Marilyn's Photos - Dec 16 2025 - Canadian Christmas
How do other countries view us? When I look at the site whychristmas.com, our Christmas traditions are described by geographic region and cultural background. Doesn’t this make sense to us, being so regionally diverse and so spread out.
In general, though, we are characterized as having a European-style Christmas experience, specifically with Germany having given us many Christmas traditions. And if you are dreaming of a European-style Christmas in Canada, Quebec City is considered a quaint spot for that. So there is a good measure of French traditions too.
That Canada vs U.S. comparison around Thanksgiving and Christmas are prime times for comparison. Thanksgiving is the most important holiday in the U.S. with it now taking up a Thursday (for travel) to Sunday long weekend, and now leaning into Monday as well. In Canada, Christmas is the greater holiday and spreads across December 24th to 26th.
I seem to focus on food - what is the Canadian Christmas Dinner? Here, Canadians point to their European backgrounds. There aren’t as many hams at Christmas as the German Christmas heritage is turkey, perhaps the alternatives of goose or duck and the French heritage is tourtiere. These are our two dominant Christmas origin cultures that shape our food choices. There are many regional ones as well. The identification of the Christmas dessert being butter tarts or Nanimo bars is very funny. Our British and French traditions take over on the dessert table - Yule logs, Christmas pudding with its sugary “hard sauce” and Sherry trifle.
What are the Christmas Day events in Canada? Supposedly, Canadians spend the day in winter activities such as ice hockey or ice skating. Articles are consistent on this enjoyment of the snow as part of the celebration. Again this is very funny - reminds one of the American tourists who used to arrive in Niagara Falls in the summer and ask where the skiing is.
And what are the wreath traditions at Christmas? Another path to discover.
This Maple Leaf picture is from years ago in Toronto.
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