Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a Canadian holiday celebrated on the second Monday in October, marking gratitude for the harvest and blessings of the past year. Families gather for festive meals, and communities across Canada host events and fairs to celebrate the season.

• Held on the second Monday in October across Canada
• Centred on gratitude for the harvest and blessings
• Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie
• Canadian Football League hosts the Thanksgiving Day Classic
• Community fairs and parades mark the season

What it is

Thanksgiving in Canada is a time for expressing gratitude for the year's harvest and the good things in life. It is a statutory holiday in most provinces, observed with family gatherings and festive meals. The holiday is rooted in both religious and secular traditions, and its meaning centers on thankfulness for abundance and togetherness. While the official day is Monday, celebrations often span the long weekend, bringing people together to share food and reflect on the year's blessings.

Where it comes from

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving trace back to 1579, when Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks for safe passage in Newfoundland. French settlers in the early 17th century also held feasts of thanks, and later, British and American influences shaped the holiday's customs. Over the centuries, Thanksgiving was celebrated on various dates and for different reasons, including military victories and royal recoveries. It became an annual holiday in 1879, and since 1957, has been fixed on the second Monday in October, focusing on gratitude for the harvest.

How it is celebrated

Families and friends gather for a Thanksgiving feast, often featuring roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Regional specialties such as salmon, wild game, Jiggs dinner, butter tarts, and Nanaimo bars may also appear on the table. Many attend church services where the sanctuary is decorated with autumn produce and symbols of the harvest. The long weekend is also marked by community events, agricultural fairs, and the Canadian Football League's Thanksgiving Day Classic. Some communities host parades or local festivals, and the holiday is a time for both reflection and celebration.

Joining in

Visitors in Canada during Thanksgiving can expect a warm, family-centered holiday. Major cities and small towns alike hold community events, fairs, and markets in the days leading up to the holiday. The main celebrations happen in homes, but local festivals and public gatherings offer a chance to experience the spirit of Thanksgiving. Expect shops and public services to close or have reduced hours on Monday, and enjoy the festive autumn atmosphere in markets and neighborhoods.

In the news

• Anthropic Targets Mega-IPO Before Thanksgiving HolidayBloomberg.com
• 2026 holiday travel: Thanksgiving, Christmas airfares reach highest prices in a decadeLiveNOW from FOX
• LETTER: Help your neighbors this Thanksgiving seasonMarblehead Current
• Report: Holiday travelers could face the highest Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares in a decade13newsnow.com
• Lanakila Pacific holiday meals to return for Thanksgiving, ChristmasHawaii News Now
• It’s that time of year again! This Thanksgiving Day, Sheriff Michelle M. Woodfork will celebrate her first Thanksgiving as Sheriff of Orleans Parish by continuing a beloved OPSO tradition — the 52nd Annual Thanksgiving Celebration. Hosted bfacebook.com

Sources and attribution

This page is Mela's own summary, written in new words. Its facts are drawn from the Wikipedia article Thanksgiving (Canada), whose text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Each photo is credited to its author beside it, and news headlines link to their publishers. For the full account, read the originals below.

Read more

• Thanksgiving (Canada) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos
• Wikidata recordOpen data

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