Image “Happy Thanksgiving!” by KurtClark on Flickr.com.

Much like the American holiday of Thanksgiving, the Canadian holiday occurs every year in Fall (or Autumn). The Canadian Thanksgiving happens earlier than the American Thanksgiving each year, and along with this difference in time there are a number of other differences between how Americans and Canadians celebrate this national holiday. In honor of Canadian Thanksgiving, which is today, we are going to look at these similarities and differences to conclude this short blog series focusing on Canada.

The first difference between the American and Canadian Thanksgiving holiday is that the Canadian Thanksgiving is earlier than the American Thanksgiving, every year. In Canada the holiday is always the second Monday in October, while in America the holiday is always the last Thursday in November. But both of these annual celebrations are similar in that they are a day set aside to give thanks for the harvest and reflect on blessings from the previous year.

Another way the Canadian Thanksgiving is different from the American Thanksgiving, is that in Canada the holiday is more closely related to the European Harvest Festival tradition and the holiday has a stronger connection to the church. The American Thanksgiving Day is connected to more colonial times in North America and the history of the first hard years in the American colonies.

Both Canadians and Americans use similar decorations around Thanksgiving, including: pumpkins, corn, wheat, and cornucopias. A cornucopia is a horn/cone shaped object (like the horn of a goat) that is hollowed out and overflowing with fruit, vegetables and grains, which represent the harvest.

In Canada, Monday is the official day of Thanksgiving, and this leads to a 3-day Thanksgiving weekend that is often a time for a getaways or vacations. Canadians get together for their Thanksgiving meal on any day during the long weekend, not everyone eats their Thanksgiving feast on the same day. This is different than in the United States, where the Thanksgiving Day meal is always on Thursday. In the United States this Thursday holiday leads to a 4-day weekend, with many people taking Friday off too. The American Thanksgiving also marks the unofficial beginning of the shopping season for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

The game of American football is a part of both the American and Canadian Thanksgiving holidays. Also, parades are common Thanksgiving traditions in both countries. The big Canadian Thanksgiving Day parade happens in Kitchener-Waterloo (K-W) and is called the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Parade. Below is a short video of what this parade looks like. If you want, for comparison, take a look at the American Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which takes place in New York City, it is a very different type of parade.

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Parade

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Even if you are not in Canada, Canada’s Thanksgiving today is a great time to take a minute and think about what you are thankful for right now. What are you thankful for this year?