Things to Look Forward to in October 2026 🍂🎃

Published October 1, 2026

October has arrived, bringing Thanksgiving, hockey, Halloween, pumpkin everything and the annual Canadian tradition of wearing a winter coat in the morning and regretting it by lunch.

Here are some things to look forward to this month!

☕ Thursday, October 1: International Coffee Day

Finally, a holiday honouring the beverage responsible for getting half of us to work without committing a felony. It’s also officially October, which means Spooky Season can begin without anyone judging you. Put the skeleton on the porch. Buy the tiny pumpkins. Watch Hocus Pocus for the 147th time.

🍎 Apple & Cranberry Season

October is prime time for fall colours, apple picking, cider, pies and harvest adventures across Ontario. You can also head north to Muskoka for cranberry season. Basically, we’re paying money to pick our own food and calling it a fun family activity.

🌮 Tuesday, October 6: National Taco Day

National Taco Day now falls on the first Tuesday in October, meaning Taco Tuesday has finally received the recognition it deserves. Tacos for dinner. Because nobody has ever looked at a taco and thought, “This day just got worse.”

🏀 Saturday, October 3: Raptors Preseason Begins

The Toronto Raptors take on the Miami Heat in Quebec City as part of the NBA Canada Games.

Then on October 10, the Raptors and LA Clippers meet in Vancouver.

The Raptors officially open their regular season at home on Wednesday, October 21, taking on the Chicago Bulls at Scotiabank Arena. Basketball is back!

🦃 Monday, October 12: Thanksgiving

A glorious Canadian long weekend filled with turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and one relative asking a question that immediately ruins dinner.

🏒 Tuesday, October 13: EVERY NHL Team Plays

Hockey fans, cancel your plans.

All 32 NHL teams are scheduled to play on the same day, with 16 games spread throughout October 13. The 2026-27 NHL season actually began September 29 and features an expanded 84-game schedule. That means even MORE opportunities for Leafs fans to experience a completely healthy and reasonable amount of emotional distress.

🏀 Wednesday, October 21: Raptors Home Opener

The Raptors welcome the Chicago Bulls to Scotiabank Arena at 7:30 p.m. Time to break out the jerseys and remember that yelling instructions at professional athletes through your television is an important part of Canadian culture.

⚾ Friday, October 23: World Series Begins

For those still watching baseball after 162 regular-season games and several rounds of playoffs, congratulations on your stamina. Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for October 23. And here's some beautiful scheduling: if the series goes the distance, Game 7 would happen on Halloween.

🎃 Monday, October 26: National Pumpkin Day

Celebrate the vegetable we spend all month carving, decorating, flavouring our coffee with and then leaving on the porch until it collapses into itself sometime around Remembrance Day.

🍫 Wednesday, October 28: National Chocolate Day

A warm-up for the approximately 14 Coffee Crisps you're going to steal from your children's Halloween bags.

🐈 Thursday, October 29: National Cat Day

Finally, a day devoted entirely to cats. Unlike every other day on the Internet.

🎸 Friday, October 30: New Nickelback!

Canadian rock royalty Nickelback is scheduled to release its new album, Everything Under the Sun, on October 30. Canada will celebrate by collectively pretending we don't know every word to at least four Nickelback songs. Then How You Remind Me comes on...

👻 Saturday, October 31: HALLOWEEN!

And this year, Halloween lands on a SATURDAY. Kids everywhere: 🎉🎉🎉

Parents everywhere: Dear God. There's no school the next morning, no need to rush home and absolutely no logical reason for your children to stop trick-or-treating after 45 minutes.

Godspeed, parents.

🎬 BIG OCTOBER ENTERTAINMENT

There’s a particularly strong spooky-season streaming slate. Mike Flanagan’s new Carrie series arrives October 7 on Prime Video, while Netflix’s October lineup includes Florence Pugh in East of Eden along with new seasons of The Diplomat, Nobody Wants This and Love Is Blind. Tom's Guide

On the movie side, October’s theatrical slate includes Tom Cruise in Digger, the Colleen Hoover adaptation ** Verity, ** The Social Reckoning, ** Other Mommy** with Jessica Chastain, ** Street Fighter** and ** Whalefall** among the month’s notable releases.