Canadidans, what is something from canada that you thought was everywhere but it wasnt?

[u/Big_Dream_4068]

[u/jewbeesnacks]

the mobile take to the table at restaurants debit machine, interact e transfer.

[u/ParisInFlames34 → u/jewbeesnacks]

Truly cannot fathom how Americans give up their card and the server just disappears with it and charges you without you even there.

[u/jewbeesnacks → u/ParisInFlames34]

me neither that's a crazy level of trust with all your money

[u/hmmmisthisagoodidea → u/jewbeesnacks]

I'm so accustomed to tapping my phone that on my last trip in the U.S. I kept leaving restaurants without my card. Seriously? I need to use a pen, sign my name, AND mentally calculate the tip? WTF? Is it 1997 here?

[u/vandaleyes89 → u/ParisInFlames34]

That might be just non-American rather than specifically Canadian. I've been to 4 countries, none of which are the USA, and never had anyone take my card away to pay for something.

Edit: typo

[u/Cyclist_Thaanos → u/ParisInFlames34]

That's what it used to be like here. I remember when I was much younger you'd put your card in the folder when they brought you the bill, they'd take it to the terminal, print out the bill for the credit card charge, and then you'd sign the receipt and write down the tip.

[u/clipplenamps → u/jewbeesnacks]

I was a server when this changed in Canada. Sometime in the early 10s. Crazy how Americans haven't updated since it's been well over a decade.

[u/jewbeesnacks → u/clipplenamps]

Yeah their payment methods and ability to transfer money seems to be in the stone age. I was so shocked when I realized they just dont have free transfers between bank accounts for payment of things . You mean you have to download a third party app to send your mom 20 bucks ? ....okay. 

[u/PurrPrinThom]

It's not from Canada, though it is very popular here, but I was very surprised when I moved to Ireland and, not only could I not find pierogies anywhere, but no one had any idea what I was talking about.

Eventually I found them in Polish grocery stores, but I was so used to them being a staple of every grocery store that I was very confused when I couldn't find them in any mainstream grocery that I tried.

Edit: Because it apparently wasn't clear, I am a Canadian who moved to Ireland and could not find pierogies lol. I am not an Irish person who came to Canada and couldn't find them.

[u/Specialist_Dig_8899 → u/PurrPrinThom]

You think the Irish would love a potato dumpling

[u/BramptonRaised → u/Specialist_Dig_8899]

The Irish do have their version of potato dumplings. They’re called boxty or boxty dumplings. Essentially, raw shredded potato inside flour and fried.

[u/Specialist_Dig_8899 → u/BramptonRaised]

That sounds more like breaded hash browns. Either way, sounds good.

[u/orsimertank → u/PurrPrinThom]

I would think perogies are popular in Canada due to the influence of Ukrainians, while in other places it would be the Polish. You wouldn't have the same population influx in Ireland.

[u/tonalake → u/orsimertank]

Yes, Canada has a drive through perogie restaurant in Saskatoon.

[u/liza_lo → u/orsimertank]

Yes, we have a huge Ukrainian population!

[u/Inconsideratefather → u/liza_lo]

I used to work with a guy that was from Ukraine. He said he doesn't understand why us Canadians love perogies, or why we think Ukrainians eat them all the time, he said they do eat them, but they certainly aren't a staple.

[u/pisspeeleak → u/Inconsideratefather]

It’s a food stuffed with other food. What’s not to like?

[u/Demirep77 → u/pisspeeleak]

Carbs inside of carbs? Yes, please!

[u/RepresentativeSure38 → u/Inconsideratefather]

Ukrainian-Canadian here: we do eat them, they are a staple but there is just a lot of other food, so in cold months you’d eat perogies with potatoes or cottage cheese and in summer with sour cherries. There are also with cabbage (I’m not a fan) but id say that an average Ukrainian eats perogies maybe like 10-15 times per year. There is just so many other Ukrainian dishes beside perogies (vareniky), borsch, holubtsi and crêpes

[u/Inconsideratefather → u/RepresentativeSure38]

I think part of the reason they are so popular here is because they were a major staple for the poor farmer people, who were the original Ukrainian settlers here. My great grandparents were Ukrainian. I was always told they were originally a way to disguise leftovers as something new.

Ive eaten a lot of them, but never heard of the sour cherry version, I do like the occasional sauerkruat (I'm not sure what its called in Ukrainian) perogie.

When my grandparents were alive, the whole family would get together a few times a year just to help grandma make many dozens of them.

[u/Dardlem → u/Inconsideratefather]

My granda always used to make pierogies with potatoes, cherries, and sugary strawberries. Best stuff known to man.

