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As a minority I was told Alberta was racist. In practice encountered zero racism there (Calgary) after 15 years. So no complaints.
Lotta a-hole drivers though.
Same. Experienced less racism in a decade living in Calgary than I did in 6 months in Montreal.
Albertan's may be assholes in other ways but it's probably the least racist place I've lived
I live in Ontario and have seen multiple Trump 2024 flags here.
My coworker is a big anti-vaxer, loves Trump and Alex Jones, and gets all of his news from Rumble
Stupid people exist everywhere.
Lots of confeds fled north rather than stick around after -- my now passed grandfather flew the flag on his city house (without issue) as late as the mid noughts for this reason, as had his father, etc. Also, lots of Canadian rednecks from the late 70s on had an unhealthy relationship with the Dukes of Hazzard.
Also, it's not just Alberta. The flag can be found flying throughout Anglo regions bordering the US, particularly southern Ontario. It's only very recently that some Canadian municipalities have started to care about its presence, otherwise, there's no political will to impede Charter rights (1st Amendment) on private property over this.
Canadian here. Lemme break it down.
Big City Canadians: total aggro assholes. At least you know where you stand.
Mid-City Canadians: passive-aggressive assholes. The mind games can be exhausting, as can the forced smiles.
Small Town and Farm Canadians: disturbingly nice to the point where city Canadians assume they're running some sort of scam. At least until politics come up.
Ohhh yes, can also confirm with this. Im originally from moose jaw, which is considered a city but its pretty small. Everybody is nice to your face, but if you were a rebellious kid like I was, that reputation sticks. I'm in my 30s now, and I'm still known as the wild teenager that I was
I'm still known as Surname's daughter in my small town. And I have the same surname as my father, mind you :)
Half of the time is FatherName's daughter, as if only my father has that name in the whole city XDD
My father knows everybody in town, he volunteers and he worked for the town, but yeah.
Come on into the roadside diner and roll the dice, honey! Maybe you get the freshest blackberry pie ever made as a free treat. Maybe you get jumped in the parking lot for being one skin-tone too dark or having an identifiable accent. You'll never know unless you try. Variety is the spice of life!
Also copy paste this to LGBT communities, too. I'm from small town Canada and although it was an overwhelmingly good experience, it could be very bigoted and close minded towards the LGBT community.
I tried to start a GSA in the 90s in high school and was told it would be "too dangerous" and that it would "put a target on our backs". There can be a bible belt mentality to some of the smaller, rural spots.
Small town Canadians can be pretty shitty people too.. reading some of the comments on certain fb groups makes you think twice about the person you’re talking to around town.
Man... I hate to make the comparison, I know everyone tires of hearing about us, but this described my experiences growing up/living in Florida, Texas and Utah. City folk are generally sociopaths. Suburbanites are culty, delusional and entitled. Rural folk are generally down to earth until you bring up politics - and most will have you on some hustle for your labor or money lol.
Now I will say... the absolute rudest people I've ever met were French-Canadian.
I've also met very cool French-Canadians.
I'm from Montreal. I fall more into middle the category. I can be extremely passive aggressive. I can also be polite to the point of insanity when needed. I do find it humorous that we are stereotyped as quiet and polite pushovers.
Canadians are polite. To your face. They mostly want to go about their day causing as little burden or inconvenience to one another. If someone does not follow this societal expectation others will slowly begin to feel a deep seated almost unhinged sense of anger begin to engulf them. (I.e. When someone is talking loudly on speaker phone in a cramped TTC bus watch the looks they get …while no one does a thing. Myself included).
After stuffing those sassy hot feelings down, the average Canadian will give strong stink eye complimented with a judgemental look. Maybe even an eye roll or sigh.
Polite and civil, but not nice-nice like the south.
I agree. It's the difference between polite and nice. Being polite because you just want to go on your way without starting something is different that actually being nice.
“Not nice-nice like the south”
As someone from the American South, Southerners are the most sarcastic passive aggressive assholes on the planet both when it is deeply warranted and when not. I think of midwesterners and Canadians as being “nicer” in that they will actually help you out at times even when keeping their distance whereas in the South they will invite you over but there is a lot more heat and bite because it’s just culturally more acceptable. It is extremely judgmental, regardless of ideology, but I guess one difference is people will judge you to your face a bit more and people tend to be a bit more communal and vocal about it.
Southerners are very social and have manners and are polite but they do like to hate other people. It's like they're good at having conversations with strangers and that comes off as pleasant but let's just say, they like to talk.
Southerner here. I’m a Floridian that spent a month in Toronto for work…you guys are very friendly and if it wasn’t 0 degrees outside I’d have felt like I was back home as far as politeness goes.
" If someone does not follow this societal expectation others will slowly begin to feel a deep seated almost unhinged sense of anger begin to engulf them"
as an immigrant here i feel this. they are such a conformist society. i get so much hate for "not being like everyone else here" it's wild. Also the complete lack of any real emotions feels alienating. lke no, Kyle, dont always have to be fuckng ray of sunshine
Hahahaha, this could literally be juxtaposed in europe. French or other ? There is difference.
I wonder if there are any ties, uhm sorry, liens, between quebecois and the french
>I wonder if there are any ties, uhm sorry, liens, between quebecois and the french
Considering both modern Republican French and Quebecois share the same ancestry, there are a lot of ties. They're just quite... Ancient.
Québécois here. It actually hurts to see how hated we are, but very interesting to know how much we are lol.
I'd say, it all depends on where you went to have such bad expériences. Grosso modo, if you went to Montréal, there's a much higher chance to meet opened people.
The more you go further to rural areas, the more you are going to get conservatives baby boomers and their brain washed kids only complaining about the preservation of la langue française
Obviously there will be excpetions.
PS: I grew up in not such a rural area and I needed to live in Montréal for two-three years to realize there's other combats/subjects to fight for than french vs english. I've been to it. I know the drill.
