When I visited Canada, I was surprised by just how alike it was to America. Seriously, it felt like I had just driven to any other American city, and the reason I was so surprised was because I bought into this fantasy that Canada is completely different, because it's really not. They use the same plug outlet, the same overall city layout, the same literally everything. It really was like being in America. Excellent video.
The main thing I noticed was that Canadians are skinnier, and cities are made slightly more compactly (fewer seas of parking lots and massive empty spaces indoors). But outside of that, I had more culture shock going to California or Texas than I did going to Canada (I live in Washington.) Honestly, if Canada and the US joined into a single country, 99% of the average person's daily life would remain exactly the same.
Джош Харт aren't you russian? you don't even live in north america. please enlighten us then... since you seem to be an expert on two countries you aren't even from.
@@hydrolito Most of Quebec probably doesn't know much about mardi gras. It was popular in the past, but it changed in the 1950's. Carnaval took the place.
@@hydrolito There is no comparison between the two. Only 3.5 % of Louisiana speaks some French (and many of those are recent immigrants from countries like Haiti). On the other hand, 95 % of Quebec residents speak French (whether or not they are of French heritage).
I'm from Midwest and south seems more similar than Northeast. Lots of wide open spaces without crowded buildings but would depend on what parts you want to compare.
Southerners are way more friendly than Canadians, who are very reserved like northerners. We always hear about the dark stuff but people are way more extroverted in the south.
@Nutsilica: Renaissance moving comix I'm convinced you haven't actually been to Canada, people are very extroverted. In Toronto, people strike up a conversation with you all the time and if you strike up a conversation with them, they'll be ready to listen, can you say the same for Houston, Atlanta or Chicago, southern cities aren't exactly known for their hospitality, moreover, people in the South aren't particularly polite when you compare them to Canadians and the British, saying yes ma'am and yes sir is good and all, but if at the end of the day you're going to bump into someone and walk off without saying sorry you haven't really grasped the actual concept of manners which is why they say Canadians and British people are more polite, a southerner will do the most basic thing like hold a door for the person behind them instead of being a dick and slam the door in their face and suddenly omg, Southerners are so polite.
I grew up in New Zealand, and I can honestly say there is a nearly identical dynamic between us and Australia. Both New Zealand and Australia share the same language (save for minority languages like Te Reo Māori), the same national holidays (except for Waitangi day and Australia day), the same foods (just different brands), same slangs, same sports; heck their flags are almost identical. Both countries try to be "special" from the other in their rivalry, and in doing so end up creating a silly smear-campaign-nationalism lol.
Yeah that’s exactly like the US and Canada. I feel like in the Anglo-sphere, US/CA and AU/NZ are like 2 sets of twins with the same mom, the UK. And the twins are siblings to each other, but a bit closer to their own twin
A Japanese businessman was once asked about the differences in doing business between the two countries. His answer was that Americans are obsessed with freedom while Canadians are obsessed with fairness.
@@JJLiu-xc3kg It was a long time ago so I don’t remember, but my personal observations of the two cultures in the decades since make me feel that he had a very good point.
I live in British Columbia, my first time visiting Washington I was honestly so surprised how similar Washington was to British Columbia, Seattle reminded me so much of Vancouver. I kept forgetting I was in another country until I would see american money and brands. I barely saw any difference between western Americans and Canadians.
That’s the thing, Vancouver probably has more in common with Seattle than it does with Toronto, and Toronto has more in common with Chicago than it does with Vancouver.
To be surprised, somebody must have put another expectation into your head. Where might this have been from ? Is this pure nationalism or national identity ? We are our own nation so we must be different ?
I've always thought of a cultural continuation across USA/Canada border. Vancouver seems similar to Seattle and PNW, the Plains are similar to the Dakotas/Montana, Ontario is similar to American Midwest, and Nova Scotia/New Brunswick is similar to US New England. Of course ... Quebec doesn't really fit into that ... but then neither side seems to acknowledge Quebec as "distinctly Canadian".
Quebec & Louisiana have a shared history. Cajans were kicked out of Quebec, Louisiana was apart of France, they speak French, they’re Francophones, the streets are named in French. It’s very interesting. Louisianans feel a lot of connection to Quebec.
Canada and the US are probably the closest countries culture wise. This increases when you compare specific states/provinces. Washington and British Columbia probably have more in common with each other than they have with Louisiana or Newfoundland.
Also Germany and Austria. Spain and Andorra. Russia and eastern part of Ukraine. Wait a minute. Does he have something to do with a common primary language, some shared history, and being border countries?!
Let's face it, when Americans and Canadians visit the other country, you never get the feeling that you are in a "foreign" country. There is a general North American English accent that we all recognize. The cities and towns have the same general look and layout. The people seem the same to me. There is nothing wrong with that. We share a settlement history and have exchanged citizens for over 200 years. Yes, I will admit that as a liberal American I look with some envy about some Canadian laws and customs, but I cannot deny that as far as "Culture" is concerned...we share a North American English speaking culture.
What? Maybe the west coast but the east, Quebec, and maritimes are VERY different. Different architecture and you can see the stronger English and French influence in these parts of Canada
Really? Whenever I've visited the United States I've always felt like I was in a foreign country, and can easily tell the difference between a Canadian and American accent. Historically, Canada was strongly loyalist while America favoured revolution, which tends to influence both countries' politics and culture today. I don't know, I would argue that virtually all countries have similarities with their neighbours, but that doesn't mean that they are not distinct.
Yes, Quebec is quite different. I live in New Hampshire [but lived in California most of my life] and have visited Quebec a number of times. Almost everyone I encountered speaks English well if they work in retail. The signs are all in French but if you ignore that, you know you are in North America. Also my husband speaks French, so that made the trips easier. The cities, roads, cars and just about everything screams..."You are at home here." My initial post represents my visits to British Columbia and Alberta. BTW I highly recommend visiting Quebec City! Great food, wonderful people, and if you are a history buff like me, it has everything. I love Canada! (In the summer :) )
Doodle Blockwell I tend to notice. Americans are more likely to talk to me as a stranger than Canadians do. I don't know how to explain it, but it always feels a bit different in America...
Canadians always love to exaggerate how their culture is so different from the US.. They often say how selling milk in plastic bags or eating at Tim Hortons is so uniquely Canadian. But if you've traveled to other parts of the world, then you will immediately realize that the differences between the two countries are just so minimal.. often much more minimal than regional differences in a lot of countries.
The funny thing is you can get both bagged milk and Tim Horton's in the US too. Kwiktrip (a WI-based gas station) sells bagged milk and you can find Tim Horton's in a lot of the northern US.
I live in Buffalo NY, I can see Canada from my house and there are Tim Hortons almost every other block, and hockey is one of our biggest sports (even though our team is shit)
Thing's must be more of less the same if you have to resort to comparing the packaging of Milk to find any difference. A quick comparison to somewhere in the Middle East or Asia is quite startling. To fresh ears the accents are rather similar and most won't notice the difference. You have to either be from one of the countries or listen to them an aweful lot to tune your ears to hear the small differences which seem to be big differences if your from there.
Yes because Tim Hortons recently opened there. Its called business. Yet, I am at Buffalo New York and I ask for a double double and just get blank faces. And it was in a bloody international bus rest stop where no doubt the majority of people that frequent there are Canadians!!
Thanksgiving is a time where it marks the end of the agricultural season, Canadian Thanksgiving occurs earlier because of their northern location, thus a shorter growing season and shorter daylight hours after summer.
The current US Thanksgiving, as celebrated on fourth Thursday in November was established by President Abraham Lincoln in November 1864 to give thanks for recent Union victories that virtually won the Civil War, though war would continue into April.1865. Also Lincoln was reelected a couple weeks earlier. Turkey dinners were sent to the soldiers. Holiday was originally always last Thursday in November, until 1930's, I think. It was changed to fourth Thursday of November to increase the number of Christmas shopping days. The fourth Thursday of the month is still the last Thursday of the month most of the time, exceptions being November 29 and 30. New England had a history of Thanksgiving celebrations going back to colonial times.
Well I generally agree with the video that there is essentially no significant cultural difference, I am annoyed how JJ glossed over the difference between US and Canadian Thanksgiving. He suggested that the only difference was the date. My experience living both places is that they share a name and traditional foods, but beyond that there is a massive difference. In Canada, it's a long weekend with a turkey dinner. People rarely travel. They are as likely to invite friends over for the dinner party as family. In the US, it's much more focused on family. People often make a significant effort to travel to be with family, enough to make it the busiest travel time of the year. It's a very important holiday, perhaps 2nd behind Christmas. Frankly, Canadian Thanksgiving has more in common with US Labor Day or Memorial Day than US Thanksgiving.
I always cringe when I hear people brag that Canadians have a "totally different" culture because we have poutine and put "u" in color. Like having to focus on these almost insignificant details goes to show how similar our cultures actually are. You can still be a proud Canadian and admit we share a certain North American culture with our southern neighbours.
Word pronunciations and local foods vary across regions of Canada and the U.S. So I would agree with what you said. Saying a word a certain way, or having a popular food item is not enough to distinguish culture. If any of us went to Tokyo it would be blatantly obvious that we were in Tokyo.
I find our differences are more political and government diferences. like Canada's social programs, healthcare, maternity leave, really any kind of extra support or free government service. like going to te hospital in the states wghen you don't have health insurance can cost you all your savings if it's serious. here in Canada, nearly everything related to medical care is free. mat leave is a year instead of 6 weeks, so parents can take the time to raise their newborn too. I have a few friends from the states and they tell me how expensive it is toraise a baby and stay at home :(
Everytime I travel to the US, I don’t even feel like I’ve left Canada 🗿 It’s so easy to blend in there and nobody will know im Canadian unless I tell them. I can meet new people and say bs telling them I’m from Ohio or something and they’ll buy it ☠️☠️
@@kimobrien. It depends on how close you are to the border. I grew up on Marine bases with more southern influnces on my language so I really hear the difference.
As an American visiting Montreal, i found the even the francophones has a sort of american 'niceness' that is so manifestly missing from the metropolitan French character. They were also quite polite about my dreadful french.
Quebecois were the poor people that were shipped out of France. The French are snobby towards the Quebecois even to this day. I saw one French lady call Quebecois “pig French” and insisted on speaking English! “I will not speak that peeg French.”
Ya they wouldn't do that if you went to Quebec City or rural areas of Quebec. Some people there dislike or have a distaste for English speakers. (From my personal experience)
seriously... We are told in schools and media we're like French people (from France)... and it's the way most English speaking Canadian are seeing us I think... but I went to Newcastle last year after going to Paris and bam I was shocked. You go to a coffee shop and listen to discussions... in France they definitely have another way to interact with each other, are more extroverted and touchy and their subject of discussion is a sea of difference from us. As opposed to in the UK... they use another language for sure, but they talk more about the same things we do and in the same way we do. In other words, we are more related to the English culture, with an old French twist. The architecture and cultural stuff are VERY similar too... In Newcastle, I felt like walking in Montreal in an English-Speaking neighborhood. I felt the same in Toronto actually and I'm sure I would feel the same in the US. The biggest difference is the humor and marketing stuff. (and that we're getting ripped off by Internet and Mobile company)
@@MicahMicahel yeah... While my French colleagues are trying to make us more civilized by educating us to a more "proper" French... we trash our French on purpose to annoy them, quite the funny story. ;) To be honest, while most jokes from France are hard for us to understand, they don't even try, but there is a reason for that. Since young, I've been watching French (Belgium, etc. ) movies, but movies from Quebec weren't really promoted in France. In Paris, most of my colleagues just gave up and are now ordering in English.
@Seymour Beaver USA & Canada share land border, culture, language (even same accent), economy, history and defense like NORAD. US/Canada are even more similar than any 2 countries in the world.
Im from Kenya and speaking from a Kenyan/African perspective, i have always seen U.S.A and Canada as different, almost forming a regional block against Latin America. Its like if you ask an African the difference between Nigeria and Ghana. Not a whole lot, maybe language.
Every Time I've heard a Canadian Bring up Tim Hortons, my first thought has been, having a unique regional chain in the area you live is not in itself special. For example, I never saw a Sonic or a Hardee's until I was an adult despite their being national commercials for them broadcast in the northeast where I grew up (there weren't any). Where I live now in the south, no one has ever heard of Friendly's. I'd Never heard of Zaxby's till I moved here. I used to think White Castle was a made up restaurant for the Harold and Kumar Movie because I'd never heard of or seen one (Still Haven't seen one). Why isn't Tim Hortons Popular in the US? I don't know, Could be they haven't made a big effort to expand here (12 locations). Could be the semi-irrational need to keep Tim Hortons Canadian. Could be the extreme competition from Dunkin, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, or Could be that Pret a Manger is planning on expanding here from the UK and is Superior, who knows.
everytime i leave town-i go to a State or Province that has a Timmies (Coffee/Tea) is phenominal ! I plan my trip on a circuit of Tim Hortons locations-like Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids-Holland,Michigan ! TH-English Breakfast Tea-reminds me of flavour/taste of Red Rose !
