snofairy

Could you lovely expats give me a bit of info about Thanksgiving?

We fly into Calgary on Sat 10th Oct and from doing a bit of reading have found out that thanksgiving is celebrated on the second monday of October which this year is the 12th. My question is, is Thanksgiving treated as a Bank Holiday would be here in the UK? i.e Banks and government offices shut for the day?

Reason is, we'll need to be organising our SIN numbers and bank account when we land and want to get to Fernie before the weekend for their job fair.

Thanks for all your help guys!

jericho

Yes, it's a bank holiday. It's quite a big deal.

Butch Cassidy

Its a MAJOR deal. Not only will banks and govt offices be closed, but many stores and restaurants will be operating in a reduced manner.

Cookie

It certainly is............. and it's turkey dinner time, just like Christmas but with pumpkin pie or such like for dessert

We celebrated in Caledonia, ON with friends last year and the temps were in the mid 20Cs

Novocastrian

... and to make it worse, the sat before thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year. The airports will be very crowded. Is it too late to change your plans by a day or two?

Brownstar

Its a very big deal............I don't get it...........Pumpkin Pie is vile

scrubbedexpat091

As others have said, its a very big deal, and you wont be able to do anything until Tuesday at the earliest, all banks and government offices will be closed, as will many retailers, and other businesses.

Souvenir

Things will shut, for sure, but to say TG Day in Canada is a huge deal is crap.

It's just another long weekend, to close up the cottage or get ditched by your BF/GF.

andrewrb143

Say what? Is this a common occurence?

Souvenir

Yup. It's called a 'turkey dump'. Students returning home for the first time since starting college. Their outlook on sweethearts back home has changed a bit.

When I started college, no pre-existing relationship lasted until Xmas.

immichaelcaine

I celebrated TG with my boss' family - 1st time ever Canadian style - last year. It is a great family experience - nothing really compares to it back home? My only wish is to someday plug one of the mothercluckers and roast up my own! Mind you, probably very gamey.

Brownstar

Did you torture small animals as a child?

immichaelcaine

Bloody vegetarians!

andrewrb143

What's with all the animal killing posts?

snofairy

Thanks for all your advice guys, unfortunately we can't change our flights so we'll have to put up all the festivities of TG, really looking forward to it though, what a way to start our year in Canada!

We land in Calgary at around 8pm so fingers crossed it should have calmed down if its busy during the day. We're planning on staying in HI Calgary so I'm sure we'll find people to celebrate with, and I love Pumpkin Pie!!