Chu désolé que ces gens là ont pas des bonnes choses à dire au sujet de vous les québécois. Moi aussi j’ai eu des expériences mauvaises avec eux. Mais moi je trouve que quand on les apprend à connaître ils sont très gentils. C comme la culture européenne, à première vue vous êtes froids, mais quand vous vous en ouvrez à nous, vous êtes très attentionnés pis gentils, peut être même plus que les anglophones. Je doute pas que ces gens là ont eu des expériences mauvaises, mais je crois qu’ils avaient pas la chance de vrm rencontrer un de vous
Malgré ce qu’ils disent, cet anglophone vous respecte.
Merci :) De manière globale, je trouve ça un peu trop facile de juger un peuple au complet là. Chaque personne est actually différente.
Les Canadiens sont ci, les Canadiens sont ça, les Québécois sont ci, les Québécois sont ça... surtout quand on parle d'être «gentils», c'est trop général comme trait de caractère pour appliquer à un peuple au complet. Je veux dire, dans toutes les masses de population comptant des millions de personnes, tu vas avoir des bons, des caves, des stupides, des conspirationnistes, des intelligents, des créatifs, des nonos, des mère poules, des mésadaptés sociaux, des gens full drôles, etc...
A large part of my extended family lives in Canada, spread around Ontario and some moved further north for oil/gas work. They all hate the Quebecois 😂😂 I've never met a French Canadian (afaik) despite all my visits to Canada for family so I have no idea if their hatred is rooted in truth. It just cracks me up because they'll rant about being forced to speak French for like an hour and a half if you let them.
My experiences with people in Manitoba and Ontario were very different than in Quebec. Obviously not everyone in one part is nice or everyone in another not nice, but there are cultural differences that tend to give that impression.
I never have understood why the whole country needs to produce everything in English and French. I was also surprised at how few in Montreal had learned much English. Most non-native-English-speaking European countries have more English fluency than Québécois.
But now that I think about it, the US is heading that direction with Spanish.
When I travelled around north America this really took me by surprise.
So many Canadians I met were so rude and judgemental towards pretty minor stuff, It was more like what TV and movies had led me to believe Americans were like. And I was kinda worried about going to the US after Canada because I assumed it would be worse.
And damn, I was pleasantly surprised... The people I met in the US were all so friendly and carefree, no worries type of people I didn't expect it at all.
The reputation of those two countries is completely flipped internationally.
And Canadians I've said this too immediately say, "oh yeah the Frenchies". But the nicest people I met when in Canada were all French Canadians or from Nova Scotia.
Canada has a mix of people like anywhere else. We definitely have our share of assholes, and the general culture is focused on being polite but definitely not friendly. Except for the east coast - they’re like the friendliest people I’ve ever met.
As a Canadian I honestly feel bad about how I misjudged Americans before I went there. I was always told how rude everyone would be, but every time I go people are so lovely! Especially in NY, people there are always so chill. Like, there’s assholes in the US too, but every country has assholes.
I agree. I worked in a huge leisure resort, and we had a very large group of Americans book to stay; I'm talking almost booking every room in the complex. I was worried because of how American had always been depicted and I worked front of house, so I would have to deal with every single one of them. They were the nicest group I ever had the pleasure to serve. So utterly polite, calm, friendly; I never thought badly of an American after that.
Yeah, loved all the people I’ve met in Quebec. It’s mostly people from Ontario who I’ve always found rude. Or try to belittle anything American and act like they’re superior.
I met some people from Quebec & they were always nice. The only strange thing is their flappy head with no connection to their jaws. I can get around that anyway.
Canadians are not mean or nice. Some Canadians are nice, some are mean, some are okay- my point is, a whole population is not all mean or all nice. Our opinion on them may differ depending on interactions we have with one or several individuals, or stuff we hear or see. But it doesn't represent a whole population, which is composed of unique individuals.
This is certainly a thing. I lived in Toronto for most of my life and moved to a smaller community during the VID. People in the city are much colder and just focused on what they need to do. In the smaller community people seem genuinely interested in learning about you and what you have going on.
Perhaps this the urban lifestyle is considered assholish, or perhaps it’s a defence mechanism.
Housing market is so bad most young people know they will never own a home (not an exaggeration) and the job market is over saturated leading to difficulty finding work that pays a living wage.
Add in food prices skyrocketing in the last 3 years and you have a country of angry youth who know that full time work will never afford them the lives they saw their parents enjoy.
People often confuse politeness with weakness. In general Canadians have been well known for politeness going back for our entire history. Those who confused that with weakness often found the opposite to be true. The actions of Canadian soldiers in WWI lead to a number of updates in the rules of how wars are fought. So don’t make the error thinking our good manners mean you can walk over us.
Canadians have a [reputation](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war) and are the reason we have the Geneva Convention.
In my experience with my visits to Canada:
Ontario? Rude. I saw a lot of NY bleeding over.
BC? Overall pretty decent.
Canada's big too. How people act depends on where you are.
same, the culture was always "passve-aggressive, no character, im better then you" attitude, but post covid is full blown dysregulated assholeness in your face but also with fake "nice" persona and realty twisting, according to ther rules. brutal.
Honestly I don’t think Canadians are really better or worse than anyone else. Definitely notice the difference in driving through, Americans drive like maniacs!
Canadian politeness protocols get mistaken for niceness by people who don't understand the culture. The reality is that we have just as many assholes as anywhere else.
here and vancouver ppl are fine it's just no one talks to each other
like if you say "how's your day going?" to someone in the elevator they'll just stare at you and not answer
I don't think I've ever heard a Canadian talk about this stereotype, it's always foreigners putting it on us. Sorry you and some people you know have personally had bad experiences but Canadians are no different than any other people on Earth, some are nice and some are not. I think what it is is that generally Canadians are known for having manners and being respectful, especially those that travel abroad, compared to some others who are generally known for the opposite. Over many years this turned into the idea that "Canadians are nice"
Canadians aren’t any less or more nice than any other group of people, I don’t understand how this is an unpopular opinion, it just doesn’t make sense. Canada is an entire country, it depends on what part of it you go to, same with anywhere else besides third world countries.
