What is Canadian Thanksgiving?
By: Daniel Choi
Tags: Canada, History, Thanksgiving, America, Canadianhistory

What is Canadian Thanksgiving?

A Canadian national holiday that predates the American Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving Turkey (Time Magazine)

Did you know Canada also has a Thanksgiving holiday like in the United States? It falls on the second Monday of October and is celebrated nationally. Although it seems like a copy of the American Thanksgiving, the Canadian celebration predates the American one by more than forty years. How did the Canadian Thanksgiving start, and what does it celebrate?

Martin Frobisher’s Voyage

Martin Frobisher (Canadian Museum of History)

Thanksgiving in America is known as the holiday that was started by the pilgrims who celebrated their first harvest with the Native Americans. The Canadian one has a different start. In 1578, forty-three years before the first celebration in America, an English explorer by the name of Martin Frobisher had the first Thanksgiving dinner with his crewmates. Martin Frobisher was originally headed to the Caribbeans but ended up in present-day New Foundland, Canada. He gave thanks for his safety through the rough voyage and shared a meal consisting of salt beef, biscuits, and peas with his crewmates. This is the first officially recognized start of the Canadian Thanksgiving.

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain (the Canadian Encyclopedia)

Another possible root of the Canadian Thanksgiving is the instance where Samuel de Champlain, the explorer credited for founding Quebec (New France at the time), broke bread with the Natives to celebrate a safe voyage in 1606. Samuel de Champlain famously ate cranberries with the Mi’kmaq people to prevent scurvy, which was a common disease for sailors. However, his meal of thanksgiving was not annual but rather frequent, happening every few weeks. This tradition by Samuel de Champlain is argued to be another root of the Canadian Thanksgiving.

American Influence

During the 1700s, many American traditions were being introduced to Canada, and the Thanksgiving tradition was one of them. While Thanksgiving was still not a prominent holiday or tradition in Canada, it was an established tradition in the United States. During this time, Canadians started enjoying a similar Thanksgiving meal as Americans, comprising of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, pumpkin, and squash.

In 1859, the large English protestant population of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) demanded Thanksgiving be made an official holiday. It was a holiday in a religious context, although it was made a secular and official holiday in 1879, twelve years after the birth of Canada as a nation. The holiday never received a fixed date, instead, it changed every year ranging from October to December.

World War I

The Vimy Ridge Battle, where more than 10,000 Canadian soldiers died (Huffington Post Canada)

In 1921, three years after the end of the First World War, Thanksgiving was officially declared to be on November 11th, to celebrate the end of the war and honor veterans as well as give thanks for the harvest. However, in 1931, the Canadian Parliament decided to designate November 11th as Remembrance Day to solely honor veterans. This pushed Canadian Thanksgiving to the second Monday of October, which was around harvest season in Canada. Because of Canada’s colder weather, the harvest season happens much earlier than in the United States. Since then, the Canadian Thanksgiving became a staple national holiday where families gather to share their gratitude and enjoy good food.