Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving, celebrated on the second Monday of October, will fall on October 12, 2026. It is a harvest festival associated with gratitude for the year’s provisions, family, community, and the beauty of the autumn season. Long before European settlement, Indigenous peoples across Canada observed diverse harvest and thanksgiving traditions, including ceremonies, feasts, storytelling, and communal practices shaped by local landscapes and cultures. These traditions are not a single precursor to the modern holiday, but they form an important part of the broader history of seasonal gratitude in Canada.

European thanksgiving observances were also introduced during the colonial period. Martin Frobisher held a ceremony in Newfoundland in 1578 after a difficult Arctic expedition, often cited as one of Canada’s earliest European thanksgiving events, although its connection to the modern holiday is indirect. Thanksgiving was observed irregularly in different colonies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sometimes alongside military victories, royal occasions, or successful harvests. In 1879, Parliament established a national Thanksgiving holiday, and its date changed several times before being fixed in 1957 as the second Monday of October. Unlike American Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving is generally earlier and has a stronger association with the harvest and the transition into autumn.

Canadian Thanksgiving is typically celebrated through family meals, visits with relatives and friends, and expressions of appreciation for health, food, and companionship. Many people gather on the weekend before or during the holiday Monday, since the official holiday creates a long weekend in most provinces. Homes are often decorated with pumpkins, gourds, autumn leaves, wheat sheaves, and other seasonal displays. Common greetings include “Happy Thanksgiving,” “Wishing you a warm and grateful Thanksgiving,” and messages expressing thanks for family and friends.

The traditional meal often includes roast turkey or chicken, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and seasonal vegetables such as squash, carrots, and Brussels sprouts. Regional and family variations are common, including tourtière in parts of Quebec, salmon and other seafood in coastal communities, and dishes influenced by Canada’s many immigrant and Indigenous cultures. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, butter tarts, and other autumn desserts are popular. Activities may include attending harvest festivals, visiting farmers’ markets, hiking to enjoy fall foliage, watching Canadian football, volunteering, and sharing food with people who may otherwise celebrate alone. Because the holiday has complex historical contexts, many Canadians also use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to acknowledge Indigenous peoples and reflect on the relationships and histories connected to the land.