(Updated and revised on June 25, 2018.)
In June of 2013, I went on a 7 day trip to Ontario, Canada that started with a visit to Toronto for my first ever travel blogger conference; followed by my first ever two night press trip to Kingston, Ontario; followed by a visit to the Canadian capital, Ottawa, for my first ever overnight with a travel blogger I met on-line. The travel blogger is a 3.5 pound long haired chihuahua named Montecristo. His people are nice too. And even though I first met them on line, fortunately, they weren’t ax murderers. In fact, we became friends IRL (in real life) and in August of 2017, Mr. Excitement and I attended their wedding in Ottawa.
Travel blogger, Montecristo, perched on the saucer of one of the Canadian women’s rights heroes portrayed in the statue grouping, The Famous Five, on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Canada
Completely unscientific observations about Canadians and Canada:
- Canadians really do say “oot”, “aboot” (or maybe it’s “oat” and “aboat” and follow rhetorical questions with “eh?”, but they are surprised when you tell them you can identify them as Canadian from their speech. Canadians are somewhat sensitive about being mistaken for Americans (um, United Statesers) abroad. When I’m traveling internationally, I never ask someone if they’re from the United States until I hear them say “oot” or “aboot”. This sometimes requires asking them strange questions like, “Do you go on picnics inside or outside?”
During the Obama administration, one could also rely on the maple leaf patches Canadians sew onto their backpacks. However, during the G. W. Bush administration, too many U.S. citizens also sported maple leafs patches when traveling to make this a reliable test. With the election of Donald Trump. history is repeating itself in that regard. So, you just have to depend on the “oot” or “aboot” test, eh?
- Consistent with their international reputation for niceness, Canadian drivers stop for pedestrians in cross-walks (zebra crossings) — even in a big city like Toronto. However, a tour guide in Quebec City warned me that the crosswalks there were treated as “merely suggestions” by motorists, so maybe it’s still safest to look both ways before stepping off the curb.
- Canada has really cool money that kind of feels like plastic and looks like it would be really hard to counterfeit. Canadian $20 bills have see through windows, and holograms of the Queen — of England. They have also jettisoned the penny as legal tender, realizing that it makes no sense to have a coin that costs more to manufacture than it is worth. (Are you listening U.S. Treasury?) However, they still have prices like “17 cents”, rounding up and down to the nearest 5 cents.
Both sides of the Canadian $20 bill. (These bills were photographed on a wooden table. The panels under the Queen’s hologram are transparent.)
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- Canada has two seasons — winter and construction — and sometimes, they export some of their winter south of the border via the dreaded “polar vortex”. Then they make snide comments on Facebook when their U.S. Facebook friends complain how cold it is — because it’s pretty much always colder in most of Canada.
In Canada, summer construction projects are omnipresent.
- When Canadians refer to “south of the border”, they mean the U.S. of A., but they are not looking to build a wall. They are not afraid that having two national languages will somehow dilute their Canadian-ess and many of them are conversant in at least English and French. Many of them are also conversant in three languages given that more than 50% of Toronto residents were not born in Canada.
- Canadian mayors get to wear cool bling and at least one, may
or may nothave used crack cocaine. On November 5, 2013 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford finally admitted that he used crack cocaine while in office. In his defense, he claimed he did so in a drunken stupor. (Oh, well, in that case…..no problem?) While Mayor Rob Ford is resting in peace, the province of Ontario elected his brother, Doug Ford, as the province premier (governor). Several Canadians have described Doug Ford as the Canadian Donald Trump. Mon Dieu.
Now deceased Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, decked out in his Chain of Office, alleged to have used crack cocaine, among other unbecoming things.
- Canadians have a British Royal Governor General and the British monarch is the titular head of the Canada’s constitutional monarchy, but they don’t drive on the “wrong” side.
- Canadians are very fond of moose and extremely fond of hockey.
Moose statue at the Metro Convention Centre South, Toronto, Canada, next to the 5 feet, 3.5 inches tall author (if she stands up straight) for context.
{ 83 comments… read them below or add one }
“…During the G. W. Bush administration, too many U.S. citizens also sported maple leafs patches to make this a reliable test.”
Brilliant!
Sometimes they also even faked “oot” and “aboot”.
Sounds like fun! You do realize that Canada spells things the correct way don’t you 🙂
It all depends which spell checker you have enabled;-)
As usual, a thoroughly enjoyable read! Have any advice on places to eat or visit in Toronto?
