and the remembrance services in November now bring together families who have been here for generations and families who arrived last year.

Near Ottawa, the community that runs UAFest - Ukrainian Festival near Ottawa brings those generations together all year. The festival's charity partner, Kids of Ukraine, supports the recovery of children and families affected by the war.

What people ask

Saturday, 28 November 2026. In Canada the day falls on the fourth Saturday of November every year; in 2027 it is 27 November.

It is a national day of remembrance set by federal law in 2008, and it is not a statutory holiday.

Yes. The Ukrainian Famine and Genocide ("Holodomor") Memorial Day Act of 2008 recognises the Holodomor as a genocide. Ontario and British Columbia passed their own Holodomor memorial day acts in 2009 and 2019.

Killing by hunger. The word joins the Ukrainian words for hunger and for death or killing.

Light a candle in your window in the evening, attend a memorial service at a Ukrainian church or community centre, or read and share a survivor's story.