Hard to have a lot of "different" culture when 85-90% of the Canadian population lives within 100miles of the US border. Miami and Seattle easily have further apart vibes than Winnepeg and Des Moines or Toronto and Chicago. It is funny tho to see Canadians in Europe plastered in maple leaves trying to show how unAmerican they are bc otherwise nobody can tell the difference
@@Spabsa that's literally just the internet telling you lies lmao anywhere you go if you're not an asshole and respect the norm of that country your visiting you'll usually be fine regardless if you're american or not
I spent 3 months in New Zealand and loved it. I'm a French speaking American from Michigan. Also don't forget there are places English and French are spoken like Louisiana, Maine, Vermont
Maine? Really? And in Louisiana, French is all but wiped out due to extreme immigration. In fact I would go as far as to argue that even Asian languages like mandarin and Japanese have a larger amount of speakers in America than French.
@@juice8431 Yes, Maine does, and it is a bit unfortunate how they've been treated, now people descended from them treat others the same way.... sad. Louisiana is a case of government intervention. People with a Cajun accent these days are likely first generation to be raised without speaking french, and speak english with a french syntax and sentence structure.
@@juice8431 I always thought Louisiana became very similar to rest of South. That's what I heard. I've never been there, closest I've ever been was Arkansas.
@@stephenkammerling9479 Southern Louisiana is kind of unique culturally. Definitely different from the typical “South”. There is a big cultural mix of European, African, Hispanic, Native American. The New Orleans accent is said to be somewhat like a Brooklyn NY accent. Many in this area are Catholic which is definitely not the case in most of the South. And there has been a more recent effort among Cajuns to have the elders teach Cajun French to the youngest generation.
stefan matvei swietoniowski most Canadians don’t even realize Trudeau is woke. Trudeau has paid off most of our media through the media bail out $600 million, which gives them propaganda powers over the news that accepts the money. Most Canadians follow American news!
The absolute biggest most STARK difference between the 2 countries is in its 2 Founding Documents. American Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Canadian- Peace order and good government. Thats a very different starting point for 2 similar ideologies with different starting and end goals.
And how they were founded. USA: drunk liberal farmers getting minor arms and annoying the British who didn't event want them. CANADS: Government bodies comming together and establishing diplomatic ways of independence from the UK, who were moving us to independence.
The best part is that our first Prime Minister was a apparently a complete drunkard and the night before he was to have the royal ascent (or whatever) in London, he was so drunk he accidentally set fire to his hotel room!
Dear J. J.: excellent presentation and definition of the two types of culture. Some of your Canadian compatriots who made comments on this page have missed your point entirely. "Canada has nationalized medicine and American doesn't." That's not a cultural difference; it's a political one. Culture can't be changed by an act of Congress: socialized medicine can. In another video you mentioned that just California alone has more people than Canada. Yet these same commenters have no shame is making VAST generalizations about a nation of 320,000,000 people, as if they all think the same way on every issue.
But laws are (or should be...) the expression of a people's political views and sentiments, and can't simply be dismissed as 'not cultural'. I'm not saying Canada and the US aren't much alike, but politics is culture.
@@j2174 -as an American i would like to try to be positive-but the reality is Americans never have a desire to fight-i was told by previous generations-that i have it better than any nation on Earth-then i hear the Socialist/Communist mantra-it will take an insurrection/riot/hand-to-hand combat/revolution to change things etc etc.The current Pandemic proves U.S.needs Single Payer Healthcare-but the 1%-2%-always get their way-the next election wont change anything-mass shootings in America have changed nothing-but they have in New Zealand ! Even Canada had a Copycat Mass Shooting in Nova Scotia recently.Will America change ? Maybe-in 100-200 years from now-if the U.S.still exists.Special interests and Insurance companies would rather put down the 99%.Life is way too good for them.They dont know who Robinhood was !
Every time there is a video mentioning the USA in any capacity on RUclips, the comments become a giant America-bashing party. I’m sick of it, but your video itself is good though.
I'm American and I think this country is slowly diminishing it's worth on multiple fronts. I don't take offense when someone talks shit if it's truthful. It would be nice if more took notice of the criticisms to push for better policies and practices. The American way? Just keep driving through brick walls until the car blows up. 😆
@@AltruisticWarrior america is not diminishing its worth. i think america is excelling in many fronts like the military and soft power. In fact i don't think any country that exists on what is american territory today, would really diminish. The resources are just too great. There's a difference between criticism and shit talking. you can be critical without being a bitch. Heck most ppl bash america without any logic. one guy once said americans are all fat and racist and they have no rights at all and that ppl kill black ppl for fun.
Even with the current gaggle our country is going through, we are the world leader still. Look what happened with the George Floyd incident last year, basically sparked worldwide protests
My daughter (American) attended Western University (London, Ontario). She asked one of her profs if he required her writing to use British english, i.e. colour not color. He tersely responded "You ARE in a DIFFERENT country." So she set Word to British english.
Spanish is not as equally distributed in America. It is highly regional mostly to the Southwest and Certain major metro areas but very similarly to Quebec Spanish is largely regional
MCIZ not really, your connecting Spanish speaking with Mexican immigrants but people speak Spanish all over the country. You can find Spanish speaking people from Los Angeles to Miami
While there are few Spanish speaker is places like the northwest and New England, Spanish is actually pretty well spread out, with densely populated places of course along the border states. They’re in every medium and large city. It’d be more fair to say they are concentrated in the south west rural wise, as a lot of Hispanics live in small towns, which in most of America is populated by whites
not exacly as it is in Quebec. He's having fun saying French is unsignificant in Canada but it's a whole province and it's 22% of Canada's population. Just imagine if all the people from California + Texas + another state were forming a big new French state with a superficy of more than 20% of the USA. And Imagine someone from Florida saying those people are a minority concentrated in a specific area
even the % of spanish speakers in Massaschusetts and pennsylvania is comparable to the % of french speakers in Ontario. the only real difference is that the USA has no absolute spanish speaking majority state, but one spanish speaking colony (puerto Rico)
Nope, MCIZ is right. The Great Plains and Midwest regions do not have a high population of Latin American immigrants, so Spanish is not prolific. In fact, you’ll find communities where German is still spoken regularly. And the second language on bilingual signage is likely French. Any video on US and Canadian culture should always start with a reminder of the sheer size of our countries.
While I agree that Canada and the US are very similar, I think that their differences are a bit more pronounced than what you described. Maybe it's just because I live in Ottawa, where French-Canadian culture has a greater influence, and the majority of English speakers can speak some French, that I am given more of a sense of distinctness from American culture. I also think the fact that Canada is generally a more progressive nation has a sizable influence on our culture. Nevertheless I agree with 99% of your points. It's pretty cringeworthy to hear people saying our culture is completely different because our milk comes in bags and we use the letter u more.
@J I agree. On the surface, the differences between Canada and the United States are nowhere as stark as that of India and China. However, politically, we are quite different. We are more different in that regard than JJ would like to admit. That political distinction is historical by the way and a country's politics DOES reflect the common culture of a nations' citizens.
Canada felt so much like the states, but seeing a different flag flying all over the place weirded me out for some reason. It was like the closest thing to culture shock I've ever experienced.
hydrolito The reason it weirded me out was because it felt like I was still in the US, but seeing the Canadian flag was a reminder that I was not in the US. I don’t get that feeling in any other country I go to because it doesn’t feel like home the way Canada does.
@@andrew20146 It feels like your driving from Minnesota directly into downtown Boston (Sorry Buffalo, but your city does looks like an east coast city)! But have you ever been to other large Midwestern cities that look and feel similar to Toronto like Minneapolis and Chicago and its suburbs?
Vancouver and Ontario are probably the most seamless transition for American city-dwellers. Saskatchewan and Alberta might have "country folks". Quebec and parts of Ontario with francophones are exotic. Not sure about Manitoba.
im waiting a long time for Timmies (TH) in Chicago-i have to travel to Michigan or Canada-and stock the trunk of my car-when the Border ever opens up !
When you ask an American if they have ever traveled to another country and they have only been Canada, you will invariably get "Well I have been to Canada, does that count?" We know it really does not count as "traveling abroad." I am confident that most Canadians feel the same way in reverse.
Thank you Alexander. When someone asks you whether or not you have traveled abroad, what they normally want to know is your story of being challenged by a new "culture." What could I possibly say about traveling from New Hampshire to New Brunswick? "Wow man! They have Tim Hortons rather than Dunkin Donuts! I was so freaked out!"
ユーネト / Yuuneto. You forget the many indigenous languages like Cree, Ojibwe, etc. Like how in North Quebec they speak English and indigenous languages l.
I visited Ontario this past week, and the five biggest things that stood out to me were: 1. The superior looking money 2. Toys R Us 3. Those spooky looking traffic barrels 4. Canadian Tire 5. Kilometers
Using this framework, you would also say there are no significant cultural differences between any of the anglosphere countries. UK, Canada, USA, NZ, Oz. There are cultural differences between these countries, though they are perhaps less dramatic than cultural differences between any of them and countries that did not result from the British empire.
I think the big thing is how long they’ve been separated from each other and how close they are to each other. In 200 years, Canada and the US will be vastly different from England (as they already have a lot of differences, especially city lay out / laws) than Canada and US or Australia and New Zealand. I think being heavy trading partners and often travelling to each other helps.
I agree with you. I’m studying Cultural Anthropology, and while the differences between the US and Canada are not as noticeable to most, there certainly are differences. I do like his message of us not being so different though. While he sort of rubs off the minor dialectical differences in language, an anthropologist or sociologist wouldn’t write it off as irrelevant. Accents and dialects can tell you a lot about their history and their cultural interactions throughout that history. And Religion-wise he writes off the Evangelicals as a fringe, but only 28% of Canadians say they are religious, 55% of Americans are religious.
@@kylepickus5712 On your religion point, I would also say that while they get a lot of press, evangelicals do not represent all of American Christianity by a long shot. There are many Christian churches that do not come out of that tradition and have not embraced it. There are also progressive Christian denominations that would not align with fundamentalism or evangelical politics on many public policy issues.
@@johnalden5821 I agree with all the points you make. All I’m saying is that religion does play a greater role in the US compared to Canada. Whether it plays an active role is hard to say, but for someone to identify as a follower of a religion, they often identify at least a little with their respective religious group. It also plays a larger role in public policy, which often does influence culture.
@@kylepickus5712 OK yes, I see what you are saying. Another way of looking at it is that religion is more politicized in the US. It was not always this way. In the 1970s and earlier, people did not try claim all-righteous status for their brand of politics.
from an american: your nature is absolutely gorgous. this past summer i went to the Quetico Provincial Park for 2 weeks. it was the best experience of my life
You guys and we are not different beings. I mean, we're on the same continent on a super long border. What we have will probably also be available to you.
I went to school in Washington and had several Canadian friends there. From my experience there I can say that Washington and oregon have more in common culturally with the region of Canada directly above them than they do with the American south or even SoCal whith its large Hispanic population (which is where I grew up).
Nah. There’s no Hispanics in the US. Do you mean illegals? Because we Americans don’t want them here! And tell those Cuckadians to get out! We Americans don’t want them here either! Cuckadians and illegals go home!
I think one significant aspect that your treatment of culture is missing is the attitude towards culture. Yes, true, the things that separate Canada from America are relatively minor, but if Canadians focus on them intensely in building their self-image, that’s a significant cultural difference in itself. That’s not to criticize your presentation, but to expand on it ;-)
There's a difference between wanting to be very different and actually being very different. I would say that the biggest difference between Americans and Canadians is that Canadians are culturally insecure about how similar they are to Americans. That's basically the same thing you were talking about, but framed as a malus rather than a bonus.
