I goin to Canada next year has anyone got any tips to avoid culture shock?

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canadian_beaver_77

we met an Australian who had moved to Canada and he said that, besides the winter and the accents, lol, Canada felt like home to him.

Quebec is by far the province with the greatest french speaking residents. however, every child from grade 4-10 must learn french. Ontario and the other western provinces are generally english speaking, although are signs and packages are generally bilingual.

yes, we do generally tip when we eat at a restaurant. not McDonald or other fast food places though. if you enjoyed the food and service, you tip the waitress/waiter as a show of appreciation. tips generally range from 10 to 15% of your total bill.

you should have no problem fitting in with the people in Canada, we are generally very accepting of other people, cultures, religions and beliefs.

best of luck to you

delimama

Canadians are so nice, you don't have to worry about fitting in. It's not like you're moving to New York or something...you'll be fine! Check out the Candian immigration websites - there were a bunch ("Want to move to Canada?") after the 2004 U.S. Presidential elections. :)

Tatercanuck

Hello,

I live on the east coast in Nova Scotia. Firstly, all of Canada is bilingual. All instructions on all packaging is in both English and French. New Brunswick and Quebec are predominantly french, and the rest is pretty much english. Tipping: I only tip in restaraunts and my barber. Other than that I don't tip. A few things about Canada:

- it is not uncommon to start up a conversation with somebody in line at the supermarket
- most Canadians drink Tim Horton's coffee. When ordering your coffee order it size, cream, sugar (ie: an XL double, double, is an extra large with 2 cream and 2 sugar.)
- a few things that Canada is known for - seafood (eastern provinces), beef (middle provinces) , mountains (western provinces)

I guess the biggest thing is you will not have a hard time fitting in. We're pretty easy going, willing to help people new to the country, and if you're not sure about something, just ask.

Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to email.

Best regards,

Tatercanuck

PS - I hope you like ice hockey and the cold.

we/be/jammin

Canada is not that much different than the U.S and very much so in Ontario in such places as Toronto, Winsior. i can't speak for the rest of Canada but in this province tipping is custom. much of canada is quite dieverse. there people from all over, and very much so in toronto this place has people from ever where. your ok unless you are an american. (just kidding i am from Michigan) and am part canadian. it is a much friendlier place than the states but i still love america. have fun you will enjoy

bergle

Canadians dont tip........much.
But they make up for it in beaver pelts in the spring.!
They roll up the sidewalks at nine pm sharp.
If your going anywhere it is wise to take a snack because it takes a long time to get there.Dress for any weather all the time.
Dont fool around with the mounties they mean business

Mel T

I lived in Canada for 3 years. I wish someone had told me that a $1 coin was called a Loonie and a $2 coin was called a Twonie before I went to the laundromat, asked for change, and couldn't understand what the woman was asking me!
Also, when you go to Tim Horton's a "regular" coffee means with coffee with cream and sugar and a "double double" means two creams and two sugars.
Canada and Canadians are great. Good luck and have fun!

Waine

I have never been there but I would just tip everyone and smile all the time. Also stay away from lone farmers.

davehuckleberry

Lots of Aussies here in Rossland, BC, Canada for skiing and working.

mudd butt 1

i gotta tell you up here in canada there really isnt that much of culture shock so come up we will be glad to have you just a side note traveling by car will take a long time canada is huge so just be ready for long travel times

Juicy.Couture

Canada is a nicer country (in my biased opinion as a Canadian citizen). As for culture shock it's not all that different from Australia (I've only been to Perth and Sydney so I can't vouch for the whole continent) but from my personal experience it should not be all that hard for you to adjust to life in the Great White North. I've lived in both Alberta and Ontario, and I can vouch for the friendliness of the 'locals'. I don't believe fitting in should be too much of a problem, although your accent will probably give you away as a foreigner. I've found that the people of North America (again a huge generalization on my part) are suckers for an accent so, if anything, that's a plus. As for tipping it varies from individual to individual but I myself leave tips at places like restaurants or in a taxi .. that's about it. At the moment, I can't think of any other scenarios where one might need to leave a tip. Well I hope that was of some help!

Also, since your interested in farming, I suggest heading to Alberta (yet another biased opinion, having lived there for 7 years). This province is known for farming -- and has a sales tax of only 6% unlike Ontario's ridiculous 15% (I now live in Ontario and it HURTS to shop there)

Christina

Just some tips to avoid "culture shock".

Canadians do not like to be touched. Keep your distance. We like about an arm's length away.

Take your shoes off when you enter a house. We usually have a mudroom or a side spot to keep your shoes. We walk in sock feet inside our houses. It comes from having a winter (salt sand etc).

Tipping: Cows if you dig that sort of thing (I don't), hair dressers, waiters, cabs. That's about it.

Canadians are huge gossips, but we generally mind our own business. Personal questions are not welcome unless you are familiar with people. We tend to not criticize people openly. We badmouth our politicians like crazy, but if you are not a Canadian keep your comments to yourself.

We tend to have more freedoms that the Americans, we can speak our mind openly without fear of being labelled as a traitor or communist etc. We tend to take our democracy seriously as we are well informed what our government is doing, and have no problems speaking our mind to our MPs, or MPPs. You probably have the same, since you also have a parliamentary style of government.

Canadians tend to localize their customs. You'll find traditions vary from province to province. Albertans have a certain outlook in life, generally, Newfoundlands have their. But they both work togther on construction projects in Calgary and share a common bond. Newfoundlanders will talk about a yaffle of beer, where Ontarians will speak of a pack of beer. But they'll both drink Molson Canadian, or Labatt's.

We will know by your accent that you are Australian. We recognize it as different from British accents. We do not glorify British people as much as Americans. They are part of our family that we acknowledge.

