Canadian Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is an annual Canadian holiday held on the second Monday in October, which celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Canadian Thanksgiving is a chance for people to give thanks for a good harvest and other bounties enjoyed over the past year.

Before Canada had a Thanksgiving Day, the native people of America held festivals and ceremonies to celebrate the completion and bounty of harvest. This happened long before European settlers and explorers came to what is known as Canada today. Early European thanksgivings took place in order to give thanks for some special fortune. From 1879, Thanksgiving Day became an annual event, however there were different  themes occurring and it was held on a different day every year. However, since 1957 it has been an official celebration that was standardized, occurring on the Second Monday of October.

Symbols Of Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving is associated with the European tradition of harvest festivals. At this time of year, a common image that people see is a horn – cornucopia – that is filled with seasonal vegetables and fruit. The cornucopia means ‘Horn of Plenty’ in Latin. In Ancient Greece, this was a symbol of plenty of bounty. Ears of corn, pumpkins, and turkeys, as well as large displays of food, are also used to symbolize Canadian Thanksgiving. 

In Canada, a lot of people will have the day off work on Thanksgiving Day. This gives them a three-day weekend, which they will typically use to have family and friends in their own homes or visit those who live far away. It is a tradition to prepare a special meal to be eaten at some point throughout the weekend. This will traditionally include a roast turkey, as well as seasonal produce, for example, pecan nuts, corn ears, and pumpkin. 

At Thanksgiving, the main thing to remember is that this is a day of thanks. Therefore, it is important to spend some time reflecting on what you are thankful for. Make sure you take the opportunity to thank people who have played an important role in your life or done something special for you.

The students at CISS spent the day learning about the Canadian Thanksgiving and were given an opportunity to reflect on what they were thankful for in their lives. They wrote these reflections down on autumn coloured maple leaves and then placed them on our CISS “Tree of Thankfulness”.

These are some of the things we are grateful for at CISS:

• The executive director, Mr Prescott and Mr Coffey - for the leadership they give our school;

• The teachers – for the love and guidance they give the students each day;

• The students – for all they share and learn with those around them;

• The parents – for trusting this school with their children’s education and for their support;

• For all the chefs, cleaning staff and maintenance staff, admin staff, security and gardeners – for all they do to make our campus and safe and beautiful place for us all;