25 Things Every Canadian Would Like You To Know
1. The word “eh” is not a weird tick Canadians have. It’s tacked on to an end of a sentence to illicit a response or input. It’s kinda like “right?”
i.e. “It’s nice weather out, eh?”
2. So if you’ve ever tried to imitate the “eh” thing, you were probably doing it wrong.
And if you’ve ever tried to mock the “eh” thing, it probably wasn’t that funny.
4. Our health care isn’t “free,” we pay for it with our taxes to make sure everyone has access.
6. A Canadian invented basketball. We’ll give you a minute to let that soak in.
Escuela Virtual de Deportes / Wikimedia Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org
The invention of basketball is accredited to James Naismith, an Ontario phys-ed instructor who attended McGill University.
7. And the BlackBerry your livelihood depended on? We conceived that too.
In 1999, Research In Motion (RIM) came up with the idea of a handheld email device, that would later become the BlackBerry/CrackBerry as we know it.
8. Canadians are a rare, exclusive club: all of them can fit in the state of California.
Population of Canada: ~35 million
Population of California: ~38 million
9. But not that exclusive! Compared to the U.S., Canada has a much simpler and more welcoming immigration system.
Canada’s immigration system is simpler and outshines the United States. In Canada nearly half of self-made millionaires are immigrants, compared to only one-third of American millionaires.
10. We don’t actually pronounce “about” as “aboot.”
There is an ever-slight accent when most Canadians pronounce the “ou” sound, but they do not actually say “oo” (as in “aboot”). It sounds more like “a-boat.”
12. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how Canadians drink milk (since everyone has a weird fascination with it):
Step 3: Cut a slit in the bag (with a Snippit) and consume. That is literally about it.
13. Yes, we have an army…
Lyle Stafford / Reuters
^Sergeant David Chelkoski of the Canadian Armed Forces returning from operation in 2014.
We even took over command of international security forces in Afghanistan in 2003.
14. No, we don’t live in igloos…
15. Canada is actually a very urban nation.
Creative Commons / Flickr: ecstaticist
The majority of Canadians live in cities, and Toronto is more populous than every U.S. city except New York and LA.
16. It’s not cold all-year round.
Sure, winters can be brutal, but there are times in the year when it’s not winter. Mind-blowing, eh?
17. “Yes, actually, I do know Steve from Vancouver. Thank you for asking.”
“Everyone knows Steve. Everyone knows everyone. Because we all live in rural communes, riding moose and transporting bagged milk from one igloo to the next.”
18. Tim Horton’s is not the only national coffee chain in the country.
If you like Timmies, you should try Second Cup, Coffee Time, etc.
19. When two Canadians accidentally bump into each other, they both apologize. And it’s a very genuine exchange.
Canadians don’t profusely apologize for no reason: they immediately acknowledge someone else’s apology by apologizing. It’s a very natural and genuine gesture. If you don’t say “sorry” to their “sorry,” it’s considered a little rude.
20. We realize that Americans, evidently, do not know anything about Canada…
BuzzFeed
Like, who the prime minister is or any other city outside of Toronto or Montreal.
21. (Toronto is not the capital of the country, for one.)
BuzzFeed
22. …while Canadians know and are aware of basic facts about their neighbours.
23. But we’re not surprised: Canada remains one of the most educated countries in the world.
Ben Hider / Getty Images
25. So… on behalf of every Canadian: Sorry and catch up?
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