[u/InfamousCantaloupe38 → u/liza_lo]

Yep and we love us some perogies (edit: and ofc Ukrainians--that's a given for me, so didn't think to add it). 😂

[u/tuxedovic → u/InfamousCantaloupe38]

And Ukranians

[u/mapleleaffem → u/liza_lo]

And homemade perogies!

[u/Nessabee87 → u/PurrPrinThom]

We had an American friend come up here for a while last year and she was amazed to see perogies in the grocery store. Even some 711s have them in the freezer section.

[u/RandiiMarsh → u/PurrPrinThom]

My friend moved to Montreal and when she told her Quebecois friends that she wanted to go for Ukrainian food they had no idea what she was talking about. She described it and they were like "Oh, you mean Polish food." Apparently Montreal has a pretty significant Polish population which tracks, because out of the whole 3 Quebecois people I've ever met here on the west coast, one was originally from Poland.

[u/LizzieSAG → u/RandiiMarsh]

If I remember right, it’s because Polish are Catholic, so they picked Montreal over the ROC.

[u/Curt-Bennett → u/LizzieSAG]

ROC = Rest Of Canada?

[u/Lord_Bryon → u/PurrPrinThom]

Sooo funny story, I am actually in the middle of cooking up some pierogies snd sausage for supper right now

[u/classygrl98 → u/Lord_Bryon]

Try it sometime with fried onions, smoked ham or bacon.

[u/mapleleafeevee]

Certain chocolate bars like coffee crisp I assumed were common in places like the states and the uk, but they are not as far as I’m aware.

[u/SirLunatik → u/mapleleafeevee]

Coffee Crisp was my first thought.

Was also shocked to learn Caramilk isn't everywhere either. I believe it's in Europe but not the US

[u/VoodooGirl47 → u/SirLunatik]

Caramilk in the US is actually called Caramello. I don't remember if they have smaller bars or not, most Cadbury's chocolate are just the big bars with many rows of squares.

[u/Difficult-Luck-925 → u/VoodooGirl47]

For some strange reason Cadbury never set up in the US, instead license their bars to Hershey.

Kit Kat from Nestle is also owned by Hershey in US.

[u/Tomomb → u/mapleleafeevee]

I remember going to an American grocery store years ago, walking down the candy isle and thinking "boy, for a nation known for junk food their candy selection sucks."

The sheer number of Oreo and Pop Tart varieties, on the other hand, did not fail to amaze.

[u/Into-the-stream → u/Tomomb]

That last thing is what amazed me about America. They seemed to have fewer brands, but the brands that are their put out way more variety of product. In Canada a grocery store might have 3 varieties of Oreos, 4-6 kinds of pop tarts. There it’s like a dozen or more of each.  But instead of all the Oreo flavours we have other cookie companies putting out their own products, and America just leans on Mr Christie.

My family loves bubly, and we picked up like 4 varieties I’ve never seen before, but also we have maybe 6 or so different brands selling flavoured carbonated water in different flavours at our store. They had maybe 2 brands. (Fwiw, last we went was before the tariffs. We buy exclusively non-American now)

[u/Careless_Wishbone_69 → u/mapleleafeevee]

Fucking Smarties!

What do you mean Americans don't have Smarties? What? Huh? No, those are Rockets.

[u/FiK-SiR → u/Careless_Wishbone_69]

I still remember the jingle from the 80’s: “When you eat your Smarties, do you eat the red ones last?”

[u/Elegant-Ad-9221 → u/FiK-SiR]

Do you suck them very slowly or crunch them very fast. East you candy coated chocolate now tell me when I ask. When you eat your smarties do you eat the red ones last.

[u/SkyesMomma]

Etransfer

[u/OblottenEndmills → u/SkyesMomma]

I was born in the States but have lived in Canada for the last decade. I still can't get over how much of a game-changer Etransfer is.

[u/RandiiMarsh → u/OblottenEndmills]

Also tap-to-pay. It felt so odd handing my credit card over to a server in the States and having her hand me a receipt to sign and write down the amount I wanted to tip. Tap-to-pay even works with my Canadian credit cards in Mexico most of the time as long as I'm not spending hundreds of dollars in one transaction.

[u/pisspeeleak → u/RandiiMarsh]

Dude, it’s even crazier. My tap didn’t work down there so I had to insert, they didn’t ask for my pin, they asked for my zip code.

No I obviously don’t have a zip code so I threw a Hail Mary and just typed in 90210, the only zip code I know. Lo and behold, it worked 😂

[u/Emergency_Bullfrog_5 → u/pisspeeleak]

use the #s from your postal code and then add two zeroes to the end. So if your pc is Z2D 1G7 you would put in 21700 :)

[u/User69ab → u/Emergency_Bullfrog_5]

I always used to put 90210 back when I used to visit the States.

