Canada celebrates Halloween annually on October 31. According to popular belief, Halloween was first observed as a Celtic festival to commemorate the halfway point between summer and winter. The tradition originated in Ireland and Scotland and made its way to Canada, where it was altered for use with the bigger, hollow pumpkins endemic to North America. Despite the fact that Halloween is not an officially recognized holiday in Canada, it is the country’s second-most lucrative festival overall.
Pumpkin-carving competitions occur all around Canada around Halloween, notably in Nova Scotia, where entire communities compete. Canadians celebrate Halloween in a manner that is less commercial and less widespread than their American counterparts. The majority of Canadians (~50%) observe Halloween, with ~30% of adults dressing up and going to a party.
Halloween in Canada is a de-facto popular Holiday.
Distinct Halloween Traditions in Canada
Similar to Halloween celebrations in the United States, Canadians carve pumpkins, don costumes, and go door-to-door in search of treats on October 31. But the Canadians have also developed some interesting Halloween traditions of their own:
- Pumpkin Parades: The first of November is traditionally the day for “pumpkin parades” in several places of Canada, most notably Toronto. Residents put their hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns on display in public places like parks and streets. This is not as widely observed in the US.
- Canadian Costumes: Hockey players, lumberjacks, and RCMP officers (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are just a few examples of Canadian-themed costumes during Halloween.
- Old Views’ Tales: It was widely believed in early 20th-century Scotland that a woman may dream about her future spouse if she had a mixture of walnuts, nutmeg, and hazelnuts on Halloween night. This drink is still seen around in Canada during the holiday.
- Spiders: In Canada, spiders are a slightly more popular Halloween decoration compared to the United States.
- Emphasis on Family: Compared to the US, there is more emphasis on family visiting during Halloween than in the US. Many households come at once to decorate their houses and carve pumpkins together.
- UNICEF Walk-a-Thon: Children and their families used to take part in the UNICEF Walk-a-thon campaign every year around Halloween. They planned to combine their annual trick-or-treating with a charity drive to benefit kids all across the globe. This event is now halted.
- Spare Change: Trick-or-treaters used to knock on doors on Halloween in Canada and beg for sweets and pocket money. As fast as the candy disappeared, the extra change was donated to help kids in need all across the globe.
Why Some Canadians Are Against Halloween
While many Canadians celebrate Halloween, there are many who disagree and have negative views on this festival.
Faiths and Religions
Some Canadians’ religious convictions make them opposed to this festival. Some religious organizations condemn Halloween because of its pagan roots and associated symbols of evil and the devil, similar to the stuff in the US. (See: Is Halloween the Devil’s Birthday? Why Some Think That) But the US still continues to be more religious than Canada.
Built Different
Some Canadians do not observe Halloween or have different opinions about it due to their cultural background. Canada is a multicultural country, and many citizens come from European and Asian cultures that do not celebrate this festival.
Halloween celebrations in Canada have varied over the years. A 2023 Leger survey revealed that only around 30% of adults intend to celebrate Halloween. In 2020, a Finder survey indicated that this percentage was 60% and it was again 50% in 2022 (Maru Public Opinion Survey). In the US, around 70% of Americans join Halloween each year.
History of Halloween in Canada
Halloween dates back to the ancient Samhain festival celebrated by the Celts as far back as 2000–1000 BC. Halloween was initially celebrated for the first time in Canada’s history in the Maritimes and eastern port cities when Irish and Scottish immigrants first came to the country in about 1840. New canal construction in Canada and the Irish Potato Femine’s escape routes brought many of the immigrants to this country.
Celtic peoples carried with them practices like dressing up to scare away ghosts and appeasing angry spirits with food. Halloween originated in Canada as a result of traditions introduced to the country by those immigrants, such as the use of masks and food offerings to placate evil spirits and fend off ghosts.
Vancouver, British Columbia, had the first documented Halloween costume masquerade in North America in 1898. The phrase “trick or treat” was adopted in 1927 in the Canadian city of Lethbridge. Bobbing for apples, snap-apples, bonfires (fire with animal bones), door-to-door trick-or-treating, and fortune-telling were all widely performed in Canada on All Hallow’s Eve in the 19th century.
Communities on the east coast reportedly met in farmhouses to carry out these Halloween rituals. In the early 2010s, Halloween was already generating $1 billion in revenue throughout Canada, making it the country’s second-most lucrative holiday behind Christmas.
Halloween is celebrated with eerie décor, spooktacular costumes, and rounds of trick-or-treating in this country. Both kids and adults dress up in costumes and visit their neighbors. Pumpkin-carving competitions occur all around the provinces but most notably in Nova Scotia, where entire villages compete every year on October 31.
How Do Canadians Decorate Their Homes for Halloween?
What they do to their houses is pretty similar to the ones observed in the US. They deck their houses up with all kinds of eerie decorations:
- Pumpkins: Jack-o’-lanterns, or pumpkins, are traditionally carved and lit during. These are often seen in Canadian windows and on front porches.
- Mechanical and Inflatable Toys: Giant inflatable skeletons and animatronic ghosts are two examples of the kinds of yard decorations often used by Canadians.
- Spooky Stuff: Ghosts, skeletons, black cats, and bats are common motifs and decors.
- Lighting Fixtures: Colored lights and lanterns create a frightening atmosphere in homes and yards.
- Indoor Decorations: Candles, lanterns, and other Halloween-themed indoor decorations are popular among Canadians.
- DIY: Some Canadians like to make their own Halloween decorations, such as skeletons to hang or webs to weave. They love the spider theme a lot.