Christmas Day In Canada

Written By Brandon Douglas

– B2-C2 (intermediate to advanced) –

Practice Your Listening Comprehension

Practice Your Reading Comprehension

Christmas Day is a statutory holiday in Canada that takes places every year on December 25th, the day on which Jesus Christ’s birth is celebrated in North America. Preparations for and celebrations of Christmas Day begin as early as November 1st and end as late as January 7th, making Christmas Day the biggest and most widely observed holiday of the year in Canadian society (this is true for Christians and non-Christians, alike). With so many traditions and activities to take part in, Christmas Day often feels like a whirlwind, albeit a fun and familiar one.

One of the integral cultural traditions of Christmas Day in Canada is the decorations. While Christmas decorations are often put out in the weeks or months leading up to the holiday, it is these decorations that make a magical atmosphere on the day of Christmas. Such traditional décor includes: a nativity scene; an ornamented Christmas tree with an angel or star on top; hung Christmas stockings; garland along stair rails, archways, and walls and ceilings; wreaths or swags on doors; vignettes of red, green, white, silver, and gold; Santa Clauses; elves; reindeer; snowmen; snowflakes; snowy villages; cookies and milk; candy; nutcrackers; pine cones; bows; bells; angels; and more…!

Apart from decorations, one of the first cultural traditions of Christmas Day is to see whether Santa Claus has eaten the cookies and milk that were left behind for him the night before. Santa Claus is a mythical man–based on a real person–who lives in the North Pole at his private toy factory, which is occupied by happy elves. He travels every Christmas Eve around the world to give toys to children to open up on Christmas Day. The cookies and milk is a way that children thank him for his generous gifts, one of which is typically opened first: the stocking.

A Christmas stocking is a large sock, sometimes adorned with a person’s name, that contains a variety of candies and chocolate. Sometimes these sweets are specific to the holiday, itself, (e.g. candy canes, ribbon candy, chocolate oranges, etc.), but it is not uncommon to receive one’s favourite goodies, instead. In addition to these sugary treats, stockings might also contain in them a small gift, like a toy, book, or article of clothing.

When the opening of stockings is complete, Canadians will often have a special breakfast or brunch before or after unwrapping the rest of the presents under the tree; these presents–in addition to “being from Santa”–are gifts from family members, friends, neighbours, community members, coworkers, etc. Some people make it a tradition to open these gifts with their immediate family, while others travel to their family members’/friends’ homes or host their extended family and/or friends at their own. Wherever they end up, they often spend the day surrounded by loved ones, listening to Christmas music, having fun with their new gifts, and preparing for the special evening meal. Traditionally, this is all done in order to spread the love and generosity that God gifted humanity through the arrival of baby Jesus.

Regarding the evening meal, common dishes for Christmas supper are likened very much to those which are served on other Canadian holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Easter. These plates include: roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and/or gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes with butter and/or gravy, tourtière, various seasonal vegetables (e.g. peas, beans, carrots, corn, parsnips, sweet potato, mashed turnip or rutabaga, brussel sprouts, etc.), a variety of salads (e.g. tossed salad, Caesar salad, broccoli salad, etc.), an array of pickles (dill, garlic, sweet, gherkins, pickled pearl onions, pickled carrots, pickled beans, etc.), and innumerable holiday-themed desserts: fruitcake, butter tarts, Nanaimo bars, gingerbread people, shortbread, sugar cookies, apple pie, Christmas pudding, plum pudding, and so much more!

After the evening meal and its subsequent desserts, Canadians typically spend the rest of the night with drinks in hand, playing games, watching Christmas movies, visiting, partying, carolling, going on a Christmas light tour, etc. Such beverages can be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic and include Red Rose tea with milk/cream and/or sugar, cranberry ginger ale, apple cider, hot chocolate (with or without mint Schnapps and marshmallows), beer, wine, mulled wine, eggnog with spiced rum, maple whisky, etc. There are so many traditions to this holiday, each uniquely tailored to an individual or a family, that the activities that Canadians can be found doing on this day are virtually endless.

Do you celebrate Christmas Day where you live? What are some of your traditions? Practice your English by letting me know in the comments below.

RELATED ARTICLES

ATTRIBUTION

Brandon Douglas
Previous

leftovers
Next

Song: “Merry Christmas”