Canadian Thanksgiving in New Brunswick

[Frncie]

Our ship will be in St. John, New Brunswick, on Monday, October 14, 2019, which I am told is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Here in the US, pretty much everything shuts down on Thanksgiving, and people are home with their families. What should we expect as visitors to the Bay of Fundy on this national holiday?

[martincath]

Pretty much the same as the US, except of course we have it at a much more civilized time of the year and don't muck about with 'Black Friday' type sales nonsense to commercialize the heck out of it;-)

 

Generally it's legal for businesses which offer essential services (like pharmacies) and tourist-required services (hotels, restaurants) to stay open, and small 'mom & pop' outfits often get exempted from rules that impact bigger retail outlets. There will be closures of course, as the required overtime rates for staff and lack of trade due to most locals staying home make it simply unprofitable to consider opening... but since cruise ships bring a whole bunch of folks with disposable incomes any business focused on tourists will remain profitable enough that they stay open if allowed to.

 

You won't have a problem with tours to the well-known spots (St Martins caves, Hopewell Rocks, Reversing Rapids), restaurants in these places, spots to buy souvenirs near the pier and so on. Some private guides may choose not to work - but they'd have to REALLY like their family to skip a cruise day;-)

[AngVan]

I don't think you'll be affected by anything being closed. Most tourist type places - including National and Provincial government locations (parks, historical sites etc) are typically open because it is the last long weekend before winter.