You’d think it was a new national holiday today here in Canada.

But no, the occasion is simply U.S. President Obama’s first international visit to Canada’s capital, Ottawa.

There’s plenty of hoopla in the Canadian media, including the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and CBC News, among many others.

The CBC has put together an especially interesting feature from its archives about past visits to Canada by American presidents, from Franklin Roosevelt to George W. Bush.

Among the highlights — John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech to the Canadian parliament where he famously said:

Geography has made us neighbors; history has made us friends.

Photo by Jurvetson (flickr)