National Red Mitten Day in Canada Date in the current year: November 21, 2024

Canada has participated in all Winter Olympics and most Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. The only exception was the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which Canada boycotted due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Canada has hosted the Olympic games three times: the 1976 Summer Olympics took place in Montreal, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

As of 2022, Canadian athletes have won 551 Olympic medals, including 148 gold medals. Team Canada has won at least one medal at every Olympics it participated in. The Canadian Olympic team leads in medals in freestyle skating (30 medals, including 12 gold), ice hockey (23 medals, including 14 gold), and curling (12 medals, including 6 gold).

Canadian Olympians who have won the most gold medals are Charles Hamelin (short track), Jayna Hefford (ice hockey), Hayley Wickenheiser (ice hockey), and Caroline Ouellette (ice hockey). Each of them is a four-time Olympic champion in their respective sports. Swimmer Penny Oleksiak is Canada’s most decorated Olympian, with a total of 7 medals (including one gold).

The National Olympic Committee of Canada is the Canadian Olympic Committee (Comité olympique canadien). It was founded in 1904 and officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1907. It has an official charitable organization named the Canadian Olympic Foundation that focuses on the philanthropic support of Canadian athletes.

National Red Mitten Day was founded in 2017 by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), a Canadian retail business group that is the oldest continuously operating company in North America. The history of the holiday, however, can be traced back to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

HBC has long ties to the Canadian Olympic team; it first became the team’s official outfitter in 1936. HBC’s apparel for the 2010 Winter Olympics included red-and-white mittens with a large maple leaf, which turned out extremely popular. They were sold as merchandise for Can$10, and one-third of the proceeds were donated to support the Canadian Olympic Committee.

The red mittens became an iconic symbol of Canadian Olympic pride, and HBC launched its Red Mitten Program to support Canadian Olympians. The company declared November 21 National Red Mitten Day and donates Can$3.90 from every pair of red mittens purchased at its stores (including HBC’s online store thebay.com) to support Canadian athletes.

The Canadian Olympic Foundation uses this money to provide athletes with access to various resources that help create a world-class training environment, including coaching, nutrition, sports medicine, high-quality equipment, and more.

The best way to celebrate National Red Mitten Day is, of course, to support Canadian athletes by purchasing a pair of red mittens from HBC and spread the word on social media with the hashtag #NationalRedMittenDay.