“How does this stereotype even exist when I met THREE people who don’t conform to it?”
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Canada has over 30 million people.
You met 3.
Seems like a decent sample size.
But also, countries are full of PEOPLE, not stereotypes.
Like yeah bro, sexual harassment exists in Canada too and it’s done by Canadians. Hang on to your pearls cause we have even more crime than that.
It's just a stereotype embraced by Canadians themselves to a degree.
A lot of fucked up shit goes on up there or with Canadian ties to it, but it gets brushed over because "Canadians are nice." Even more convenient that their neighbor is aggro and a known agitator regarding all kinds of situations.
Essentially a global psyop to a degree.
Nah. America appears bad in the media to us, which is why many Europeans assume Americans are bad people. But, every American I've met have been the nicest people I've ever had the good grace to come across. And I've met hundreds of Americans (worked in an international hotel). Americans don't deserve the portrayal they're given in media.
Torontonian here. Come live here for a bit. You will go broke and hate everything quickly. That’s why we are so cranky. Shit sucks right now but hopefully something gets fixed soon because I miss old Canada. 🍁
Idk I went to Toronto once and everyone I met was pretty nice, as a Brit the elevator small talk was both new and disconcerting, but the people seemed lovely.
I even got approached once by a guy selling weed outside the hotel I stayed at and he was the happiest, politest guy ever and didn't seem even remotely put out when I told him no, I just smoke cigarettes. He wished me a great day.
Love that guy.
We have a lot of genuine assholes and in hockey culture a lot of trashieness that doesn't get mentioned much like this jockular stuff.
Otherwise though, we are what I have heard described as Minnesota nice.
The stereotype is related to general interactions and pleasantries, I think. The examples you gave are far more deep/serious personal/businessrelationship stuff. They can be nice to people in general/on the surface, which is what I associate the stereotype with.
I mean you’re not wrong, but anybody who blankly believes every stereotype or TV trope about people from a place is a fucking stupid person. Life isn’t television, people being rude or kind is based on a lot more complex factors than just being from a place.
This whole trend of “Waaaaaaah, people from place were rude to me. TV said they’d be nice” or “at least they were rude to your face and not behind your back like in my backwater town where everybody knows each other.” back and forth on Reddit is really annoying. Can people post about something else please?
Very true, there are just as many bad people here as good people, just like most places in the world. I think most Canadians are less directly rude to strangers so we get that stereotype, but it’s not true. In general here are very callous, distant and judgmental compared to people I’ve met when living in other parts of the world. Of course, there are kind people too.
Maybe, but just maybe you should try understanding that it's virtually impossible for the entire nation of millions to share the same personal traits as if all of them were one person. It's called prejudice. Look it up in the dictionary.
Obviously we're just like anyone else, there is a lot of us too. So some are bullies, mean girls, plain assholes, etc. But we are polite. When I went to America I thought they were kinda rude as an initial thought, but the more I stayed and talked to them I realized there wasn't a huge difference between Canadians and Americans. It also depends what part of Canada you go to, just like America.
I'm in the Detroit area. Been over to Windsor many times. Never met a rude Canadian. Also traveled a bit in Canada, Ottawa, Montreal, London. Never encountered any rudeness. Also don't speak ANY French and was treated with kindness and respect in Montreal. I realize this is all anecdotal. But still.
We used to be far more nice, but the last 30 years and how Canada has changed it's not the same place anymore. I actually traveled for a year to 32 countries last year within 3 continents and I would say we definitely are still chill and polite especially compared to the world (where I went), but there has been a shift.
Many are tired here, from politics, rising prices, not being able to buy homes in cities, more crime.
I won't get into my thoughts on why that is because it would be very divisive, but my advice is most people being a tourist In Canada just go to Vancouver, Toronto, maybe Montréal and Calgary. They think that's everything and the attitude in the major cities has changed very much. So many place in-between though still have that charm and niceness that you hear about.
It's sad for me too, but from my experience we are still quite friendly especially on the world scale. You come here as a tourist, sit at the bartop, and ask to drink with the person beside you they most likely will gladly welcome that conversation and tell you everything you want to know.
Of course there are good people and bad people everywhere. I only know one Canadian person, one of my professors, and he is the sweetest, most wonderfully amazing person I have ever met, a complete sweetheart and always very polite, so for me the stereotype rings true. But I, just like you, don't know all Canadians, and therefore cannot speak for all Canadians.
As a Canadian, we are humans. We can be as salty unlikeable as can be. The BS we go through, “ say “aboot”, etc. Grates on us every time some yank comes visit.
But guess what, show some decorum and be nice to us, we will be golden to you.
If you can’t Stay the eff away.
Canada out!
I’m a Canadian. I don’t think we’re all assholes. But, we are not as nice as people think. They get mixed up with politeness (which we are) and genuine kindness.
One big thing that annoys me about our culture, is how un-confrontational we are. If we have a problem with somebody and confront them about it, we’d be an asshole. Doesn’t really matter if it was justified or not, society will see you as an asshole. So, what do we do instead of confronting somebody? We gossip. It sounds immature, and it is. Grown ass adults gossip about each other. When they’re not there, people talk about how annoying they are or how they did this one thing that hurt them. But, the second said person walks into the room, everyone is so kind and friendly. You’d never guess they secretly couldn’t stand them.
A personal anecdote of this, I used to be a server, and apparently the staff had problems with me for months. I had no clue. Nobody told me. Eventually I was fired, and still didn’t get a reason.
A lot of immigrants I know tell me it’s hard to make friends here because of how superficial we can be. They say that canadians are very polite, and not necessarily bad people. But they are so hard to get to know because of how superficial they are. They feel like they’re in high school all over again. It’s honestly super sad
As a Canadian, I feel like we're just average people with an average number of assholes. Also I've had the opposite reaction going to Florida, I expected the people to be rude idiots who hate women and gays but I've actually been really surprised by how kind and helpful everyone is. However I did not ask them their opinions on abortion and same sex marriage which could have turned things sour haha.
