# Non-Canadians who have visited Canada - what surprised you about the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364 "2015-03-06T15:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/181 "2015-03-12T04:45:48Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > For me, it was the ketchup. It was some restaurant we went to for lunch in Montreal, and I put Heinz ketchup on my fries and took a bite and “WTF! What’s wrong with this ketchup?” It had an unexpected, very noticeable bite to it, to the point that I started examining the bottle for a sell-by date to see if it had spoiled. Then I looked at the ingredients and realized it didn’t have HFCS. I like soft drinks with cane sugar, though we can usually only get it here during Passover, but I prefer my corn lobbyist Heinz ketchup. For me, it was just the opposite. The first time I had a burger at Five Guys, I tasted the ketchup and it was way too sweet! I looked to see if I’d got some sort of relish by mistake. _De gustibus non est disputandum._ ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/182 "2015-03-12T05:37:11Z")
One thing I would note looking through this thread is the number of things that apply in one or a couple locales in Canada, but not across the whole of it. While Canada is fairly homogeneous, there is not one Canadian experience, and experiences in different provinces can be as different as states. For instance, I as a Western Canadian, was just as baffled by Ontario’s milk-in-a-bag as the rest of you were. Radar detector laws vary province to province, as do a number of things like drinking ages, road upkeep, etc. etc. Also, it’s really really big, and expecting mountains to be visible in all of it is going to leave you disappointed. I never saw the Rockies in person until I was 14, and despite Canada having the longest coastline in the world, I’ve only been to the ocean (in Canada) 3 times. It’s just that big. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/183 "2015-03-12T12:43:15Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > In addition to the possible differences in sugar, in Canada (at least it was around 2000) it was illegal include caffeine in any soda that wasn’t brown. I think this was health-based, maybe a ‘think of the children’ law, though I have no idea why color made such a difference. I suspected that was one of the reasons Mountain Dew tasted funny in Canada. We do have Mountain Dew with caffeine in it here now. I remember in 2012, an Australian friend was visiting me, and he seemed surprised that it had caffeine in it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeanius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@Jeanius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeanius)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/184 "2015-03-12T15:51:19Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > This is probably unique to Quebec: > > When I was in high school, the choir took two trips to Quebec: the first to Montreal, the second to Quebec City. The thing that struck me was that more or less everyone in Montreal was bi-lingual, but the francophones _deeply_ resented having to resort to English. I remember being at a restaurant where the server was very chipper and cheerful when she greeted us in French, but as soon as we ordered in English, she went very cool and business-like. On the other hand, in Quebec City there were several places where people had no English at all, but they were extremely happy to help us anyway, and made their best effort to communicate anyway. > > Of course, I’m sure that my teenage impression was entirely off the mark and I was drawing massive assumptions based on incomplete information, but it was the sense I got at the time. No, you had it bang on. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/185 "2015-03-12T16:38:49Z")
Used to visit a friend at college in Vermont, and we’d go to Montreal for the strip clubs (sorry, we were kids). This was the '80’s, but at that time at least, it seemed as though strip clubs were very upscale, accepted and in nice parts of town as compared to those in the US. Also, around 1990, driving from the East coast to Alaska, I’d thought I’d go across Canada for the hell of it, but soon realized the gas was much more expensive North of the border, so crossed back into the US at Sault Ste. Marie and stayed in the US for as long as I could. Later, mid 2000’s visiting Vancouver, commuter seaplane taxis in the harbor, and what seemed like alot of attractive Indian/South Asian women walking around. Thats all I got! ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/186 "2015-03-12T18:40:13Z")
**Jeanius** - not all Montreal francophones resent having to speak English. Though I usually at least try to communicate with people in French in Montreal, so maybe I don’t notice those things as much. **mo50** - There’s actually a street here in Montreal which is famous for having many strip clubs. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/187 "2015-03-12T20:16:10Z")
Saint Catherine Street? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/188 "2015-03-12T21:01:19Z")
Of course 🙂 Though there are certainly other things to do on that street as well. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/189 "2015-03-12T23:12:37Z")
> [@Jeanius](#): > > No, you had it bang on. Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, Jeanius! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/190 "2015-03-12T23:29:54Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Of course 🙂 Though there are certainly other things to do on that street as well. I never noticed. 😉 (In all fairness, I haven’t been there in probably 22 or 23 years. Man, time flies.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/191 "2015-03-13T12:55:51Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > … expecting mountains to be visible in all of it is going to leave you disappointed. I never saw the Rockies in person until I was 14, and despite Canada having the longest coastline in the world, I’ve only been to the ocean (in Canada) 3 times. It’s just that big. I’ve lived in Ontario all my life and I still find the sight of mountains almost surreal. Ontario has, basically, no mountains; a place larger than most countries that spans across several geographic regions has pretty much nothing that constitutes a serious mountain. The tallest eminence in Ontario is part of the Ishpatina Ridge, which isn’t even a thousand feet above the surrounding landscape. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/192 "2015-03-13T13:50:14Z")
