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After the Nova Scotia Liberal Party was elected in 2013, its leader Stephen McNeil said he planned to create a February statutory holiday in Nova Scotia. In December 2013 the government introduced a bill to create a holiday on the third Monday in February, starting in 2015. The permanent name for the holiday, Nova Scotia Heritage Day, was announced on June 26, 2014.
Each year it will honour a different person, the first was Viola Desmond. The first 12, which covers 2015 – 2026, were chosen by a three-member government appointed panel from suggestions offered by Nova Scotian school children