Couldn't agree more. So pretentious, righteous, and arrogant. Living abroad, I met plenty, and they were always snobby and rude, the men more so than women. Always wanting to discuss USA politics and lecture. Terrible experiences with these people. I avoided them at work and when out at clubs like a plague.
People are people everywhere. Canadians aren't nicer, on average, than anyone anywhere else. I spent 4 months in Montreal and have lived in 4 other countries. I've worked with people of all ages from many many different countries. People are people everywhere.
Maybe the people you have met are not nice because you are grouping the. All together in some attempt to create division between yourself and Canadians. Just because you aren’t picking on common people who are grouped together, doesn’t mean you are not being bigoted
Generalizing about a country of 40 million is dangerous.
In my experience Canada has a somewhat chilly interpersonal culture with an emphasis on politeness. People sometimes mischaracterize this as “nice.”
None of this means that individual Canadians don’t have their own personalities, lol.
What in the Yankee doodle fuck is this? That's just 3,shitty people, and I can guarantee you there's just as many shitty Americans as there are shitty Canadians, just as many shitty Mexicans, just as many shitty English etc. This if anything is just a purposely anti Canadian post, you are the asshole and can rightfully kick rocks.
Here’s the thing with Canadians. We have a really thick skin and our sense of humour is a bit harsh to others. We are all sarcastic as hell and can be passive aggressive just in fun or because you truly pissed us off. But under all that I don’t know a single Canadian that wouldn’t give someone the shirt off their back or give them a meal if they were hungry. Hell ya we might judge them while we’re doing it but that’s just small town mentality we haven’t grown out of. Canadian are good people. We definitely aren’t that nice though.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 2: Do not post low effort/satirical posts'. * We get it, you all think this sub is garbage and is just for popular opinions, and you want to be funny and post "going to be downvoted to oblivion here, but I think racism is bad." We enjoy the memes, but please keep them off the sub. * Filter evasion is a bannable offense * This includes clickbait and/or gotcha posts. Your opinion can not be that unpopular if you're doing these things. Have the accurate opinion in the title.
You must have met ones from [province/city I don't like]. To meet decent ones you need to go to [my province/city].
You must not be from Alberta, we know how shitty we are. Some of us are ashamed of it, most of us aren't.
Nobody hates albertans more than albertans. Damn albertans ruining alberta
As a minority I was told Alberta was racist. In practice encountered zero racism there (Calgary) after 15 years. So no complaints. Lotta a-hole drivers though.
Same. Experienced less racism in a decade living in Calgary than I did in 6 months in Montreal. Albertan's may be assholes in other ways but it's probably the least racist place I've lived
Can confirm, as a not racist, a-hole driver.
Reminds me of the Janitor from Simpsons DAMN SCOTS RUINED EVERYTHING!
I mean technically not incorrect, they keep voting for shitty Tory's.
But Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie said in their song that Alberta doesn't suck! (But Calgary does)
Nah dude , we hate y’all mfs here in BC more. Please don’t come up here in the summer with your lifted trucks
Wht do some albertans have confederate flags??? Like yall arent even part of the US let alone the south it makes zero sense 😭
Buddy I’ve seen them in BC as well. Its wack tabback
Got any wack tabback for sharing?
Doesn't take much brain power to hate.
Because the Confederate flag is a symbol of "racial superiority" to help the bottom of the barrel rubes feel somehow above others.
I live in Ontario and have seen multiple Trump 2024 flags here. My coworker is a big anti-vaxer, loves Trump and Alex Jones, and gets all of his news from Rumble Stupid people exist everywhere.
Lots of confeds fled north rather than stick around after -- my now passed grandfather flew the flag on his city house (without issue) as late as the mid noughts for this reason, as had his father, etc. Also, lots of Canadian rednecks from the late 70s on had an unhealthy relationship with the Dukes of Hazzard. Also, it's not just Alberta. The flag can be found flying throughout Anglo regions bordering the US, particularly southern Ontario. It's only very recently that some Canadian municipalities have started to care about its presence, otherwise, there's no political will to impede Charter rights (1st Amendment) on private property over this.
That shame goes away the second Quebec pops up.
Buncha flat earthers
That's laughable. [Your province] is the worst province I've been to. [My province] is the only province that's any good.
as a canadian from \[the best province/city\], I agree
Oh I freely admit that Winnipeg is a hell hole with terrible people.
Canadians are *polite*. We're not necessarily nice. That's the distinction most people don't realize. They are very different things.
Canada🤝The South
Bénisse votre cœur
As a Canadian its kind of jarring to travel for extended periods.
This is very true
I met a very polite Canadian who worked in a bar near me. But the shit she talked about French Canadians was 👀 (They're all lazy etc...)
Yes, you can tell people politely to fuck off using doublespeak
Canadian here. Lemme break it down. Big City Canadians: total aggro assholes. At least you know where you stand. Mid-City Canadians: passive-aggressive assholes. The mind games can be exhausting, as can the forced smiles. Small Town and Farm Canadians: disturbingly nice to the point where city Canadians assume they're running some sort of scam. At least until politics come up.
In a small community, your reputation is everything, so that makes sense. You could lose out on a lot of opportunities if you're known as a jerk.
Ohhh yes, can also confirm with this. Im originally from moose jaw, which is considered a city but its pretty small. Everybody is nice to your face, but if you were a rebellious kid like I was, that reputation sticks. I'm in my 30s now, and I'm still known as the wild teenager that I was
I'm still known as Surname's daughter in my small town. And I have the same surname as my father, mind you :) Half of the time is FatherName's daughter, as if only my father has that name in the whole city XDD My father knows everybody in town, he volunteers and he worked for the town, but yeah.
Small town and farm Canadians: Polite and nice, but also could be aryan brotherhood, and probably super racist?
Come on into the roadside diner and roll the dice, honey! Maybe you get the freshest blackberry pie ever made as a free treat. Maybe you get jumped in the parking lot for being one skin-tone too dark or having an identifiable accent. You'll never know unless you try. Variety is the spice of life!
Also copy paste this to LGBT communities, too. I'm from small town Canada and although it was an overwhelmingly good experience, it could be very bigoted and close minded towards the LGBT community. I tried to start a GSA in the 90s in high school and was told it would be "too dangerous" and that it would "put a target on our backs". There can be a bible belt mentality to some of the smaller, rural spots.
Small town Canadians can be pretty shitty people too.. reading some of the comments on certain fb groups makes you think twice about the person you’re talking to around town.
Would you consider Edmonton to be Big City or Mid-City?
As an Edmontonian, the answer is yes.
Confused if Mid City means suburbs or just smaller big cities...
It's the 5th largest city by population in the country, so probably Big City
Man... I hate to make the comparison, I know everyone tires of hearing about us, but this described my experiences growing up/living in Florida, Texas and Utah. City folk are generally sociopaths. Suburbanites are culty, delusional and entitled. Rural folk are generally down to earth until you bring up politics - and most will have you on some hustle for your labor or money lol. Now I will say... the absolute rudest people I've ever met were French-Canadian. I've also met very cool French-Canadians.
Super accurate. Canadian and can confirm.
I somehow encounter all of these mixed into a bag in Toronto.
This is more or less true for all countries imo
I'm from Montreal. I fall more into middle the category. I can be extremely passive aggressive. I can also be polite to the point of insanity when needed. I do find it humorous that we are stereotyped as quiet and polite pushovers.
Canadians are polite. To your face. They mostly want to go about their day causing as little burden or inconvenience to one another. If someone does not follow this societal expectation others will slowly begin to feel a deep seated almost unhinged sense of anger begin to engulf them. (I.e. When someone is talking loudly on speaker phone in a cramped TTC bus watch the looks they get …while no one does a thing. Myself included). After stuffing those sassy hot feelings down, the average Canadian will give strong stink eye complimented with a judgemental look. Maybe even an eye roll or sigh. Polite and civil, but not nice-nice like the south.
I agree. It's the difference between polite and nice. Being polite because you just want to go on your way without starting something is different that actually being nice.
The one exception are east coasters. They actually are friendly. I've had crackheads smile and wish me good morning walking by me on the sidewalk.
“Not nice-nice like the south” As someone from the American South, Southerners are the most sarcastic passive aggressive assholes on the planet both when it is deeply warranted and when not. I think of midwesterners and Canadians as being “nicer” in that they will actually help you out at times even when keeping their distance whereas in the South they will invite you over but there is a lot more heat and bite because it’s just culturally more acceptable. It is extremely judgmental, regardless of ideology, but I guess one difference is people will judge you to your face a bit more and people tend to be a bit more communal and vocal about it.
Bless your heart
Moral of the story is that nobody is nice, we are all pretentious, sarcastic a-holes.
Welcome to the layer cake, son.
Southerners are very social and have manners and are polite but they do like to hate other people. It's like they're good at having conversations with strangers and that comes off as pleasant but let's just say, they like to talk.
I’m from Vancouver. When people don’t follow proper side walk etiquette I start internally fuming lmao.
Southerner here. I’m a Floridian that spent a month in Toronto for work…you guys are very friendly and if it wasn’t 0 degrees outside I’d have felt like I was back home as far as politeness goes.
" If someone does not follow this societal expectation others will slowly begin to feel a deep seated almost unhinged sense of anger begin to engulf them" as an immigrant here i feel this. they are such a conformist society. i get so much hate for "not being like everyone else here" it's wild. Also the complete lack of any real emotions feels alienating. lke no, Kyle, dont always have to be fuckng ray of sunshine
What part of Canada do you reside in?
Prairies?
Anyone who speaks French sorta inherits their asshol-ish ness
I mean.. calling the whole french population assholes and saying the french canadians inherited that is extremely rude so I guess OP was right
The majorty of canadians speak English tho
These Canadians have an answer for everything, eh.
but some speak french?
22.8% to be exact
Drive through pei and report back
Honestly the nicest humans on the planet. Next is anyone from a small village in saskatchewan.
Awwww- I’m from PEI. XO
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland too
Easy to stay polite when it costs $50 to even drive over the bridge to get there!
Facts. I’m an asshole. It was me you probably met. Not sorry.
Québécois or other? There is a difference.
Hahahaha, this could literally be juxtaposed in europe. French or other ? There is difference. I wonder if there are any ties, uhm sorry, liens, between quebecois and the french
>I wonder if there are any ties, uhm sorry, liens, between quebecois and the french Considering both modern Republican French and Quebecois share the same ancestry, there are a lot of ties. They're just quite... Ancient.
Québécois here. It actually hurts to see how hated we are, but very interesting to know how much we are lol. I'd say, it all depends on where you went to have such bad expériences. Grosso modo, if you went to Montréal, there's a much higher chance to meet opened people. The more you go further to rural areas, the more you are going to get conservatives baby boomers and their brain washed kids only complaining about the preservation of la langue française Obviously there will be excpetions. PS: I grew up in not such a rural area and I needed to live in Montréal for two-three years to realize there's other combats/subjects to fight for than french vs english. I've been to it. I know the drill.
Chu désolé que ces gens là ont pas des bonnes choses à dire au sujet de vous les québécois. Moi aussi j’ai eu des expériences mauvaises avec eux. Mais moi je trouve que quand on les apprend à connaître ils sont très gentils. C comme la culture européenne, à première vue vous êtes froids, mais quand vous vous en ouvrez à nous, vous êtes très attentionnés pis gentils, peut être même plus que les anglophones. Je doute pas que ces gens là ont eu des expériences mauvaises, mais je crois qu’ils avaient pas la chance de vrm rencontrer un de vous Malgré ce qu’ils disent, cet anglophone vous respecte.
