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Canadian Thanksgiving

The Canadian Thanksgiving celebration falls on the second Monday of October – more than a month ahead of the American Thanksgiving — Canada’s colder climate puts its harvest celebration well in advance of its southern neighbor’s. In spite of its connections to some of the American Thanksgiving origins and some political origins, the Canadian Thanksgiving is more of a harvest celebration, while the American Thanksgiving is more focused on the early encounters between Native Americans and European settlers.

European settlers were eking out a living from Canadian soil well in advance of the early American colonies. In 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher, who had set out to find the Spice Islands, landed on Baffin Island and decided to establish the first English settlement in North America on this land of rock and permafrost. He celebrated the first Canadian thanksgiving ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for his successful crossing. After two years of mining “gold ore,” he returned to England only to find out that it was iron pyrite — Fool’s Gold.

In the 1750’s, Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations at Port Royal, Nova Scotia marked the return of the town to the English. Settlers who remained loyal to the English government moved north and imported the American Thanksgiving traditions. Other English settlers also brought traditional harvest celebrations.

At the same time, French settlers arriving in Canada with the explorer Samuel de Champlain held thanksgiving feasts and shared their food with their Indian neighbours.

In 1763, Halifax celebrated the end of the Seven Years War with a similar ceremony. In 1879, Parliament formally declared November 6 as a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday, and so it remained until after the Armistice of WWI, when Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day would have conflicted thematically during the same week.

In 1957, the Canadian Parliament declared

‘A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God

for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has

been blessed…..to be observed on the second Monday in October.’

Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations includes parades and festive meals with friends and family, often including a roast turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin pie. At the heart of the celebration is the idea of giving thanks for the goodness of the season past.

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