Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, dear readers! This is a weekend to give thanks for everyone and everything we have in our lives, and to spend time with the people that we love. And because the world doesn’t seem to realise that Canadian Thanksgiving is NOT in November when US Thanksgiving is, I thought I would share some Canadian Thanksgiving facts!

Canadian Thanksgiving is always the second Monday in October! This year, it is the latest it can possibly be, on October 14th. For most people, it features the regular mix of turkey, potatoes, veggies, dressing/stuffing, and pie (though people are branching out in the kitchen). So, what don’t you know about Canadian Thanksgiving?

Canadian Thanksgiving Facts

• The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1578 when Martin Frobisher, an English explorer, was attempting to find the Northwest Passage. That means it was celebrated nearly 50 years before the pilgrims ever showed up in the future USA…
• Thanksgiving in Canada focuses on giving thanks for the harvest, rather than any pilgrims, explorers, or other people- because we are further north, we have an earlier harvest than our southern neighbours. Late November would be close to two months after our harvest!
• Thanksgiving was officially declared a holiday in Canada in 1879, with November 6th the chosen date. However, it was changed to the second Monday in October after WWII, as Thanksgiving Day and Remembrance Day were routinely falling in the same week.
• Although in the US, Thanksgiving is their big holiday, in Canada, it tends to be the holiday season in December. If you need to travel to see your family, it will mostly likely be for Hannukah/Christmas/Kwanzaa, rather than Thanksgiving. Enter: friendsgiving! (Which also happens in the US.)
• Although Monday is officially Thanksgiving, some families celebrate on Saturday, some on Sunday, and some on Monday. It allows for more flexibility if you have more than one dinner or other plans!

My family celebrated yesterday, and wonderful food and company was enjoyed! I love both turkey and pumpkin pie, so I’m in my culinary happy place. (I wish pumpkin pie was a year-round thing…) This was a bit of a tough year with the snowpocalypse coming- we normally don’t get snow until November, but on Thursday evening, we had a winter storm roll in. Hundreds of thousands of people (us included) were without power for quite some time, and a state of emergency was called. Still, we pulled together in Canadian spirit and Thanksgiving was a success!

Did you know about Canadian Thanksgiving, or is it news to you? 

Cheers,
The Historian
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