Canada Day falls on a Sunday this year, which means some people won't be celebrating the birth of our nation on July 1, as per usual.

The statutory holiday will instead fall on Monday, July 2 and businesses will be closed that day, instead of on Sunday. This has many retailers and shoppers angry at the change.

Violet Campbell is an employee at a Halifax shoe store and she will be working on July 1.

"It is nice to have it off and to participate in the Canada Day events," says Campbell. "I think it's good to be patriotic and participate in that, so that would be kind of a downfall."

"I don't like that," agrees one area resident. "I think they should be closed on Canada Day."

A spokesperson for Nova Scotia's Department of Labour says the change has to do with the wording in the legislation.

"Because our legislation, Nova Scotia government provincial legislation, refers to Canada Day, and because we don't provide a definition for Canada Day, or give a date for Canada Day, we have to look to other legislation to define when is Canada Day?" explains Lynn Hartley.

According to federal legislation, Canada Day should be marked the following Monday, when July 1 falls on a Sunday.

"There'll be so many tourists around and everything so having it closed might hurt a little," says one area resident.

Many of those tourists will be coming off a cruise ship carrying more than 1,200 passengers, which is due to arrive July 2.

Retailers have been fighting the Monday closure since December, asking the government to change the rules and let them close on Sunday instead.

"On that day, sales will no doubt be slow, because people that are in the nine to five, Monday to Friday workforce are going to be out enjoying Canada Day," says Jim Cormier, a spokesperson with the Retail Council of Canada.

New Brunswick follows the same rules as Nova Scotia, while Prince Edward Island has amended the legislation to mark Canada Day on July 1.

Cormier says he plans to keep fighting the rules in Nova Scotia and hopes to get the legislation changed by the time the same scenario rolls around again in 2017. For now, the provincial government says it has no plans to make any changes.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell