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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions For Visitors To The USA And Canada - Is Canada the same as the USA?

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The opinions in the following comments are based on our visits to small and medium sized towns in Canada rather than large cities, and of course there are certain to be many exceptions to these very general comments. Please remember that some of the following are personal opinions and impressions.

• Although both countries have Dollars and cents, their currencies are different - both the notes and the coins. Canadian banknotes have a very different design to those of the USA, but Canadian coins are very similar to those of the USA.

• The rate of exchange for the two currencies is quite different; for example in February 2004 the US Dollar was worth about 0.55 UK Pounds (55p) and the Canadian Dollar was worth about 0.42 UK Pounds (42p). It is important to remember the difference in the exchange rates when comparing prices in the two countries.

• In most parts of the USA and Canada only their own currency is accepted. However, close to the border the other country's currency may be accepted, especially in larger supermarkets and shops. It is probably fair to say that Canadian shops are more likely to take US currency than US shops are to take Canadian currency. The rate of exchange in shops may not be as favourable as in a bank.

• If you are visiting the USA then be sure to obtain US Dollar traveller's cheques. If you are visiting Canada then be sure to obtain Canadian Dollar travellers cheques.

• In our opinion, based on visits to small and medium sized towns, Canada, particularly rural Canada, tends to have a rather old-world atmosphere compared with the USA - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing of course. Also, there are plenty of small US towns with the same old-world atmosphere. Compared with towns of the same size in the USA, we feel that the pace of life is somewhat slower and more relaxed in Canada, and as a general rule there are more older buildings in small Canadian towns than in similar towns in the USA.

• In our experience service in small-town Canada tends to be a bit slower than in small-town USA, but perhaps rather more friendly and individual.

• Prices for most things are a little higher in Canada, even allowing for the difference in exchange rates. In particular, petrol prices (gas prices) are quite a bit higher in Canada. In June 1997 we paid the equivalent of an average of 0.195 UK Pounds (19.5p) per litre for petrol in the USA and the equivalent of an average of 0.266 UK Pounds (26.6p) per litre for petrol in Canada. These figures take into account the difference in the exchange rates for the two countries and the fact that in the USA petrol is sold by the US Gallon while in Canada petrol is sold by the litre.

• Canada has budget motels and fast food chains, but their penetration is less than in the USA. This is largely explained by the considerably lower population density in Canada.

• English is the predominant language other than in the Province of Québec where French is the main language. However, there are some French speaking areas in some of the eastern provinces besides Québec.

• All official Canadian Federal Government publications and signs throughout Canada (for example, in the National Parks) are in both English and French. Provincial, regional and local government publications and signs tend to be exclusively in English in all provinces except Québec. In the Province of Québec official signs (including road signs) are in French only.

• Commercial signs and publications in provinces other than Québec are almost exclusively in English only. In the Province of Québec the provincial government has passed a law requiring commercial signs to be only in French or in some circumstances to allow both languages but then the French version must be more prominent than the English version.

• Whereas the USA uses Imperial units (miles, gallons, etc) Canada - at least officially - uses metric units (kilometres, litres, etc). Canada would appear to be somewhat further down the road to metrication than Britain, but I imagine that the same split exists in both countries between older people using Imperial units and younger people using metric units. This seems to be borne out by conflicting reports of the degree of penetration of the metric system from various Canadian correspondents. Conversions

• Canadians use the British date format (dd/mm/yy, i.e. day/month/year), whereas in the USA dates are written in the mm/dd/yy format (month/day/year).

• I'm informed that Canadians tend to use British English spelling rather than US English spelling. According to one source, Canadian schoolchildren have the luxury of being allowed to use British or US spelling.

• I'm informed that Canada has much tighter firearms control than the USA, and therefore (according to my correspondent) a much lower crime rate. Steve Shaw of Toronto, Canada points out that this view may be rather simplistic and makes the interesting point that the lower crime rate in Canada may also be due to their superior "social safety net".

• Canada has been described as being a "mosaic" of cultures where individual cultures are celebrated, compared to the US "melting pot" where differences in culture are tolerated much less. (I'm only reporting these descriptions, not necessarily agreeing with them - you would have to live each country for some time to perceive such things, I feel.)

• In my experience it seems that many Canadians, especially those working for the government and large companies, have a much greater enthusiasm for meaningless bureaucracy than people in the USA, being quite happy to spend long periods of time slowly following rules which have no purpose or logic, with no desire to question or understand what they are doing.

• Canada is a member of the United Nations, NATO and the British Commonwealth. Since I have seen the question discussed elsewhere, it is perhaps worth mentioning here that Canada is not a member of the European Union, which is reasonable enough since Canada is not a European country.

• Many people in the USA have an image of Canada as being a slower version of the United States, but envy Canada's National Health Plan and supposedly safer streets. (I'm not claiming that this image of Canada is necessarily accurate.)

  Ray Ellis, a British ex-pat living in Minnesota, USA sent me these interesting comments:

  It is for a fact that people in the USA envy Canada's national health care. However, you should keep in mind that their health care is paid for as a result of government imposed higher provincial and federal taxes. So, suffice it to say, the Canadians envy our generally lower prices and lower taxes. I am a seller on eBay and I have had several Canadian buyers inform me that products are more expensive in Canada and that they want to get them cheaper from the USA. So yes, the Canadians have health care, but they just don't seem to want to pay for it. :)

• Ray also points out that the national sport of Canada is ice hockey, whereas in the USA the national sports are baseball and American football. On the other hand, "Jo H" emailed me to say that lacrosse is Canada's national game, not ice hockey. Encarta's "Lacrosse" article also says that it is Canada's national game. David Diggle sent me these thoughts on the matter:

  There is conflicting information about which is the national sport or game of Canada. Some Canadian web sites, for example http://cwr.utoronto.ca/cultural/english/Canada/index.html, quote ice hockey as being the national sport. So it would be fair to say that Canada has at least two national sports; one for winter and one for summer. I'm originally from South Africa and I've lived in Alberta for several years before moving to Arizona. What I can say from experience is that ice hockey is pretty much the staple of Canadian culture. It is more widely played and mentioned than lacrosse.

  Perhaps it's safest for me to conclude that ice hockey is Canada's winter national sport and lacrosse is Canada's summer national sport. Obviously both sports have plenty of enthusiasts and I've no wish to get any further involved in this controversy!

• To many Canadians, calling them American (with the meaning that they come from the USA) is as great an insult as calling someone from Scotland English, or to say that someone from Friesland lives in Holland. Other Canadians argue with considerable logic that since they live in North America they should be called Americans, along with the inhabitants of all the other countries of North America, Central America and South America. In addition, there is an argument for restricting the word American to mean only Native Americans. You can't win, it seems!

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