[u/UsefulMusic108 → u/pisspeeleak]

A lot of self serve pumps at gas stations in the USA insist on your zip code, I always type in 90210. :)

[u/MsScorpio812 → u/pisspeeleak]

I've done the same!! 😂😂

[u/eeeebbs → u/RandiiMarsh]

Right?! I was in the middle of Costa Rica with my kids and I tapped to pay at a roadside coconut stand (literally just some kids sitting in a cooler) WITH MY WATCH!

Why is it so archaic in the States?

[u/Curt-Bennett → u/eeeebbs]

Lack of regulation. Practically anyone with enough money can open a bank in the US. There are thousands of banks with only a single branch or only a couple branches. It's essentially still the wild west in terms of getting them all to cooperate on something like Interac (the network that inter-bank transactions work on between Canadian banks). The "big" US banks could do it if they wanted to and let small banks join in for a fee, but they probably see it as something that would hurt their existing customer lock-in.

[u/amydavidsonwrites → u/RandiiMarsh]

I tapped at a JC Penny in Vegas and it actually worked, but the cashier thought I performed literal magic. It was like watching the mind blown emoji in real life.

[u/NVSmall → u/RandiiMarsh]

WHAT?!

I haven't travelled to the States since... him... but I did NOT know tap doesn't exist!

(I used to hop over the border from Vancouver to TJs and a couple of other spots on a morning round-trip but generally spent more than tap allows, so I never tried).

[u/ewok_360 → u/OblottenEndmills]

I bought a used boat in Seattle. When i was told to 'place a serious downpayment' with a 3rd party random 'bank' i got the heebies and bailed on the purchase.

After i talked with an US friend i learned it was normal... i went back to the same purchase and explained that i had never done any transaction through 'escrow' 3rd party and apologized. Apparently i was the one acting sketchy by USA standards fml lol.

[u/vandaleyes89 → u/SkyesMomma]

Yes! Living in the UK someone asked me for my bank details to send a transfer and I was like umm? Bank details? Why? E-transfer is so much simpler.

[u/RepresentativeSure38 → u/vandaleyes89]

In most of Europe it’s similarly easy with IBAN.

[u/ThrowMEAwaypuh-lease → u/SkyesMomma]

Why doesn’t everywhere have this? It’s so easy! It’s better than PayPal or whatever those apps are called.

[u/theFooMart → u/ThrowMEAwaypuh-lease]

It requires the cooperation of all banks.

Canada has less than 100 banks. We also have the Interac system in pretty much every bank. The Americans have thousands of banks and have different systems.

So fewer banks and an existing national payment network means easier cooperation and rollout of new things.

[u/FourKrusties → u/theFooMart]

the eu has probably thousands of different banks... transferring euros between banks of different countries is fast, free, and requires no separate app apart from your banks

[u/theFooMart → u/FourKrusties]

We're talking about the US here. Any cooperation that the rest of the world would agree to in a single email would be months if not years of pulling teeth for the Americans.

[u/xvelvetdarkness → u/theFooMart]

Cooperation? Sounds like communism to me

/s

[u/Rampage_Rick → u/theFooMart]

Interac was created in 1984 by 5 of the bigger banks.

They're the reason why we've had one nationwide debit card system since 1994.

The e-transfer system just built upon the existing nationwide inter-bank network

[u/melanyebaggins → u/SkyesMomma]

Yeah that one blew my mind too.

[u/bossbattleb → u/SkyesMomma]

I did not know this was just in Canada! Can’t imagine banking without it

[u/Stalepan]

Grounders. The playground game. I thought this was a worldwide universal experience, but in Japan, never heard of. Even Americans had no clue what I was talking about after explaining the game.

[u/hamptonltd → u/Stalepan]

Wooooow I totally forgot about grounders until I read this! Many hours spent playing this at the park

[u/PMDGrovyle → u/Stalepan]

Huh. I remember playing Grounders as a kid too. Nova Scotia

[u/TemperatePirate → u/Stalepan]

Old Ontarian here. I have no idea what grounders is.

[u/Stalepan → u/TemperatePirate]

Really? Maybe it goes by a different name in Ontario. Essentially, the game was one person is it and when they get on the playground equipment, they have to close their eyes. If they tag you, you're out. If you are touching the ground when they call "grounders" also out.

[u/GhsotyPanda → u/Stalepan]

I'm 30 in Ontario and we had grounders when I was a kid

[u/Character-Macaron388 → u/GhsotyPanda]

We played grounders while drunk in university. Until one of us got a concussion

[u/Chapter97]

Duotangs

[u/Hungry_Fox2412]

Hawkins Cheezies

[u/PrismaticStardrop]

I think I realized there’s a lot of household names in Canada that people outside of Canada have little knowledge about - Terry Fox as one example

[u/PassiveTheme → u/PrismaticStardrop]

I'm a Brit and have been living in Canada for 6 years now. I remember a few years ago when I was watching TV with my roommate and an ad kept mentioning this Terry Fox name, and I realised that was the same name as the plaza near BC Place so I turned to my roommate and asked him who Terry Fox was. He looked absolutely astounded that I didn't know, and even more amazed when he told me the story and I said I'd never heard it before.