Yeah using this guide, UK, Australia, NZ, Canada and US are almost identical, having lived across several of them, this couldn't be further from the truth. UK is very much a European country with a culture dominated by community pub culture, football and it's own unique music/arts scene. UK is also very small and it's cities are based around dense terrace housing which leads to lack of car culture and more walkability and localism than you see anywhere else in the Anglosphere. Australia and NZ are very paternalistic, cliquey cultures that reacted to frontierism with nanny-state risk aversion and collectivism (tall poppy syndrome being the most famous internal example). Australia and NZ are also heavily influenced by Asia in terms of architecture, food and media consumption and have far more influence from the UK in terms of arts/music than Canada or the US. Australia though leans slightly more in US cultural influences, NZ leans more to the UK in cultural influences. US went the other way with frontierism and with with a libertarian every man for itself and radical self reliance attitude which has led to many different unique cultures across the US. Also population wise, the US is like, larger than the rest of the anglosphere combined. Canada is more like a Libertarian minded NZ. With the US taking on the dominate cultural influence rather than the UK and Asia.
As a Canadian when people ask me bout America I always say we are American too. We may be Canada, however we are part of the North American continent, and we basically have the same cultural values.
In some languages they do differentiate between Americans and Americans from the USA. With American being anyone one from the Americas. Even if you do it your way that would include Mexico.
@Kim Jorgensen In German we use the term "US-Amerikaner" for Americans and "US-amerikanisch" for american. Maybe it would be a good idea introducing "US-American" as an English word.
I don't think Columbus in his journeys ever was in what would eventually become the United States. I think the closest he got was Cuba. Yet Columbus day is celebrated in the United States.
Coming from the UK I can see the culture here in Canada is different from the US. On the surface they look similar but anglophone Canadians just don’t have the dedication to ‘liberty’ and capitalism that is fundamental to the American way of making sense of the world.
Education sure makes a hell of a difference. That's not a strong suit in the US... unless a significant amount of debt can be accrued for mediocre education.
That's because as alike as America and Canada are culturally, they're very different politically. Canada is far more socialist, while the U.S. is more capitalist/independent. There really is no freedom of speech in Canada in the true sense of the term, nor is there a comprehensive right to bear arms. Canada emphasizes "fairness" and political correctness, while the U.S. still focuses more on personal merit and achievement. I've always said that this fundamental difference in mindset comes from the fact that Canada was granted its freedom from the British crown, while Americans had to fight and die for theirs. That's why Americans to this day value liberty to such a high degree and have always been wary of government interference in the functions of life. On the contrary, Canadians are more comfortable with a higher degree of government intervention in their daily lives as with their health care, "hate speech" laws, and so on.
Exactly, and that's all thanks to our educational system in Canada. We see the cruelty of capitalism, Americans are not taught to critically think for themselves at all.
I’ve traveled to every continent and the only places I felt like I had not left the US were Australia and Canada sometimes while there I would literally forget I wasn’t in America and seeing these two groups abroad in other countries we tend to clump together and not very distinguishable as tourists i’ve actually been mistaken for all of those three a couple of times but I was actually born in France lol
as someone whos watched a ton of both american and canadian comedy, i think canada is way more guerilla in its comedy. there's a lot more improv, and it has a very DIY feel when it comes to most shows, see trailer park boys, kenny vs spenny, nirvanna the band the show, letterkenny. where as american comedy feels more focused on setting up a good joke and having a satisfying and funny payoff. canadian comedy feels way more like it's dependent on the characters/actors and their chemistry.
I have family in both the U.S and Canada and I'd say this is a bit misleading as it draws comparisons between the middle class milieus of both cultures (which are what tourists are likely to see and are quite similar in both countries). The "grittier" and more extreme inner city and rural poverty of America is much rarer in Canada and leads to America's far higher crime and drug rates. Likewise, while both countries have a similar ethnic and religious heritage, Canadians are much less likely to actually practice religion and so are typically more liberal on social issues. A visitor who went to tourist spots in American and Canadian cities probably wouldn't observe many differences, but if they ventured into places like south central Los Angeles or the Bronx they sure would.
I think his point is more "Culture in north america does not necessarily depend on the borders of the countries involved". Also, the first difference you pointed out is merely differences in policy that have resulted in regional changes. The statement that an american would be more likely to practice religion is true, although again, it would not be a change you would see across the border, rather a change you would see between "the north" or "the south", or between densely populated areas and undense ones. There isn't NO difference, but the change between one culture and the next is more arbitrary than one might think.
@@bennyboiii1196 Yes, there is an urban/rural divide in both the U.S and Canada, but my point is that if you compare apples to apples (American metro centers to Canadian metro centers) there are some pretty apparent difference in terms of crime, violence and poverty if you look outside the middle class, touristy areas. At 5:10 , J.J. says that the dominant expectation in both the U.S. and Canada is for children to be born to a married couple. In American inner cities, this is far from the expectation. J.J's thesis seems to be that American and Canadian culture are pretty much indistinguishable, but that's only true from middle class perspective.
The only big difference between our two nations is school loyalty. I only learned about this a few years ago, but Canadian universities do not share the same enthusiasm that most of us have here in the States. It was honestly a very interesting revelation for me as, like most people here have pointed out, we are two very similar nations. Afterall, we are family, but even siblings have some minor differences, amirite? ;)
I don't know if this still holds true, but an observation from around 30 years ago: when I was an undergrad at Duke 1988-1992, I had a history professor who was from Manitoba but who had been a professor at McGill for several years. He said that while it was pretty common in the US for students to go away to university--to another state or often even to another region--it was unusual in Canada. So is that still true, I wonder? Rare for students from BC to go east to Toronto, Queen's, or McGill? How many from Central or Atlantic Canada go to BC? One other factor would be that for around 100 years US universities have actively conducted fundraising campaigns among their alumni, so they focus on things like college football and social fraternities and sororities that are seen as building strong loyalty of alumni to their almae maters. In Canada, the costs of universities have been much more heavily subsidized by the federal government, so there might not be the emphasis on alumni legacy admissions to create strong family links to schools.
@@stanbrown32 I'm answering you as a Canadian student entering university next year. I basically made my submission to only one university (I can allow it to myself I have good grades), I may have to move in residence, because I live in a small town and there's no university in less than an hour, but I'm staying close so I can come over the weekends. Here, pretty much all universities are equivalent, a profile hunter will not really choose someone over another for their university, but rather their experience. You just choose the most convenient university for you. You may choose an university over another because of a specific program or because of their internship platform, but most people stay near where they're from.
I visited Toronto last summer, I enjoyed it quite a bit and would like to go back. I admit the only real culture shock were French on signs and the metric system (i.e. looking at the smaller numbers on my car's speedometer). The weirdest part was Niagara Falls-- perhaps its to appeal to tourists on each side, the Canadian side felt more "American" with hyper capitalist advertising, lights, sales, and almost theme park atmosphere. The American side is mostly a New York State Park and nature-oriented, and to my American mind, what I pictured to be more "Canadian" in sensibility. The only thing that seemed different is people in general more openly approached to and interacted with my then 18 month old toddler (which he liked).
One the falls simply look more beautiful (by most people's opinions) on the Canadian side then they do on the American side. Secondly Niagara Falls is a relatively short driving distance from Toronto (I remember once reading that on a perfect sunny day you could actually see Niagara Falls from on top of Toronto's famous CN Tower). While the only close relatively major cities from the American side are Buffalo and Rochester which are both infamous cities.
Many Canadians would say Americans take religion very seriously, but that’s not actually true. That tends to be more true in the south and Utah. Our media, which is very popular, is generally secular.
Not really true. I went to a wedding in Wisconsin (I’m from Canada) and everyone there, around 300 people, was reciting scripture as if they had a bible in their hands.
I grew up in Pennsylvania and had the chance to visit Ontario (specifically Toronto and the Niagara Falls area) a few times and noticed that I probably could have blended in as far as the accent in most instances. There were some subtle differences (like having to remind myself to look at the km/h part of my speedometer while driving), but it didn't feel like much of a culture shock. I was impressed by how diverse and open to diversity Toronto was (I happened to be there during Pride), but this was also in contrast to me living in a small, fairly conservative town. I would love to visit Quebec someday.
Harsh Bansal . He hates the french factor because it is the only obstacle which prevents Canada ( french Canada was the only Canada until the beginning 19th century) to part of the U.S
Because some French-Canadians are really really intolerant. Like, no one is telling them to stop speaking French, we just want them to be more open to English
They already are open to english. Have you ever visited Montreal? That city might be in Quebec (so up to 80% its population are french-speakers) but you have to speak good english to find a job there. Now you may be asking me "but why are they protecting their language?". Lemme explain you whats going on: 8 millions french-speakers are surrounded by 350 millions english-speakers so they feel threatened by anglos colonizing their lands and making english the everyday language and quebeckers stopping to use french to better fit in North America.
I feel this is pretty spot on! When people say Canadians(like me) sound way different than Americans, they don’t take into account that even in the states there are many American accents based on region and not ‘country’. Since I’m from BC when I go down to the states along the west coast people almost NEVER notice I sound different!
Given that a major cause of the Revolution was the British extending Quebec to include everything west of the Appalachian mountains and as far south as they could, I can live with that South-Canada joke, if you can live with a musket blast in the guts. :-)
Here's all the differences I can think of between American and Australian culture using the same categories. This'll be a long list... Language; Unlike the US, Australia does not have an official language. While English is the de facto language in Australia it is common in major cities to have things such as street signs written in multiple languages. There is also considerable Government support for non-english speakers. The most common second languages in Australia are: Mandrin, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Hindi, Punjabi, Various Aboriginal languages and Auslan (Australian Sign Language). Australians also use British English in writing form and Australian English/Aboriginal English in verbal form. Medical Cures; Australia has a duel Private/Public healthcare system where the majority of health procedures are either; subsidised by the government, free, or allow for bulk billing (Interest free loans payed back through taxation) Healthcare is also free for children. Australia has volunteer paramedics and 'The Flying Doctor' (Planes that airlift people to major cities from other countries or rural areas). In Australia, healthcare is also highly regulated; Healthcare may not be advertised, pseudo-scientific medication or procedures are highly discouraged and doctors must go through much more training than their US counterparts. In Australia, all citizens get a "General Practitioner (GP)" This doctor can give check-ups, write scripts for medication but most importantly; acts as a liaison between other health professionals. The job of a GP is to send you to the correct specialist in order to give the highest quality of health. This efficient system leads to Australians paying 1/4th of what their US counterparts pay while also living on average 5 years longer than the average American. Religion: Australia is not a religious country. Church membership in Australia accounts for 5% of the country vs 50% in the USA. In Australia the most popular religion is: "Irreligious" at 31% of Australians vs 18% of Americans. 10% of Australians refuse to answer what religion they belong to vs 1% of Americans. 52% of Australians adhere to Christianity vs 73% of Americans. In Australia Christians are divided into, Catholic 22%, Anglican 13.3% United 16%. In the US the types of Christianity are Protestant 48%, Catholic 23%, Mormon 1.8% Other religions in Australia are; Islam 2.6%, Buddhism 2.4%, Hinduism 1.9%, Other 1.7% In the US it's, Jewish 2.1%, Islam 0.8%, other 2.5% Child-rearing: There is no difference here. Food: Australia and America both have 3 main meals per day however, it is much more common for Australians to also eat morning tea, afternoon tea and supper while Americans prefer to snack between meals. Australians Also have an advanced cafe culture. In Australia, cafes normally sell multiple different coffee beans brewed in many more styles than can be bought in the US. Generally, Australian cafe cuisine is very different to what is found in the US. Australians also drink large quantities of tea and 93% of Australian households own a kettle. When it comes to meals Australian cuisine is multicultural and shares many similarities with the US. However, Latin American food is almost completely absent in Australia, replaced by South East Asian food and Food from Britain or former British colonies. Mexican food is replaced by Indonesian food, Ethiopian food is replaced by Nigerian food and Filipino food is replaced by Malay food. While most Australians can happily eat bitter food like vegemite, many Americans may find the umami and bitter tastes that Australians eat repulsive. with Americans instead preferring sweet and salty tastes. Folk art: This doesn't have much affect on Australian culture but Australian Aboriginal art is very prevalent in art galleries, is taught in many schools and can influence architecture and public artwork. Celebrations: Australia and the US share many celebrations. However, Christmas isn't winter themed in Australia and instead is "Aussie summer" themed. Christmas in Australia is far less of an event than it is in the US however and many Australians would like one day to have a "cold Christmas" Besides that; Australians don't celebrate thanks giving, the closest holidays are NADOC day (Celebrating Aboriginal culture) and Harmony day (celebrating multiculturalism and getting free food). Australians celebrate Australia day on January 26 (however, if it's on a weekend it will be moved so we get a day off work). Australians also celebrate Melbourne cup day where the vast majority of Australian women have a fancy hat and fancy dress competition, betting on the races is also extremely common and many Australians stop to watch the horse races. Finally; The most "sacred" day in Australia is ANZAC day which commemorates "The suffering of those who serve in the armed forces." ANZAC day normally dominates the news and history channels with many people going to the sights of major battles Australia took part in or to war memorials, town centres and city centres for a morning service and last post. Jokes: Australian comedy is virtually the same as British comedy so I won't explain it. Australian jokes on the other hand can be very different to those found in the US. Australians often "tell it how it is" and super oversimplify things while also making it as vulgar as possible while attempting to stay honest. Other than that; American jokes are still funny to many Australians (Although to many it's a guilty pleasure since it's seen as inferior) Manners: In many ways Australia and the US are the same. However, in Australia sometimes "telling it how it is" can be seen as rude, sexist, racist etc. Even though there is generally no hard feelings. Australians also often tease friends much more than Americans do, and, in Australia, in all non-formal situations swearing is used as an expressive tool and is almost never seen as offensive. Speaking of swearing, it isn't generally seen as being stupid but is often seen as a sing of intelligence when someone can swear or insult in a creative way. Manners are also quite important in Australia. Not saying please, thank you, you're welcome (when it isn't friends) can come off an snobby and ungrateful. Table manners in Australia are generally more lax than the US. Clothes: Pretty much the same. The only point of difference would be in Australia work-wear is very PPE focused. For example, it is super common at Australian airports to see entire plane loads of people getting off wearing high-vis clothing. Besides more safety equipment for workers, there's no difference. Working schedules: Australians get much more time off work than Americans. Australia has many more public holidays, shorter open hours at shops, many more employee benefits and a minimum wage of $19 per hour. Many many Australians work multiple jobs and will never be able to buy a house, many Australians are currently working much more than the legal maximum. A lot of people also work FIFO (fly in fly out) jobs where they work for a month straight working over 12 hours per day on a job sight (often working 16 hours), the up side to this is getting payed hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'd just like to say if you made it to the end of this. Thanks for sticking around. I obviously couldn't go into more detail since i've already spent like 45 minutes writing this comment. But yeah, if you're reading this, have a nice day I suppose.
