How do you Americans like Canada? :P

[jomz]

I loved Toronto area...I had to get use to the gas price as I drive a v8...also the high taxes on everything. My husband is now living in Calgary and we love seafood...especially fish...I was in shock how expensive a simple fish like Tilapia costs in calgary...here in Dallas I can buy 1 for less than 2.00..in Calgary it was around 5.00 a pound. I think the hardest thing for me will be paying for car insurance,right now i pay 70 for full coverage and if i choose just the basics its about 50.00 a month...I expect to pay over 200 a month once in Calgary.

With respect to insurance, shop around, and also obtain letters from your insurance companies in the US and bring copies of your driving record (some companies accept it to reduce rate from "new driver rate") if your record is clean/no claims/no traffic tickets than your rate should be lower. In Ontario I was paying $250 for insurance per month (full coverage with $1000 deductible) for a 3 year old SUV, as a comparison for the same vehicle I am paying $88 per month (full coverage with $250 deductible) in Calgary. I checked with my insurer "Intact" how much it would be to add my husband who does not have prior insurance record in his country (insurance not required in morocco), but has been driving and is licenced, and the cost on my insurance will go up by $10 per month to have him added on once he switches over his licence. I was advised by my broker to try and share 1 car for 1-2 years with him as 2nd driver on my vehicle, so when he goes on his own insurance policy for a 2nd vehicle in the future his rate will not be much higher compered to mine provided he does not get any traffic tickets or has claims in the meantime.

 

[Mrs_Canuck]

With respect to insurance, shop around, and also obtain letters from your insurance companies in the US and bring copies of your driving record (some companies accept it to reduce rate from "new driver rate") if your record is clean/no claims/no traffic tickets than your rate should be lower. In Ontario I was paying $250 for insurance per month (full coverage with $1000 deductible) for a 3 year old SUV, as a comparison for the same vehicle I am paying $88 per month (full coverage with $250 deductible) in Calgary. I checked with my insurer "Intact" how much it would be to add my husband who does not have prior insurance record in his country (insurance not required in morocco), but has been driving and is licenced, and the cost on my insurance will go up by $10 per month to have him added on once he switches over his licence. I was advised by my broker to try and share 1 car for 1-2 years with him as 2nd driver on my vehicle, so when he goes on his own insurance policy for a 2nd vehicle in the future his rate will not be much higher compered to mine provided he does not get any traffic tickets or has claims in the meantime.

Double check with a broker! Wawanesa is one of the only insurance companies that takes driving history in other countries into account! Our insuranceis only 105 per month with the both of us on it, for a new car and for our apartment. My husband has had an accident and I'm accident free but the price went down because they counted that he'd had a license in Turkey. There is also no insurance for individual drivers in Turkey, only for the owner of the vehicle and subsequent drivers become "covered" when they are driving. This took some explaining to do, but Wawanesa accepted it as experience.

Also, love the idea for the thread!

 

[uskyoot]

I noticed that Canada has a lot more variety of chocolate bars and a lot more flavour choices of chips, ie chicken bbq, ketchup, etc.

I can hardly wait to get back to Canada for my sour cream and bacon chips. I have all my co workers addicted to them here in Knoxville. The US border guards can see us coming. We're the ones with the chip bags over flowing through the sun roof

 

[keesio]

Lived the US for the first ~25 years and Canada for the last ~15 years. To me, it is mostly the same. People have to remember the US is huge and very diverse. For example, the culture shock I felt moving to Toronto from NYC is much less than say if I moved to Houston, Texas. Some states in the US have a lot of taxes, some don't. Some Canadians say Americans are so enamored with their guns but where I was from I actually only knew one person who even owned a gun and I actually met more people in Canada who have fired a gun before than in the US (NY has very strict gun laws btw). I'm sure it would have been different if I grew up in Georgia or something. There is the weather but if you have lived in a Western NY like Buffalo or Syracuse, then the cold and snow is normal. Each state can be so different and have their own laws that it is difficult to culturally compare the two countries.

Really the biggest difference to me is the division between English Canada and Quebec we have in Canada. There really isn't any dynamic like that in the US. Also the minority population is more broad. In the US, minority mostly means black or hispanic. Other minority groups are a bit of an afterthought (for example, studies in the US will say "minorities" are underrepresented in the tech sector jobs which make people in Canada scratch their heads when you look at the number of asians in the field), while in Canada the mosaic is more broad. Also the influence of "religious right" is much less pronounced.

 

[rhcohen2014]

I can hardly wait to get back to Canada for my sour cream and bacon chips. I have all my co workers addicted to them here in Knoxville. The US border cards can see us coming. We're the ones with the chip bags over flowing through the sun roof

sour cream and bacon?!?! WHAAAAT?!?!? i love ketchup chips, and PC all dressed are addicting!

 

[uskyoot]

Let's see ... There really aren't that many 'facia' differences from where I am in Canada (near Windsor) and where I came from (Ann Arbor, MI).

The biggest things that grabbed my attention. The price differences for the simplest of things. Like cheese. Who in their right damned mind pays almost $8 for a bag of Kraft shredded cheese? I mean really? Seriously? Back in A2 (Ann Arbor shorcut ) same bag of cheese, roughly $3.50. Must be that 'special' Canadian milk that drives the cost. Hmm, gas is dang expensive. Basic necessitites are pretty pricey too. What I have noticed is that after being here for 1 1/2 years, I am becoming more 'Canadian'. I see a deal at a store and say, "Oh, that's a good deal, eh?" completely oblivious to the fact that if I took a trip across the border, I could save double that again

Car insurance and how it actually WORKS over here, takes a bit of getting used to.

