DCHP-1 Online
New Year's (Day) levee 
n. in Canada, a formal reception, usually for men only, held New Year's morning by the Governor General, lieutenant-governors, and, sometimes, mayors.
See also: levee (def. 1)
- 1948 The New Year's levees were traditional ceremonies dear to the hearts of loyal old Halifax. On that first day of the year . . . our people by hundreds pass through the entrance. There they move in regular lines through the stately room to pay their respects to their sovereign's representative, the Lieutenant-Governor.
- 1964 The traditional custom of the New Year's Day levee was marked again in Canada's provincial capitals Wednesday.
- 1948 The New Year's levees were traditional ceremonies dear to the hearts of loyal old Halifax. On that first day of the year . . . our people by hundreds pass through the entrance. There they move in regular lines through the stately room to pay their respects to their sovereign's representative, the Lieutenant-Governor.