During the three years we lived in Wisconsin, we continued to celebrate Thanksgiving in October, just as we would have in Canada, despite the differences in timing with our American friends. We often invited friends over to share our meal, and while they gladly joined in, they were always puzzled by the fact that our Thanksgiving wasn’t in November like theirs. This curiosity led to questions about why the two holidays are different and where the tradition of Canadian Thanksgiving in October comes from.
It’s safe to say that as long as humans have farmed, they’ve celebrated the harvest, offering thanks to their gods. By the time of the Hebrew Bible, this tradition was well established. For instance, Deuteronomy 16:10 says, “Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.” This shows that the Jewish people were expressing their gratitude to God for a successful harvest, a tradition carried into Christianity.
In England, long before Christianity, harvest festivals were tied to the autumnal equinox rather than a fixed date, which is why Canadian Thanksgiving has a moveable date. The first Thanksgiving on what is now Canadian soil occurred in 1578, when English explorer Martin Frobisher held a feast in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving his perilous journey. For someone in Frobisher’s time, giving thanks to God would have been a natural expression of relief and gratitude.
Canadian Thanksgiving evolved from these early beginnings into what it is today: a time to give thanks for the harvest and to spend with family and friends, typically marked by a calm and low-key celebration. In contrast, American Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday of November, a date established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the Civil War. In the U.S., Thanksgiving signals the start of the holiday season, complete with parades, football games, and the onset of holiday shopping. This is what I appreciate about Canadian Thanksgiving—it’s a peaceful holiday with less commercial pressure. It’s a time to relax, reflect, and give thanks without the hustle and bustle that accompanies American Thanksgiving.
While we enjoyed celebrating American Thanksgiving with our neighbours in Wisconsin—football and all—we continue to observe it in our own way, with a special meal and messages to friends in the U.S. It’s a time to be grateful for the experiences we had there and the friendships that continue to be cherished gifts in our lives.
So whenever you who read this are planning to celebrate, or if you celebrate on both dates, have a very Happy Thanksgiving, as our Book of Common Prayer says, thanking God for all of the “gifts so freely bestowed upon us.”