We are fellow members of the British Commonweath. We have a great love and respect for the Queen here. I don't know how Australians feel about her, but any rude comments about Her Majesty will not be appreciated.

Do not engage in any conversations about the French speaking Canadians. You are an outsider. It is an issue we've been dealing with for 200 years. We respect each other, but agree to disagree on a lot of things. Thing is when the chips are down we are there for each other (ice storm, dikes breaking in Manitoba, WW1, WW2, War of 1812), but we mind our own business. I work in an office where 30% of the people live in Quebec. We speak English in the office, but those of us who can speak French do so when everyone can speak French. Otherwise we use English. It's funny when we have meetings with people in Paris. They cannot understand our "Canadian" accent. They prefer we use English with them ;-)

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. First rule is not to judge or call attention to people. We live and let live. As long as no one is abusing anyone, or causing harm, we live people alone. I guy is obeying the law, but wearing wild hair styles and has a severe scar on his forehead. We'll stare, but we wouldn't run for the police. And we wouldn't bother him.

Oh and don't carry concealed weapons around. You will be arrested for that. Canadians do not carry knives or guns in public.

Da Ben Dan

Canada is much like the US...but the people are generally more polite and friendlier..guns are illegal....tipping etc is about the same...you probably won't be around a lot of spoken french in the areas that you are going but the signage will be...you'll be able to read the side of a box of cereal in two languages!!..come, enjoy...you'll have a great time...it's a beautiful big (larger than the US country in area) country.

hilarywow

you don't need to worry about a culture shock! Canadians and Aussies are very similar. If you are in BC and feel a little homesick, come to Whistler- I swear there are thousands of Aussie ex-pats here. You need to tip a minimum of %10 at bars, restaurants and taxis, but you don't have to, it's just expected. You should also tip your hairdresser, and the cleaning staff in your hotel. And no you don't need to worry about french if you are in the west. I think that you'll love it

gobobgo55

I live in the US about five miles from Canada and everyone likes money do not tip and you will get no service. Although Canada is bilingual only in Quebec is french commonly spoken. Plan on freezing your butt off in the winter. They have good beer. Good weed too if you care. OK lets start on the west coast British Columbia is a nice Provence good fishing mild weather nice people, mountains as soon as you leave the coast and they have a labor shortage, east side of the mountains is high desert 35C+ in summer. The mountains go into Alberta after that it is FLAT. As for culture shock it will be mostly food and I'm not sure witch side of the road you drive on right hand side there. they don't say mate they say A, as in "you know,A" Gas is $1.25 a liter. Things are spendy. It cost more of your income to live in Canada than the U.S. Put your mind at ease you will have a good time.

old lady

Hi, Oz! We just got back from your country, so I know where you're coming from. Yeah, we do tip here -- wish it was more like New Zealand that way, but we've had too many Yanks coming up here and spoiling things.
The big difference you're going to find is that we drive on the other side of the road. That was my biggest problem Down Under. Not ony do we drive on the other side of the road, we push our grocery carts down the other side of the aisle, walk on the other side of the sidewalk and even swim on the other side of swimming lanes, as I found out when I butted my head into a nice gent's stomach. He was standing on the right hand side of the lane, and I was swimming down the right side of the lane. He was very nice about it, once he recognized I was just a poor, daft tourist who didn't know any better.
You won't find a problem with language -- there is a wide variety of accents out here, but in the western provinces, it's basically English. Manitoba, by the way, has a large French speaking population. So does Ontario, especially around Ottawa, our nation's capital.
If you come to Vancouver you'll feel right at home. It's very much like Sydney, but without the opera house.
Just a suggestion -- you can subscribe to one of the local newspapers for a few months, just to get a better feel for the place before you get here -- and good on ya for trying to get a handle on things before you arrive.
Enjoy your stay in Canada.
PS - I just scrolled up to see what some other people have told you. Most of it is pretty good -- but forget about the beaver pelts! Also, levres de sucre does not mean hello, it means Hi, sweet-lips, which is NOT the way you want to greet people when you first meet them!

lancerbabe29

I live in a small rural northern Alberta town . And the scenery is beautiful . We love to me people from other countries. I would suggest Alberta , we have lots employment opportunities available and we are booming too. And we love the Aussie accent lol

St N

A few jokers pulling your leg here but mostly good stuff. I think tipping is pretty much the same everywhere. If you don't like the service, don't. Remember our seasons are reversed to yours so if you come here in October you'll be stepping right back into winter, and we do get it in the West and Central areas. Size wise, the two countries may be the same, 5 days of hard, non-stop driving from coast to coast (and on the wrong side of the road, too)

x0x BABEY x0x B0i x0x J0SHUA x0x

You should really learn to speak French honey. Here's a tip, HÃ© les lÃ¨vres de sucre is a veryyy useful greeting, it means Hello, How are you? LOLZ. Good Luck Sweetie. Much luv. x0x J0SHUA x0x

macciacae

I live in Alberta canada, and I LOVE it here I don't think that I will ever move to another province. The GST got lowered to 6% recently from 7% we don't have PST so that already is a plus. I have heard that USA is an amazing country also, I will be visiting there in a few months (VEGAS, I'm going to get married there, quick and cheap). For english speaking provinces it is pretty much all of them but Quebec. And if you are looking for farming then I would stay pretty much in alberta BC or Sask. You don't need to tip everywhere, just if you go to a restruant or something like that. I don't really tip anywhere but at a resrturant. You will probally fit in very well, but you will get asked lots of where you are from, if you have a strong accent (I just love aussie accents)

Good Luck and I hope you have a blast here. EH!!! sorry had to throw that in. LOL

Whoopsiedoodles

I drove through on the Alcan Highway. My suggestion: don't go

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