Mrs Piper and I have been very busy at work, and I’ve been on the road with a court case, so we ordered in from a lovely restaurant and have just finished our Thanksgiving meal. Piper Cub is asleep, Mrs P soon to be, and I’m puttering on the 'puter.
Hope all’s well with you all, and when we see the news from Ukraine, may we all give thanks for the marvellous country we live in. “Peace, order, and good government”. What a bequest we have received from our ancestors.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Bountiful harvest to my fellow Canadians.
Ignorant American here. Does Canadian Thanksgiving have anything to do with American Thanksgiving? I assume it doesn’t, but what are some of the traditions of CT, and when did it start to be observed? Is it as big a holiday in Canada as in the US?
Has its roots as a harvest festival; no pilgrims. Not nearly the same as US Thanksgiving, which seems to involve huge family get-togethers. When I was growing up, it was just our family; mom, dad, kids. Not tied to Christmas shopping at all.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks! 
The traditions are much the same as American Thanksgiving, minus the pilgrims and Squanto. But, as mentioned, it’s not as big a deal in terms of family reunions and celebration as the one in the US, but it does generally involve smaller gatherings of family and good friends and festive cooking. Christmas is the one super big holiday here. Canadian Thanksgiving was set at an earlier date than the American one because of our earlier harvest. Now that everything has gone to hell with climate change, it hardly matters.
When I was studying in the States, the student association paid for an evening event for the international students, because they were so sorry that we couldn’t get home for Thanksgiving. We appreciated the thought, but found it a bit … odd.
Big family shindig here, celebrating my parent’s 60th anniversary (it was technically 10 days ago, but who’s counting?) All my siblings, 6 of 7 grandkids, and 2 of 3 great grandkids, some here from Winnipeg, others from Leamington, ON, and several meals across three days. Not one of the meals is turkey, though. Chili last night, calzones for lunch today, pulled pork for dinner, and watermelon and rollkuchen for lunch tomorrow at the farm.
Canadians have much to be thankful for. “Peace, order and good government” is a munificent bequest, and perhaps one day we shall have all three. 
Warm wishes to my fellow Canadians and friends at the Straight Dope.
As said, Canadian thanksgiving is essentially a weaker copy of the American version meant to honour harvests. It is celebrated the second weekend in October instead of November. Families sometimes get together, but often only over smaller distances - it is only a mild to moderate deal. Many families substitute other favourites (such as tourtiere in Quebec) for the traditional autumn foods, which are largely similar to those enjoyed in the US.
As a Canadian Jew, Thanksgiving as a family holiday has always been pretty much a non-event due to the close proximity of the Jewish holidays. We had large family dinners each of the last two weeks and it’s just too much.
We did do Thanksgiving with friends a number of times before Covid, maybe next year.
Yet another good reason to immigrate to Canada from the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving all youse up der.
This Thanksgiving was kind of weird, as a Federal public servant. What with Labour Day, the Queen’s funeral, and the new Truth and Reconciliation day, this was the fourth long weekend in six weeks.
It’s almost enough to embarrass me 
Trivial fact: Canadian Thanksgiving, second Monday in October, is always exactly 45 days before the American version.
It doesn’t open the Christmas shopping season. Unfortunately, what does is Halloween.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Dopers here in Canada!
Nothing special here. It was the last day of live horse racing at the local track, so that’s where I was. Very little luck on the day, but as they say, “A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office.”
I agree with many of the above: Canadians don’t tend to travel great distances to be with family at Thanksgiving. Heck, my sister is only 120 miles away; we’ve never been together for Thanksgiving since we were children. I cannot imagine flying across the country, or driving long distances, just to celebrate a holiday.