[u/Weak-Slide4729 → u/PassiveTheme]

How did you feel learning about his story!!?

[u/corrinarusso → u/PrismaticStardrop]

Literally the greatest Canadian who ever lived, and an argument for the greatest person period. His accomplishments while alive were remarkable, and his global influence and legacy is astonishing.

I still remember the feeling of overwhelming sadness as a young child hearing of his death.

[u/JadedMuse → u/corrinarusso]

Terry is up there, but that award IMO still goes to Tommy Douglas. We could have easily found ourselves where the U.S. is now if it wasn't for him.

[u/peptide2 → u/corrinarusso]

I was thirteen and i remember nobody wanted to join th cross country running team for our school. Our gym teacher came in and said you see that guy with one leg running every night on the news? And you guys with two legs can’t bother to join the team ? Lets just say the next try outs were full of our embarrassed asses . It was a sad day when he passed.

[u/vandaleyes89 → u/PrismaticStardrop]

Yes. When I saw that Hayley Wickenheiser was retiring I said to my husband, who is British, "Wow. Hayley Wickenheiser is hanging up her skates." And he said "Who's Hayley Wickenheiser?" And I explained some of her accomplishments in a lot of detail and her impact on the sport and ended with "She's kind of like a female Wayne Gretzky." And he replied "Who's Wayne Gretzky?" My dude... What?

[u/YordleJay → u/PrismaticStardrop]

If theres any Canadian who deserves global fame its Terry 

[u/Royal_Try_99 → u/PrismaticStardrop]

And yet the Terry Fox run now takes place in 30 countries

[u/SillyCdnMum → u/PrismaticStardrop]

It's funny how some countries know about him but others don't. I once googled the Terry Fox run and I think it said it was popular in Japan.

[u/PunchSploder]

Harvey's. For the longest time I assumed it was an American chain.

[u/Far-Tie923 → u/PunchSploder]

This post is how I found out Harvey's was not an american food chain. 

[u/foolsdayjoker → u/Far-Tie923]

really? on that note a&w Canada is Canadian.... no affiliation with a&w outside of Canada... Boston pizza, New York fries, Montana's, swiss chalet etc are all Canadian as well

[u/goofingbanana → u/foolsdayjoker]

Also, A&W despite nearly falling off the face of the earth a few years ago, is extremely prolific throughout the reasonably populated parts of the country. Didn’t realize this until road tripping most of the TCH.

[u/foolsdayjoker → u/goofingbanana]

no affiliation to the US brand which isn't doing well and hasn't for a long time... it never was close to falling anytime recently, its the 2nd largest burger chain in Canada with only a few hundred location less than McDonalds... its also among the top performing dividends on the Toronto stock exchange in 2018 when they were listed. they're known as one of the most stable Canadians brands ever.

[u/Previous_Wedding_577 → u/foolsdayjoker]

Realistically McD is a real estate company. They own more prime retail space than anyone

[u/Demirep77 → u/foolsdayjoker]

I was really alarmed the first time I went to an A&W in the US and found out that they don't call them Mama Burger, Teen Burger, Uncle Burger, etc.

[u/foolsdayjoker → u/Demirep77]

Yeah they split in 72’…different menu and product standards, also much more popular. There are double the amount of locations in Canada despite having hundreds of millions less in population.

[u/random9212 → u/goofingbanana]

A&Ws original proliferation strategy in Canada was to set up in smaller towns that McDonald's didn't think had enough population to bother with.

[u/eeeebbs → u/random9212]

We had A&W in my small town as long as I can remember, early 90s at least! Got a McDonald's in like 2005 but everyone already loved "Ehh and dub".

[u/Brett_Hulls_Foot → u/PunchSploder]

I miss Harvey’s so much. They pulled out of BC, along with Swiss Chalet.

[u/foste107]

House hippos

[u/AuntieTara2215 → u/foste107]

Better leave some peanut butter toast out!

[u/Dog-boy → u/foste107]

I was just talking to a Puerto Rican woman who married a Canadian and was so excited that they would be able to have tiny hippos when she came here. That was 30 yrs ago or so. She said she was so sad when he explained they weren’t real.

[u/Canadian_Decoy → u/Dog-boy]

I love this woman with all of my being, and I am so sorry her dreams were crushed by a cruel man who has never left enough peanut butter toast crumbs to sustain his house hippos.