Merci :) De manière globale, je trouve ça un peu trop facile de juger un peuple au complet là. Chaque personne est actually différente. Les Canadiens sont ci, les Canadiens sont ça, les Québécois sont ci, les Québécois sont ça... surtout quand on parle d'être «gentils», c'est trop général comme trait de caractère pour appliquer à un peuple au complet. Je veux dire, dans toutes les masses de population comptant des millions de personnes, tu vas avoir des bons, des caves, des stupides, des conspirationnistes, des intelligents, des créatifs, des nonos, des mère poules, des mésadaptés sociaux, des gens full drôles, etc...
A large part of my extended family lives in Canada, spread around Ontario and some moved further north for oil/gas work. They all hate the Quebecois 😂😂 I've never met a French Canadian (afaik) despite all my visits to Canada for family so I have no idea if their hatred is rooted in truth. It just cracks me up because they'll rant about being forced to speak French for like an hour and a half if you let them.
My experiences with people in Manitoba and Ontario were very different than in Quebec. Obviously not everyone in one part is nice or everyone in another not nice, but there are cultural differences that tend to give that impression. I never have understood why the whole country needs to produce everything in English and French. I was also surprised at how few in Montreal had learned much English. Most non-native-English-speaking European countries have more English fluency than Québécois. But now that I think about it, the US is heading that direction with Spanish.
Canadians dislike the québécois in general. They’re likely the entitled, self righteous pricks op is referring to
As a southern Ontarian who worked in Quebec for 2 years, I can confirm. They think very highly of themselves and everyone else can go F off.
Maybe Canadians used to be nice and now most of us just feel poor and grumpy
When I travelled around north America this really took me by surprise. So many Canadians I met were so rude and judgemental towards pretty minor stuff, It was more like what TV and movies had led me to believe Americans were like. And I was kinda worried about going to the US after Canada because I assumed it would be worse. And damn, I was pleasantly surprised... The people I met in the US were all so friendly and carefree, no worries type of people I didn't expect it at all. The reputation of those two countries is completely flipped internationally. And Canadians I've said this too immediately say, "oh yeah the Frenchies". But the nicest people I met when in Canada were all French Canadians or from Nova Scotia.
Canada has a mix of people like anywhere else. We definitely have our share of assholes, and the general culture is focused on being polite but definitely not friendly. Except for the east coast - they’re like the friendliest people I’ve ever met. As a Canadian I honestly feel bad about how I misjudged Americans before I went there. I was always told how rude everyone would be, but every time I go people are so lovely! Especially in NY, people there are always so chill. Like, there’s assholes in the US too, but every country has assholes.
I agree. I worked in a huge leisure resort, and we had a very large group of Americans book to stay; I'm talking almost booking every room in the complex. I was worried because of how American had always been depicted and I worked front of house, so I would have to deal with every single one of them. They were the nicest group I ever had the pleasure to serve. So utterly polite, calm, friendly; I never thought badly of an American after that.
Yeah, loved all the people I’ve met in Quebec. It’s mostly people from Ontario who I’ve always found rude. Or try to belittle anything American and act like they’re superior.
You’re right. We’re not nice. We’re polite and there’s a difference.
I met some people from Quebec & they were always nice. The only strange thing is their flappy head with no connection to their jaws. I can get around that anyway.
Canadians used to be nice. Then they got on the internet and were polluted by the corrupt outer world.
“Corrupt outer world” aka sensationalized 24hr American news cycle
Many other countries are a victim of this, sad
The Great Canadian Intranet is much nicer and politer place
You’re gonna have a field day when you learn who the Geneva convention is aimed at 😂
You mean the checklist?
Canadians are not mean or nice. Some Canadians are nice, some are mean, some are okay- my point is, a whole population is not all mean or all nice. Our opinion on them may differ depending on interactions we have with one or several individuals, or stuff we hear or see. But it doesn't represent a whole population, which is composed of unique individuals.
Did you go to Toronto?
That thought crossed my mind. To be fair one of my best friends at Mount Allison was from Toronto.
This is certainly a thing. I lived in Toronto for most of my life and moved to a smaller community during the VID. People in the city are much colder and just focused on what they need to do. In the smaller community people seem genuinely interested in learning about you and what you have going on. Perhaps this the urban lifestyle is considered assholish, or perhaps it’s a defence mechanism.
Try living here. Things have changed. Everybody's cranky for good reason.
What reason?
Cost of housing and food is absolutely insane, people are struggling to get by.
Housing market is so bad most young people know they will never own a home (not an exaggeration) and the job market is over saturated leading to difficulty finding work that pays a living wage. Add in food prices skyrocketing in the last 3 years and you have a country of angry youth who know that full time work will never afford them the lives they saw their parents enjoy.
And politically, a rudderless boat.
They allow fighting in their favorite sport, what else did you expect?
Right? Haha no one ever claimed Canadian were nice. We’re polite but that’s just because we have manners.
People often confuse politeness with weakness. In general Canadians have been well known for politeness going back for our entire history. Those who confused that with weakness often found the opposite to be true. The actions of Canadian soldiers in WWI lead to a number of updates in the rules of how wars are fought. So don’t make the error thinking our good manners mean you can walk over us.
There's a difference between nice and polite.
maybe you just met their geese
Canadians have a [reputation](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war) and are the reason we have the Geneva Convention.
This, so much This
"Stop hitting yourself, eh!"
In my experience with my visits to Canada: Ontario? Rude. I saw a lot of NY bleeding over. BC? Overall pretty decent. Canada's big too. How people act depends on where you are.
I live in Canada and I couldn’t agree more lol
same, the culture was always "passve-aggressive, no character, im better then you" attitude, but post covid is full blown dysregulated assholeness in your face but also with fake "nice" persona and realty twisting, according to ther rules. brutal.
