This embossed copper plaque in a wooden frame commemorates 60 years of Canadian confederation in 1927, a relatively unusual time-marking celebration. This is due to the fact that plans by the Canadian government to hold a major event to mark the 50th anniversary of Confederation in 1917 were overshadowed by the First World War. In April, 1917 Canadian Forces were busy with the Battle of Vimy Ridge. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war, but resulted in the death and injury of more than 10,600 Canadians. July 1st was hardly going to be a day for celebration, postponing celebrations until long after the war.
As a result, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 1927, marking the 60th anniversary of Confederation, were the first major federally sponsored Canada Day activities. The main event for the day was a simulcast radio broadcast, featuring an address by Prime Minister Mackenzie King and a dramatic pageant. Communities across Canada marked the Diamond Jubilee with their own celebrations, including parades of thematic and historical floats in Ottawa and Toronto, an elaborate pageant in Winnipeg that highlighted its Eastern European immigrant communities, and members of some First Nations communities partaking in local Dominion Day activities wearing traditional clothing.