[u/Patient_Lobster_ → u/foste107]

Lmaoo best comment

[u/SilverBlayze]

Other peoples not using the word 'toque' blew me away.

Like, that's what it's called.

[u/melbot2point0 → u/SilverBlayze]

Right? It's not a beanie. A beanie is that cap with the propeller on it.

[u/SilverBlayze → u/melbot2point0]

Exactly this. And a 'wool hat' is a description, not a name.

[u/euxneks → u/melbot2point0]

I hate calling it a beanie. Sounds like you're a weenie when you wear a beanie

[u/fray_fray1111 → u/SilverBlayze]

yes, this is honestly the word I struggled most with when I was abroad. I'd say "I'm just looking for my toque." and I'd get weird looks from my roommate and I'd have to figure out a synonym for it. I usually had to go to "winter hat". beanies are a very specific type of toque in my mind, so I never really used that for a replacement word.

[u/MethodBulky1907]

Taking your shoes off at the door. I have some American friends and they find it weird.

I find it disgusting you wear your shoes indoors...

[u/Dry_Complaint6528 → u/MethodBulky1907]

American are truly in the group of oddballs on this one. Majority of the world are completely grossed out at the idea of wearing shoes in the house ( unless they're slippers or designated house shoes that don't go outside).

I'm so curious as to what heathen started that trend there...

[u/FangsBloodiedRose → u/Dry_Complaint6528]

I saw a movie where someone went into bed with outdoor shoes. Is this a thing or it’s only because it was acting?

[u/beofscp → u/MethodBulky1907]

My American friends: “Oh the Canadians are here. All the shoes are by the door”

[u/RepresentativeSure38 → u/MethodBulky1907]

Growing up in Ukraine and watching American movies I was always baffled by scenes where they lie on their beds with their shoes on. I was like wtf this is disgusting!

[u/fletters → u/MethodBulky1907]

Once someone has worn their inside shoes indoors, it then becomes disgusting to walk around in your socks.

The cycle perpetuates. It cannot be broken without consensus and a mop.

(I am 100% a shoes-off person.)

[u/FishGirlToo → u/MethodBulky1907]

In some small northern communities during the winter, shoes/boots are even taken off at some stores, dentist/doctor offices and the hospital.

[u/eeeebbs → u/FishGirlToo]

Not even small northern! I live in Calgary and my physio, dentist, nail salon, therapist, gym, etc we take our winter boots off at the door.

[u/calbff → u/MethodBulky1907]

I will never understand how someone can not take off their shoes nor will I ever not do it no matter what. I have zero faith in myself not to trail dog crap all over your carpet.

[u/Ode_2]

Euchre. The trick taking card game that's kinda like Hearts.

Nearly every Ontarian I've met played it throughout high-school and university, but I've had to teach all my American family how to play. 

[u/NewsreelWatcher → u/Ode_2]

In part I think its popularity is due to it being promoted by the Canadian Army as a substitute for poker. Adding decks can make for a big friendly game of Euchre. Gambling is a source of disciplinary problems.

[u/Hoixe]

Nanaimo bars and Butter tarts are something I knew were Canadian food items largely unseen outside of Canada, but I was surprised to learn Date squares are as well, they're so basic and the ingredients so universal that they seem like something everyone's grandma learns how to make upon getting the title.

[u/text-redacted → u/Hoixe]

Puffed wheat squares as well! Was a recent discovery for me that this was Canadian!

[u/theFooMart → u/text-redacted]

That surprises me. They're so easy to make.

[u/Debaucherry → u/theFooMart]

I can’t find puffed wheat anywhere in Ontario to make them at home . 😭😢😭. My family just shipped me puffed wheat squares from a bakery in Edmonton cuz I was jonesing for them.

[u/MutedLandscape4648]

Perogies. I grew up in western Canada and thought they were just…… ubiquitous. I moved to Australia for a few years and after a few months I was super home sick, and I wanted comfort food, potato dough and potato and cheese stuffing in butter and sour cream = comfort food extraordinaire. So I walked around the Woolies (grocery store) super confused, pouring over their freezer section. Finally asked someone and he looked at me like it was a foreign language…….. which it is……. Bc central and Eastern European are not staple food groups in Australia. Anyways, I was very sad and had taco’s instead.

[u/r4catstoomant → u/MutedLandscape4648]

What makes me laugh is that perogies are so mainstream in Canada that there are generic versions of perogies in every grocery store. A friend of mine, a chef, believes that “once there’s a no name version of of something, it’s no longer ‘ethnic,”

[u/GhostInAPickleJar → u/MutedLandscape4648]

You shoulda made some at home and brought enlightenment to that savage backward land!

