People across Canada take part in a bunch of special customs during the holidays. A lot of them actually feel uniquely Canadian, even though people in a few other countries might also do the same thing.
Here are eleven holiday customs that feel uniquely Canadian. Which one do you usually do?
Newfoundland mummering house visits
One of the most popular holiday traditions in Newfoundland is mummering.
The mummers come in wearing whatever they managed to grab, like lace curtains & snowmobile suits, and walk around making noise. Everyone has to guess who the mummers are. Research shows it’s been a tradition there for generations and still feels like a goofy hometown ritual in all the right ways.
Quebec réveillon with tourtière on Christmas Eve
In Quebec, they have a rather odd Christmas Eve tradition known as réveillon, and it’s essentially a food marathon where people stay up late and eat things like pork stuffing & meatball stew.
Tourtière is apparently the dish most people eat, and historians have found examples of the dish dating to the 17th century. It’s a holiday when nobody bothers to check the time because the tradition is just that much fun.
Prairie Sviat Vechir with twelve meatless dishes
The only thing better than one meal is twelve of them. It’s something that many Ukrainian-Canadians do as part of the Prairie Sviat Vechir tradition, according to research.
The custom involves waiting for the first star on January 6, then eating twelve meatless dishes. It doesn’t matter how crowded the house is because everyone keeps the tradition the same.
Boxing Day built around World Juniors hockey
Yes, other countries like the UK also celebrate Boxing Day. But it seems as though Canada does it in a special way.
It’s a day for snack plates & hockey, where families turn on the World Juniors the moment they’re awake and let the games run in the background all day. It’s often the only time that everyone agrees on what to put on TV.
Cutting a Christmas tree on Crown land
You can’t beat the experience in B.C. & Alberta of cutting a Christmas tree on Crown land. It’s so much fun looking for a single spruce or pine. That’s why Canadian Christmas tree farmers make over $160 million a year, according to research.
It doesn’t matter that everyone’s boots are soaked by the time you pick one because the whole thing is so much fun & also well worth a try.
Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights visits
The Festival of Lights is a custom that most people in southern Ontario know about, and it’s normal to plan at least one night to celebrate it. That’s true even though it only began in 1982.
The fireworks nights are usually the busiest, but the crowd doesn’t matter since the lights go on for so long. Where else could you follow a trail of lights in a car or on foot? Only in Canada.
Holiday dessert trays with butter tarts and Nanaimo bars
Your holiday table looks unfinished when you don’t have butter tarts & Nanaimo bars on it. A survey in the National Post found that they were Canada’s favourite.
People sometimes try a new recipe over the holidays. However, the classic dishes are always the first ones to go. Any extra batches usually appear on Boxing Day, although there’s very rarely many plates left over.
New Year’s levees with moose milk and greetings
You can’t forget about the New Year’s celebrations, and in Atlantic Canada & Ontario, people sometimes spend part of New Year’s Day visiting levees.
It’s completely normal to go to city halls or military messes and speak with officials, while also sipping on a glass of moose milk. But be careful because it tastes stronger than most newcomers expect.
Maple taffy on snow at sugar shacks
What’s more Canadian than a maple taffy on snow? The workers usually pour syrup onto fresh snow & wait a moment before twisting the sticky strip onto a wooden stick.
Apparently, it’s not just the kids who run back for seconds because adults can’t get enough either. It’s especially great when you pair the taffy with heavier meals. Why? Because it tastes oh-so-good.
Belsnickeling visits on Nova Scotia’s south shore
On the south shore of Nova Scotia, Belsnickeling is an important part of their December plans still, and it involves pulling on mismatched gear & covering their faces.
They then knock on their neighbours’ doors, and they have to work out who they are without being told. It’s supposedly an average celebration there, and historians date it back to before the 1800s.
Inuit Quviasukvik winter feast and New Year
Quviasukvik is one of the most important parts of Inuit holiday customs, and it involves having community meals & drum dancing. Research has found Quviasukvik is a mix of traditional Inuit festivities and Christian aspects.
It takes place between late December and early January, with some families waiting for the daylight to return during that period.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.