In case all your Christmas wishes don’t come true, don’t worry — there’s Boxing Day!

In the U.S., the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving, a day that’s become known as “Black Friday.” In Canada, the major shopping extravaganza is the day after Christmas — Boxing Day.

December 26, Boxing Day, is a public holiday in Canada. If you work in retail, though, it’s unlikely that you’ll get the day off, because stores across the country use this holiday to draw in shoppers and move all the merchandise that didn’t sell before Christmas.

Many stores hold big sales that begin on Boxing Day and continue at least through New Year’s Eve. Before you head for the mall, you can check out various sale flyers online at RedFlagDeals.com or SmartCanucks.ca. Just note that many sales are region-specific, so don’t be fooled by Ontario prices if you live in B.C.

If you’re wondering where the “Boxing Day” name come from, here’s the scoop according to the Canadian Heritage department:

The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters’ clients.

So what does that have to do with shopping? Probably about as much as U.S. Thanksgiving does…

Happy holidays from Living Abroad in Canada!