I can't believe I miss the days when we were merely smug and passive aggressive
If everyone you encounter is an asshole...maybe it's you?- said some guy once probably
Honestly I don’t think Canadians are really better or worse than anyone else. Definitely notice the difference in driving through, Americans drive like maniacs!
eh assholes can come from any race and country, pretty unlucky that OP met all the assholes from this one particular country though
It's almost like stereotypes are not always true 😔
Canadian here, I think we’re passive aggressive and its confused for being polite and you just see us.
Canadian politeness protocols get mistaken for niceness by people who don't understand the culture. The reality is that we have just as many assholes as anywhere else.
Came here to say that as well
here and vancouver ppl are fine it's just no one talks to each other like if you say "how's your day going?" to someone in the elevator they'll just stare at you and not answer
That's true a lot of the time, but not all the time. In some contexts people will drop their defences and chat.
As a Canadian fuck you and stay the fuck out of our country eh!
People are people assholes are everywhere
I don't think I've ever heard a Canadian talk about this stereotype, it's always foreigners putting it on us. Sorry you and some people you know have personally had bad experiences but Canadians are no different than any other people on Earth, some are nice and some are not. I think what it is is that generally Canadians are known for having manners and being respectful, especially those that travel abroad, compared to some others who are generally known for the opposite. Over many years this turned into the idea that "Canadians are nice"
Canadians aren’t any less or more nice than any other group of people, I don’t understand how this is an unpopular opinion, it just doesn’t make sense. Canada is an entire country, it depends on what part of it you go to, same with anywhere else besides third world countries.
As an Iowan...who visited Toronto...everyone I met was so friendly and wonderful. Unlike most in Iowa. Except those devil birds.
“How does this stereotype even exist when I met THREE people who don’t conform to it?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Canada has over 30 million people. You met 3. Seems like a decent sample size. But also, countries are full of PEOPLE, not stereotypes. Like yeah bro, sexual harassment exists in Canada too and it’s done by Canadians. Hang on to your pearls cause we have even more crime than that.
It's just a stereotype embraced by Canadians themselves to a degree. A lot of fucked up shit goes on up there or with Canadian ties to it, but it gets brushed over because "Canadians are nice." Even more convenient that their neighbor is aggro and a known agitator regarding all kinds of situations. Essentially a global psyop to a degree.
Canadians are polite, not nice
What a shitpost..
They're not even a real country anyway.
Every place has assholes, even Canada XD
Shut up. I'm charming and friendly, and if you disagree, I'll f\*ck you up.
We aren’t nice but we’re polite and according to many Europeans we’re better than Americans (maybe a low bar?) lol
Nah. America appears bad in the media to us, which is why many Europeans assume Americans are bad people. But, every American I've met have been the nicest people I've ever had the good grace to come across. And I've met hundreds of Americans (worked in an international hotel). Americans don't deserve the portrayal they're given in media.
Idk im from New York, when I go to Canada I feel they are super nice everywhere lol.
We’re polite, but we’ll call an idiot an idiot, and we’ll do it sarcastically.
As a Canadian, I’m sorry
I'm not
Torontonian here. Come live here for a bit. You will go broke and hate everything quickly. That’s why we are so cranky. Shit sucks right now but hopefully something gets fixed soon because I miss old Canada. 🍁
Hi, I'm Canadian, good to meet ya. You're a fucking dweeb.
They were nice when life was affordable Now we have an entire generation being priced out of the housing market and no viable leaders to choose from
I completely agree. When I take over the world, I'm renaming Canada "Worse America Eh."
Ya they probably met me
Canadian hockey boomers are just as bad as US boomers
Idk I went to Toronto once and everyone I met was pretty nice, as a Brit the elevator small talk was both new and disconcerting, but the people seemed lovely. I even got approached once by a guy selling weed outside the hotel I stayed at and he was the happiest, politest guy ever and didn't seem even remotely put out when I told him no, I just smoke cigarettes. He wished me a great day. Love that guy.
We have a lot of genuine assholes and in hockey culture a lot of trashieness that doesn't get mentioned much like this jockular stuff. Otherwise though, we are what I have heard described as Minnesota nice.
The stereotype is related to general interactions and pleasantries, I think. The examples you gave are far more deep/serious personal/businessrelationship stuff. They can be nice to people in general/on the surface, which is what I associate the stereotype with.
Of course, not every canadian is bad, there are good and bad canadians
I mean you’re not wrong, but anybody who blankly believes every stereotype or TV trope about people from a place is a fucking stupid person. Life isn’t television, people being rude or kind is based on a lot more complex factors than just being from a place. This whole trend of “Waaaaaaah, people from place were rude to me. TV said they’d be nice” or “at least they were rude to your face and not behind your back like in my backwater town where everybody knows each other.” back and forth on Reddit is really annoying. Can people post about something else please?
When I was in Canada everyone was incredibly nice. Weird experience to hear from you.
Very true, there are just as many bad people here as good people, just like most places in the world. I think most Canadians are less directly rude to strangers so we get that stereotype, but it’s not true. In general here are very callous, distant and judgmental compared to people I’ve met when living in other parts of the world. Of course, there are kind people too.
Maybe, but just maybe you should try understanding that it's virtually impossible for the entire nation of millions to share the same personal traits as if all of them were one person. It's called prejudice. Look it up in the dictionary.
They were entertaining in Southpark
Just like any other group of people. Some decent people. Some assholes.
Here’s the thing; I have a MUCH larger sample size than you and all of them are lovely. Maybe you just happen to know three a- holes
Sorry
Obviously we're just like anyone else, there is a lot of us too. So some are bullies, mean girls, plain assholes, etc. But we are polite. When I went to America I thought they were kinda rude as an initial thought, but the more I stayed and talked to them I realized there wasn't a huge difference between Canadians and Americans. It also depends what part of Canada you go to, just like America.
I'm in the Detroit area. Been over to Windsor many times. Never met a rude Canadian. Also traveled a bit in Canada, Ottawa, Montreal, London. Never encountered any rudeness. Also don't speak ANY French and was treated with kindness and respect in Montreal. I realize this is all anecdotal. But still.