Hmmm, the title for a car. Seriously, on this wee little tiny piece of paper and I'm supposed to keep this with me at all times, but what if my wallet is stolen with it in it? Yeah, OK, well, that is a bit strange, but you get used to, especially when you realize you could probably leave that same title on your dashboard, with the doors open and the keys in the ignition and the car running. Go on vacation, come back a week later and there would be a note from your neighbor saying "I noticed you left your car running when you went to the airport. I let it run for 3 days, and when you didn't come back I was fearful because your gas gauge was getting low, so I shut it off. You can pick up your keys at my house. Have a great day, eh"

I am finally learning how to think in metric but I still can't do it all in my head thankfully my job has 'conversion' cheat sheets just for me

The speed limits. I drive a sports car. There are times I just want to hop on the highway and put my foot in the accelerator, but Canadian speeds keep me limited to 4th gear. How do you people ever get that need for speed out of your blood? I think I get faster speeds out of my John Deere running through the back field

I am sure there are other things that are different, but really, it is very very close to the US.

Where near Windsor are you? We will be moving back to Amherstburg

 

[QuebecOkie]

I think I arrived here too late in life (32). I love a broad range of foods, but ketchup chips are just gross (I'm not a fan of ketchup, though, a bottle lasts me a year or until I throw it out) and poutine isn't gross, but it just isn't very special.

The English/French divide is really SOMETHING, though, isn't it? I'm in a very French area, and I think I'm more of a real "immigrant" than most Americans are in Canada.

I'm learning French. I actually just spent the last couple of hours (would have taken me 45 min or less in English) crafting my CV and cover letter for a job I really would love to have (at the French language school at the university).

I feel rather lucky to be an American here. I don't have the long-running Québec vs. ROC prejudices to colour my opinons. I have had exactly ZERO bad experiences here due to language here (I had one small one, but it was in the bustling metropolis of Québec, not in our small, somewhat isolated, "Heart of Separatist Québec" region). So many of the Anglophones here (mostly military and military spouses) say that people are rude or not helpful. I have had the exact opposite experience. I'll talk to ANYONE (salesperson at a store, bank teller, old dude in line behind me at Wal-Mart), and while the language barrier has been quite frustrating at times, I find people are hugely supportive of my effort to learn French.

Also, I have to thank my "fellow 'Muricans" for setting the bar low. People don't expect Americans to be respectful of other cultures, or to work to integrate into a new one. When I start talking to someone, and my citizenship comes up, they ALWAYS reply, "Oh, your French is excellent for an American!" I feel like I get extra credit or something.

 

[fandv]

do they sell chocolate chip/peanut butter granola bars in toronto? i'd be curious to know whether it's just an ottawa thing, or if it's actually a canadian thing.

They do... I usually get them from Loblaws:

Canadian brand:

http://www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_rich_chewy_granola_bars_chocolate_chip12445.html

http://www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_crunchy_granola_bars_peanut_butter18818.html


Also they've got a US brand called Nature Valley with those flavours too ^^

 

[4evernlove]

Love this topic and the responses

 

[fandv]

Sometimes Americans like to call Canada as America Junior. Or the US 51st state or even the more vulgar terms. America's Prostitute.

Or "just an extension of the US"

LOL!

 

[rhcohen2014]

They do... I usually get them from Loblaws:

Canadian brand:

http://www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_rich_chewy_granola_bars_chocolate_chip12445.html

http://www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_crunchy_granola_bars_peanut_butter18818.html


Also they've got a US brand called Nature Valley with those flavours too ^^

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! I will have to double check Loblaws next time i'm there. I usually go to RCSS.

 

[fandv]

Tom Brokaw Explains Canada to Americans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_041oYDjg

Very touching short video

 

[Koifish76]

RCSS? I mean I know Ottawa area is huge, over 1 million people. Have you tried Sobeys of Metro? Even Shoppers drug mart ? I find it funny, of all things you have a hard time finding, this is it...haha. Its one of those things, when you find it once, you will see it all over the place amd wonder, how did you ever have a hard time finding in the first place.

 

[rhcohen2014]

RCSS? I mean I know Ottawa area is huge, over 1 million people. Have you tried Sobeys of Metro? Even Shoppers drug mart ? I find it funny, of all things you have a hard time finding, this is it...haha. Its one of those things, when you find it once, you will see it all over the place amd wonder, how did you ever have a hard time finding in the first place.

the metro is small. not there either. there isn't a sobey's in the city. gotta go to stittsville for that, and i'm ok not driving 20 min to find granola bars. if i want them enough i can bring them with me. i just thought it was funny the variety of granola bars were slim compared to the states.

 

[Koifish76]

the metro is small. not there either. there isn't a sobey's in the city. gotta go to stittsville for that, and i'm ok not driving 20 min to find granola bars. if i want them enough i can bring them with me. i just thought it was funny the variety of granola bars were slim compared to the states.

Sobeys must have closed down. There was one in Kanata. I think if you are 20 mins from stittsville, we will be VERY close neighbours. We plan on to settle in the west end somewhere. Grew up in Kanata.