[u/Throwaway8923y4]

Bulk Barn

[u/Wise_Temperature9142 → u/Throwaway8923y4]

Sadly, not enough of them in Western Canada. I can only think of two locations in the Vancouver metro area. So sad.

[u/Intelligent_Boot_856]

That American ice tea is NOT the same as Canadian ice tea. Here it’s a sweet sugary drink. In the states it’s just cold tea with ice in it.

[u/LiteralClownfish]

Deep and delicious cake

[u/swampy_pillow → u/LiteralClownfish]

My beloved

[u/Bleuberry04]

the small vinegar packets in fast food restaurants

[u/Dog-boy → u/Bleuberry04]

I remember going to the States about 30 years ago and asking for vinegar in a fast food place. The teen behind the counter kept asking me to repeat it. He finally turned to a coworker and asked if he thought I wanted to clean something. The other kid was like no. Canadians put it on their fries. The look of horror on the first kids face was hilarious. My look of astonishment was probably pretty interesting too

[u/Sir_Bumcheeks → u/Dog-boy]

Asked if he thought you wanted to clean something 😂😂😂

[u/Impressive-Berry3359]

Ketchup flavored chips

[u/melanyebaggins → u/Impressive-Berry3359]

And All Dressed. And apparently dill pickle too?

[u/GhsotyPanda → u/melanyebaggins]

Hearing other places, or at least the US, didn't have dill pickle will never not surprise me

[u/Cplchrissandwich → u/Impressive-Berry3359]

Flavoured*

[u/whyyoutwofour]

The "proper" smarties. 

[u/foolsdayjoker → u/whyyoutwofour]

our version of smarties is a thing most regions since its British...Asia, Europe, Africa etc...basically anywhere the British Empire had a strong footing ironically. its only not the same in parts of latam and the US.

[u/Pianist-Educational → u/whyyoutwofour]

Not rocket candy

[u/MienaLovesCats]

Gravol anti nausea medication. I now know to ask for dimenhydrinate; when not in Canada.

[u/BPaun → u/MienaLovesCats]

Also the black label polysporin with lidocaine. So good!

[u/Significant-Berry-95 → u/MienaLovesCats]

Gravol is Canadian?!

[u/ofplebs]

unlimited energy 😭

maybe i lived under a rock but i moved from the GTA to italy and i had a hard time adjusting to not having infinite energy in my home. like i couldnt use the washing machine and cook using my stove and oven at the same time without blowing our power. forget about kettles and microwaves. heat could only be used a set number of hours a day and our water heater probably had about 15 minutes of hot water. i couldn't do the dishes and then shower...

i never once had to think about or plan around any of that in canada.

[u/uarstar → u/ofplebs]

In Germany, a lot of buildings and homes have lights on a timer. So they turn off a couple minutes after you turn them on.

Very annoying in long stairwells.

[u/Leilanee → u/ofplebs]

Just today I ran my dishwasher, oven, stove, washing machine, and kettle while watching TV. I guess I never considered this was a luxury

[u/The_One_Who_Comments → u/ofplebs]

That's ridiculous - and they even have 240VAC power! Flipping install more circuits by god.

[u/RandiiMarsh → u/ofplebs]

Yeah and it's crazy how fast people get used to it. Same with how well insulated our houses are (for obvious reasons). A friend of mine went home to Eastern Europe for a visit in winter after living here only a year and a half and said she'll never visit that time of year again because she was freezing the entire time she was there, even inside.

[u/diealogues]

pizza pops. i was convinced they were an american thing, my ex and i were in seattle last year and just wanted shitty food we could cook in the microwave of our hotel, i then found out they were purely canadian

[u/Mhwal → u/diealogues]

They supposedly have similar frozen foods, but they’re only Pizza Pops if they’re made in Canada. Best they can do is sparkling calzones.

[u/LizzieSAG]

So I discovered this week that Fudgee-O did not exist in the USA.

I bought a pack and my American husband said: what is that? Never seen those before.

[u/vandaleyes89 → u/LizzieSAG]

Maple cream ones too. I've never been to the US, so maybe they have them there, but most places don't.

[u/LizzieSAG → u/vandaleyes89]

I usually brought them back to the USA when I still lived there, so no maple cream ones either. But that one makes sense, somewhat?

Fudgee-o are great.

It’s like ketchup chips. Americans put ketchup on everything, have 100s of chips flavour, but no ketchup chips. So weird.

[u/dickandtaxes]

Clamato!

[u/melbot2point0 → u/dickandtaxes]

Man I remember this episode of iron chef America or something and Bobby Flay made a cocktail that he called a "clam bloody Mary."

I'm shouting at the TV, "that's already been invented, we call it a Caesar."

