For the past couple of years we've been celebrating Canada Day with NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan (who you also know from PatsPapers.com), and this year is no different. With Canada Day happening tomorrow, Pat gave us some fresh tips (below) on how to celebrate his native land right here in New York City. You'll even have a chance to celebrate with Pat himself!

TOMORROW there will be a contest which you can enter two ways: Pat will be throwing some trivia questions at you via his Twiter tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., and we'll be posting a question on this site as well (follow our Twitter to get the alert in the morning). The past two years we've indulged in a poutine dinner, and this year the winners will join us and Pat for some Canadian beer and Montreal bagels later this month (date to be announced)!

5 Ways New Yorkers Can Celebrate Canada

5. Look up on June 30th: The Empire State Building usually turns on the red and white lights on July 1st for Canada Day, but this year they’re doing it a day early, on the night of Thursday June 30th. (Starting Friday, they’re committed to the red, white and blue for the Independence Day weekend.)

4. Find some Canadian food and drink: The midtown restaurant and bar Windfall has figured out that it’s good for business to embrace Canadian ex-pats. Windfall hosts “Hockey Night in NYC” every Saturday during the NHL’s season and has a special Canada Day lunch menu for Friday. Canadian-born chef David Cioppa will prepare PEI Mussels, Digby Lobster and BC Mushroom Focaccia.

Alternatives: Ontario Bar in Brooklyn, La Pescadeux in SoHo, and Mile End Deli in Boerum Hill all have strong Canadian connections and menu options to support their northern roots.

Sadly, I can’t recommend that you visit one of the New York branches of Canada’s iconic donut chain Tim Hortons. They’ve botched their NYC expansion and the quality of the food is not nearly up to the high standards of the company’s bustling Canadian stores.

3. See Green Lantern: Use Canada as your excuse to go see hunky Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern. He was born in Vancouver and gets extra Canadian points because his father is a retired Mountie.

2. Watch the Canada Day fireworks: Ideally, you’d view the Canada Day fireworks on the night of July 1st in Ottawa, the Canadian capital city. (A 7½ hour drive.) But, conveniently, many communities closer to New York have realized it’s silly to compete with the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks, so they’ve offset their local fireworks events to Friday, July 1st. New Jersey Transit will gladly transport you to Paterson, where the stealth Canada Day celebration begins at 6:30 pm.

1. Sing “O Canada” with me at Joe’s Pub: Joe’s Pub teams up with the Canadian Consulate each July 1st to celebrate Canadian music. A talented lineup of musicians will perform favorites in the Great Canadian Songbook shows at 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm. And I’ll kick off both shows by leading the singing of the Canadian national anthem.