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Christmas in Canada
A Coming-together of Cultures
By Kelly Burgess
People in Quebec still tend to have a strong religious connection to the Christmas holiday. Along with their Christmas trees, they often display nativity scenes in their homes. Ross Gough, executive director of the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario says that one enduring tradition is the French Canadian Tourtiere, which is a meat pie made with pork and/or chicken and mashed potatoes. This is a traditional holiday dish for Christmas Eve and also around New Year's. He says other cultures also have their influence on the holidays, particularly Ukrainian and native cultures.
Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Canada in the late 1800s. Primarily farmers in the old country, those antecedents color many of their modern traditions. The religious observance of Christmas for Canadians of Ukrainian descent begins with the Feast of Saint Philip. The theme of this feast is purification, which is embodied through a thorough cleaning of homes and yards and fasting for the body.
The fasting ends on Christmas Eve with the Sviata Vechera, or Holy Supper. Twelve dishes are served that represent various symbols of the Christian religion as well as agrarian traditions. A sheaf of wheat is brought into the house before the meal by the head of household. He walks around the inside of the home three times and then places the wheat near the family's religious icon where it remains for the entire Christmas season. This sheaf represents the bounty of the land and family.
German Settlers of the 1700s brought their own traditions with them, most notably the Tannenbaum, or Christmas tree. Although Christmas trees didn't become widely popular until the time of Queen Victoria, it was already well established in German enclaves before that time. dvent calendars, decorated cookies, singing carols and gingerbread houses are also part of the German tradition.
