Holidays and Celebrations in Canada and Québec: French Vocabulary and Customs
Getting Started
Holidays are one of the easiest ways into a culture, and one of the most common small-talk topics at work: Tu fais quoi pour la Saint-Jean ? Vous avez passé une belle Action de grâce ? They also come up in TEF/TCF reading texts and speaking tasks (“Describe a celebration in your country”).
This lesson covers the main holidays in French Canada, the greeting that goes with each, and the vocabulary to talk about celebrations, including your own.
1. The holiday calendar
Statutory holidays are les jours fériés (or les congés fériés in Québec). Some are national, some only in Québec.
| Date | French name | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | le jour de l’An | New Year’s Day | Bonne année ! Wishes last all January. |
| Late Jan – Feb | le Carnaval de Québec | Québec Winter Carnival | Snow sculptures, ice canoe races, the snowman mascot Bonhomme. |
| February 14 | la Saint-Valentin | Valentine’s Day | Not a holiday. |
| March – April | le temps des sucres | maple syrup season | Not a holiday, but a real tradition. |
| March / April | Pâques (le Vendredi saint, le lundi de Pâques) | Easter | Joyeuses Pâques ! |
| Monday before May 25 | la Journée nationale des patriotes (Québec) / la fête de la Reine (rest of Canada) | Patriots’ Day / Victoria Day | The first long weekend of summer. |
| June 24 | la Fête nationale du Québec, la Saint-Jean | Québec’s national holiday | Concerts, bonfires, blue-and-white flags. |
| July 1 | la fête du Canada | Canada Day | Also moving day in Québec. |
| First Monday of September | la fête du Travail | Labour Day | The end of summer; school starts. |
| September 30 | la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Honours residential school survivors; people wear orange. |
| Second Monday of October | l’Action de grâce | Thanksgiving | A family meal, often turkey. |
| October 31 | l’Halloween | Halloween | Children go door to door asking for des bonbons. |
| November 11 | le jour du Souvenir | Remembrance Day | People wear a poppy, un coquelicot. |
| December 24–25 | la veille de Noël, Noël | Christmas Eve, Christmas | Joyeux Noël ! |
| December 26 | le lendemain de Noël, le Boxing Day | Boxing Day | Big sales. |
| December 31 | la veille du jour de l’An | New Year’s Eve | Le réveillon and the countdown. |
Holiday dates and which ones are paid vary by province and employer. Check your province’s official list for your situation.
2. Four traditions worth knowing
La Saint-Jean (June 24). Québec’s biggest party. Towns hold outdoor shows, and people sing Gens du pays, a song by Gilles Vigneault that also became Québec’s birthday song. You will see the Québec flag, le fleurdelisé, everywhere.
Moving day (July 1). Because most leases in Québec end on June 30, thousands of households move on the same day. Trucks are booked months ahead, and the streets fill with furniture. If you rent in Québec, you will hear Tu déménages le premier juillet ?
Le temps des sucres (spring). When nights are still freezing but days are above zero, maple sap flows. Families and schools visit une cabane à sucre (a sugar shack) for a big meal: pea soup, ham, beans, oreilles de crisse (crispy fried pork), and la tire sur la neige, hot maple syrup poured on snow and rolled onto a stick.
Le réveillon. A late-night meal on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, traditionally after midnight mass. Classic Québec dishes are la tourtière (meat pie) and la bûche de Noël (a Yule-log cake).
3. The right greeting
| Occasion | Greeting |
|---|---|
| New Year | Bonne année ! (and, in Québec, Bonne année, pis la santé !) |
| Christmas | Joyeux Noël ! |
| Christmas and New Year together | Joyeuses fêtes ! |
| Easter | Joyeuses Pâques ! |
| June 24 | Bonne Fête nationale ! / Bonne Saint-Jean ! |
| July 1 | Bonne fête du Canada ! |
| A birthday (Québec) | Bonne fête ! |
| A birthday (everywhere) | Joyeux anniversaire ! |
| Diwali | Joyeux Diwali ! / Bonne fête de Diwali ! |
| Any holiday | Bonne fête ! / Bon congé ! (have a good day off) |
Joyeuses fêtes covers the whole season from Christmas to New Year and is the safe, inclusive choice at work. It is also what you write on a card to a colleague whose traditions you don’t know.
