America v Canada?

28 comments

1. Well, Canada has a king and the US doesn’t.

2. To Americans not much tbh. But ask a Canadian in r/askacanadian and you’ll get 90000 things and get crucified for not knowing. Canadians (at least on Reddit) made their identity on not being the US. Conversely we don’t think about Canada, or at least know enough to give a good comparison beyond the superficial stuff like it being colder, having excess bacon and syrup, healthcare differences and overpriced housing.

   Edit: added some stuff

   Edit 2: to be clear Canada isn’t bad. Just the disparity of how much most Americans know/think about Canada vs the other way around

3. Lots of similarities. But we have a larger military, and they control much of the global maple syrup supply.

4. The team holding the Stanley Cup will be the American one.

5. Americans say there’s not much difference, and we’re correct.

   Canadians throw a temper tantrum whenever anyone hints at the fact that we’re similar, and will give you about 8 million reasons why they’re somehow superior.

6. I’ve spent a lot of time in Vancouver BC and didn’t find it a lot different than the Seattle area. I did find that it felt a bit more international though. I love Vancouver

7. Canadians have created their identity, at least in part, in not being American.

   Americans don’t think about Canada.

   In all honesty, that’s the biggest difference between the two countries.

8. Canadian nationalism is built almost entirely on anti-Americanism, so you’ll get a whole list of reasons from them.

   In reality, however, we’re extremely similar. Even when I was in Montreal struggling to say three words of French it felt like weird Boston.

9. I live in the great lakes region so over interacted with my share of Canadian and other than the obvious government and political changes I’ve always felt Canadians are pretty culturally similar to me at least. Honestly to me the biggest difference between us is we use Fahrenheit and they use Celsius lmfao

10. You may want to ask the same question at r/askacanadian

11. Canada to America is like Wales to England

12. More of a French population in Canada, and they also have more ties to the U.K. overall than the U.S. Our governments work very differently, as well, as far as I know. Also, Canadians have universal healthcare and America doesn’t, and America has more geographic diversity. The U.S. and Canada have some shared climates, but America has hot & dry deserts and tropical climates.

13. They’re weird people who put milk in bags 😜

    Nah, seriously aside from accents, we’re very similar.

    There may be more differences when you move into French-speaking areas but since most of the people I know personally are from Ontario, I couldn’t really speak much to that

14. It’s like Australia and New Zealand. Australia is the regional power with a stronger military and economy while New Zealand is very culturally similar but in the shadow of Australia. I hope I’m making sense.

15. Canada is a bit less stratified in terms of wealth and education. There’s a larger and more dysfunctional underclass in the US. But there’s also a larger and more sophisticated elite.

    Guns. There are guns in Canada, but unless you’re a cop or a very regulated security guard, it is highly illegal to carry a handgun. No assault weapons period. As a consequence, there are way fewer gun deaths, by orders of magnitude.

    Health care. Canada has universal, single-payer health coverage. There are issues, but sick or injured people do not face financial ruin in Canada.

    Hockey. Far and away the most popular sport in Canada, although the MLB, NBA, and NFL are very popular too.

    20% of Canada is francophone, with their own culture distinct from the US and from English-speaking Canada.

    Latino culture is a huge part of American culture and a tiny part of Canadian culture.

    Black American culture is influential and loved, but not really a part of Canada.

    The Canadian Atlantic provinces don’t really have an equivalent in the US. They’re very rural, have unique accents, and seem very Celtic.

    Americans are friendlier, while Canadians are more polite. (Broad generalization, of course)

    The criminal Justice system is much, much more punitive in the US. Decades-long prison sentences are not really a thing in Canada outside the most heinous crimes.

    Canada is generally a younger country, so a lot less history, newer architecture, etc.

    Canadians tend to have a drier sense of humour.

    Canadian politics is less polarized and less extreme. Anyone (even elected members of parliament) can get kicked out of their seat and party for voting against the party, so there’s not much incentive to become an iconoclast. There are 3 major political parties and their support shifts quite a bit between elections.

