The Secret Traveller

What Foreigners Really Think Of Canadians

Canada flag

By The Secret Traveller

Surely there is no one – not a single person on Earth – who dislikes Canadians. We have to be just about the friendliest bunch of people around.

But there’s more to us than just being polite. There are plenty of other things that we have to offer the world. From the nice accents to the progressive politics, here is a quick rundown of how the globe sees our nation besides being “America’s Hat”.

We're Ridiculously Polite

Angel

“Sorry.” If you’ve ever met one of us, there’s a good chance we’ve probably apologized to you. More than once. For something that wasn’t even our fault in the first place. This is something of a stereotype about us Canucks, but hey, if the shoe fits, wear it – and then apologize for it.

We're Like Americans But More Polite

America

We like to think of ourselves as being completely different to the loudmouths south of us, but to the rest of the world, you’re kind of the same. Your accents are kind of the same. The sports we're into are kind of the same. We even look fairly similar. You have to really get to know us before you can figure out the differences.

We're Weirdly Obsessed With The Most Violent Sport On Earth

Hockey

Yes, it's true we are obsessed with hockey. We are the kindest, most polite people on Earth, and we also happen to love a sport where huge men pound the crap out of each other and receive seemingly no punishment whatsoever. Hockey is a brutal game, and it seems a little incongruous that it’s so popular with Canadians. Maybe we have some unresolved issues...either way it ends up being a great outlet.

We Don't Really Like Working At Our Own Ski Resorts

Skiing

There’s a reason Whistler came to be known as “Whistralia” – it’s full of people from Down Under. Same with Big White, and Sun Peaks, and Lake Louise, and any other ski resort you care to mention. They’re run almost entirely by an Antipodean labour force. Where are we? I guess we're working in Australia…

We're Progressive

Walking

All hail Justin Trudeau, the progressive Prime Minister that pretty much every left-leaning voter in the world wishes they could steal for their own country. He’s young, he’s good-looking, he has a gender-balanced cabinet, he’s open about having smoked pot, he’s doing great things for refugees… He’s almost too good to be true. And he's ours! A great representative of all that’s awesome about Canadians.

We're Outdoorsy

Outdoors

It has to be the product of calling one of the most beautiful countries in the world home. But as far as we’re concerned, we could walk around any Canadian city over the weekend completely naked yelling “I hate Wayne Gretzky!” and no one would care, because everyone would be out of town camping or fishing or hiking or skiing or mountain-biking or doing something equally wholesome.

We Have Great Accents

talking

We're going to have to blame South Park for this one. Because now the world thinks that we say things like “oot and aboot”. And we shouldn't take offense to it, people love it. Our accents are also a subtle version of the obnoxious American accent which we are totally okay with.