The History of Thanksgiving in Canada

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends!

In Canada, Thanksgiving can be traced back to Martin Frobisher in 1578. He left England in search of a way to get to the Orient by traveling north. Although he never did find that passage, he did establish what later became Newfoundland and Labrador.

The first Thanksgiving in North America was his celebration of making it all the way from England to his new home. Frobisher was joined by more settlers, and as the settlements expanded, the people continued to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Samuel de Champlain led the French settlers to Canada, and they had their own Thanksgiving feasts. The French shared what they had with the local Indians that lived in the area, similar to the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving.

There were various special Thanksgiving celebrations over the years. One took place in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years’ War. Celebrations were held in Halifax as the British took possession of New France. Celebrations were not held yearly at this point.

In 1879 Thanksgiving finally became an annual celebration; however the date was not always the same. Each year, the people were encouraged to focus on different things for which to be thankful. These reasons varied from the usual abundant harvests to remembering significant dates in Canadian history.

Being thankful for God’s mercies, victory over enemies, the end of wars, cessation of cholera and other diseases, peace, blessings, and most often, abundant harvests were some of the common themes for different Thanksgiving celebrations.

Many American Colonists left to live in Canada after the Revolutionary War. They brought the traditions that had been passed down from the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims at Plymouths Rock with them. To add to the menu, they also brought many of their favorite foods with them.

Canadians celebrated Armistice Day and Thanksgiving on the Monday closest to November 11th for some time after WWI. Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day in 1931 and people began to celebrate them separately.

The Canadian Parliament finally established the second Monday in October to be the official Thanksgiving in 1957. It only makes sense that the Canadian Thanksgiving is held earlier in the fall than it is in the United States since Canada has an earlier harvest.

Canadians serve many of the same Thanksgiving foods, or very similar foods to that of the Americans. They also enjoy turkey, mashed potatoes, different vegetable dishes and pumpkin pie. Cornucopia was introduced to the celebrations as well by the Europeans.

Thanksgiving is still all about being thankful for all of the blessings of the past year and being with family in Canada, despite all of the changes in the date and why it was celebrated.

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