Thanksgiving: American or Canadian?

A Thanksgiving Service, attended by Canadian troops, being held in the Cambrai Cathedral (Notre-Dame de Grace chapel)
13 October, 1918
Canadian Expeditionary Force albums – Unknown photographer

You may be surprised to know that we aren’t the only nation in the world to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. While the story here in the United States centers around pilgrims reaching the long awaited new world in hopes of religious and personal freedoms, the story of the Canadian Thanksgiving  is celebrated more humbly.

Readers should note that Thanksgiving as celebrated by Canadians and Americans does not actually fall on the same day. While our Thanksgiving takes place the last Thursday of November, Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.

Experts report that the Canadian Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the English arctic explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578- more than 40 years before the pilgrims’ arrival in Plymouth! The holiday would be celebrated in customary terms until after the end of the Seven Days War in 1763, which brought the holiday into Nova Scotia and other parts of the country. Eventually, the day would be proclaimed a holiday in 1879. Americans who remained loyal to Britain following the Revolutionary War would bring small influences of the American holiday into the Canadian counterpart.

The Canadians and pilgrims would both center their Thanksgivings on giving thanks for a successful year’s harvest. Experts claim that traditions for the holiday date back to ancient European festivities that celebrated the bounty of the harvest and having enough food for the coming winter. Thanksgiving for all cultures especially seems to be centered on security and survival in past times of uncertainty.

If you’re curious about Martin Frobisher, the English explorer was trying to make an attempt to find the North West Passage to the Orient in 1578, which would ultimately mark his safe arrival into the new world. Frobisher was looking for a new world of survival and hope, much like the pilgrims in Plymouth setting out with the new colonies. Unlike the pilgrims, Frobisher’s journey to create a new settlement was ultimately unsuccessful, as his ships were harassed by ice and storms.

In more recent years, the Thanksgiving traditions between the two nations have varied, but do not generally stray too far from each other. Unlike the American Thanksgiving, which is filled with visiting relatives, travel, and other excitement, the holiday is low key for our neighbors to the North. Canada did not, at first, embrace the American ideals of Black Friday shopping after their holiday meal. Canada tends to favor Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) for most of its Black Friday-esque shopping frenzy. Canadians aren’t too lax in their holiday demonstrations; Kitcher-Waterloo Oktoberfest holds a Thanksgiving Parade that’s broadcast all over CTV!

Several reports have shown that the types of foods for both nations on Thanksgiving are relatively the same. Canadians too enjoy turkey with all the fixings, but their pumpkin pie does not have the same sugary sweetness that ours does. Reports indicate on average a record 2.2 million turkeys are sold in Canada for Thanksgiving. This is nothing compared to the 242 million sold here in the United States for the holiday.

Thanksgiving is quickly upon us, and while it isn’t a holiday that is just celebrated in the United States, it is nice to think that other nations around the world are sharing in a day of reflection and happiness for what they are thankful for.