10 things Canada does so differently from the USA — that I only noticed after moving
They do things different south of the border...🇨🇦 🇺🇸
The USA is a whole different ball game for a Canadian.
Canada and the U.S. are so culturally intertwined that, before I moved south of the border, I assumed everyday life was basically the same. Ten years later, I've learned that's not exactly true.
The biggest differences aren't always the obvious ones, either. They're tiny habits and unwritten social rules you don't even realize you have until suddenly nobody around you is doing them.
Living in America has made me more aware of being Canadian than living in Canada ever did. Here are 10 things I had no idea were uniquely Canadian until I left.
Calling it the "washroom"
This is another one I had absolutely no idea was Canadian until I moved away. If I need to pee in a restaurant, I ask where the washroom is. What else would I call it?
Apparently, the "restroom."
Americans understand what you mean when you say washroom, but there's always a tiny flicker of recognition that you've said it wrong. And I'm sorry, but "restroom" makes considerably less sense. I'm not going in there to rest.
This is one Canadianism I refuse to give up. I'll accept "bathroom" in someone's house, but in public, it's a washroom. I have to draw the line somewhere.
"University" and "College" aren't the same
I went to university (for how long is neither here nor there). So did basically everyone else I know who got a bachelor's degree. In my Canadian brain, "college" and "university" are two very different things.
Then I moved to America, where everyone goes to "college." UCLA? College. A four-year state school? College. Actual community college? Also college. Harvard? "School in Boston" — the humble brag we all know and loathe.
I understand intellectually that Americans use "college" as a catch-all for undergraduate education. But after 10 years, I still can't do it. If you went to a university, you went to a university.
"Double double" is a phrase that doesn't exist
I grew up thinking a "double-double" was simply a unit of coffee. Two creams, two sugars. Done. You didn't even have to be at Tim Hortons — everyone knew what you meant.
In America, they order the exact same coffee, but they make you say the whole thing: "two cream, two sugar."
This surprised me for two reasons. One, "double-double" is objectively more efficient, which feels like it should be the American way. And two, if someone asks how you take your coffee and you say "double-double," that feels pretty intuitive, no? Double of one thing, double of the other?
Nope. They have no clue what you're talking about.
They hate the extra "u's"
I've lived in the U.S. for 10 years, but a core part of the Canadian identity I've never let go of is the way I spell "colour" and other words with extra vowels.
And my American companions DELIGHT in hitting back with a passive-aggressive "*color" over text. It happens so often that, at this point, my grammar is an act of rebellion.
The country-wide reliance on Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner was timeless. If your pantry was a flop, it was the best part of staying at your friend's house for dinner.
It was kid food, dad food, broke food and drunk food all at once. There was basically no occasion Kraft Dinner couldn't rise to. Americans just don't treat boxed mac and cheese like a food group the way we do.
And if they do do boxed mac and cheese, it's almost always Annie's.
They do diners the way we do Tim Hortons
Canada has Tim Hortons. America has thousands of diners that all somehow feel like the same diner. In Canada, Tim Hortons fills a lot of that cultural space. It's where you stop on a road trip, where your parents get breakfast at 6 a.m., where teenagers loiter, and where you grab a coffee because you have 20 minutes to kill.
Americans don't have one chain that fills that role quite the same way. Instead, they have diners — and frankly, this is one I'll give them. Diners are better.
Americans are obsessed with Venmo (aka e-transfer)
Despite Canada having an incredibly easy way to send money directly between bank accounts, I can count on one hand the number of times I've e-transferred a friend after dinner.
In Canada, everyone just sort of takes care of their own sh*t. Six people go out for dinner? Six bills. Everyone pays for themselves and goes home.
In America, I am constantly hearing, "Can I just Venmo you?" One person puts dinner on their card, someone else buys the movie tickets, another person grabs the Uber, and then everyone spends the rest of the night sending each other $27.
I'm not sure if this is because Americans have so many ways to send money around, or if Canadians are simply more polite and asking someone to spot you feels incredibly rude.
"You're fine" is the new "I'm sorry"
A key tenet of the Canadian social code is that both parties always apologize, no matter whose fault it is. Someone bumps into you at the grocery store? Somehow, "sorry" still tumbles out of your mouth. They reply with an even more earnest, "No, I'm sorry."
In America, that couldn't be further from the vibe. Little run-ins tend to go more like this:
"I'm sorry."
"You're fine."
It took me a while to get used to the fact that only one of us was going to apologize. Americans aren't necessarily less polite — they just seem perfectly comfortable accepting your apology instead of immediately returning one.
They honk their horns like it's punctuation
Americans have a really casual relationship with road rage that Canadians just don't. In Canada, if someone really leans on their horn, something has happened. It's probably dire.
In the U.S., people honk like they're participating in the conversation — and there's a 50% chance whatever they're mad about was actually their fault.
Unfortunately, I've adopted this way of life. When I go back to Canada and get a little liberal with the horn, I'm suddenly reminded that it does not translate. I've had pedestrians turn around and give me wide-eyed looks that can only be described as, "How dare you?"
It's one of the few ways living in America has made me noticeably less Canadian. I used to reserve the horn for an emergency. Now someone takes half a second too long at a green light, and I'm suddenly leaning on the horn, screaming, "We can all make this!"
"American Food" is a cuisine..."Canadian food" is what exactly?
Growing up, "American food" was an actual category of food. Burgers, barbecue, fried chicken, diner breakfasts, mac and cheese — there was a whole cuisine I vaguely understood to be American.
It wasn't until I moved to America that I realized I have absolutely no idea what the Canadian equivalent is.
Nobody in Canada says, "Let's get Canadian food tonight." What would that even mean? Poutine? Salmon? A Nanaimo bar? Kraft Dinner? Are we going to White Spot?
Obviously, Canada has regional dishes and foods that are distinctly Canadian, but "Canadian food" isn't really a cuisine in the way Italian, Mexican, Chinese or even American food is. At least, it never felt like one growing up.
Canadian food was just... food. A combination of dishes from everywhere else, plus a handful of things we quietly decided belonged to us.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.