1.America does not have an official language 2.As in Australia, most major american cities are multicultural and have street names and signs in spanish, italian, greek, chinese etc... 3.there is lots of government support here for newcomers i.e in my school in a mostly white area there are teachers to help new students who don't speak english fluently. 4.it's not like healthcare isn't regulated here, but I will agree that it is objectively better in Australia. But because each state has different rules, the quality varies greatly. America doesn't need a 'flying doctor' in 99% of places because our road system is more extensive. 5.The aboriginal day is something unique to Australia and maybe new Zealand, but Anzac day is similar to memorial day here. 6. Besides the British style humor, there isn't much to because as you said, it isn't that much different apart from that. 7. Manners vary greatly depending on where you are in the us, and what the circumstances are, america is really to diverse in customs to paint it with one brush. 8. clothes the same employees get more benefits, but 19$ is a bit deceiving because that is only 13.50$ an hour in usd and there are several us states and cities where the minimum wage is higher than that. In most places, it doesn't need to be that high because housing is on average cheaper in the US. Overall I would say we are more similar than different and these are minimal differences
"Australians also often tease friends much more than Americans do, and, in Australia, in all non-formal situations swearing is used as an expressive tool and is almost never seen as offensive." I don't see how that is any different from the US. What made you think it was?
I think you missed some things with Leisure, as far as culture, which includes musical styles, and sports, with Canada being much more found of winter sports than the US. And the US is more found of Water sports, especially in the states with warmer climates.
I think the difference probably isn’t as big as you might think because I’m from michigan and we’re also very fond of winter sports here. Skiing, snowboarding, hockey, ice skating are all big here
He is so obsessed by Quebec but lives in Vancouver?? Quebec mays as well be on Mars for all the influence it has on BC (unless you like reading the French on Corn Flake packets).
Yeah also the erasure of French speaking populations is honestly more than disengenuous. New Brunswick is provincially bilingual and there's entire school systems for French in most provinces.
@@jonphillips7845 Yes, this restriction in US is so hard, everything is censored with beeps. It's the only country in the world with such a hard censorship.
What about equality between races? I remember once talking as a with European man to Black US colleagues about travelling to Tennessee, and for them it was like a nightmare. I am not so aware about Canada, but I believe there is not this weight of recent history of segregation...
@@MrTartiflettePower If we say there are no races, equity is no topic any more :-) For racism to develop, you need a larger group of people. I think in Canada as well as in Europe, to see a black man was for long time rather an exception. Without black people you cannot develop racism.
@@holger_p Holy shit! Seriously? "Just get away from all the black people and there won't be any racism anymore!" Or we could, you know, recognize that (primarily if not one hundred percent due to socialization but no less real because of that) differences exist between the races and their cultures and learn to acknowledge and negotiate those differences better than we do. And also realize how unfairly non-white people often get treated because of their race, because the first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge it. Not to deny that it exists!
@@MarcusCollins69 what's 23 c? See what I mean both people don't understand either opposite system. And if you didn't know metric is actually taught in us schools
The United States is extremely diverse and being somewhere rural vs. being in a big city feels like being in 2 different countries. This recent election has also taught me how much democrats and republicans live in completely different worlds despite living in close proximity.
Food wise I’d say they are mostly similar, but this heavily depends on region...like Virginia and southern food is is more different from Canadian foods in most regions just cause you don’t get certain foods there like we can as often (crabs, crawfish, biscuits (american kind), catfish, gator, etc)... So this really varies by region
I’m an American from the Upper South who lived in Ontario for two years. I would say that the cultures are sneakily different such that you are regularly lulled into trusting that things will be the same until you are inconveniently reminded that they are, in fact, not. That said, I also spent a year in north-central California, and ran into a similar issue (though to a lesser degree) there.
I feel like comparing these two countries is kinda useless, because you have to make a LOT of generalizations about extremely diverse areas around the entire North American continent. Comparing the US and Canada would produce a lot less general differences than say, Florida and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hey JJ, so I have to disagree with you here, there are more significant cultural differences between the two nations. First of all, I found Americans, in general, to be more influenced by the military with it taking a much bigger role in their culture than it does here. From our Remembrance Day to their Veteran Day, from applying to jobs where being a former Service member is a crucial part for any application, to the higher prestige that comes with military traditions (most people in the US know about West Point, few know about RMC). Furthermore, if people are poor in the US, it is more likely for them to join the Army than here in Canada. Another big difference is race relations, as a person who identifies as a minority, I found it more common to be asked about my background in the US than here in Canada. In fact, I can never forget stepping into a McDonalds at a rest stop in upstate New England on the way to Yale for a competition and chatting with an older gentleman who then proceeded to ask about my heritage. It wasn't offensive or negative in any way (though he did make an observation that a lot of Asians came with us) , just surprising to me since that would never happen in Canada. Moreover, I found that people in the US are a lot more partisan and political ideologues, whether that be on the right or left. And I believe that has to do with the higher cult personality politics that occurs there than compared to here (though that is starting to become more and more intense in Canada). Especially since Presidents and different national leaders are worshipped to almost godly levels in the US while here in Canada all of our PMs are ridiculed if they are remembered at all. Finally I found Canadians to be a lot more smug than Americans, however Americans are more likely to dismiss issues people bring up - both of which are negative consequences of international relations and our place in the world
Shred130 while some of what you said maybe true at some point I’d say that you’re going a bit to the extreme. First America isn’t all focused on the military and that there’s a huge emphasis on the military. As being a US citizen I find that while we do have respect towards people who have served our country, we don’t have some concept where the military is all powerful. We have knowledge about West Point since it’s been in American revolution history and there is just a general knowledge about it from that. On your point on the homeless it doesn’t make sense unless you have some specific evidence. I also find your statement on race relations mostly inconclusive because there was just a point emphasis on heritage, not race relations. While America has some deep flaws to be resolved we aren’t just assuming things on on your race, unless there’s that certain few which every country has. I am also a minority, people in America just maybe more say things freely but have no intent in a bad way. You’re definition on American politics are very extreme and are very mislead, as Americans don’t worship their politicians (unless you’re taking about the whole trump problem) where the there are many problems in that whole thing. But there’s no political worshipping happening and people are always critical of the president, and if they do something good then praise for them. And the whole point of the dismissal of issues is very dependent on the people who you’re talking to. Overall the whole point in that is very polarized and seems like just one big stereotype, which isn’t a good way to prove a point. Another flaw is that you haven’t addressed other issues that JJ pointed out. Though I’m not forcing you on anything I’m just giving you a realistic point of view of an American and trying to remove stereotypes as not every person out of 320 million is the same.
The way I see it is that in the developed world there is the stereotypical European and the stereotypical American And then the mix of the commonwealth countries (Uk Canada aus nz etc) are somewhere in the middle
I've been to the United States twice. Once on a road trip to Disney World when I was a kid, once to Minnesota to watch the eclipse a few years ago. The biggest difference was: On the road trip, once we got to the South, whenever we went to eat at Denny's or wherever, the staff were almost aggressively friendly and hospitable (compared to what I'm used to). Aside from that, most of the time I would never have known the difference.
Talking about cultural differences - I'm in South Africa. There have been Americans and South Africans who have said that there should be more cultural exchanges between the two countries. No politics. I'd say an example of cultural exchanges is with food, and an example is pumpkin recipes. Another example is with music, and an example is country music. South Africans in the USA, and Americans in South Africa (There are for instance 4000 at Cape Town.) can have a blending of the two cultures. South Africans generally tend to have a fascination for all things American. The two countries have also had similar histories. For instance both started out as partially Dutch and then British colonies. It also seems that often whatever happens in the one country also happens in the other. For instance, in 1994 both countries moved more away from isolation and into the international community. In South Africa it was with the first democratic elections, and in the USA it was with the Soccer World Cup. (And then, South Africa moved more towards that with the 2010 Soccer World Cup.)
As an American I have always found South African culture interesting to the point I taught myself Afrikaans . I traced my own Dutch lineage to several of the Voortrekkers and political leaders of South Africa including Jan Smuts and Hendrik Verwoerd. I’ve even seen the Springboks play in person a few times. Not many yanks can say that! I’d love to get down there one day and check it out
Loved your vid J.J. :) I think mentality plays a part in national identity. Certain things can affect a nation like war ect which can make a country different from its neighbours. Since the U.S. went through a revolutionary war and then a brutal civil war (Not too long ago) I would assume that affected the mind of of Americans in a way that would differ the "national mentality" from Canadians . I can't think of anything quite like that for Canada ( obviously the First Nations haven't had it great) but other-than-that I can't think of anything else and so wouldn't that give a different mentality for Canadians? I'm British and the second world war, especially the battle of Britain in 1940, still has a huge affect on folk. How we see ourselves, define ourselves, how we think ect. I don't just mean just politically but how ordinary people act. I know this isn't culture but it did get me thinking. Also sentimentality. There was a French philosopher (I think French), can't think of his name at the mo, who said a Nation is defined more on sentiment than race, language or religion, "the fact that one thinks they're Canadian makes one Canadian".Austrians, Liechtensteiners and German-Swiss are all German yet their sentiment of being Austrian, Liechtenstein, or Swiss makes them so (despite of cultural similarity with Germany-Proper). I bet there's a small group of pan-germanists but from my experience everyone is happy being what they are rather than nationally german despite being ethnically german - minus the French and Italian speaking bits of Switzerland. Again I know its not culture but just something "interesting" to take into account, in my little opinion anyway. :)
JJ, there's probably more differences in regional culture than there is at the country level. I'd say Alaska, Alberta, and Texas have a lot more in common due to the oil industry and farming influences and conservative views, where as BC, WA, OR and CA have more in common just due to the shared time-zone and thus are watching many of the same television shows at the same time, and because we're 3 hours behind Eastern time, have all our shows spoiled by our friends out east. Also you probably should have mentioned the bilingualism in marketing in the US is more about Puerto Rico, much in the same way French is for Quebec. It's just cheaper to produce packaging and marketing materials once, Spanish-speaking immigrants directly benefit from that, where as French-speaking immigrants benefit from Canadian packaging while in Canada. When I visited the New England area of the US, it felt exactly the same as being in Vancouver or Seattle (which Vancouver doubles for Seattle, Portland and LA in films and TV, and has doubled for Boston and NYC as well, at least when the film producer doesn't show any building above the 5th floor) except for the traffic signals and lights being just a bit different, which is really the only give-away to someone who hasn't been here. Traffic lights and Signs are essentially identical save for the speed limits, however there's often some localized signage (Eg French signs in Quebec, First Nations-language signs in Vancouver, etc) and peculiar signs that people from out-of-state/province wouldn't immediately recognize, and that again comes back to regional culture. As for manners, yeah I would almost agree with that assessment, except that Americans are capable of adhering to the same manners, and just don't due the the sense of entitlement that is more pronounced (American's are quick to threaten a lawsuit to get their way with other Americans, Canadians are more willing to walk away from another Canadian in an argument. However the American will nearly always bully their way past the Canadian because the Canadians are perceived to be push overs.) Compare the talking-heads opinion shows on CBC/CTV/Global/etc with CNN/MSNBC/FOX/etc. The Americans are always fighting tooth and nail over political things and almost never put a Democrat and Republican on the same show because they try to yell past each other, where as CBC will put everyone (Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, etc) on the same show, and rarely is anyone yelling at each other even when they disagree. Like if there is any one thing that sticks out, it's really just the news cycle, and a bit more obsession with patriotism in the US (Flags and statues are everywhere.) Canadians tend to kinda "meh" at patriotism unless they have a military connection.