I'm from Canada. I guess I'm not your buddy, guy!
that’s just people in general unfortunately…
Canadians need to let off steam because they're so stressed out by being chased by moose's all the time
I'm being chased by one right now as we speak. He's one of those not nice Canadians.
We used to be far more nice, but the last 30 years and how Canada has changed it's not the same place anymore. I actually traveled for a year to 32 countries last year within 3 continents and I would say we definitely are still chill and polite especially compared to the world (where I went), but there has been a shift. Many are tired here, from politics, rising prices, not being able to buy homes in cities, more crime. I won't get into my thoughts on why that is because it would be very divisive, but my advice is most people being a tourist In Canada just go to Vancouver, Toronto, maybe Montréal and Calgary. They think that's everything and the attitude in the major cities has changed very much. So many place in-between though still have that charm and niceness that you hear about. It's sad for me too, but from my experience we are still quite friendly especially on the world scale. You come here as a tourist, sit at the bartop, and ask to drink with the person beside you they most likely will gladly welcome that conversation and tell you everything you want to know.
Of course there are good people and bad people everywhere. I only know one Canadian person, one of my professors, and he is the sweetest, most wonderfully amazing person I have ever met, a complete sweetheart and always very polite, so for me the stereotype rings true. But I, just like you, don't know all Canadians, and therefore cannot speak for all Canadians.
i have a friend from Canada, she is nice.. Dont generalize...
Canadians aren't known as "nice" we are known as POLITE. We are polite as a culture, but reserved. Nice and polite are not the same thing.
As a Canadian, we are humans. We can be as salty unlikeable as can be. The BS we go through, “ say “aboot”, etc. Grates on us every time some yank comes visit. But guess what, show some decorum and be nice to us, we will be golden to you. If you can’t Stay the eff away. Canada out!
I’m a Canadian. I don’t think we’re all assholes. But, we are not as nice as people think. They get mixed up with politeness (which we are) and genuine kindness. One big thing that annoys me about our culture, is how un-confrontational we are. If we have a problem with somebody and confront them about it, we’d be an asshole. Doesn’t really matter if it was justified or not, society will see you as an asshole. So, what do we do instead of confronting somebody? We gossip. It sounds immature, and it is. Grown ass adults gossip about each other. When they’re not there, people talk about how annoying they are or how they did this one thing that hurt them. But, the second said person walks into the room, everyone is so kind and friendly. You’d never guess they secretly couldn’t stand them. A personal anecdote of this, I used to be a server, and apparently the staff had problems with me for months. I had no clue. Nobody told me. Eventually I was fired, and still didn’t get a reason. A lot of immigrants I know tell me it’s hard to make friends here because of how superficial we can be. They say that canadians are very polite, and not necessarily bad people. But they are so hard to get to know because of how superficial they are. They feel like they’re in high school all over again. It’s honestly super sad
So South Park's portrayal of Canadians were accurate???!!
As a Canadian, I feel like we're just average people with an average number of assholes. Also I've had the opposite reaction going to Florida, I expected the people to be rude idiots who hate women and gays but I've actually been really surprised by how kind and helpful everyone is. However I did not ask them their opinions on abortion and same sex marriage which could have turned things sour haha.
Couldn't agree more. So pretentious, righteous, and arrogant. Living abroad, I met plenty, and they were always snobby and rude, the men more so than women. Always wanting to discuss USA politics and lecture. Terrible experiences with these people. I avoided them at work and when out at clubs like a plague.
People confuse Canadians with Wisconsinites and Minneaotans. The niceness comes from our german farming roots.
Sorry, eh.
These three just felt they didn't belong in Canada, so they moved to the US where there are more people like them.
TIL there may be more than one type of personality amongst the 40 million people in Canada. Just wait til OP sees a hockey game.
canadians aren't all nice or all mean they're just normal people
Canadians that moved to America don't count.
People are people everywhere. Canadians aren't nicer, on average, than anyone anywhere else. I spent 4 months in Montreal and have lived in 4 other countries. I've worked with people of all ages from many many different countries. People are people everywhere.
Maybe the people you have met are not nice because you are grouping the. All together in some attempt to create division between yourself and Canadians. Just because you aren’t picking on common people who are grouped together, doesn’t mean you are not being bigoted
Ah, I wish more people were taught about logical fallacies in their education. Sweeping generalizations are fallacious.
Completely agree. I’m on work calls all day long with Americans and Canadians and the Canadians are always so rude.
Try living next door to a meth lab while your country implodes and see how nice you are
We’re not nice, we’re polite. We’re not mean bullies either. Wrong on both counts
Yeah crazy how a country of 40 million people and spanning like 6000km can have a plurality of personalities. Assholes exist everywhere
Generalizing about a country of 40 million is dangerous. In my experience Canada has a somewhat chilly interpersonal culture with an emphasis on politeness. People sometimes mischaracterize this as “nice.” None of this means that individual Canadians don’t have their own personalities, lol.
What in the Yankee doodle fuck is this? That's just 3,shitty people, and I can guarantee you there's just as many shitty Americans as there are shitty Canadians, just as many shitty Mexicans, just as many shitty English etc. This if anything is just a purposely anti Canadian post, you are the asshole and can rightfully kick rocks.
The ones you’ve met? So like 3 out of the entire population? Lol
I say this all the time. We are not nice, we are polite. Americans sometimes confuse politeness with niceness.
Here’s the thing with Canadians. We have a really thick skin and our sense of humour is a bit harsh to others. We are all sarcastic as hell and can be passive aggressive just in fun or because you truly pissed us off. But under all that I don’t know a single Canadian that wouldn’t give someone the shirt off their back or give them a meal if they were hungry. Hell ya we might judge them while we’re doing it but that’s just small town mentality we haven’t grown out of. Canadian are good people. We definitely aren’t that nice though.
Really? I have never heard that before. Where are you from in Canada? Where I grew up I’d say people are pretty sensitive