4. Your own celebrations in French
Canada has one of the world’s largest Punjabi communities, and Vaisakhi, Diwali and Gurpurab are part of Canadian life, especially in the Greater Toronto Area and the Vancouver area. Surrey’s Vaisakhi parade draws huge crowds every April. You will often need to explain your celebrations in French: to colleagues, to your children’s teachers, and in the exam.
Useful words:
- une fête religieuse / culturelle (a religious / cultural celebration)
- le défilé (the parade), le feu d’artifice (fireworks), les bougies (candles), les lumières (lights)
- le gurdwara, le temple, la prière (prayer), le repas communautaire (the shared meal, langar)
- les sucreries (sweets), offrir des cadeaux (to give presents), se réunir en famille (to get together as a family)
Model answer (speaking task: “Décrivez une fête importante pour vous”). Pour moi, la fête la plus importante, c’est Vaisakhi. On la célèbre en avril. Au Punjab, c’est la fête des récoltes, et pour les sikhs, c’est aussi l’anniversaire de la création du Khalsa. Ici, au Canada, nous allons au gurdwara le matin, puis nous participons au grand défilé. Il y a de la musique, des danses et on partage le repas communautaire, le langar, avec tout le monde, même les personnes qui ne sont pas sikhs. Pour moi, c’est une journée de joie et de partage.
5. Talking about how you celebrate
- On fête / On célèbre Noël en famille. (We celebrate Christmas as a family.)
- Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour l’Action de grâce ? (What are you doing for Thanksgiving?)
- Nous nous réunissons chez mes parents. (We get together at my parents’ place.)
- On a préparé un grand repas. (We prepared a big meal.)
- On échange des cadeaux. (We exchange presents.)
- C’est un jour férié : les banques sont fermées. (It’s a statutory holiday: banks are closed.)
Common Mistakes
| ❌ Wrong | ✅ Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Joyeuse Noël | Joyeux Noël | Noël is masculine in this greeting |
| Bonne anniversaire | Bon anniversaire / Joyeux anniversaire | Anniversaire is masculine |
| la Canada fête | la fête du Canada | Word order |
| le jour de Merci | l’Action de grâce | Fixed name |
| en Noël | à Noël | À Noël, à Pâques, but à la Saint-Jean |
Practice
- What do you say to a colleague on June 23 before the long weekend?
- Your friend’s birthday is today and you are in Montréal. What do you write?
- What is served at a cabane à sucre and poured on snow?
- Which date is both Canada Day and moving day in Québec?
- In one or two sentences, say in French how you celebrate your favourite holiday.
Answers
- Bonne Saint-Jean ! / Bonne Fête nationale ! · 2. Bonne fête ! (or Joyeux anniversaire !) · 3. la tire (hot maple syrup), la tire sur la neige · 4. le 1er juillet · 5. Example: Pour Diwali, nous allumons des bougies et nous mangeons des sucreries en famille.
What’s Next
FAQ
What is the Fête nationale du Québec?
Québec's national holiday, on June 24. It is also called la Saint-Jean or la Saint-Jean-Baptiste. There are outdoor concerts, bonfires and blue-and-white fleurdelisé flags everywhere. The greeting is Bonne Fête nationale ! or Bonne Saint-Jean !
Does 'bonne fête' mean happy birthday?
In Québec, yes: Bonne fête ! is the usual way to say happy birthday, and people sing Bonne fête à toi. In France, people say joyeux anniversaire for a birthday, and bonne fête can mean a name day or a holiday.
Why do so many people move on July 1st in Québec?
Most Québec leases run from July 1 to June 30, so July 1 became moving day, le jour du déménagement. It is the same day as Canada Day, and many Montrealers spend it carrying boxes.
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