agreed. one thing i mention when people compare specific european counties to america(yes, i know Canada is not European, i get to that) is that the united states is more analogous to the European union. California, Texas, many of the bigger states are basically "countries" in the European sense, we just have the federal government on top of it all. so yeah, a person from Arkansas would be about as similar to someone from maine as a Spaniard and a german, minus the language situation. Now canada's political setup us closer to Europe, with the parliament , healthcare(and i am jealous of that one) and some cultural things. but proximity affects trade, which leads to cultural interaction, So thats one reason we are so close(current moronic leader antagonizing you notwithstanding..sorry bout that)
It is true currently the liberals and NDP are very similar but I'd argue it has quite an impact on politics or at least the social discourse around them. There are many progressive Canadians, but having two progressive parties makes disliking a candidate much more accepted and practiced. 'Hating' Clinton is often synonymous with loving Trump, while in Canada progressives seem much more willing to 'hate' Trudeau or the NDP because it doesn't mean they are conservative. It seems to at least slow partisanship among the public
There are more than 3, and we let them actually enter debates. You have 2 and only 2 and no one else will ever be welcome. And lets be honest, they both act the same behind closed doors.
the expected etiquette when interacting with others (especially strangers) is different. Canadians value personal space and try to show respect to those around them by being extra polite. Americans are more informal and try to be as friendly as possible. This leads to the positive stereotype that Americans are friendly and Canadians are polite. It also leads to the negative stereotype the Americans are obnoxious and Canadians are cold.
You might appreciate this: You comment got me thinking of relationships between other countries. How about.... If Canadians are Japanese Then Americans are Chinese?
Great concept for a video! The only area I'd say you missed out might be sport, but I guess that's not to important. I'd love to see a version of this for the following countries: Ireland & UK Portugal & Spain Austria & Germany Belgium & The Netherlands Argentina & Uruguay Australia & New Zealand Denmark & Sweden Hungary & Poland Thailand & Vietnam Greece & Turkey Iran & Saudi Arabia India & Pakistan Japan & South Korea Russia & Ukraine Could be some good videos there, as I'm somebody who also likes to know what makes countries similar/different especially neighboring countries where you always assume there will be a lot cultural crossovers when it comes to things like cuisine, architecture etc
Hey JJ, fan of the channel: keep doing what you're doing. On most points I agree, but I wanted to give some constructive feedback on Healthcare. Just a bit of background, I'm a Canadian that has also lived in both the USA and the UK. I'm afraid that there is one very fundamental difference between Canada and the USA that Canada shares in common with UK. In Canada, the UK, Australia and NZ accessibility to healthcare is socially and culturally seen as a Human right. As someone who lived in the US and experienced what it was like when my family fell on hard times and couldn't afford private insurance, I can personally attest that this isn't the case in America. You get sick in America and you don't have insurance 'it's your fault'. You set sick in Canada and the UK, people widely agree that you are entitled to Healthcare. Whether or not you agree with this notion, 'Healthcare as a human right' is seen as a point of cultural pride in Canadian and British socieites. So yes, still very American, but Canada also comes with some remarkable Commonwealth influences.
I really think the difference between Canada and American culture is less what we see in lifestyles and institutional differences, but more in the mentality of two very different nationalities; our outlook on life, religion, politics, family, friendship, etc. That's where I see a major difference.
I lived in Edmonton - AB for 3 years and now i live in Denver and i don't feel any differences between both, of course have when is about politics and sports, but only that.
“two very different nationalities” no one takes you guys seriously because of statements like these. our individual states have more differences than parts of Canada, besides Quebec.
Overall I think Canada and USA have different cultures (similar but different) but between different countries there is bound to be different cultures.
Yay!!! You mentioned Alabama hahaha. I’m from Alabama and I was just in Canada this past week!! For ten days. And I was surprised at how FEW differences there were!!!
On the language thing, I think it is interesting to look at the accents. It seems to me, as an American from the New England region, Most Americans and Canadians mostly share the same accent. Now there are some distinct accent, like the Southern accent and the stereotypical Canadian accent, but from what I've seen most Canadians don't actually have that much of a distinctive accent. This is most commonly born out to me in that I have watched many Canadian RUclipsrs, and in most cases I don't know they are Canadian until I am told so, because their accent cannot be differentiated from what someone in the Northern US would sound like. Interestingly, this isn't the case for you. You actually have a bit more of the stereotypical Canadian accent, with the way you say "about", and de-emphasizing the 'c' sound in "schedule".
Perhaps strangely, when I moved to the Netherlands from the U.S. 3 years ago, I found that people around here dont seem far removed culturally from People in Ohio. That being said I live in a relatively small town in the Netherlands far removed from Amsterdam. I suspect most Cultural diffrences are found between City and Country, not Nation and Nation.
For food, I know in the United States there’s a lot of African and general Black cultural influences with a lot of the foods as well. Especially in the south.
I would say that a HUGE commonality we have with each other, is in pop culture. Film, music etc. Many Canadian actors in American made movies, Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey, Seth Rogan etc. I grew up with bands like Barenaked Ladies. I'm American but all of these Canadian pop cultural aspects are a part of my own culture.
the US and Canada are similar, but still very different. I think that Canada is a lot like the US if the US was on the European model of Government. Canada has a Prime Minister and we have a President. That I think is the most obvious difference. Also I was watching a show hosted by a group of Canadians once and the guy who was considered to be the host said that Visiting the US, and the same is probably true for Americans visiting Canada, there is something that is just a little off as opposed to your country of origin.
One thing I think is worth mentioning is the difference in foods between northern/western America and the south; things like soul food and sweet tea and the different types of BBQ are very important in the south but are pretty scarce or unimportant in the rest of America and Canada. I dont think that makes southern food culture extremely different, there are still more similarities, but I think it's a distinction worth acknowledging
When I visited Canada, I was surprised by just how alike it was to America. Seriously, it felt like I had just driven to any other American city, and the reason I was so surprised was because I bought into this fantasy that Canada is completely different, because it's really not. They use the same plug outlet, the same overall city layout, the same literally everything. It really was like being in America. Excellent video.
The main thing I noticed was that Canadians are skinnier, and cities are made slightly more compactly (fewer seas of parking lots and massive empty spaces indoors). But outside of that, I had more culture shock going to California or Texas than I did going to Canada (I live in Washington.) Honestly, if Canada and the US joined into a single country, 99% of the average person's daily life would remain exactly the same.
Canada is much different than the USA but idiot tourists are too dumb to know the difference
Well Canada is in America (?)
George Doty-Williams
obviously when he say's america, he's referring to the united states, not north and south america.
Джош Харт
aren't you russian? you don't even live in north america. please enlighten us then... since you seem to be an expert on two countries you aren't even from.
The difference between Canada and the US is Québec
i admire brave franch canadians they should long time ago become independent from this mess
We have our Louisiana Bayou
Louisiana has some that speak French although not exactly same as Quebec. Do they celebrate Mardi Gra in Quebec?
@@hydrolito Most of Quebec probably doesn't know much about mardi gras. It was popular in the past, but it changed in the 1950's. Carnaval took the place.
@@hydrolito There is no comparison between the two. Only 3.5 % of Louisiana speaks some French (and many of those are recent immigrants from countries like Haiti). On the other hand, 95 % of Quebec residents speak French (whether or not they are of French heritage).
I would say the “South” of the United States has a larger cultural difference with America than Canada has with America. 🤔
I'm from Midwest and south seems more similar than Northeast. Lots of wide open spaces without crowded buildings but would depend on what parts you want to compare.
Southerners are way more friendly than Canadians, who are very reserved like northerners. We always hear about the dark stuff but people are way more extroverted in the south.
@@MicahMicahel it's cause most people tend to focus on the bad rather than the good
As an American living in the West Coast, visiting the South would probably be a far greater culture shock than visiting Canada.
@Nutsilica: Renaissance moving comix I'm convinced you haven't actually been to Canada, people are very extroverted. In Toronto, people strike up a conversation with you all the time and if you strike up a conversation with them, they'll be ready to listen, can you say the same for Houston, Atlanta or Chicago, southern cities aren't exactly known for their hospitality, moreover, people in the South aren't particularly polite when you compare them to Canadians and the British, saying yes ma'am and yes sir is good and all, but if at the end of the day you're going to bump into someone and walk off without saying sorry you haven't really grasped the actual concept of manners which is why they say Canadians and British people are more polite, a southerner will do the most basic thing like hold a door for the person behind them instead of being a dick and slam the door in their face and suddenly omg, Southerners are so polite.
I grew up in New Zealand, and I can honestly say there is a nearly identical dynamic between us and Australia. Both New Zealand and Australia share the same language (save for minority languages like Te Reo Māori), the same national holidays (except for Waitangi day and Australia day), the same foods (just different brands), same slangs, same sports; heck their flags are almost identical. Both countries try to be "special" from the other in their rivalry, and in doing so end up creating a silly smear-campaign-nationalism lol.
It's usually New Zealand that does this more than Australia tho lol
Yeah that’s exactly like the US and Canada.
I feel like in the Anglo-sphere, US/CA and AU/NZ are like 2 sets of twins with the same mom, the UK. And the twins are siblings to each other, but a bit closer to their own twin
@@eugenekoh8815 It seems like the smaller country is trying to show it's importance in relationship to the larger country.
Some of the adds they come up with are the best, once a teacher made us watch a few in class.
@@eugenekoh8815 Exactly how it’s mainly Canada that likes to flaunt its more ‘progressive’ and ‘morally superior’ society
A Japanese businessman was once asked about the differences in doing business between the two countries. His answer was that Americans are obsessed with freedom while Canadians are obsessed with fairness.
@@JJLiu-xc3kg It was a long time ago so I don’t remember, but my personal observations of the two cultures in the decades since make me feel that he had a very good point.
@@JJLiu-xc3kg No, Canadian, born and bred.
Woah.
@@JJLiu-xc3kg My source is that I made it the fuck up!
I live in British Columbia, my first time visiting Washington I was honestly so surprised how similar Washington was to British Columbia, Seattle reminded me so much of Vancouver. I kept forgetting I was in another country until I would see american money and brands. I barely saw any difference between western Americans and Canadians.
That’s the thing, Vancouver probably has more in common with Seattle than it does with Toronto, and Toronto has more in common with Chicago than it does with Vancouver.
@@anthonychrisbradley the difference between Toronto and Chicago is definitely bigger than the difference between Vancouver BC and Seattle.
Harry Drenthe true, but I think my point still stands. Toronto has more in common with Chicago than it does with Vancouver
@@anthonychrisbradley of course and vice versa.
To be surprised, somebody must have put another expectation into your head. Where might this have been from ? Is this pure nationalism or national identity ? We are our own nation so we must be different ?
I lived in London Ontario for 6 years. No one, NO ONE ever said “abouut” the way you do it.
Pyroman / actually I heavily doubt it. He might be doing it for irony or emphasis since I’m from Vancouver and nobody speaks like this weird ass shit
SMP same with how he says “schedule” since everyone I’ve met has pronounced the “ch” as a “k”
@@billyma6 no, I don't think so, he did a video on Canadian accents and made it quite clear that he just says it that way.
Born and raised in Canada all my life, never once did I hear anybody say it like that...
A guy who basically trashes Canada in every video tries to perpetuate ridiculous Canadian stereotypes? Shocker
I've always thought of a cultural continuation across USA/Canada border.