    Canada has the Trailer Park Boys.

16. The biggest difference is that Americans don’t define their society on not being Canadian. Also, our french people are into shrimp gumbo and beignets instead of maple syrup.

17. In Canada the second language on signs and forms is French. In the USA it’s Spanish.

    Hockey is like a religion in Canada. In the US it’s just one of many sports.

18. I’ll try to give you an answer not steeped in cross-border hatred. As an American, when I think of Canada, I specifically think about Vancouver, Toronto, and Quebec. Canada seems synonymous with the friendly neighbor who speaks French sometimes. We are culturally very similar, mostly in thanks to our massive shared border. Americans generally have a favorable opinion on Canadians, due to our long friendship (not without difficulties, as all alliances), and fighting side by side in the world wars. Canada is way smaller in terms of population, so if you want to see pure untouched northern wilderness, you go to Canada. We Americans also think about maple syrup and poutine when thinking about Canada. Our governments are fairly similar yet distinctly different, and Canada also uses French as a national language alongside English, so all roadsigns are marked in French and English.

    Also the Canadian side of Niagra Falls is way better. Sorry, New York.

19. USA has a really diverse climate compared to Canada.

20. American maple syrup is superior.

21. Everything is twice as expensive in Canada

22. Americans are said to believe they are better than the rest of the world. Canadians will tell you they are better than Americans.

23. Canadian youtuber J.J. McCullough spends a lot of time talking about cultural issues like this. Here’s a video where he addresses us vs canadian culture directly.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-S0SvTi6jk

24. Well – Canada has Quebec, which is a predominantly French-speaking Catholic society with its own unique culture, variety of French language, cuisine, immigration history, and legal system.

    Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, and the second largest French-speaking city in the world. So you could say there is a lot of this kind of influence throughout the rest of Canada. For example, most Canadians learn French as a second language in school instead of Spanish like Americans do.

    Also, [Newfoundland folks are basically Irish](https://youtu.be/ZGb4IV2Lm4k).

    Besides Puerto Rico, which has a small population, isn’t a US state, and isn’t very influential – the US doesn’t have an equivalent of Quebec.

    Outside of that, there is little things. Differences in spelling, regional accents, word choice, regional foods and pop culture things. Canadians use kilometers for driving and Celsius for weather whereas we use miles and Fahrenheit. We both use feet and pounds for height and weight. Most of Canada also experience winters with snow. Only the northern parts of the US do.

    Even with the language difference, a Montrealer will probably have more in common with a Bostonian is in a Bostonian does with Hawaiian.

    Canada also has a completely different system of government. They run on a parliamentary system, and a part of the British commonwealth. They have pictures of the monarch on their money. In Canada, the legislature and executive branch are tied together. In the United States, they are separate branches with separate direct elections.

    Canada also takes a lot of pride and all the little ways they’re not like America. Yet, Americans spend very, very little time thinking about this.

    All in all, it’s not always easy to tell the difference. We’re generally exposed to the same pop culture growing up – and have similar values and quality of life. NAFTA means we get the same products more/less. We both also have somewhat similar immigration histories. General accents are pretty much the same.

25. One is peopled by British loyalists (Canada calls itself a British Commonwealth and had the English potentate on their currency to this day). The other is peopled with rebels that treat their potentates with rapid violence when they refuse to leave the people alone. That last one’s America.

26. This is kinda weird but overall my parents felt that there was a lot more subtle racism in Canada.

    Other than that it was pretty similar, needless to say they picked the US (Canada was also a real option for them)

    I guess it makes sense.. Indian neighborhood in Canada=Brampton, Indian neighborhood in America=Princeton or Edison. That’s a pretty huge difference

27. One of the biggest differences is the First Amendment in the USA. Canada doesn’t have the same protections on their speech.

28. American point of view – The US and Canada are very similar with some minor differences.

    Canadian point of view – THE US AND CANADA ARE SOOO DIFFERENT. IT’S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD DOWN THERE. WE ARENT AT ALL THE SAME.