Did you know??

Canadian Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the second Monday in October, earlier than the American Thanksgiving, which is held in November. Since 1971 it has coincided with Columbus Day in the U.S. – The first Thanksgiving feast in the U.S. was held in 1621 when the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest.

Not all Canadians get the day off for the holiday. For instance, here in Atlantic Canada it’s considered it an optional holiday …

Only “option” on this holiday is turkey, ham or BOTH! In our opinion, anyway …

  • Cranberries are a big part of any Thanksgiving meal, be it American or Canadian, and we have the Algonquin natives to thank for it. They were the first to harvest wild cranberries and use them for food and medicine.

  • The tradition of breaking the wishbone is also practiced during Canadian Thanksgiving. It actually goes all the way back to the Etruscans in 322 BCE. The Romans brought it to England who eventually brought it to Canada.

  • It’s often associated with the explorer Martin Frobisher when he and his team gave thanks in a formal ceremony after a difficult voyage in 1578.

  • Since the pilgrims didn’t land on Plymouth, Massachusetts, until 1620, Canadians technically were celebrating a form of Thanksgiving 40 years before the Americans.

  • Of course, Canadian Thanksgiving wasn’t an official holiday until Parliament made a declaration in 1879. They then moved it to the third Monday of October and then finally the second Monday of October in 1957.

  • They moved the holiday because after the World Wars, it conflicted with Remembrance Day.

  • While turkey is also a Canadian Thanksgiving staple, a new, popular centerpiece for the meal is “Turducken,” or a chicken stuffed into a duck, stuffed into a turkey.

  • In 2017, Canadians consumed 153.1 million kg (337 million lbs) of turkey. At Thanksgiving, 2.2 million turkeys were purchased, making up 31% of all whole turkeys sold that year.

  • Of course, turkey and cranberry sauce weren’t on the original Thanksgiving table, but you might be surprised to learn pumpkin pie was. There are pumpkin pie recipes that date back to the 1650’s.

 

Don’t forget, Charlie Brown plays a big part in Thanksgiving … well, in the American Thanksgiving, anyway.

But who could forget this iconic scene!?