Boxing Day is about more than just sales

By Lethbridge Herald on December 30, 2025.

HERALD PHOTO BY JOE MANIO Boxing Day is the busiest day for big box retailer Best Buy (along with Black Friday) and along with Park Place Mall ranks among the busiest places in Lethbridge for annual Boxing Day sales. Over the centuries, the charitable origins have been largely forgotten and today Boxing Day is most associated with sales, sporting events and leisure.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative

While Christmas may be about gifts, Boxing Day in Canada is about deals, downtime…deciding whether to stay home scrolling through online sales; or choosing to venture forth and brave the weather and crowds to find deals or to return or exchange Christmas gifts. 

In the United States, Dec. 26 is often informally referred to by retail workers as “National Return Day” or “National Refund Day.” While the U.S. does not officially observe Boxing Day, the day after Christmas marks one of the busiest periods for retail exchanges and gift returns.

It’s the same for retailers due north, but Boxing Day is more than a shopping frenzy—it’s a day shaped by history, winter weather, and a national habit of squeezing one more tradition out of the holiday season. 

Today Boxing Day is almost exclusively associated with post-Christmas sales and sporting events, but how many Canadians actually know the charitable history behind Boxing Day? The answer is that history has been blurred if not all but forgotten over the centuries. 

“Boxing Day comes from Britain,” says Belinda Crowson of the Lethbridge Historical Society. “It is connected to the fact that Dec. 26 is St. Stephen’s Day. St. Stephen was a martyr known for charitable acts. The ‘box’ is the alms box in which people collected and donated to charity. It was also the day you provided gifts to service people such as delivery people, servants (if you had any), apprentices, etc.”

Boxing Day is also connected to the 12 Days of Christmas, the days between Christmas Day and the Epiphany (also called Little Christmas) on Jan. 6, during which there was an activity on each day as part of the Christmas Holiday.

“On Boxing Day, not only were you supposed to give charity but you were supposed to reflect that you received great things on Christmas so on Boxing Day it was your responsibility to pass that good fortune on to others,” says Crowson.

Although there are no precise statistics on how many Canadians know the history of Boxing Day, reports suggest that while the holiday is widely celebrated, its original meaning has largely faded from memory.

“As traditions change, it is the role of historians to document and record so part of me sees it in this manner,” says Crowson. “I also, though, appreciate anything that reminds all of us to be as generous as we can and to be charitable. Even without the tradition of Boxing Day many people feel the spirit of charity around Christmas.”

From its origin during the Middle Ages the tradition spread over time to countries within the British Empire, including Canada. While its charitable roots remain part of its history, Boxing Day gradually evolved into a public holiday known mostly today for shopping sales, sporting events, and time off work.

Today Boxing Day is celebrated mainly in countries with ties to the British Commonwealth including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland (as St. Stephen’s Day). It is also observed in some Caribbean countries and parts of Hong Kong.

In these places Boxing Day is often a public holiday marked by a mix of traditions such as shopping sales, sporting events, family gatherings and  charitable activities.

The general consensus, however, is that the original spirit of giving to the less fortunate has largely been replaced by a day of consumerism on a level often compared to the U.S. Black Friday. 

One idea for keeping the charitable history of Boxing Day alive is for charitable organizations or even individuals to start their own Boxing Day charitable drives or family traditions of charitable giving on Boxing Day.

“I think anything that reminds people to be charitable and to think about their fellow residents is not a bad thing. We all need to do what we can to build community and take care of each other,” says Crowson.