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Thanksgiving (Canada)

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Thanksgiving
Shopping for pumpkins for Thanksgiving in Ottawa's Byward Market
Observed byCanada
TypeCultural
SignificanceA celebration of being thankful for what one has and the bounty of the previous year.
CelebrationsSpending Time with Family, feasting, religious practice
DateSecond Monday in October
2023 dateOctober 9  (2023-10-09)
2024 dateOctober 14  (2024-10-14)
2025 dateOctober 13  (2025-10-13)
2026 dateOctober 12  (2026-10-12)
Frequencyannual

Thanksgiving (French: Action de grâce), or Thanksgiving Day (Jour de l'action de grâce) is an annual Canadian holiday, occurring on the second Monday in October, which celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year.

Thanksgiving has been officially celebrated as an annual holiday in Canada since 6 November 1879, when Parliament declared a national day of thanksgiving.[1] The date, however, was not fixed, and moved earlier and later in the year, though it was commonly the third Monday in October.[1]

On Thursday, January 31, 1957, the Parliament of Canada made a proclamation stating: A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."[2]

As statutory holiday

Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in most of Canada, contestably, for religious reason, with the exceptions being the Atlantic provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, where it is an optional holiday.[3] Companies that are regulated by the federal government (such as those in the telecommunications and banking sectors) recognize the holiday regardless of its provincial status.[4][5][6][7][8]

Traditional celebration

As a liturgical festival, Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and continental European harvest festival, with churches decorated with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty. English and European harvest hymns are sung on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.

While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians may gather for their Thanksgiving feast on any day during the long weekend. Foods traditionally served at Thanksgiving include roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various fall vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes but also Brussels sprouts), and pumpkin pie. Baked ham and apple pie are also commonly served, as well as regional dishes such as salmon or wild game.

Traditions such as parades can be a part of Thanksgiving in Canada, such as the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest parade, although they are not that common. The Canadian Football League holds a nationally televised doubleheader, the Thanksgiving Day Classic. It is one of two weeks in which the league plays on Monday afternoons, the other being the Labour Day Classic. Unlike the Labour Day games, the teams that play on the Thanksgiving Day Classic vary each year.

Though the holiday enjoys statutory status in Quebec, French-speaking Quebecers do not typically consider it an important holiday. It is common for people to take a weekend getaway to nearby tourist spots or, for those who have cottages, Thanksgiving is the last long-weekend they have to enjoy the cottage before winter. A festive meal with turkey and trimmings remains customary.[9]

Canadian Thanksgiving coincides with the observance in the United States (US) of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day and has done so since the US implemented the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971. As such, American towns with high levels of Canadian tourism will often hold their fall festivals over Thanksgiving/Columbus Day weekend, in part to draw and accommodate Canadian tourists.[10] Border towns also often experience an uptick in shoppers at grocery stores, as Canadian shoppers take advantage of lower sales taxes and commodity prices in the United States over the long holiday.[11]

History

Canadian troops attend a Thanksgiving service in the bombed-out Cambrai Cathedral, in France in October 1918

According to some historians, the first celebration of Thanksgiving in North America occurred during the 1578 voyage of Martin Frobisher from England, in search of the Northwest Passage.[1] His third voyage, to the Frobisher Bay area of Baffin Island in the present Canadian Territory of Nunavut, set out with the intention of starting a small settlement. His fleet of fifteen ships was outfitted with men, materials, and provisions. However, the loss of one of his ships through contact with ice, along with many of the building materials, was to prevent him from doing so. The expedition was plagued by ice and freak storms, which at times scattered the fleet; on meeting again at their anchorage in Frobisher Bay, "... Mayster Wolfall, a learned man, appointed by her Majesties Counsel to be their minister and preacher, made unto them a godly sermon, exhorting them especially to be thankful to God for their strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places ...". They celebrated Communion and "The celebration of divine mystery was the first sign, scale, and confirmation of Christ's name, death and passion ever known in all these quarters."[12]

Years later, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, from 1604, also held feasts of thanks. They even formed the Order of Good Cheer and held feasts with their First Nations neighbors, at which food was shared.

After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763, with New France handed over to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year.[13]

During and after the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal to Great Britain moved from the newly independent United States to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada, such as the turkey, pumpkin, and squash.[14]

Lower Canada and Upper Canada observed Thanksgiving on different dates; for example, in 1816 both celebrated Thanksgiving for the termination of the war between France and Great Britain, the former on May 21 and the latter on June 18.[13] In 1838, Lower Canada used Thanksgiving to celebrate the end of the Lower Canada Rebellion.[13] Following the rebellions, the two Canadas were merged into a united Province of Canada, which observed Thanksgiving six times from 1850 to 1865.[13]

The first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.[15]

For many years before it was declared a national holiday in 1879, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November. From 1879 onward, Thanksgiving Day has been observed every year, the date initially being a Thursday in November.[16] The date of celebration changed several times until, in 1957, it was officially declared to be the second Monday in October.[15] The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed each year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In its early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.[13]

After World War I, an amendment to the Armistice Day Act established that Armistice Day and Thanksgiving would, starting in 1921, both be celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred.[15] Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays, and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day. From 1931 to 1957, the date was set by proclamation, generally falling on the second Monday in October, except for 1935, when it was moved due to a general election.[13][15] In 1957, Parliament fixed Thanksgiving as the second Monday in October.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Thanksgiving Day, Canadian Encyclopedia
  2. ^ Kelch, Kalie. Grab Your Boarding Pass. Review & Herald Publishing Association. p. 12. ISBN 9780812756548. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "Statutory Holidays in Canada". Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  4. ^ "Paid public holidays". WorkRights.ca.
  5. ^ "Thanksgiving - is it a Statutory Holiday?". Government of Nova Scotia. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  6. ^ "Statutes, Chapter E-6.2" (PDF). Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  7. ^ "RSNL1990 Chapter L-2 - Labour Standards Act". Assembly of Newfoundland. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  8. ^ "Statutory Holidays" (PDF). Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Canada.
  9. ^ « L'action de grâces » In this 2011 radio program, a journalist introduces Quebec listeners to the English-Canadian tradition of a festive turkey meal at Thanksgiving : http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/bien_dans_son_assiette/2011-2012/Entrevue.asp?idDoc=178593
  10. ^ Tokasz, Jay (October 12, 2013). Ellicottville’s four-season appeal is welcomed by most, but not all, residents. The Buffalo News. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  11. ^ Raguse, Lou (October 14, 2013). Canadian Thanksgiving brings shoppers. WIVB-TV. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  12. ^ The three voyages of Martin Frobisher: in search of a passage to Cathai and India by the northwest AD 1576-1578.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Proclamation and Observance of General Thanksgiving Days and reasons therefore". Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  14. ^ Solski, Ruth. Canada's Traditions and Celebrations. On the Mark Press. p. 12. ISBN 1-55035-694-1.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Canadian Heritage - Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day". Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  16. ^ "Canadian Thanksgiving Day History". Kidzworld.com. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
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