Thanksgiving (Canada)
| Thanksgiving | |
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Shopping for pumpkins for Thanksgiving in Ottawa's ByWard Market
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| Observed by | Canada |
| Type | Cultural |
| Significance | A celebration of being thankful for what one has and the bounty of the previous year. |
| Celebrations | Spending time with Family, feasting, religious practice |
| Date | Second Monday in October |
| 2016 date | October 10 |
| 2017 date | October 9 |
| 2018 date | October 8 |
| 2019 date | October 14 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Thanksgiving in the United States |
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 November 6, 1879, when parliament passed a law designating a national day of thanksgiving. The date, however, was not fixed and moved earlier and later in the year, though it was commonly the third Monday in October.
On January 31, 1957, the Governor General of Canada Vincent Massey issued 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."
Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in most of Canada, 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. 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.
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 autumn vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes but also Brussels sprouts), and pumpkin pie. Baked ham and apple pie are also fairly common, and various regional dishes and desserts may also be served, including salmon, wild game, butter tarts, and Nanaimo bars.
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