Boxing Day

Boxing Day is observed on December 26^th and is listed as a federal holiday in the Canadian Labour Code. But Boxing day is not an official public holiday in all provinces except Ontario. In Alberta, From the nine statutory holidays, employers can choose Boxing Day, with Easter Monday or Heritage Day as an optional holiday. In Nova Scotia, it is a designated retail closing day, so some businesses can’t open on Boxing day. If you are a federal or provincial employee, then boxing day is paid holiday as it is listed as a statutory holiday in the Canadian Labour Code. In general, on boxing day many organizations and businesses are closed, but most of the stores are open.

Boxing Day is Celebrated in most of the Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, etc..) In a few countries including Ireland, the Christian holiday Saint Stephen’s Day is also celebrated on December 26^th along with Boxing day. In some European countries, 26^th December is called a second Christmas Day, In Germany, it is known as “Zweiter Feiertag”.  Boxing Day is usually observed on December 26^th, but if that day falls on a Saturday, the holiday moves to the following Monday. If December 26^th is a Sunday, Boxing Day will be moved to the following Tuesday.

Boxing Day originated in the United Kingdom, the name was first recorded in 1833 and “Boxing day” has nothing to do with the sports of Boxing

There are many theories about the origin of Boxing day, the most popular ones are;

• It’s the day to trash empty boxes left over from Christmas presents or pack (boxing) and return the unwanted presents to department stores.

• In the UK there were charity/domination boxes in churches during the Christmas season to raise funds for the poor. On the 26^th those boxes will be collected and opened. So December 26^th is called boxing day?

• On Christmas day the household employees and servants need to work, so they get an off day on December 26^th to celebrate Christmas with their family members. So the House Lords usually distribute gifts (sometimes the leftover boxes from Christmas presents) and money to their employees. So December 26^th is called Boxing day?

• The 26^th of December is also St. Stephen’s Day, St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death in 36 AD. St. Stephen was known for his charity and missionary work among the poor. Was that the reason to call St. Stephen’s Day as Boxing Day?

Do you have anything additional to it? Whatever the history, in modern times, Boxing day is a multi-million-dollar shopping day. There will be long line-ups in front of stores especially electronics stores from early morning to grab the Boxing day deals.