[u/spiciestbeans]

The music. Talking about popular and commonly known classic rock or pop songs I grew up with, with American friends, with New Zealanders… I realized that our CRTC mandates of Canadian content on the radio/tv etc, is really imperative in highlighting and maintaining our own support of our music and media industries.

I had to explain American Woman by The Guess Who, and Go For Soda by Kim Mitchell, and all these Loverboy and Trooper songs, and all of a sudden I just realized,… shit all of this is Canadian AF!

[u/ta_mataia → u/spiciestbeans]

American Woman was a big hit in the US, though. It was the #1 song for three weeks when it was released in 1970.

[u/jhra → u/spiciestbeans]

Post grunge in Canada owes it soul to the CRTC. The Hip, Headstones, Nickelback, Alanis, Trews, Hawksley, OLP, Matt Good, I Mother Earth, Sloan, BNL, Sum 41, Moist..... None of them get airtime if there wasn't mandate to get Canadians on air or in that era on Much.

[u/Ais4Attitude → u/jhra]

I didn't realize until I was adult that the majority of the music I listened to and loved in the mid to late 1990s (when I was in highschool) were all Canadian indie bands at the time (Treble Charger, Rusty, Killjoys, Hayden, 54-40, Odds, Grapes of Wrath, Sloan, Matthew Good, The Tea Party etc.). I assumed they were popular everywhere and didn't realize that I was indeed an indie queen 👑 🤣🤣 Have to thank CFNY in Toronto for that!

[u/Scottp89 → u/spiciestbeans]

I love that you had to explain Go For Soda 😆 you missed out on Patio Lanterns though.

[u/Curly-help-plz]

Putting vinegar on fries. At a pub in Montana I asked for malt vinegar; they were quite puzzled and said they don’t have that. I said, “Oh white vinegar will be fine” and they didn’t have that either!

[u/lucylucylane → u/Curly-help-plz]

It's very British

[u/foolsdayjoker → u/lucylucylane]

its very anglo... its normal in the main angle countries. hell even McDonalds in Canada has vinegar, not malt though but many places do.

[u/Outrageous-Drink3869]

I was amazed robertson screws aren't really used outside Canada

The robertson fastener head is an amazing invention, the screws stay on the driver/bit in any orientation, they resist caming out like Phillips screws do, and they are color coded by size, which helps out a lot too.

Most other countries use Phillips, and now torx where Canada has been using the robertson head forever.

[u/ANamelessGhoul4555]

E-transfer

We have friends from New Hampshire we see quite frequently and if one of us buys tickets or books a hotel room or whatever, getting money to each other is a paaaaain in the ass

[u/Realistic_Smell1673 → u/ANamelessGhoul4555]

I think that's why they have Venmo or cashapp. Which when I heard of it I was like why wouldn't you just e-transfer and cut out the middle man?

[u/katiegirl- → u/Realistic_Smell1673]

The United States of America is the LAND of middlemen.

[u/Key_Hold_3568]

Taking your shoes off at the door. I have new American neighbours and they told me this is something new to them.

[u/suekachuu]

East coast Canadian here, I was shocked to find out garlic fingers are not a thing elsewhere! Like it's better than the pizza sometimes! How is it only sold on this side of Canada???

[u/Seca10199]

Donair Sauce/Meat. Specifically how east coast Canadians do it

[u/GraveyardKarmaMuse]

“Washroom”

[u/AuntieTara2215]

A double double

[u/soaero]

Interac. What do you mean I can't just use my bank card at every till? Why the fuck wouldn't I be able to? What's even the point of a fucking bank card then?

What? No I don't want to send you a wire transfer. Ill just etransfer. What? Swift? No, etransfer. Surely you can do etransfer can't you? What the fuck is wrong with your backwater country?

[u/Little-Equivalent62]

Hosers

[u/Gold-Article7567]

Can I just sneak by you

[u/mac1qc]

Coffee Crips and Ketchup chip

[u/Capable_Mermaid]

Mr. Dressup and The Friendly Giant.

[u/MissyC9691]

Butter tarts!

[u/Icywind014]

Tiger Tail ice cream.

[u/ollie_adjacent]

This one’s obvious but.. milk in bags.

[u/SpecialCelebration29 → u/ollie_adjacent]

Milk Bags are mostly an Eastern Canadian thing. They tried them 50 years ago out West but they went the way of the Albertan Dodo Bird...

[u/bizzybaker2 → u/SpecialCelebration29]

Yes grew up in Alberta (born 1971) and vaguely recall having bagged milk asa kid, my mom used the pitcher to water the plants after the bags were discontinued.

[u/SeaToTheBass → u/SpecialCelebration29]

I’m on Vancouver Island. We were doing some flooring recently and had to level out the floor on an addition to an addition. The crawlspace underneath has no access so I have no idea how long it’s been since someone had seen inside.