Vancouver seems similar to Seattle and PNW, the Plains are similar to the Dakotas/Montana, Ontario is similar to American Midwest, and Nova Scotia/New Brunswick is similar to US New England. Of course ... Quebec doesn't really fit into that ... but then neither side seems to acknowledge Quebec as "distinctly Canadian".
Very interesting take. The Maritime are a lot like new England that is for sure
True
I’d say Quebec is closest to mid atlantic like New Jersey, New York, Connecticut
A lot of the Acadians moved to Louisiana.
Quebec & Louisiana have a shared history. Cajans were kicked out of Quebec, Louisiana was apart of France, they speak French, they’re Francophones, the streets are named in French. It’s very interesting. Louisianans feel a lot of connection to Quebec.
Canada and the US are probably the closest countries culture wise. This increases when you compare specific states/provinces. Washington and British Columbia probably have more in common with each other than they have with Louisiana or Newfoundland.
Nope. Australia and New Zealand are even closer.
Also Germany and Austria. Spain and Andorra. Russia and eastern part of Ukraine. Wait a minute. Does he have something to do with a common primary language, some shared history, and being border countries?!
Louisana gets its culture from parts of Canada originally by the way.
@@j2174 I guess you are right. I should have termed it "some of the closest".
@@j2174 instead of spain and andorra you should've said Catalonia and Andorra because not all of spain is similar to andorra
Let's face it, when Americans and Canadians visit the other country, you never get the feeling that you are in a "foreign" country. There is a general North American English accent that we all recognize. The cities and towns have the same general look and layout. The people seem the same to me. There is nothing wrong with that. We share a settlement history and have exchanged citizens for over 200 years. Yes, I will admit that as a liberal American I look with some envy about some Canadian laws and customs, but I cannot deny that as far as "Culture" is concerned...we share a North American English speaking culture.
Québec is VERY different.
What? Maybe the west coast but the east, Quebec, and maritimes are VERY different. Different architecture and you can see the stronger English and French influence in these parts of Canada
Really? Whenever I've visited the United States I've always felt like I was in a foreign country, and can easily tell the difference between a Canadian and American accent. Historically, Canada was strongly loyalist while America favoured revolution, which tends to influence both countries' politics and culture today. I don't know, I would argue that virtually all countries have similarities with their neighbours, but that doesn't mean that they are not distinct.
Yes, Quebec is quite different. I live in New Hampshire [but lived in California most of my life] and have visited Quebec a number of times. Almost everyone I encountered speaks English well if they work in retail. The signs are all in French but if you ignore that, you know you are in North America. Also my husband speaks French, so that made the trips easier. The cities, roads, cars and just about everything screams..."You are at home here." My initial post represents my visits to British Columbia and Alberta. BTW I highly recommend visiting Quebec City! Great food, wonderful people, and if you are a history buff like me, it has everything. I love Canada! (In the summer :) )
Doodle Blockwell I tend to notice. Americans are more likely to talk to me as a stranger than Canadians do. I don't know how to explain it, but it always feels a bit different in America...
Canadians always love to exaggerate how their culture is so different from the US.. They often say how selling milk in plastic bags or eating at Tim Hortons is so uniquely Canadian. But if you've traveled to other parts of the world, then you will immediately realize that the differences between the two countries are just so minimal.. often much more minimal than regional differences in a lot of countries.
The funny thing is you can get both bagged milk and Tim Horton's in the US too. Kwiktrip (a WI-based gas station) sells bagged milk and you can find Tim Horton's in a lot of the northern US.
I live in Buffalo NY, I can see Canada from my house and there are Tim Hortons almost every other block, and hockey is one of our biggest sports (even though our team is shit)
Thing's must be more of less the same if you have to resort to comparing the packaging of Milk to find any difference. A quick comparison to somewhere in the Middle East or Asia is quite startling. To fresh ears the accents are rather similar and most won't notice the difference. You have to either be from one of the countries or listen to them an aweful lot to tune your ears to hear the small differences which seem to be big differences if your from there.
Texan here: I moved to Montana (literally about 20 minutes from the Canadian border) and it's a bigger difference than US vs Canada.
Yes because Tim Hortons recently opened there. Its called business.
Yet, I am at Buffalo New York and I ask for a double double and just get blank faces. And it was in a bloody international bus rest stop where no doubt the majority of people that frequent there are Canadians!!
Thanksgiving is a time where it marks the end of the agricultural season, Canadian Thanksgiving occurs earlier because of their northern location, thus a shorter growing season and shorter daylight hours after summer.
True ! Fact !
The current US Thanksgiving, as celebrated on fourth Thursday in November was established by President Abraham Lincoln in November 1864 to give thanks for recent Union victories that virtually won the Civil War, though war would continue into April.1865. Also Lincoln was reelected a couple weeks earlier. Turkey dinners were sent to the soldiers. Holiday was originally always last Thursday in November, until 1930's, I think. It was changed to fourth Thursday of November to increase the number of Christmas shopping days. The fourth Thursday of the month is still the last Thursday of the month most of the time, exceptions being November 29 and 30. New England had a history of Thanksgiving celebrations going back to colonial times.
Well I generally agree with the video that there is essentially no significant cultural difference, I am annoyed how JJ glossed over the difference between US and Canadian Thanksgiving. He suggested that the only difference was the date. My experience living both places is that they share a name and traditional foods, but beyond that there is a massive difference. In Canada, it's a long weekend with a turkey dinner. People rarely travel. They are as likely to invite friends over for the dinner party as family. In the US, it's much more focused on family. People often make a significant effort to travel to be with family, enough to make it the busiest travel time of the year. It's a very important holiday, perhaps 2nd behind Christmas. Frankly, Canadian Thanksgiving has more in common with US Labor Day or Memorial Day than US Thanksgiving.
I always cringe when I hear people brag that Canadians have a "totally different" culture because we have poutine and put "u" in color. Like having to focus on these almost insignificant details goes to show how similar our cultures actually are. You can still be a proud Canadian and admit we share a certain North American culture with our southern neighbours.
Word pronunciations and local foods vary across regions of Canada and the U.S. So I would agree with what you said. Saying a word a certain way, or having a popular food item is not enough to distinguish culture. If any of us went to Tokyo it would be blatantly obvious that we were in Tokyo.
Poutine is NOT Canadian, it's Québécois.
Quebec cuisine is a mix of English Cheese and french fries !
I find our differences are more political and government diferences. like Canada's social programs, healthcare, maternity leave, really any kind of extra support or free government service. like going to te hospital in the states wghen you don't have health insurance can cost you all your savings if it's serious. here in Canada, nearly everything related to medical care is free. mat leave is a year instead of 6 weeks, so parents can take the time to raise their newborn too. I have a few friends from the states and they tell me how expensive it is toraise a baby and stay at home :(
Sammexp the cheese curds are not english 😂
Everytime I travel to the US, I don’t even feel like I’ve left Canada 🗿 It’s so easy to blend in there and nobody will know im Canadian unless I tell them. I can meet new people and say bs telling them I’m from Ohio or something and they’ll buy it ☠️☠️
I know of no region in the US where people pronounce "about" the same way I hear Canadians do.
@@wanderer1776 Do use the Canadian Eh? either.
obviously youve never seen an Ohio State/Michigan Football Game ! Michigan and Ohio-hate each other !
@@chrischolewa9104 Sure at the game but there isn't any ongoing civil war going on between them. Just like "Bama and Ole Miss.
@@kimobrien. It depends on how close you are to the border. I grew up on Marine bases with more southern influnces on my language so I really hear the difference.
A lot of us Europeans tend to think that the US and Canada are completely different. That is, until we actually visit both countries.
Yeah Los Angeles and Montreal are so much alike that they may as well be twin cities.
Kalevipoeg he may or may not be european ethnically but his nationality still belongs to european country.
@@keptins Montreal is our Boston
@Kalevipoeg fuck off, racist
@@keptins Montreal's a trash city?
13:13 I just moved from Vermont to Alabama, and I can confirm it's like living in two different countries.
Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have a lot in common with the Canadian province of New Brunswick!
U should go to Quebec one day .
@@ThePhantom712 I've actually been there a few times! Quebec City is gorgeous and Montreal is a really cool city
@@WillGrayCoopcontrol And in your mind which was more different ?
@@ThePhantom712 I would say Vermont is very similar to Quebec other than the french influence on Quebec, while Alabama is EXTREMELY different.
As an American visiting Montreal, i found the even the francophones has a sort of american 'niceness' that is so manifestly missing from the metropolitan French character. They were also quite polite about my dreadful french.
Quebecois were the poor people that were shipped out of France. The French are snobby towards the Quebecois even to this day. I saw one French lady call Quebecois “pig French” and insisted on speaking English!
“I will not speak that peeg French.”
@@MicahMicahel Its like speaking shakes spear and modern English.
Ya they wouldn't do that if you went to Quebec City or rural areas of Quebec. Some people there dislike or have a distaste for English speakers. (From my personal experience)
seriously... We are told in schools and media we're like French people (from France)... and it's the way most English speaking Canadian are seeing us I think... but I went to Newcastle last year after going to Paris and bam I was shocked. You go to a coffee shop and listen to discussions... in France they definitely have another way to interact with each other, are more extroverted and touchy and their subject of discussion is a sea of difference from us. As opposed to in the UK... they use another language for sure, but they talk more about the same things we do and in the same way we do. In other words, we are more related to the English culture, with an old French twist. The architecture and cultural stuff are VERY similar too... In Newcastle, I felt like walking in Montreal in an English-Speaking neighborhood. I felt the same in Toronto actually and I'm sure I would feel the same in the US. The biggest difference is the humor and marketing stuff. (and that we're getting ripped off by Internet and Mobile company)
@@MicahMicahel yeah... While my French colleagues are trying to make us more civilized by educating us to a more "proper" French... we trash our French on purpose to annoy them, quite the funny story. ;)
To be honest, while most jokes from France are hard for us to understand, they don't even try, but there is a reason for that. Since young, I've been watching French (Belgium, etc. ) movies, but movies from Quebec weren't really promoted in France.
In Paris, most of my colleagues just gave up and are now ordering in English.
The difference between USA and Canada is the same as the difference between Australia and New Zealand. 😂
New Zealand has lot less land compared to the other 3.
hydrolito
I’m talking about culture.
Same as Ireland and Scotland
UK, USA and Australia are the noisy neighbors of Ireland, Canada and NZ
@Seymour Beaver USA & Canada share land border, culture, language (even same accent), economy, history and defense like NORAD. US/Canada are even more similar than any 2 countries in the world.
Im from Kenya and speaking from a Kenyan/African perspective, i have always seen U.S.A and Canada as different, almost forming a regional block against Latin America. Its like if you ask an African the difference between Nigeria and Ghana. Not a whole lot, maybe language.
Every Time I've heard a Canadian Bring up Tim Hortons, my first thought has been, having a unique regional chain in the area you live is not in itself special. For example, I never saw a Sonic or a Hardee's until I was an adult despite their being national commercials for them broadcast in the northeast where I grew up (there weren't any). Where I live now in the south, no one has ever heard of Friendly's. I'd Never heard of Zaxby's till I moved here. I used to think White Castle was a made up restaurant for the Harold and Kumar Movie because I'd never heard of or seen one (Still Haven't seen one). Why isn't Tim Hortons Popular in the US? I don't know, Could be they haven't made a big effort to expand here (12 locations). Could be the semi-irrational need to keep Tim Hortons Canadian. Could be the extreme competition from Dunkin, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, or Could be that Pret a Manger is planning on expanding here from the UK and is Superior, who knows.
We loved Tim Horton's until Pepsi bought them out.
@@wanderer1776 The fact that pepsi bought them out makes the whole not expanding the US thing make even less sense
@@bryanmoynihan2480 They wanted to avoid taxes by moving their headquarters to Canada. They were blocked and Tim Horton's in Maine disappeared.
@@wanderer1776 LOL, Sounds about Right, Damn Corporations
everytime i leave town-i go to a State or Province that has a Timmies (Coffee/Tea) is phenominal ! I plan my trip on a circuit of Tim Hortons locations-like Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids-Holland,Michigan ! TH-English Breakfast Tea-reminds me of flavour/taste of Red Rose !
Canada: Hey guys! It's my bir-
U.S.A.: WHOOOO!!!! THREE DAYS 'TILL MY BIRTHDAY!!! :0
Canada: -thday… :(
This made me surprisingly sad
Arolema Prarath Umm no😬not really .
Arolema Prarath using that logic then Canada has none too.
