Statement by Minister Khera on Dutch Heritage Day

OTTAWA, May 5, 2024

Today, we celebrate Dutch Heritage Day across Canada.

We take this time to recognize and celebrate the significant contributions that Canadians of Dutch heritage have made and will continue to make to our country’s social, cultural and economic life. May 5 is also Liberation Day in the Netherlands, marking the end of Nazi Germany’s occupation during the Second World War.

Canada is home to more than one million people of Dutch heritage, with members of the community having established homesteads in the Canadian West during the 1890s. In the 1920s, Dutch Canadians became essential to our economy as they worked on farms, in factories and in homes, and many more immigrated to Canada after the Second World War.

Let us remember and honour the sacrifices made by past members of the Canadian Armed Forces in the liberation of the Netherlands.

As Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, I invite you all to learn more about Dutch heritage and the many roles Dutch Canadians play in making our country what it is today.