Stay tuned for a future post on this very subject.
I have a ton of suggestions for places to visit in Toronto http://www.ontario-travel-secrets.com/toronto-tourism.html
Thanks. Your site looks like it will be helpful for those planning an Ontario vacation.
We ran into a Canadian last night at our dinner in London. We spent at least 15 minutes discussing hockey. You pretty much have to be from Canada (or at least speak Canadian) to know what is meant by “the Original Six.” Kris had no idea.
Uh, neither do I. Something to do with hockey? I’m guessing.
Hint: Philadelphia is one of the Original Six.
Go Flyers! But, according to Wikipedia, they were not one of “the Original Six” in the National Hockey League, that distinction being owned by the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flyers were an expansion team in the 1967-68 season. (BTW, it is entirely fitting that a comment thread about Canada has been high-jacked by hockey talk!)
Go Bruins!
I’ve never been to Canada but I do have few Canadian friends met during my past and current travels. They are fantastic people for sure.
I’d like to go to Canada one day to explore it with my eyes, when that happens, I’ll keep in mind your observations 🙂
Hey Franca—There is certainly a lot for you and Anglo man to see in North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico). We’ll leave the light on. When are you coming?
What a funny post- I needed a laugh this morning and this provided it. I especially loved the two season quip. Eh?
Eh?, indeed.
I’m in Europe now and if I even think someone might be from the states, I just ask if they’re Canadian first because 9 out of 10 times they are. They get around…
Well who isn’t fond of moose?
Indeed…(spoken as a Scandinavian!)!
Great post Suzanne! We used to live on the Canadian border back in mid 70’s while my hubby was finishing up his stint in the Air Force. Montecristo and his mom and dad came to visit us last October and we will be vsiting them in a few monthes, we cant wait!!
Great blog, by the way!
Thanks, Marlene. You will love seeing Monte in his home environment and Ottawa is a beautiful city — kind of majestic. His biped mama is great tour guide.
Glad you enjoyed your stay with us and thank you for the shout out eh? LOL
It is funny because we don’t hear it. I believe the “oot” is a French influence. The sound “ou” is common. Bonjour has it… For example.
I think the Queens English came first – so I am going with our spelling being correct. 🙂
I love our money… Should have showed you the maple scented $100 bill!! Stay tuned for our report on your visit this Saturday!! (Ps your charger is in the mail … You left it lying aboot!)
Maple scented money. Awesome!. (But, I don’t have any $100 bills here in the US, so I guess it’s not surprising that I didn’t acquire any in Canada.)
Thanks again for your hospitality. We’ll have to agree to disagree on the spelling—or better yet, “to each, his/her own.” How long do you think it will be before we all agree that we should spell “though” as “tho”, sight as “site” (now only used in reference to physical and virtual places), night (nite), ad nauseum? Are any words spelled differently in Canadian French vs. French in France?
I used to spend time in Montreal, as my brother lived there when he was first married to my SIL (a Canadian by birth). The French in the city is one thing, and the French in the Laurentians is … kinda funny. We went to Niagara Falls two years ago, and I remember the folks in the historical fort we visited talked a bit like the English speakers from Montreal. It was strange that the U.S. soldiers in history of the fort were the “bad guys.” I’ve also been to Vancouver and Calgary; I found them quite different than the eastern parts of Canada.
I had that same “What, they built this fort to protect them from the United States?” reaction when we visited Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario.
Have never been to Canada. Sounds like an interesting place. Seems they have the moose in common with Swedes. Heaven help someone who happens to have a car accident with one of those animals:-)
Funny you should mention that, in a prior blog post, I had this line,
“a sign in the Toronto Airport congratulates air passengers for having the good sense to fly given that 0.3% of highway fatalities in Canada are caused by collisions with moose.”
http://www.boomeresque.com/o-canada/
I’ve never been to Canada–so south of the border for me really is Baja (I’m in Southern California). I love your new blogging friend–he’s a cutie! It sounds like you had a lot of fun there!
He’s an excellent blogger also. He blogs about travel with small dogs — for obvious reasons.
I love your observations. You’re right about oot”, “aboot” and “eh. I never get over hearing it. The spelling is much more English then American, that’s for sure. I always get the biggest kick when I would hear to US referred to as south of the boarder. It’s all about orientation, isn’t it?
Susan, thanks for your comment. I’ve always thought Canada’s old tourism slogan was exactly right: “Canada: friendly, familiar, foreign and near.”
I lived in Canada years ago and I lovde it. They are probably the friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met. A driver in Vancouver even stopped to let me Jaywalk!!
The “oot” comes from Scotland I think, at least they are close and it sounds the same. Scots have a joke/ad – There’s a moose loose in me hoose (there’s a mouse loose in my house) which illustrates this nicely!! And as I Aussie, I agree they do spell correctly but drive on the wrong side :>
And BTW: the plastic money is an Aussie invention, it seems we lent it to them (the chinese, the brazilians etc) It’s cool huh. All our bills are plastic. We made it so you can go surfing with your money still intact afterwards :>
Thanks for all the helpful new info. I was told that Canada actually produces the currency for some other countries. What a cool export!
I got a great laugh out of your post and I’m still smiling as I comment. Being a Canadian I was pleased to note all the great references and that you picked up on and one of our long standing jokes around international travel (Canadian flags on American backpacks). I was initially surprised to see that you hadn’t noted that hockey is more important than politics, but then nature took it’s course and hockey showed up in the comments. Great post and glad you enjoyed your visit. 🙂
Debra, you’re right. I seriously dropped the ball, er, puck on the Canadian hockey thing. I passed the Hockey Hall of Fame ( or a similar tribute to the game) everyday walking from my hotel to the Convention Center (er, Centre).
Wish I’d known you were coming to Ottawa – I’d have shown you all my favourite places…but I was in Vermont last week….should have taken my skis, or maybe my galoshes.
The aboot is more Maritime than anything else, I think. Lots of Scots and Irish there.
And what did you think of our Loonies and Toonies? I gather the Americans are thinking of adopting them too, but it is quite controversial.
And Rob Ford? With all our political scandals these days, we’ll soon have to start defending that nice, honest reputation we have.
Like the moose – my sis and I came out of our front door in Sault Ste Marie one cold winter morning and there was one in our driveway….he wasn’t moving so Mom let us skip school that day!
Thanks, Glynis. Unfortunately, I only had the time for a too brief visit to Ottawa. I’d love to return some day for the chance to see more. I’m not sure the U.S. will get around to the US equivalent of Loonies and Toonies (one and two dollar coins). We actually do have one dollar coins, but everybody hates getting them as change from machines. We tried a two dollar bill and that went over like a lead balloon. I’m beyond ready to get rid of the penny, our one cent coin. You guys have seriously cool looking money. Maybe we should outsource our currency production to our northern neighbors—but that would mean our government couldn’t just print money whenever, so I guess that’s not going to happen. Please do let me know if you ever pass through Philly.
Nice and refreshing post, Suzanne! I’ll be surely among your readers from now on!
Greetings from Romania!
Laura
Thank you, Laura. I think you might be my first official reader from Romania!
Gosh, it has been awhile since I have been to Canada but I have met several people from Canada during my travels and I would have to say you are pretty spot on with your descriptions. At least what I have heard from them.
I hope my Canadian friends know that my observations are good natured over-generalizations born of a genuine fondness for Canada and her people.
I’ve only been to Vancouver and Waterton National Park, but I really want to visit Banff National Park someday as well as Toronto and Montreal. I get asked all the time if I’m Canadian. I grew up in northern Idaho, so I guess I have a tendency to draw out my vowels 😉
I’ve wondered whether United Staters from our northern tier might share some linguistic characteristics with our Canadian neighbors.
Somewhere where my spelling isn’t mocked. Hoorah!
Ln
In fact, Canada is one of my top destinations and if I can time our trip to the construction season I’ll be happy.
Dale, it is seriously past time for you and la italiana to visit North America. I recommend starting in Canada during construction season, er, no, I mean summer. Then follow the fall foliage south into the United States, saving Florida, the U.S. southwest and Mexico for the winter and California, Oregon and Washington State for the spring and then from there, you can head into British Columbia in Canada for the following construction season. So, there’s your 16 month itinerary for traveling in North America and you just have to fill in some of the details.
I absolutely adore Canada.
Being from a country that is part of the British Commonwealth (Australia) the two countries have much in common. We spell the same, have a similar sense of humour, are extremely friendly and have another country that speaks similar but you can tell the difference if you listen (that country would be New Zealand).
I want to go back again.
Excellent analogy: Australia and New Zealand and the USA and Canada. Kiwis hate being asked if they’re from Australia as much as Canadians hate being asked if they’re from the US. Kiwis love beating Australia at rugby and Canadians adore beating US teams at hockey.
Just have time for a brief comment. But my main Canada connection is our neighbor Ron Anderson who feels about Canada the way I feel about Philly. It is in his bones!! I love, Ron. He is a “salt of the earth” kind of guy and I find that is often true of Philly folk, as well. He is from Ottawa and gets back at least once a year. He’s married to an American who although originally from S. Cal spent some time years ago with Ron in Canada and to this day she says, “eh” in a perfectly authentic way. I have a feeling there is a lot of “gravity” in Canada, just like Philly. There’s a quite a bit of there there! I look forward to getting some feedback from Ron on your Canada post.
A thousand apologies for screwing up the “Original Six” comment. If I were Canadian, I would have known.
Apology(ies) accepted 😉
Ooooo, I’ve never been to Canada but maybe when the kids are a bit older? I knew a lot of very lovely Canadians when I lived in Hong Kong and would love to catch up with them. I’d be right at home with the spelling and pics of our queen on the money too!! Maybe it’s the perfect combo of UK and the US…
Thanks for stopping by Jane. Yes, I think you’ll find it a strangely comforting combination of the UK and US—-with a dash of France thrown in—-not to mention the moose.
Oh, I laughed and laughed when I read your post. It’s all so true! Love that you got your photo taken with one of our infamous Mooses (Meese?) That was an intitiative by a Toronto mayor who was almost as embarrassing as our current one – based on Chicago’s success with statues of cows. The Moose project wasn’t quite as successful, although there are still a few around. Glad that you enjoyed your stay here!
I’m glad you enjoyed my post. Canadians seem to have a charming ability to be proud, but able to not take themselves too seriously. As you can imagine, that moose was a big hit among the travel bloggers at the conference in the otherwise quite sterile convention centre.
Enjoyed your post but fair warning: there is nothing funny about construction season. This is but another example of Cdn. humour (note the CORRECT spelling), gallows humour at best. Sorry you missed HHOF. Check this out if you’re interested.
Best
Mark
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-01-04/news/36834945_1_pond-hockey-hockey-memories-rink
Very valid observations. I was also delighted to find that yes they do say “eh” a lot 🙂 And the meese are indeed very important for the Canadians, I happily got to go for a moose safari after the conference, loved it!
That is way cool. Did you see any meese??
Hi I am Canadian and Maddy’s neighbour, Ron. Your blog about Canada is correct. We do say “a”. My wife is American and she and a friend went to Europe in the early 70’s and she wore a Canadian flag on her back pack.
The early 70’s and the early 2000’s were a great time to pretend to be a Canadian while traveling globally. 😉 She at least sleeps with a Canadian, so it’s not a total fraud.
Good observations Suzanne, “oot” and “aboot” hang over from the Scottish influx I would think, the spelling is correct of course the “queen’s” english came first, Oh actually we did everything first!! Loved my visits to Canada, lots of British folk emigrated, and Ontario was a favourite place. A number went from Birmingham UK and then followed their relatives and friends as I know from visiting them my brother in law has a number of relatives there. Did think that I was in a different country in Quebec though.
I’ve lived in the Toronto area since 1969 and got a real kick out of this post. 😀 Must dispute one thing though: We, (at least MOST of us), do NOT say “OOT” and “ABOOT”! Seriously! It’s “OWT” and “ABOWT”. When Americans tell me I have a “Canadian accent” it always astounds me too. (You can hear a sample of my voice on my blog’s homepage. Would love to know what you think 😉 ) LOL Glad you enjoyed yourself here in Ontario.
Thanks for your comment, Debbie. I’m willing to concede that perhaps “out” should be “oat” instead of “oot” — same for “aboot”. I listened to your voice on your blog. You didn’t say either of the Canadian identifier words, so you could have been an American for all one could tell (except for the part where you say you’re from Canada 😉
I’ll give you “oat” 😉 Sounds a little more realistic. I didn’t see any mention of Tim Horton’s or hockey. Two VERY important Canadian things. Loved the Rob Ford references. Between him and Justin Bieber, (never mind Celine Dion), it’s downright embarrassing! LOL
When he was 14, my paternal grandfather emigrated (from Minnesota) to Canada, with his slightly-older brother, to homestead in Alberta. My paternal grandmother did the same thing (from Idaho) with her family. My father came from the Alberta farm to the U.S. to go to college and medical school, and he stayed on to become a U.S. citizen and live here the rest of his life. I have loved Canada all my life and hope to live there, with dual citizenship, someday. It has everything (including some temperate-climate areas and, elsewhere, people who know how to make the most of winter!)
Thanks for your comment, Leslie. My theory is that in this day and age, one can never have too many citizenships and passports!
Excellent post Suzanne,
I loved reading your observations, okay time for me to check oouuuuut!
This is funny, Suzanne.
True, Canadians get upset when they’re mistaken for Americans, who they think are loud and boorish.
In their defence (and yes, I’m spelling it defence, not defense) it’s Americans who spell funny.
Oh, and one more in the money category – the loonie or $1 coin.
Thanks for linking up and making me smile!
How did I miss this post when you first published it? It’s hilarious, even though I have one or two less-than-funny memories of traveling in Europe during the Bush administration. The photo of you with the moose statue is a gem. Wish I could have been at TBEX Toronto to meet up with you.
Cathy, I too hope that one of these days, months or years (hopefully, not decades), our paths will cross.
Ha ha – you’ve nailed our nation’s personality perfectly. Until I started travelling I thought everyone stopped for pedestrians. Heck, I’ve even seen cars stop for ducks, pigeons and squirrels who wanted to cross the street in Toronto. But I claim no responsibility for Rob Ford!
Thanks for stopping by, Michele. I just saw Rob Ford on TV. Apparently, he showed up uninvited to a municipal Christmas parade where they showed him throwing candy canes at the crowd—-sort of like he was feeding ducks. Truly amazing. He really has become a caricature — of a caricature.
We don’t say ‘oot’. We dont say ‘aboot’.
You’re right. It’s actually more like “oat” and “aboat” 😉 Eh?
Well, if you are from down east (like Nova Scotia) Ontario is sometimes referred to as “Upper Canada”, and sometimes we say “Upper Canadians”. I am pleading the fifth (I don’t think Canada even has a fifth!) about…….oot and aboot. Must I say more, eh? 🙂
Nancie—You definitely don’t have a Fifth, but Canadians watch so much U.S. TV, I suspect some Canadians try to claim it 😉 Eh?
Hi Suzanne: We don’t say “aboot” in Western Canada.” It may be an Eastern Canada thing, but you won’t find it east of Ontario.
We do have summer. It’s just short! It usually snows by Nov and melts by the end of March. On occasion, the white stuff will take longer to melt, and that will likely happen this year as we’ve had an exceptional amount of snow from Nov/13-March/14.
Nice meeting you in Hawaii!
Doreen, I didn’t notice any oot or aboot from you, but plenty of “Eh’s”. We should plan to meet in Hawaii every winter!
Great post but I still don’t think we say aboot 🙂 And I can tell you that Canadian French and France French are sometimes like two different languages.
Interesting take on Ontario, Suzanne. As an Ontarian (that’s the word), it’s always interesting to see ourselves as others see us. It’s true, we have plastic money, and we use English spellings for a lot of things. We also use the metric system (like everyone else except the U.S.) And parts of Ontario are as far south as California. As for the forts, there’s good reason: Toronto was once invaded and looted by American troops. If you want some more fun facts about Canada, I’ve written a post. You can read it here: http://travellingboomer.com/visiting-canada-10-fun-facts/
I hope you could discern my great affection for Canada and Canadians in my post.
Hey Suzanne, I’m a Canadian and an Ontarioian (?) and have to tell you that you’re spot on although I must admit the oot and aboot are new to me. I’ve just finished writing a post listed 150 Canadian Facts for Canada’s 150th birthday (July 1/17) which I’ll be posting then and a lot of what you said here is actually in my post.
About hockey – Our Maple Leafs did really well this year and even after a church service everyone stood around and talked about them – Yea Leafs. (For years we hated them, now that they’ did so well we love them again.
This was a great post – totally enjoyed it.
BTW – We Canucks think most of you Yanks are A-OK.
I look forward to reading your post for Canada’s 150th birthday. Coincidentally, I’ll be returning to Ottawa later this summer for the wedding of the people who hosted me when I wrote this piece—-Montecristo’s people!
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