Lollll. Trumpland
Arolema Prarath well that’s just absolute bullshit
Hard to have a lot of "different" culture when 85-90% of the Canadian population lives within 100miles of the US border. Miami and Seattle easily have further apart vibes than Winnepeg and Des Moines or Toronto and Chicago. It is funny tho to see Canadians in Europe plastered in maple leaves trying to show how unAmerican they are bc otherwise nobody can tell the difference
As an outsider, the biggest difference between Canada and US is the nature and climate. You will not find Miami in Canada.
I'm gonna let you in on a big secret... those tourists covered in Canadian flags are usually American.
@m Ones that desire to be treated with kindness in foreign countries.
@m It’s true. A lot of foreigners despise Americans. It can get you into trouble in some places.
@@Spabsa that's literally just the internet telling you lies lmao anywhere you go if you're not an asshole and respect the norm of that country your visiting you'll usually be fine regardless if you're american or not
Another thing Canadians and Americans have in common: Both are obsessed with America.
unfortunately this is true :-)
Ouch
Uh i like my country more
@Matt Bowman oh
this tbh
I think it's very telling that a lot of things that are generally considered "Canadian" are very common in the Northern United States.
I’m American and I like the way you say “schedule”
actually most Canadians pronounce that word-the American way ! Listen to CBC-Radio on your Spotify-and youll know what i mean !
he says it the british way for some reason, we don't talk like that usually lol
@@shaina8947 Because it's a feature of Canadian culture. For historical reasons, a lot of Britishisms are intentionally adopted.
Shejule
I spent 3 months in New Zealand and loved it. I'm a French speaking American from Michigan. Also don't forget there are places English and French are spoken like Louisiana, Maine, Vermont
Maine? Really? And in Louisiana, French is all but wiped out due to extreme immigration. In fact I would go as far as to argue that even Asian languages like mandarin and Japanese have a larger amount of speakers in America than French.
@@juice8431 Yes, Maine does, and it is a bit unfortunate how they've been treated, now people descended from them treat others the same way.... sad. Louisiana is a case of government intervention. People with a Cajun accent these days are likely first generation to be raised without speaking french, and speak english with a french syntax and sentence structure.
@@juice8431 I always thought Louisiana became very similar to rest of South. That's what I heard. I've never been there, closest I've ever been was Arkansas.
@@stephenkammerling9479 Southern Louisiana is kind of unique culturally. Definitely different from the typical “South”. There is a big cultural mix of European, African, Hispanic, Native American. The New Orleans accent is said to be somewhat like a Brooklyn NY accent. Many in this area are Catholic which is definitely not the case in most of the South. And there has been a more recent effort among Cajuns to have the elders teach Cajun French to the youngest generation.
@@itsjustme4848 Thanks for the further enlightenment.
Canadians are quite more reserved, not exactly nicer
@Jessikajesse1 ... yes, interesting that people are people anywhere you go. Some human qualities are a species thing rather than a cultural thing.
stefan matvei swietoniowski most Canadians don’t even realize Trudeau is woke. Trudeau has paid off most of our media through the media bail out $600 million, which gives them propaganda powers over the news that accepts the money. Most Canadians follow American news!
I agree. It’s literally just that social norms are a bit different. Doesn’t mean that we are actually more compassionate.
@stefan matvei swietoniowski I don't know if that's a good thing lol
... Thats what makes them nicer.
I'd love to see a Canada, USA, Mexico comparison with you and vloggers from US and Mexico.
The absolute biggest most STARK difference between the 2 countries is in its 2 Founding Documents. American Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Canadian- Peace order and good government. Thats a very different starting point for 2 similar ideologies with different starting and end goals.
And how they were founded.
USA: drunk liberal farmers getting minor arms and annoying the British who didn't event want them.
CANADS: Government bodies comming together and establishing diplomatic ways of independence from the UK, who were moving us to independence.
You should have more likes!
The best part is that our first Prime Minister was a apparently a complete drunkard and the night before he was to have the royal ascent (or whatever) in London, he was so drunk he accidentally set fire to his hotel room!
Thankies :)
Well, he was from Glasgow after all 😂
Dear J. J.: excellent presentation and definition of the two types of culture. Some of your Canadian compatriots who made comments on this page have missed your point entirely. "Canada has nationalized medicine and American doesn't." That's not a cultural difference; it's a political one. Culture can't be changed by an act of Congress: socialized medicine can. In another video you mentioned that just California alone has more people than Canada. Yet these same commenters have no shame is making VAST generalizations about a nation of 320,000,000 people, as if they all think the same way on every issue.
Well exactly. I mean, if Congress passed "medicare for all" tomorrow, would we say American culture had fundamentally changed?
So you think your Congress or politics never has or never will change culture or vice versa?
Probably not tomorrow. ;). But in 30, 50, 70, or 100 years? Perhaps!
But laws are (or should be...) the expression of a people's political views and sentiments, and can't simply be dismissed as 'not cultural'. I'm not saying Canada and the US aren't much alike, but politics is culture.
@@j2174 -as an American i would like to try to be positive-but the reality is Americans never have a desire to fight-i was told by previous generations-that i have it better than any nation on Earth-then i hear the Socialist/Communist mantra-it will take an insurrection/riot/hand-to-hand combat/revolution to change things etc etc.The current Pandemic proves U.S.needs Single Payer Healthcare-but the 1%-2%-always get their way-the next election wont change anything-mass shootings in America have changed nothing-but they have in New Zealand ! Even Canada had a Copycat Mass Shooting in Nova Scotia recently.Will America change ? Maybe-in 100-200 years from now-if the U.S.still exists.Special interests and Insurance companies would rather put down the 99%.Life is way too good for them.They dont know who Robinhood was !
Every time there is a video mentioning the USA in any capacity on RUclips, the comments become a giant America-bashing party. I’m sick of it, but your video itself is good though.
I'm American and I think this country is slowly diminishing it's worth on multiple fronts. I don't take offense when someone talks shit if it's truthful. It would be nice if more took notice of the criticisms to push for better policies and practices. The American way? Just keep driving through brick walls until the car blows up. 😆
@@ASS_ault no u
@PancakesAnd Wine broo same
@@AltruisticWarrior america is not diminishing its worth. i think america is excelling in many fronts like the military and soft power. In fact i don't think any country that exists on what is american territory today, would really diminish. The resources are just too great. There's a difference between criticism and shit talking. you can be critical without being a bitch. Heck most ppl bash america without any logic. one guy once said americans are all fat and racist and they have no rights at all and that ppl kill black ppl for fun.
Even with the current gaggle our country is going through, we are the world leader still. Look what happened with the George Floyd incident last year, basically sparked worldwide protests
My daughter (American) attended Western University (London, Ontario). She asked one of her profs if he required her writing to use British english, i.e. colour not color. He tersely responded "You ARE in a DIFFERENT country." So she set Word to British english.
As a Canadian, I hate British English. Webster forever!
Spanish is not as equally distributed in America. It is highly regional mostly to the Southwest and Certain major metro areas but very similarly to Quebec Spanish is largely regional
MCIZ not really, your connecting Spanish speaking with Mexican immigrants but people speak Spanish all over the country. You can find Spanish speaking people from Los Angeles to Miami
While there are few Spanish speaker is places like the northwest and New England, Spanish is actually pretty well spread out, with densely populated places of course along the border states. They’re in every medium and large city. It’d be more fair to say they are concentrated in the south west rural wise, as a lot of Hispanics live in small towns, which in most of America is populated by whites
not exacly as it is in Quebec. He's having fun saying French is unsignificant in Canada but it's a whole province and it's 22% of Canada's population. Just imagine if all the people from California + Texas + another state were forming a big new French state with a superficy of more than 20% of the USA. And Imagine someone from Florida saying those people are a minority concentrated in a specific area
even the % of spanish speakers in Massaschusetts and pennsylvania is comparable to the % of french speakers in Ontario. the only real difference is that the USA has no absolute spanish speaking majority state, but one spanish speaking colony (puerto Rico)
Nope, MCIZ is right. The Great Plains and Midwest regions do not have a high population of Latin American immigrants, so Spanish is not prolific. In fact, you’ll find communities where German is still spoken regularly. And the second language on bilingual signage is likely French. Any video on US and Canadian culture should always start with a reminder of the sheer size of our countries.
While I agree that Canada and the US are very similar, I think that their differences are a bit more pronounced than what you described. Maybe it's just because I live in Ottawa, where French-Canadian culture has a greater influence, and the majority of English speakers can speak some French, that I am given more of a sense of distinctness from American culture. I also think the fact that Canada is generally a more progressive nation has a sizable influence on our culture. Nevertheless I agree with 99% of your points. It's pretty cringeworthy to hear people saying our culture is completely different because our milk comes in bags and we use the letter u more.
Richard Shiell. Spoken like a Canadian. Agreeable.
Mzhiikenh Wearecanadians I guess some of the stereotypes are true lol
Or maybe its that we are more progressive because of our culture. ;)
@J I agree. On the surface, the differences between Canada and the United States are nowhere as stark as that of India and China. However, politically, we are quite different. We are more different in that regard than JJ would like to admit. That political distinction is historical by the way and a country's politics DOES reflect the common culture of a nations' citizens.
@@az0963818
I disagree, even though I agree that differences exist.
Canada felt so much like the states, but seeing a different flag flying all over the place weirded me out for some reason. It was like the closest thing to culture shock I've ever experienced.
I've been to Mexico many times never freaked out about a different flag.
hydrolito The reason it weirded me out was because it felt like I was still in the US, but seeing the Canadian flag was a reminder that I was not in the US. I don’t get that feeling in any other country I go to because it doesn’t feel like home the way Canada does.
Driving across the border from Ontario to Buffalo it really feels like a different country.
@@andrew20146 It feels like your driving from Minnesota directly into downtown Boston (Sorry Buffalo, but your city does looks like an east coast city)! But have you ever been to other large Midwestern cities that look and feel similar to Toronto like Minneapolis and Chicago and its suburbs?
Vancouver and Ontario are probably the most seamless transition for American city-dwellers. Saskatchewan and Alberta might have "country folks". Quebec and parts of Ontario with francophones are exotic. Not sure about Manitoba.
I guess i would argue that politics (and how we expect politics to function) is a part of culture.
Live in Buffalo we have Tim Hortons on every corner and hockey is huge
im waiting a long time for Timmies (TH) in Chicago-i have to travel to Michigan or Canada-and stock the trunk of my car-when the Border ever opens up !
Same in Detroit.
Theyre owned by burger king now
Buffalo does not count, lol!
@@chrischolewa9104 But why? It's pretty mediocre imo
When you ask an American if they have ever traveled to another country and they have only been Canada, you will invariably get "Well I have been to Canada, does that count?" We know it really does not count as "traveling abroad." I am confident that most Canadians feel the same way in reverse.
Doodle Blockwell nope. it counts as traveling abroad. abroad means a different country and canada is a different country. so yeah.
Xul Apostasy you missed the point of the comment. Technically, it is traveling abroad, but it really doesn’t feel like it.
Doodle Blockwell
Yeah its the same for us too when we say we went to the USA, cause most of the time we go cross border shopping/cities
Thank you Alexander. When someone asks you whether or not you have traveled abroad, what they normally want to know is your story of being challenged by a new "culture." What could I possibly say about traveling from New Hampshire to New Brunswick? "Wow man! They have Tim Hortons rather than Dunkin Donuts! I was so freaked out!"
Thankfully that isn't my answer, I've been to the UK, SK, and China.
French isn't only spoken in Quebec it's also spoken natively in Ontario and Maritime provinces as well.
Mainly in immediate border areas with Quebec.
ユーネト / Yuuneto. You forget the many indigenous languages like Cree, Ojibwe, etc. Like how in North Quebec they speak English and indigenous languages l.
Tabarnac....where in ontario mec? did i visit the wrong ontario? maybe I was in mars lol
Are you that ignorant?
@@bizh7715 ottawa
I visited Ontario this past week, and the five biggest things that stood out to me were:
1. The superior looking money
2. Toys R Us
3. Those spooky looking traffic barrels
4. Canadian Tire
5. Kilometers
spooky looking traffic barrels has me rolling i swear
Spooky traffic barrels?
@@VeryCherryCherry construction, those big orange and black cylinders construction people use
I live in Alabama and when you made that comparison I just laughed bc WOW 😂 huge difference. I love Canada, y’all are great 💖
Alabama is very different from Atlanta (Hotlanta ) just sayin !
Using this framework, you would also say there are no significant cultural differences between any of the anglosphere countries. UK, Canada, USA, NZ, Oz.
There are cultural differences between these countries, though they are perhaps less dramatic than cultural differences between any of them and countries that did not result from the British empire.
