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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
Inspired by this and some recent conversations with friends, here's my
@threadapalooza
submission: 100 observations/opinions/musings on differences between the US and Canada, from a 🇨🇦 after 9+ years living in 🇺🇸.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
I just realized that this is my tenth year of living in the US. 🤯 I mean I intellectually knew that the number after nine is ten, but still, it snuck up on me.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
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@nschiefer
Are you Canadian and thinking about taking a sweet new job in the States? American and actually thinking of leaving the country because of <insert politician here>? This thread might be your pre-departure reading. 😅
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
First: don't read these as hard facts. I've been interested in this topic for ages, and I will doubtlessly misremember some things. I'm going more for conveying a general sense than a Rigorous Argument(TM). Unless I provide a citation, all statements are prefixed with "I think".
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
Second: I am one (curious!) person, but that's it. I experience a narrow slice of both countries. I grew up in suburban Toronto, then lived (primarily as a student) in LA and Boston. You're getting a snapshot of my filter bubble, caveat lector.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
1. People sometimes rhetorically refer to Canada and the US as "sister nations", and that's exactly the right lens for understanding them. Sister nations, born of a common parent, growing up side by side, but subtly different.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
2. The magnitude of the differences between Canada and the US are routinely underrated by Americans and overrated by Canadians. This makes both sides somewhat unhappy. ;)
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
3. Americans mostly treat Canada as a maple-syrup-flavoured America, rather than a real place with real place with real problems/benefit. "You don't count as a foreigner" is a common refrain heard by Canadians in 🇺🇸, at least the ones who don't work for immigration services.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
4. When it's more than "America, but where they say 'sorry' funny", Canada is mostly a foil for American political/cultural battles; it's either a utopian land of virtue or den of vice and despair, depending on the proximal political point that someone is trying to make.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
For example: I've had American socialists tell me about how the Canadian healthcare system can do no wrong. I've been unfortunate enough health-wise to see that that's patently false.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
6. As of the 2016 census, Canada's population was ~35 million. More than half of them (~13 million) live in the five largest metro areas (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary). For Americans: that is like having ~165 million people across NYC, LA, Houston, and Chicago.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
Physically: there's no Canadian equivalent of the Interstate Highway System, at least for long-distance travel. The Trans Canada Highway (main inter-provincial road) is one lane each way in many places. By far the fastest way to drive from Toronto to Vancouver is through the US.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
8. Culturally, the more uniform population distribution in the US means that cultural identities tend to flow pretty smoothly. Someone from Boston will usually identify with a broader "New England" identity, and then a broader "Northeast" identity, and so on.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
Canadian cultures tend to be punctuated, like the people who form them! There's definitely very little sub-national identity shared with e.g., neighbouring provinces or even metro areas (except possibly in the Maritimes*).
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
9. In part because of these poor transportation links, regions of Canada tend to be much more closely linked to neighbouring regions of the United States than to each other, culturally, economically, and otherwise.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
National culture aside, Vancouver has a lot more in common with the rest of the Pacific Northwest (only two hours from Seattle!) than with Toronto or even Calgary. Thinking about moving to Canada? Pay attention to which part!
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
10. This is a 🌶️ one: (anglophone) Canadian culture is mostly inauthentic, and was largely manufactured by politicians and advertising companies. In contrast, American culture is real and unmistakable. Some more details on that:
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
(I emphasize Anglophone there because Quebecois culture is a whole separate thing that I am most definitely not qualified to comment on. If I accidentally say "Canadian" in the next few tweets read that as "Anglophone Canadian".)
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
(I'm also emphasizing the dominant Anglo-Canadian culture as opposed to the rich and numerous Indigenous cultures, which I am also unqualified to talk about. Go read about those!)
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
11. Let's look at food, as a litmus test for culture. Most every American region has some kind of distinctive cuisine. In the Northeast every city has its own type of sandwich. There's no Canadian equivalent. Most "Canadian" foods are Quebecois foods (poutine, tourtière, etc.).
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
For a city of its size and stature, I can't think of a truly Torontonian food. When visitors ask me for advice I usually recommend dim sum and jerk chicken. 🙂
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
12. I'm known to be resentful by the extent to which Canadian culture ends up rounding to "I saw these ads on TV". For instance... let's talk about Tim Hortons.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
As far as I can tell, the national obsession with Tim Hortons (for Americans: chain with drip coffee and donuts) is largely a result of clever television ads featuring pan-Canadian themes and judicious sponsorship of youth hockey leagues. It's really... nothing special?
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
13. I'm not the only one who has noticed this, either. Here's The Beaverton (Canadian version of The Onion) on the same issue: thebeaverton.com/2018/07/study- Anglophone Canadians: we could have culture beyond brand loyalties! The Americans do it!
thebeaverton.com
Study: Anglo Canadian culture revealed just to be a series of brand loyalties
A related study found the primary feature of Franco Canadian culture to be racism.
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Nicholas Schiefer
@nschiefer
I'm an outsider here, but my observation is: Americans seem to derive a lot of identity from their complex and globally important history, even the darkest parts (like the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, etc.).
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