Read about the origin, history and celebration of Christmas (Le Jour De Noël) in Canada.
Fundoo Times: Festivals: Christmas: Christmas in Canada

Christmas in Canada

Origin and History of Christmas in Canada

The ancient Christmas merriments was observed as a winter celebration by Mesopotamian’s, Babylonian’s, Persians, Romans and many others. The celebration of Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ started only after the death of Christ. The present day celebrations were absorbed initially by Roman Catholics and slowly became the festival for all the countries and people of all religions. In Canada the people come from a wide variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. Because of this different traditions are observed by different people. Most of these traditions are greatly influenced by Western countries thus Christmas is observed more or less in the same way as the celebrations of French, German, English, Irish and Americans. Present day celebrations are a mixture of all these societies. The commercial influences which began in the late 1800s has continued till today.

Local name: Le Jour De Noël

Ways to celeberate Le Jour De Noël in Canada

In Canada people celebrate Christmas with great zeal and merriment. During the twelve days of Christmas celebration small groups of mummers go from door to door by ringing bells and making some loud noises. If the hosts guess who the mummers are then they have to remove their disguises and stop behaving anonymously. On Christmas Eve people get-together for fun and exchanging gifts. Many Canadians open their gifts on this day, while some like to open their stocking to see the surprise gifts. On Christmas day Canadians also go to the church to offer their prayers. Most of the people spend the day with close relatives or friends by enjoying the rich feast such as fruit cakes, turkey, roasted meat and some of the popular Canadian sweets like barley candy and chicken bones. After the Christmas celebration, on December 26th, Canadians celebrate the Boxing day, which is the biggest shopping day of the year.