Thanksgiving 2018: Does Canada celebrate Thanksgiving? When does Thanksgiving fall?

Thanksgiving is celebrated on a different day in Canada compared to the USA. The holiday has been on the second Monday of October since 1957 and is a chance for people to give thanks for a good harvest and other fortunes in the past year. This year it fell on Monday, October 8 and next year it will be on Monday, October 14, 2019.

American Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, so this year it is on Thursday, November 22.

Thanksgiving Day is a national public holiday in Canada, many people have the day off work and all schools and post offices are closed.

Many store and business are also closed and public transport services run to a reduced timetable or may not run at all.

Canadians have a three-day weekend to mark the occasion and can have their Thanksgiving meal on any one of the three days of the long weekend.

The meal traditionally includes roast turkey, pumpkin, corn ears and pecan nuts.

The day is a big occasion for sports fan, with millions of people watching Canadian Football League games on television.

Canadians will use the three-day weekend to visit friends and family who live far away.

Why does Canada celebrate Thanksgiving?

It is said the very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in 1578 in Canada – more than 40 years before the American pilgrims.

Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, was in search of the Northwest Passage.

He wanted to give thanks for their safe return from a treacherous exploration and for staying alive and so held the first Thanksgiving in Canada.

However, some people argue Frobisher’s Thanksgiving does not count as the first Thanksgiving as the event should be held in gratitude for a good harvest.

Thanksgiving was observed on occasion by the Canadians in the 17th and 18th centuries and with more regularity in the 19th.

November 6 was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday, but the day finally became a national holiday in 1879.

In 1957, the Canadian Parliament announced Thanksgiving would be a “day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is linked to the European tradition of harvest festival.

Canadians automatically get that Monday off in most parts of the country, but in Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, it’s an optional holiday.