Canadian Thanksgiving emails for Shopify stores
Canadian Thanksgiving 2026 is Monday, October 12. Email ideas, subject lines and a send timeline for Shopify stores selling in Canada, and how it differs from US Thanksgiving.
Dates
Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October, six weeks before US Thanksgiving. The Canada Revenue Agency lists Thanksgiving Day as Monday, October 12, 2026 (CRA). If you sell in both countries, send each audience its own email on its own date.
In 2026 the two Thanksgivings are 45 days apart. That gap is useful: Canadian Thanksgiving is a calm, early touchpoint with your Canadian customers before the November noise, and a chance to thank them without a sale.
| Dates | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday before (last order date to plan around) | Thu Oct 8 | Thu Oct 7 | Thu Oct 5 |
| Long weekend begins | Sat Oct 10 | Sat Oct 9 | Sat Oct 7 |
| Canadian Thanksgiving | Mon Oct 12 | Mon Oct 11 | Mon Oct 9 |
| US Thanksgiving | Thu Nov 26 | Thu Nov 25 | Thu Nov 23 |
Send timeline
The Thursday email matters most for anything people need on the table. A hostess gift, a tablecloth or a coffee blend ordered on Saturday won't arrive for Sunday dinner, so make the order-by date the first line, and base it on your own carrier's delivery times inside Canada.
| Send timeline | Send |
|---|---|
| ~10 days before | Hosting and gifting ideas |
| Thursday before | Long-weekend picks, last order date for delivery |
| Long weekend | Optional: a short thank-you to customers |
Subject lines
For hosts
For people heading somewhere else
For the deadline
For everyone
- Hosting this weekend? Start here
- Everything for the table, in one order
- A host gift that isn't another bottle
- Small things for the people around your table
- Bringing something? Bring this
- Order by Thursday for Thanksgiving delivery
- Last day to order for the long weekend
- A thank-you to our Canadian customers
- Long-weekend picks
- Nothing to buy. Just thank you
Email ideas by store type
- Food and drink: recipes using your products, hosting bundles, a pairing guide for the big meal. See food and beverage marketing.
- Coffee and tea: an after-dinner blend, a gift tin for the host, brewing for a crowd. See coffee marketing.
- Home and candles: table settings, autumn scents, a "set the table" product grid.
- Beauty and wellness: a self-care weekend angle, or a travel kit for people visiting family.
- Fashion: what to wear to dinner, from dressy to comfortable.
- Any store: a genuine thank-you note, no offer attached.
Three email outlines
1. Hosting ideas (about ten days before). "Hosting this year?" Three ideas, each with one product and how it helps on the day. A recipe or a tip from the founder. One button to the collection.
2. Long-weekend picks (Thursday before). The order-by date in the first line. Four products that arrive in time. A reminder that the long weekend is Saturday to Monday. One button.
3. Thank you (the weekend). Two or three sentences from the founder. What the year has looked like, what customers have made possible. No product grid, no offer. If you want a link, make it your story page.
What not to do
- Don't send US Thanksgiving copy to Canadian customers in October, or Canadian copy to US customers.
- Don't treat it like Black Friday. It isn't one.
- Don't promise delivery for the weekend without checking your carrier's times inside Canada.
- Don't save your thank-you for the US holiday. Your Canadian customers will notice which one they got.
Questions people ask
When is Canadian Thanksgiving 2026?
Monday, October 12, 2026. Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October. In 2027 it's Monday, October 11, 2027, and in 2028 Monday, October 9, 2028.
Is Canadian Thanksgiving a big sales event?
It's a long weekend focused on family and food rather than a shopping event like US Black Friday. Emails that help people host, cook, give or relax tend to fit better than hard discounts.
Do I need a separate email for US and Canadian customers?
Yes. The two Thanksgivings are about six weeks apart, so one email for both lands on the wrong date for half your list. Split by the country in the customer's address.
Selling in both countries
Most email tools can split a list by the country in the customer's address. Make two segments, Canada and the US, before October. Send the Canadian segment its Thanksgiving email in October, and the US segment its own in November. Customers outside both get neither.
Plan it with Tilly
The email calendar reads your store's country from Shopify. A store based in Canada gets Thanksgiving on Monday, October 12, 2026, with one send planned on the day, a working title, a subject-line idea and a reason; later in the year it gets Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and Boxing Day. A store based in the US gets US Thanksgiving in November instead. The calendar plans around one country per store today, so if you sell to both, add the other country's Thanksgiving email yourself.
Sources
- Public holidays (Canada Revenue Agency), checked 1 October 2026
See this on your own store
Paste your store URL. The first pass takes about a minute and needs no account. Save a card (nothing is charged) and Tilly reads the whole store and works out who buys from you.