CNN
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Gobble, gobble, grab your turkey sandwich, it’s Thanksgiving.

Canadian Thanksgiving, that is.

Although the American version takes place on the fourth Thursday in November, Canada celebrates on the second Monday in October, which falls on October 14 this year.

For more insight into this annual major celebration, we contacted Andrew McIntosh, senior subject editor at the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Of course, first we had to answer a question often asked by Americans: why do Does Canada celebrate Thanksgiving in October instead of November?

Historically, he says, Thanksgiving in Canada has generally been about celebrating the fall harvest and giving thanks for the food it provides before the cold season begins.

“Winter starts much earlier in Canada, so our fall harvest comes earlier,” he says.

“Canadian Thanksgiving was established in 1957 for the second Monday in October, when the weather is still suitable for outdoor activities.”

But the country was celebrating long before that. The first official Thanksgiving holiday occurred in 1879, and in subsequent years it did not always occur in October.

“The exact date for each year was set annually by Parliament, which also assigned a unifying theme to each year – often centered around celebrating the monarchy,” says McIntosh.

Interestingly, he notes that the holiday did not occur until December 6 of the year and on a few occasions even coincided with American Thanksgiving.

As for the present, some Canadians – including this writer’s extended family – are choosing to host their Thanksgiving meal the day before the official Monday holiday, so that those who have driven or flown in for the long weekend can travel back home and do not have to incur any additional costs. an extra day off.

So what do Canadians traditionally eat for Thanksgiving? On the surface, the food may not seem that different from the food that will be on American tables on November 28.

That’s because the U.S. had a major influence on what Canadians eat, McIntosh says.

“Canadians really appropriated the traditional Thanksgiving dinner from America,” he adds.

“The conventional spread of turkey, gravy, potatoes, pumpkin and rolls, with cranberry sauce on the side and pumpkin pie for dessert, is very typical across Canada.”

That said, he notes that there are some regional differences. After all, Canada is a huge country made up of dozens of cultures with their own culinary influences.

“In Newfoundland, Jigg’s dinner (a salted meat stew similar to corned beef and originating in Ireland) is often preferred to turkey, scalloped potatoes are preferred to mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce is used instead of gravy,” he says.

Meanwhile, he says some in Western Canada prefer ham and Brussels sprouts as a side dish.

“Many ethnic groups often eat some of their traditional dishes,” McIntosh adds.

“For example, native people typically serve bannock (a type of fried bread), while perogies and cabbage rolls are Thanksgiving staples for many Ukrainian Canadians.”

The real regional differences around Thanksgiving in Canada usually involve the sweet treats served at the end of the meal.

“The pie of choice is often accompanied by different desserts in different regions – because what is Thanksgiving other than an excuse to eat as much as possible?” McIntosh asks.

As in the US, pumpkin pie is still a staple in most of the country. But he notes that those who celebrate Thanksgiving in Quebec and Atlantic Canada prefer apple pie or apple crisp.

“Ontarians love their butter tarts – they’re like mini pecan pies, what’s not to love! – while people in the west prefer Nanaimo bars, also called smog bars or prayer bars in the US,” he adds.

As for the province of Quebec, where French is the predominant language, McIntosh tells us a fun fact: most Quebeckers don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving.

“In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Thanksgiving in Canada was primarily a Protestant endeavor and was often used as an excuse to give thanks for the British monarchy – factors that alienated Catholic French-Canadians,” says he.

“Anglo-Quebeckers (a minority in the province) celebrate Thanksgiving, but immigrant communities in Quebec tend to conform to the French Canadian norm. As a Chinese-Canadian colleague from Montreal said to me, “We had Thanksgiving as a day off from school and never really understood why.”

McIntosh notes that while some indigenous groups in the U.S. view Thanksgiving as a national day of mourning, Canada’s indigenous peoples “generally tend to experience Thanksgiving more in the same way as English Canadians: as an opportunity to enjoy of good food and free time with family. ”

He adds: “Some tensions around Thanksgiving still exist in Canada, just as they exist around anything related in some way to the violent displacement and disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples.”

That said, he notes that Indigenous people in Canada also see Thanksgiving as a celebration of indigenous foods that predate colonial settlement, “including turkey, pumpkin, corn and cranberries.”

In the US, a major highlight of the holiday is of course the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Canada doesn’t host anything of this magnitude for celebration, but there are some harvest festivals and events that follow Thanksgiving to mark the season, a time when the leaves are changing and cooler temperatures have arrived.

For example, on Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, the annual Fall Flavors event in late September/early October is a three-week celebration of the island’s best local food and drinks.

To the west, in the city of Smoky Lake, also known as the ‘Pumpkin Capital’ of Alberta, you will find the Great White North Pumpkin Fair. It takes place every October and is famous for its various food and social events, including a dramatic ‘Pumpkin Weigh Off’. This year’s winner reportedly weighed 2,137 pounds. No word on how many pies you could make from that beast.

What about shopping? Are there still great deals to be had? Canadian Encyclopedia editor McIntosh notes that “Canada doesn’t have a major retail connection to the day like in the U.S., where Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year.” In Canada, stores are generally closed on Thanksgiving Day.

“It’s also not the biggest travel time of the year in Canada (we’ll save that for Christmas),” he adds.

“But we usually spend the holidays watching sports, especially CFL (Canadian Football) and NHL games, and use the free time to prepare the house or cottage. It is Canada after all. Winter is coming.”