Thanksgiving in Canada

​Thanksgiving in Canada is not celebrated in November.

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​Thanksgiving is always celebrated the second Monday in OCTOBER.

​The first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated in 1578 in Newfoundland.

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​The first Thanksgiving celebrated in Quebec (the French speaking province) was in 1606.

​The second Monday in October became recognized as an official holiday in 1951.

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​That date was chosen because most of Canada's farmers finish their harvest at that time.

​The tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving was brought to central and western Canada from British loyalists who left the colonies that would eventually become the United States.

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​However, that tradition did NOT take hold in eastern Canada where most people speak French.

​To this day, most people in Quebec do not eat turkey for Thanksgiving.

​Instead they enjoy their day off of work and eat traditional Quebecois dishes like meatball stew and poutine (French fries with cheese curds and gravy).