> [@mo50](#): > > Used to visit a friend at college in Vermont, and we’d go to Montreal for the strip clubs (sorry, we were kids). This was the '80’s, but at that time at least, it seemed as though strip clubs were very upscale, accepted and in nice parts of town as compared to those in the US. A Canadian friend took me to a strip club outside Toronto, and I agree. It was clean and bright (American strip clubs tend to be dark) and was located in the middle of a strip mall\*. It was patronized by both men and women and couples, and featured male as well as female strippers. \*no pun intended. It really WAS in a strip mall. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/193 "2015-03-13T14:15:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’ve lived in Ontario all my life and I still find the sight of mountains almost surreal. Ontario has, basically, no mountains; a place larger than most countries that spans across several geographic regions has pretty much nothing that constitutes a serious mountain. The tallest eminence in Ontario is part of the Ishpatina Ridge, which isn’t even a thousand feet above the surrounding landscape. I live in Montreal, which has Mount Royal, which some people say is more like a hill than a mountain. I have been to the Rockies and to Vancouver, and sometimes I say to my Montreal friends, “The Vancouver area has real mountains, with snow on top.” ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/194 "2015-03-13T14:51:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Saint Catherine Street? That was the place! ---
**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:** [March 14, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/195 "2015-03-14T06:33:41Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Drove from Duluth Minnesota to Thunder Bay along Lake Superior. The Minnesota drive is beautiful: vast lake views, heavily forested, amazing granite cliffs. > > Then you cross in to Canada, and suddenly it’s farms, cleared land and small towns with lots of shops and stores. Then I realized that the most northern part of the US is seen as a cold untamed wilderness, but the southernmost part of Canada (at least in that region) is their best, warmest, most desirable area. I’ve said it before here, and I’ll probably say it again - you’re all southerners to me. 😃 > [@Acsenray](#): > > Yes, I agree that driving on a Canadian highway is much smoother and less noisy. \ My experience going from western Canada to Montana/Idaho/Utah is that the roads are far better in the US. Now I’m wondering just how fabulous highways are in eastern Canada that are so much better than the US highways! > [@Leaffan](#): > > Alberta has privatized sales too. But still no liquor sales in corner stores - you still have to go to dedicated liquor stores to get your booze. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > New surprise: I just looked up Ontario’s retail holidays, and one of them is _Good Friday_. I wouldn’t have even considered that to be a holiday, let alone a holiday when general society shuts down. That just seems really bizarre and clerical to me. Have you heard about Boxing Day, the stat holiday the day after Christmas? > [@Jaguars](#): > > I come from NZ and stayed in BC for a year in 1999. I was surprised at how hot it got during summer, I thought it was all snow all the time! Other than that the surprises were mostly in the home: central heating and much better weatherproofing are more common over there. But I’m sure you appreciated the central heating and insulation in winter, even in BC. 🙂 (We have a friend from Calgary who is living in NZ, and that’s his complaint, too - he misses his central heating and insulated housing.) > [@wguy123](#): > > \ Also, how expensive beer and liquor is. If I lived in Canada I’d have to sober up! That’s done purposefully - it’s called a Sin Tax. You don’t need booze and smokes, so we tax the holy Jesus out of them - you’re free to stop drinking and smoking if you don’t want to pay the Sin Tax. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/196 "2015-03-17T00:02:04Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s done purposefully - it’s called a Sin Tax. You don’t need booze and smokes, so we tax the holy Jesus out of them - you’re free to stop drinking and smoking if you don’t want to pay the Sin Tax. I know all about sin taxes since I live in a state where they are quite high (I can go a short distance to a reservation to know how cheap sinning can still be). But it is still night and day compared to BC. Those taxes are paving the highway to hell in gold brick! ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/197 "2015-03-17T12:43:44Z")
We went to see friends in New York and had to visit Niagara Falls. It was quite nice but we were surprised most of the best areas were on the Canadian side and very little was on the US side. We viewed this is a good thing guessing that it prevented the area from being turned into a gaudy theme park. Another surprise was finding poutine in places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s. We tried it in tiny restaurant and found it… okay. I have a dislike of soggy foods so the first couple of bites were good but the fries soon turned to mush. I could have done without the cheese though. :eek: ---
**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:** [March 17, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/198 "2015-03-17T14:49:51Z")
McDonald’s and Wendy’s poutine is no more poutine than a rat chewing on a crust as it is run over by a truck is a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/199 "2015-03-17T16:05:10Z")
I recently had a Pittsburgh take on poutine. Potato and cheese Pierogies deep fried and served covered in a rich beef gravy with fresh cheese curds on top. Mmmmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364/200 "2015-03-17T16:27:34Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > McDonald’s and Wendy’s poutine is no more poutine than a rat chewing on a crust as it is run over by a truck is a sandwich. Now that is a delicious visual! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-canadians-who-have-visited-canada-what-surprised-you-about-the-country/714364.md?page=11)