OTTAWA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Canadians are keen to join the global Earth Hour movement scheduled for Saturday, with 70 percent saying they would switch off their lights.

    Dozens of cities, towns and communities, and 55,000 citizens across the country have registered to take part in the event to turn off their lights for one hour. Furthermore, 70 percent of Canadians polled recently said they planned to mark the hour, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) report.

    Besides businesses and government offices across the country, national landmarks will also be blacked out, including Toronto's CN Tower and Eaton Center, and Niagara Falls; Vancouver City Hall and its Olympic Flag; as well as Halifax's MacDonald Bridge and Parade Square.

    Grammy-winning singer Nelly Furtado will play a free concert at Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square, starting at 6:45 p.m. local time(2345GMT) until 9 p.m. Saturday (0200 GMT Sunday). Power for the event will be supplied by Bullfrog Power, a company which uses emission-free sources like wind and water.

    "This has really just blown up across Canada," said Tara Wood, spokeswoman for the fund in Canada. "Canada is really going to be the shining star in this global effort."

    The initiative began in Sydney last year and has become a global event, sweeping across 35 countries this year. It is designed to promote electricity conservation and lowering carbon emissions.

    More than 240,000 people and almost 18,000 businesses in countries as far-flung as Botswana, Vietnam and Denmark have signed up as participants this year via a website groaning under the strain.