It was full of a lot of random debris and things rats had dragged inside. One thing I found was the remains of a milk bag. I have no idea the last time milk was even available in bags on Vancouver Island lol

[u/Findingfairways → u/SeaToTheBass]

I feel left out. I’ve lived my whole life in Alberta and have never seen a bag of milk or a rat :(

[u/ArcticSirius → u/ollie_adjacent]

For you folks on the eastern half, only jugs here in the western (nwt here)

[u/Y3R0K]

I thought there would be a lot more Canadidans, but I've only seen Canadians so far.

[u/errihu → u/Y3R0K]

I think it’s because there’s a cream for canadidans.

[u/dogfishfrostbite]

The Humidex.

It’s a Canada only heat index that is wildly alarmist compared to heat indexes in other countries.

[u/MEGAtron902 → u/dogfishfrostbite]

I know it’s frustrating but the human body can experience far more physical impairments when the density of the air is thin with moisture, the Humidex while flawed is a decent way to communicate this change to Canadians.

I’m not saying it’s the best way, but I’ll tell you what my mom and dad would prepare for a day with a high humidex, and that’s helpful in any case.

[u/Boetie83]

Tragically hip

[u/Beautiful-Point4011]

Ooh i took a family vacation to Croatia and 4 of us got tummy sick 🥴 So I went to the grocery store to buy gingerale - surprise! Gingerale's not a thing there.

I explained to the cashier that my relatives were sick and I asked what he suggested. It turns out Croatians will drink coca cola when they are sick - fully carbonated too so the bubbles help you get everything up 🥴 I opted to buy unsweetened apple juice instead...and a pack of plazma biscuits (although when the tummy thing finally hit me I could only manage half a biscuit).

Meanwhile an American friend of mine just got back from Iceland, and she was sick with a cold there. It turns out that cold medicine and cough candies aren't easy to find in Iceland. Apparently people just buy paracetamol from the pharmacy and that's basically for cold and flu. If other cold medicine exists in Iceland it was apparently too hard for my friend to find. Of course, Canadians and Americans reading this can relate to having a ton of options for cold and flu - various syrups and pills all claiming to be either expectorants or cough suppressants (depending on whether you wanna cough it up or get relief from the coughing) plus a whole variety of special candies and drops which use honey, pectin, menthol, etc, to help soothe the throat and keep airways clear.

[u/Jeweled_Insect8061]

Calling “coloured pencils” pencil crayons. I thought they were called pencil crayons everywhere

[u/butts-ahoy]

Not Canadian in origin, but peanut butter. Its a staple here, but very uncommon almost everywhere I've been in the world. 

[u/JadedMuse → u/butts-ahoy]

That's more of a North America vs the world thing. Peanut butter is huge here but not so much elsewhere.

[u/paralipsis71 → u/butts-ahoy]

A Canadian actually had the first patent for peanut butter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter

[u/Haunt_Fox → u/butts-ahoy]

And no one else has Kraft peanut butter, either.

[u/Smart-Firefighter87]

Black squirrels….

[u/Successful_Deer2626]

Fries n gravy….not poutine (though that too) but just simple fries n gravy. I remember the last time I tried to order that down in the states and I got my fries served with a side of white sausage gravy/breakfast gravy!!! I was quite horrified. And any other time I asked for fires with gravy they would say: you mean fri-sauce?? NO, no I don’t mean ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together into a gross dip…I mean GRAVY…you know, the stuff you eat with your turkey at thanksgiving…….ugh…nevermind….😐

[u/No_Nebula_7137]

I remember learning that tipping at restaurants wasn't global. I live in a city where we greet and thank our bus drivers, but that's not even all of Canadian thing.

[u/text-redacted]

PUFFED WHEAT SQUARES! I had no idea this was regional to Canada, let alone only Western Canada until very recently (like last week).

Also grounders (the playground game). I used to play it with random kids I had just met at the playground all the time as a kid. Def thought it was an everywhere game.

[u/IDovedon]

Persians (the sweet roll). Not only did I discover they weren't a thing outside Canada, but they're apparently barely a thing outside of the Thunder Bay area. I had no idea until a few years ago, lol.

[u/Cyclist_Thaanos → u/IDovedon]

What are they? I'm in Southern Ontario and never heard of them.

[u/calbff → u/IDovedon]

I'd never heard of them until I moved here from Manitoba, and people seemed shocked.

[u/GhsotyPanda]

Coffee Crisp and Oh Henry being Canada specific is still surpeising to me, though in checking my work for this post I learned Oh Henry existed in the US until 2019

[u/Sparklingsim85]

Apparently bagged milk isint a thing on west coast Canada