What's the difference between Canadian and American Thanksgiving?

Unless you are a Canadian like myself, you may be surprised that Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving. When people in other countries think about Thanksgiving, they nearly always think of the United States, most likely because that is what they see on TV and in the movies.

But we Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving!  And they are a few key differences in how we celebrate our Canadian Thanksgiving. Click on to find out what they are!

At first glance, Canadian and American Thanksgiving may look very similar, but some important differences set a good Canadian Thanksgiving celebration apart from the American version. First up, the date! Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated in October and on a Monday!

Over the years, since the tradition of Thanksgiving was started, it has been moved around a lot, but in 1957, the Canadian government made the second Monday in October the official day for Thanksgiving. This year Thanksgiving in Canada will be on Monday, October 10th.

Image: Wikicommons-By Moxy

There are two main reasons Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving earlier than Americans: 1) Our harvest, due to the colder climate, is ready earlier, and 2) If we have Thanksgiving in November, it could potentially overlap with another important Canadian holiday Remembrance Day on November 11th.

Photo: By Joseph Gonzalez

Canadian and American Thanksgiving have different but similar origins. And while many of us know the American Thanksgiving story from 1621, few know how Canadian Thanksgiving came to be an important Canadian tradition. Some experts believe that Canadian Thanksgiving may go farther back than the famous Pilgrims' feast.

(Image: By Jean Leon Gerome Ferris - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress)

Canadian Thanksgiving was, in the beginning, a gathering and a meal to thank God for keeping those first explorers safe in the New World.

According to National Geographic, the earliest report of these kinds of "thanks-giving" meals is from 1578.  An English explorer named Martin Frobisher and his crew were the first to indulge and give thanks by sharing a meal together.

(Image: By Cornelis Ketel - Digital BodleianThis file comes from the Bodleian Libraries, a group of research libraries in Oxford University)

Martin Frobisher and his crew enjoyed  a special dinner of biscuits, salt beef, and mushy peas  to thank God for allowing them to travel safely through the North-West Passage in Northern North America (in what is known today as the Territory of Nunavut) in Canada.

However, Canadian Thanksgiving did not become a national holiday until 1859, a whole four years earlier than in the United States (it was declared a national holiday in the US in 1863).

Pictured: Thanksgiving at Toronto's St. Lawrence in 1967.

And while Canada may have declared it a national holiday first, it would take nearly a 100 years for the Canadian government to settle on a date. From 1859 until 1957, the holiday was celebrated on a variety of dates varying from April to November.

Photo by Marius Ciocirlan

These days, however, Canadian Thanksgiving is primarily seen as a non-religious holiday. It simply marks the start of the fall season and is a reminder to be thankful for good friends, family, and seasonal food.

So, this leads us to the next key difference between Canadian and American Thanksgiving - Canadian Thanksgiving is MUCH more relaxed. In the United States, they have parades, football, and really over-the-top feasts. 

In Canada, Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in most provinces; however, it is an optional holiday in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. In addition, according to Bustle, in Quebec, most people don't even bother celebrating the holiday! But for those of us that do celebrate Thanksgiving, we mainly just stick to enjoying a meal with family and/or friends.

Usually, the weather is still lovely in October, so a Thanksgiving Day hike to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves is a popular tradition. In addition, since the actual holiday is on a Monday, most people enjoy their big meal on Saturday or Sunday, and many save Monday as a travel day if they had to travel to see family, or simply as a "recovery" day to tidy up and relax the day after the feast.

Photo by Aaron Burden

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not part of Canadian Thanksgiving either. There really isn't any post-Thanksgiving shopping craze. Following Thanksgiving, the only intense shopping we do is stocking up on Halloween candy when there are sales in October.

However, like many other countries, Canadian stores have begun to participate in the American traditions of November's Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, particularly with online shopping....but that all happens in November, long after Canadian Thanksgiving.

Photo by Ashkan Forouzani

Another difference between a Canadian and an American Thanksgiving is the food. At first glance, it might look the same in many homes: turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, root vegetables, and pumpkin pies.

Photo by Pro Church Media

However, you may eat something different depending on where you grew up, the food, and how "hardcore" Canadian you are. Some households enjoy traditional Canadian Thanksgiving foods such as tourtiere, a traditional French-Canadian meat pie (pictured) and/or a roast ham.

There are also two dishes you will NOT find on a Canadian Thanksgiving table but are popular in the United States: cornbread and sweet potato and marshmallow casserole.