Today marks the beginning of Chinese New Year- a fifteen day celebration that will bring people together across the province and around the world.

On this holiday, communities come together at temples and family gatherings to mark the beginning of the year of the fire monkey – the ninth animal on the Chinese zodiac calendar. 

The fire monkey symbolizes the virtues of intelligence and innovation. This seems especially relevant in a year where the intelligent implementation of innovation will be essential to solving economic and environmental challenges. 

New Year’s celebrations offer us all a chance to find peace and new beginnings in the year ahead. We at the GPO would like to wish all Ontarian’s happiness and prosperity in the year of the fire monkey!