Happy Thanksgiving, Hive! 🍁🦃
Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, which lands on the second Monday of October every year (this year, that’s October 12). If you’re wondering why we’re carving turkeys in the middle of fall, about six weeks before our American neighbours, here’s the quick tour.
🍂 A Holiday Older Than Canada Itself
Giving thanks for the harvest is a very old idea on this land. Indigenous peoples held harvest gatherings and ceremonies of gratitude long before European ships arrived, and the story builds from there:
- 1578: Explorer Martin Frobisher, searching for the Northwest Passage, held a ceremony of thanks after surviving a rough ocean crossing. It’s often cited as one of the earliest European thanksgivings in North America.
- 1606: Samuel de Champlain and the French settlers at Port-Royal founded the “Order of Good Cheer,” a winter of shared feasts that included their Mi’kmaq neighbours.
- After the American Revolution: Loyalists moving north brought their own harvest customs, and the turkey-and-pumpkin-pie dinner began to take hold.
- 1879: Parliament declared a national day of Thanksgiving.
- 1957: The date was pinned to the second Monday of October, and it has stayed there ever since.
For many Indigenous people, the holiday also sits alongside a more complicated history, and traditions of gratitude run far deeper than any date on the calendar.
🍁 Why October?
Canada sits further north, so our harvest wraps up earlier. By mid-October the fields are bare, the leaves are blazing, and it’s a natural time to pause and say thanks.
🥧 What’s on the Table
Every family has its own spin, but you’ll usually find some version of:
- 🦃 Roast turkey with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce
- 🥔 Mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, and maple-glazed squash or carrots
- 🥧 Pumpkin pie with way too much whipped cream
- 🍎 Apple crisp
- 🍫 Butter tarts and Nanaimo bars on the dessert tray (and yes, the raisins-in-butter-tarts debate is very real)
🏡 More Than a Meal
For a lot of us, Thanksgiving is really about the whole long weekend: a drive out to see the fall colours, closing up the cottage for the season, a walk through crunchy leaves, a game on TV, and a table full of people who (usually) get along. Many food banks run Thanksgiving drives too, so it’s a great moment to donate a few groceries or a few dollars to your local one.
Canada vs. the U.S. at a Glance
| Topic | 🍁 Canada | 🦃 United States |
|---|---|---|
| When | Second Monday of October | Fourth Thursday of November |
| Current date set in | 1957 | 1941 |
| Typical vibe | Long weekend, fall colours, cottage closings | Parades, football, a big travel weekend |
🙏 Giving Thanks
I’m grateful for this community: every comment, every thoughtful post, and every little upvote that makes Hive feel more like a neighbourhood than a platform. Thank you for being here.
Your turn! What are you thankful for this year? And do you have a harvest holiday where you live? Tell me about it in the comments. I’d love to hear how the world says thanks. 🌎
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians, and a wonderful day to everyone else, whatever you’re eating! 🍁
Thanks for reading.