Parade was a half-hour of musical variety with a widely variable format. It could included different forms of popular music, opera, folk, or jazz. Introduced as a summer replacement in 1959, it reappeared on the summer schedules for two more years, and then moved into the regular season lineup. The show provided a performance site for jazz musicians and for well-known Canadian faces and voices.

In 1962, instead of continuing to produce new editions of Parade over the summer, the CBC reran programs from the past two seasons, probably the first time the network used such a practice for a variety show.