Whilst not technically Canada, the first celebration of Thanksgiving in North America was carried out by explorer Martin Frobisher of England on his 1578 voyage for the search of the Northwest Passage. It was on this third treacherous expedition in which he lost one of his 15 ships to ice, that they celebrated and gave thanks to God “for their strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous of places”. They celebrated in the area of Baffin Island in what is now the Territory of Nunavut. The sailors dined over a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas; sounds appetizing…

 

After Confederation the first Canadian celebration was observed on the 5th of April in 1872. It was deemed a civic holiday; the first observance of which was to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from a serious illness. The Prince would later become King Edward VII.

 

Hence forth, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either October or early November, but actually occurred once on the 6th of December. In 1879 it was declared a national holiday, and was typically observed on the third Monday in October. In 1921 Armistice Day & Thanksgiving would then be celebrated together on the first Monday in the week of the 11th of November. After 1931 the holidays would be separated to give recognition to veterans, and November 11 would be set as Remembrance Day, instead of Armistice Day. Finally, In 1957 Parliament set the date to the second Monday in October. In its early years in Europe Thanksgiving was to celebrate various reasons including the end of a war, end of disease or for God’s mercy. However in Canada it has mostly been for the blessing of an abundant harvest.

 

Thanksgiving is an official statutory holiday in all provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Labrador. There are difference between the provinces in terms of dishes, but traditionally dishes include roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn and various kinds of squashes. However, In Newfoundland for example, Jiggs dinner is often served which typically consists of a boiled pot of salt beef, potatoes, carrot, cabbage and turnips. Also, Nanaimo bars are often served in British Columbia and butter tarts in Ontario as opposed to the National desert favourite of pumpkin pie.

 

On behalf of Clarke Wealth Management, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving.