# How is life in Canada different from life in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2002, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048 "2002-05-03T12:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Barrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@Barrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/81 "2002-05-08T00:07:21Z")
Canadians get their milk in bags. The bags then go into a pitcher specifically designated for bags of milk. Or so my French-Canadian French teacher informs us. She also says that Canadians are fond of thicker, greasier fries in comparision Americans, and lastly, I’ve heard they sometimes pronounce it Kay-Nad-Uh for a laugh. Those Canadians are so silly. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/82 "2002-05-08T01:12:46Z")
**featherlou** , I don’t want to hijack this thread into a GD, but you’re complaining that the fact that the western provinces have less say because of their less population is unfair? 😕 What I find is more unfair is how in Quebec, the rural areas (who tend to vote PQ) have more say per person than the urban ones. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/83 "2002-05-08T01:45:47Z")
Well, **LaurAnge** , that would be unfair too. My response was to **RickJay** seeming to misunderstand where Western bitterness about elections is coming from. And in my opinion, Western provinces do have less of a say than Eastern ones because of lower population levels, and I do find that unfair. ---
**Author:** ![non-native](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@non-native](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/non-native)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/84 "2002-05-08T01:50:17Z")
How college in Canada? Any different from the states? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/85 "2002-05-08T03:10:08Z")
Thanks to everyone for their responses. This is by far the most frequently-visited and frequently added to thread I’ve ever started, and it answers a question I’ve had for a long time. > [@](#): > > Canadians get their milk in bags. The bags then go into a pitcher specifically designated for bags of milk. Or so my French-Canadian French teacher informs us. This is true. I can vouch for it – I stayed with a Canadian friend at his mother’s house, and they did indeed get milk in plastic bags. You put the bag in a specially-designed plastic pitcher and snip off one corner. One difference between Canadians and folks in the U.S. – I can’t say exactly why, but I _know_ this would be a hard sell over ere. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/86 "2002-05-08T12:30:15Z")
For more info, there is also [this](http://www.icomm.ca/emily/how.html) site. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/87 "2002-05-08T12:38:05Z")
There was no “Wild West” in Canada, as the Mounties first established law and order and then the civilian citizens entered the territories. No gun-toting tradition. This is different from the US of A, where the citizenry came first, followed by the law, which sometimes followed fairly soon. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/88 "2002-05-08T15:04:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by featherlou \* > \*\*Well, **LaurAnge** , that would be unfair too. My response was to **RickJay** seeming to misunderstand where Western bitterness about elections is coming from. And in my opinion, Western provinces do have less of a say than Eastern ones because of lower population levels, and I do find that unfair. \*\* Umm… then I didn’t misunderstand it at all, did I? You are, of course, wrong; it’s not unfair. What’s fair is for every person to get a vote, which naturally means that a more populated place will get more votes. It’s ridiculous and stupid to say it’s “unfair” for Ontario to get more votes than Saskatchewan. I notice you don’t complain about, say, Newfoundland getting fewer votes than Alberta. Nor do you complain about the city of Calgary having more votes than the city of Red Deer, or metropolitan Vancouver getting more votes than Kimberley, which goes to show that I was absolutely right that the Western we-get-fewer-votes complaint is primarily due to the direction the Earth rotates. Now, if you’d read any of my posts in other Canada-related threads you’ll know that, despite being an evil Torontonian, I AM aware that the West has a lot of valid complaints. In a recent thread I went to some length to mention that fact that Alberta in particular pays through the nose to support poorer provinces, that our Prime Minister has visited the West of his own country less often than he has Europe, and that political power is unreasonably concentrated in Quebec and to a lesser extent Ontario. I have also pointed out in the past that the West is, in fact, slightly underrepresented in Parliament, although this isn’t because Ontario is OVERrepresented (most of the overrrepresentation is in the Martimes.) However, none of this is going to be repaired by giving Westerners more votes than their population dictates. Frankly, that’s just ridiculous, the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard. Why should your vote count for three times mine? The problem with regional differences is not that Canada is a democratic state where everyone’s vote is roughly equal; I can’t believe anyone would oppose that, but I guess in Canada anything is possible. The problem is that Canada isn’t ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/89 "2002-05-08T15:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by non-native \* > \*\*How college in Canada? Any different from the states? \*\* College or University? They’re different things up here. And colleges are different depending on whether you’re in English Canada or Quebec. Milk in bags! I haven’t seen it in a while, because you buy 3 bags totalling 4 L, and if you don’t drink milk you don’t look for it. I usually buy it in a 1L box. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/90 "2002-05-08T15:36:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by featherlou \* > \*\*Well, **LaurAnge** , that would be unfair too. My response was to **RickJay** seeming to misunderstand where Western bitterness about elections is coming from. And in my opinion, Western provinces do have less of a say than Eastern ones because of lower population levels, and I do find that unfair. \*\* Umm… then I didn’t misunderstand it at all, did I? That’s precisely what I said. You are, of course, wrong; it’s not unfair. What’s fair is for every person to get an equal vote, which naturally means that a more populated place will get more votes. It’s ridiculous and stupid to say it’s “unfair” for Ontario to get more votes than Saskatchewan. I notice you don’t complain about, say, Newfoundland getting fewer votes than Alberta. Nor do you complain about the city of Calgary having more votes than the city of Red Deer, or metropolitan Vancouver getting more votes than Kimberley, or B.C. having more votes than Manitoba, which goes to show that I was absolutely right that the Western we-get-fewer-votes complaint is primarily due to the direction the Earth rotates. Now, if you’d read any of my posts in other Canada-related threads you’ll know that, despite being an evil Torontonian, I AM aware that the West has a lot of valid complaints. In a recent thread I went to some length to mention that fact that Alberta in particular pays through the nose to support poorer provinces, that our Prime Minister has visited the West of his own country less often than he has Europe, and that political power is unreasonably concentrated in Quebec and to a lesser extent Ontario. I have also pointed out in the past that the West is, in fact, slightly underrepresented in Parliament, although this isn’t because Ontario is OVERrepresented (most of the overrrepresentation is in the Martimes.) I have detailed the manner in which Ottawa’s economic plans have been primarily concerned with the needs of central Canada, especially Quebec, and how patronage has directed government contracts almost exclusively to Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa-based firms. I have described in considerable detail how the concerns of Western provinces have been ignored, and lumped together as “whining from out there,” by the federal government since about 1964. I think some of those concerns are bullshit (Wahhhh, French is being pushed down our throats, wahhhhh!) but a lot of them are very valid (the NEP, Constitutional change) and whether or not they’re valid, they should get the attention of the government and be dealt with appropriately. Maybe it surprises you that someone living around Toronto is aware the West has valid concerns. Maybe you are unaware that is is possible for people in Toronto to, you know, read “Books” and such and learn about those things, and that they even travel around Canada and sometimes even live in other parts of Canada. Maybe you don’t realize I’ve only lived in Toronto since June of 2000. Maybe you should ask who’s the one here who has problems seeing beyond their own provincial borders. I don’t think it’s me. Personally, I think Toronto and Ontario should shut up and stop whining. Especially Toronto. However, none of the myriad of Western concerns is is going to be repaired by giving Westerners more votes than their population dictates. Frankly, that’s just ridiculous, the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard, and would lead to a catastrophe of other problems. Why should your vote count for three times mine? But hey, what am I complaining about? When we fix it up so all provinces are equal, a vote in PEI will be worth forty times yours! The problem with regional differences is not that Canada is a democratic state where everyone’s vote is roughly equal; I can’t believe anyone would oppose that, but I guess in Canada anything is possible. The problem is that Canada isn’t structured correctly, at a constututional level, to account for its size and regional variances. There isn’t MUCH of a problem, really, but where it does exist, it’s either because the federal and provincial governments are usurping one another’s powers, or because of the disastrously conceived equalization payment scheme that rips off Ontario and Alberta and encourages poor provinces to shut down valuable industries. If you were to clearly deliniate the division of powers and fix the equalization payment system you’d solve 75% of our problems in terms of regional differences. No need to abandon the fundamental principle of representative democracy. And of course, ladies and gentlemen, here I have successfully demonstrated one of Canada’s fundamental problems that people never mention in these Canada-U.S. comparisons; the incessant, nonstop, idiotic regional infighting. The West complains that they’re hard done by and representative democracy is unfair; of course, B.C. claims they’re different from the rest of the West and Evil Ontario doesn’t understand it, and Alberta complains they pay too much money, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba complain the feds are screwing them and don’t send enough aid. Ontario complains THEY pay too much money and Northern Ontario complains nobody cares about them and Toronto complains they’re paying out the nose and nobody cares about THEM. Quebec complains they they don’t get enough money and everything is a humiliation and nobody likes the Francophones, and the Maritimes complain that that they don’t get enough aid and there isn’t enough social spending on fishermen and we don’t develop their economies enough blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. The North complains about nobody caring about them and they’re right, nobody does. It never ends. Some of it’s valid; Alberta DOES get ripped off. Toronto DOES get ripped off. The West IS ignored, Quebec IS a foreign nation in its own state. But the provinces and the federal government _never cooperate on anything,_ and that’s just as much the provinces’ fault as it is the feds. It never ends. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/91 "2002-05-08T17:31:23Z")
Canada’s West was first occupied by the Mounties, and then civilians were allowed to com, unlike the US, where gun-toting civilians came first, followed (sometimes) by lawy and order. Very different societies regarding gun-toting and the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/92 "2002-05-08T17:31:23Z")
Canada’s West was first occupied by the Mounties, and then civilians were allowed to com, unlike the US, where gun-toting civilians came first, followed (sometimes) by lawy and order. Very different societies regarding gun-toting and the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/93 "2002-05-09T02:22:18Z")
I just reviewed a lot of Census data for a project I had to do on delivering health care in languages other than English. According to the most recently available Canaidan Census data, 66.7% of people in the Toronto area fluently speak a language other than English. While many Canadians speak French (and to a much lesser extent, Cree), many speak other languages at home, especially German and Italian. Most Canadians who learn a non-official language choose to learn Spanish. So I was wrong to say 67% of Torontois are immigrants. But most of them speak another language since, Dukakis-like, and do this as they are the sons and daughters of immigrants. People who move to Canada due seem to settle in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Thunder Bay which have large “ethnic” populations. A more accurate figure for actual “immigrants” would be closer to 50%. If you really want the Census reference numbers I’ll dig them out. The data might surprise you. In 1991, only 1.5% of folks in Saint John, NB claimed primary use of a language other than English or French. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/94 "2002-05-09T03:14:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **Canada is NOT ten times less densely populated where it matters, which is to say along the southern strip adjacent to the U.S.** My post stated that most Candadians live close to the USA border. That being said, please note that although you live in Toronto, I do not. I live at the top of Superior, where there is very little other than wilderness around me, and from which I fly to remote communities. My uncle raised his family on Baffin Island, and my cousins have lived on Sable Island and the MacKenzie River, and one of them works at Eureka (as close to the North Pole as you will get). These people and these places matter, and for me form my perceptions of Canada and Canadians as much as those in the southern Ontario strip and Toronto do. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/95 "2002-05-09T20:26:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by No Disguise \* > **I’m pretty confident that the bozo actor to non-bozo actor ratio in canada is a lot higher than the states.** Not bozo. Loon. Get your terms straight. Avian Emblem Act, S.O. 1994, c. 15 1. The bird known as the common loon (Gavia immer) is the avian emblem of the Province of Ontario. 1994, c. 15, s. 1. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/96 "2002-05-10T03:03:21Z")
Canadians never had a “Wild West.” The mounties came first and then the citizens. No gun-toting settlers taking the law into their own hands, as in the US of A. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/97 "2002-05-10T10:24:52Z")
Being close to Canada, just across Lake Erie I listen to Canadian radio and a couple of language differences come to mind. In the USA we say he is in **the** hospital. Canadians say he is **in** hospital. In the USA we say I am in **5th grade, 6th grade** etc. Canadians say I am in **grade 5, grade 6**. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/98 "2002-05-11T20:10:00Z")
**Icerigger** , the grade thing is right, but I have never in my entire life heard anyone say that someone is in hospital. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/99 "2002-05-12T01:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*Canada is sadly lacking behind in the gay porn industry. When visiting a lovely gay bookstore in Montreal with Matt, I found myself looking at a magazine rack that contained the publications Inches, Black Inches, and Latin Inches… there was no Centimeters in sight. > > From there you can extrapolate pretty much everything you need to know. \*\* Scuse me? Didn’t I show you ZIP, girl? Québécois-made French-language gay pornography handed out free in the street! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048/100 "2002-05-12T04:59:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Icerigger \* > \*\*Being close to Canada, just across Lake Erie I listen to Canadian radio and a couple of language differences come to mind. > > In the USA we say he is in **the** hospital. Canadians say he is **in** hospital.\*\* I’ve never heard a Canadian say this. It might be a mediaism. In everyday speech, we would always say “He is in the hospital.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-life-in-canada-different-from-life-in-the-us/107048.md?page=6)