I think the big thing is how long they’ve been separated from each other and how close they are to each other. In 200 years, Canada and the US will be vastly different from England (as they already have a lot of differences, especially city lay out / laws) than Canada and US or Australia and New Zealand. I think being heavy trading partners and often travelling to each other helps.
I agree with you. I’m studying Cultural Anthropology, and while the differences between the US and Canada are not as noticeable to most, there certainly are differences. I do like his message of us not being so different though.
While he sort of rubs off the minor dialectical differences in language, an anthropologist or sociologist wouldn’t write it off as irrelevant. Accents and dialects can tell you a lot about their history and their cultural interactions throughout that history.
And Religion-wise he writes off the Evangelicals as a fringe, but only 28% of Canadians say they are religious, 55% of Americans are religious.
@@kylepickus5712 On your religion point, I would also say that while they get a lot of press, evangelicals do not represent all of American Christianity by a long shot. There are many Christian churches that do not come out of that tradition and have not embraced it. There are also progressive Christian denominations that would not align with fundamentalism or evangelical politics on many public policy issues.
@@johnalden5821 I agree with all the points you make. All I’m saying is that religion does play a greater role in the US compared to Canada. Whether it plays an active role is hard to say, but for someone to identify as a follower of a religion, they often identify at least a little with their respective religious group. It also plays a larger role in public policy, which often does influence culture.
@@kylepickus5712 OK yes, I see what you are saying. Another way of looking at it is that religion is more politicized in the US. It was not always this way. In the 1970s and earlier, people did not try claim all-righteous status for their brand of politics.
from an american: your nature is absolutely gorgous. this past summer i went to the Quetico Provincial Park for 2 weeks. it was the best experience of my life
@D-Ice's baby brother yea. we're kinda dumb politically over here. but if there was one country i could move to it'd probably be canada
You guys and we are not different beings. I mean, we're on the same continent on a super long border. What we have will probably also be available to you.
@@edwardyoon6296 true. same the other way too
America and Canada both have some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet, mostly untouched by man.
I went to school in Washington and had several Canadian friends there. From my experience there I can say that Washington and oregon have more in common culturally with the region of Canada directly above them than they do with the American south or even SoCal whith its large Hispanic population (which is where I grew up).
so-so True !
Ye that's Cascadia, OR, WA, and BC are very similar
Washington was literally part of "Canada" until the mid 19th century.
Nah. There’s no Hispanics in the US. Do you mean illegals? Because we Americans don’t want them here! And tell those Cuckadians to get out! We Americans don’t want them here either! Cuckadians and illegals go home!
I think one significant aspect that your treatment of culture is missing is the attitude towards culture. Yes, true, the things that separate Canada from America are relatively minor, but if Canadians focus on them intensely in building their self-image, that’s a significant cultural difference in itself.
That’s not to criticize your presentation, but to expand on it ;-)
There's a difference between wanting to be very different and actually being very different. I would say that the biggest difference between Americans and Canadians is that Canadians are culturally insecure about how similar they are to Americans. That's basically the same thing you were talking about, but framed as a malus rather than a bonus.
Yeah using this guide, UK, Australia, NZ, Canada and US are almost identical, having lived across several of them, this couldn't be further from the truth. UK is very much a European country with a culture dominated by community pub culture, football and it's own unique music/arts scene. UK is also very small and it's cities are based around dense terrace housing which leads to lack of car culture and more walkability and localism than you see anywhere else in the Anglosphere.
Australia and NZ are very paternalistic, cliquey cultures that reacted to frontierism with nanny-state risk aversion and collectivism (tall poppy syndrome being the most famous internal example). Australia and NZ are also heavily influenced by Asia in terms of architecture, food and media consumption and have far more influence from the UK in terms of arts/music than Canada or the US. Australia though leans slightly more in US cultural influences, NZ leans more to the UK in cultural influences.
US went the other way with frontierism and with with a libertarian every man for itself and radical self reliance attitude which has led to many different unique cultures across the US. Also population wise, the US is like, larger than the rest of the anglosphere combined.
Canada is more like a Libertarian minded NZ. With the US taking on the dominate cultural influence rather than the UK and Asia.
I think you would find that most of the Anglo world has a common culture - much of this could apply to the UK, NZ and Australia too.
@Aaron Waters ... interesting point... for a moment I had a flash of what a visibly "ethnic person" might view this topic.
I disagree im from america and while similar i genuinely got culture shock from visiting the UK whereas canada just felt like america
As a Canadian when people ask me bout America I always say we are American too. We may be Canada, however we are part of the North American continent, and we basically have the same cultural values.
In some languages they do differentiate between Americans and Americans from the USA. With American being anyone one from the Americas. Even if you do it your way that would include Mexico.
@Kim Jorgensen In German we use the term "US-Amerikaner" for Americans and "US-amerikanisch" for american. Maybe it would be a good idea introducing "US-American" as an English word.
I don't think Columbus in his journeys ever was in what would eventually become the United States. I think the closest he got was Cuba. Yet Columbus day is celebrated in the United States.
Coming from the UK I can see the culture here in Canada is different from the US. On the surface they look similar but anglophone Canadians just don’t have the dedication to ‘liberty’ and capitalism that is fundamental to the American way of making sense of the world.
Which is better
Education sure makes a hell of a difference. That's not a strong suit in the US... unless a significant amount of debt can be accrued for mediocre education.
Capitalism in U.S will soon be dead. Is slowly dying by businesses closing and people wanting a change in the system. It wont last another decade.
That's because as alike as America and Canada are culturally, they're very different politically. Canada is far more socialist, while the U.S. is more capitalist/independent. There really is no freedom of speech in Canada in the true sense of the term, nor is there a comprehensive right to bear arms. Canada emphasizes "fairness" and political correctness, while the U.S. still focuses more on personal merit and achievement. I've always said that this fundamental difference in mindset comes from the fact that Canada was granted its freedom from the British crown, while Americans had to fight and die for theirs. That's why Americans to this day value liberty to such a high degree and have always been wary of government interference in the functions of life. On the contrary, Canadians are more comfortable with a higher degree of government intervention in their daily lives as with their health care, "hate speech" laws, and so on.
Exactly, and that's all thanks to our educational system in Canada. We see the cruelty of capitalism, Americans are not taught to critically think for themselves at all.
I’ve traveled to every continent and the only places I felt like I had not left the US were Australia and Canada sometimes while there I would literally forget I wasn’t in America and seeing these two groups abroad in other countries we tend to clump together and not very distinguishable as tourists i’ve actually been mistaken for all of those three a couple of times but I was actually born in France lol
as someone whos watched a ton of both american and canadian comedy, i think canada is way more guerilla in its comedy. there's a lot more improv, and it has a very DIY feel when it comes to most shows, see trailer park boys, kenny vs spenny, nirvanna the band the show, letterkenny. where as american comedy feels more focused on setting up a good joke and having a satisfying and funny payoff. canadian comedy feels way more like it's dependent on the characters/actors and their chemistry.
I have family in both the U.S and Canada and I'd say this is a bit misleading as it draws comparisons between the middle class milieus of both cultures (which are what tourists are likely to see and are quite similar in both countries). The "grittier" and more extreme inner city and rural poverty of America is much rarer in Canada and leads to America's far higher crime and drug rates. Likewise, while both countries have a similar ethnic and religious heritage, Canadians are much less likely to actually practice religion and so are typically more liberal on social issues. A visitor who went to tourist spots in American and Canadian cities probably wouldn't observe many differences, but if they ventured into places like south central Los Angeles or the Bronx they sure would.
understated comment.
agreed, completely understated comment. Here's to higher engagement!
I think his point is more "Culture in north america does not necessarily depend on the borders of the countries involved". Also, the first difference you pointed out is merely differences in policy that have resulted in regional changes. The statement that an american would be more likely to practice religion is true, although again, it would not be a change you would see across the border, rather a change you would see between "the north" or "the south", or between densely populated areas and undense ones. There isn't NO difference, but the change between one culture and the next is more arbitrary than one might think.
You obviously didn't grow up in Winnipeg
@@bennyboiii1196 Yes, there is an urban/rural divide in both the U.S and Canada, but my point is that if you compare apples to apples (American metro centers to Canadian metro centers) there are some pretty apparent difference in terms of crime, violence and poverty if you look outside the middle class, touristy areas. At 5:10 , J.J. says that the dominant expectation in both the U.S. and Canada is for children to be born to a married couple. In American inner cities, this is far from the expectation. J.J's thesis seems to be that American and Canadian culture are pretty much indistinguishable, but that's only true from middle class perspective.
The only big difference between our two nations is school loyalty. I only learned about this a few years ago, but Canadian universities do not share the same enthusiasm that most of us have here in the States. It was honestly a very interesting revelation for me as, like most people here have pointed out, we are two very similar nations. Afterall, we are family, but even siblings have some minor differences, amirite? ;)
thats a possibility ive never heard of-but its plausible-actually believable !
I don't know if this still holds true, but an observation from around 30 years ago: when I was an undergrad at Duke 1988-1992, I had a history professor who was from Manitoba but who had been a professor at McGill for several years. He said that while it was pretty common in the US for students to go away to university--to another state or often even to another region--it was unusual in Canada. So is that still true, I wonder? Rare for students from BC to go east to Toronto, Queen's, or McGill? How many from Central or Atlantic Canada go to BC? One other factor would be that for around 100 years US universities have actively conducted fundraising campaigns among their alumni, so they focus on things like college football and social fraternities and sororities that are seen as building strong loyalty of alumni to their almae maters. In Canada, the costs of universities have been much more heavily subsidized by the federal government, so there might not be the emphasis on alumni legacy admissions to create strong family links to schools.
College sports, especially football is huuuge in the south.
@@stanbrown32 I'm answering you as a Canadian student entering university next year. I basically made my submission to only one university (I can allow it to myself I have good grades), I may have to move in residence, because I live in a small town and there's no university in less than an hour, but I'm staying close so I can come over the weekends. Here, pretty much all universities are equivalent, a profile hunter will not really choose someone over another for their university, but rather their experience. You just choose the most convenient university for you. You may choose an university over another because of a specific program or because of their internship platform, but most people stay near where they're from.
I'm from the USA, but I wanna explore Canada too 😍❤🇺🇸🇨🇦
Jolina Garcia Me too!
Me too
I visited Toronto last summer, I enjoyed it quite a bit and would like to go back. I admit the only real culture shock were French on signs and the metric system (i.e. looking at the smaller numbers on my car's speedometer).
The weirdest part was Niagara Falls-- perhaps its to appeal to tourists on each side, the Canadian side felt more "American" with hyper capitalist advertising, lights, sales, and almost theme park atmosphere. The American side is mostly a New York State Park and nature-oriented, and to my American mind, what I pictured to be more "Canadian" in sensibility.
The only thing that seemed different is people in general more openly approached to and interacted with my then 18 month old toddler (which he liked).
One the falls simply look more beautiful (by most people's opinions) on the Canadian side then they do on the American side. Secondly Niagara Falls is a relatively short driving distance from Toronto (I remember once reading that on a perfect sunny day you could actually see Niagara Falls from on top of Toronto's famous CN Tower). While the only close relatively major cities from the American side are Buffalo and Rochester which are both infamous cities.
You’re not American. Not with a name like that. Go back to Ireland drunky!
Many Canadians would say Americans take religion very seriously, but that’s not actually true. That tends to be more true in the south and Utah. Our media, which is very popular, is generally secular.
Wes V Yeah, there is very little religious influence in American pop culture.
Utah has a large non-religious population. Like 1/3rd, Mormons are less than half now.
Ok, wtf is Utah? And I agree. But it's still fun to poke jokes at statements like "the south will rise again!"
Utah is like Mars but on earth.
Not really true. I went to a wedding in Wisconsin (I’m from Canada) and everyone there, around 300 people, was reciting scripture as if they had a bible in their hands.
I grew up in Pennsylvania and had the chance to visit Ontario (specifically Toronto and the Niagara Falls area) a few times and noticed that I probably could have blended in as far as the accent in most instances. There were some subtle differences (like having to remind myself to look at the km/h part of my speedometer while driving), but it didn't feel like much of a culture shock. I was impressed by how diverse and open to diversity Toronto was (I happened to be there during Pride), but this was also in contrast to me living in a small, fairly conservative town. I would love to visit Quebec someday.
Any video that has French Canadians or Quebec has automatically became controversial
Harsh Bansal . He hates the french factor because it is the only obstacle which prevents Canada ( french Canada was the only Canada until the beginning 19th century) to part of the U.S
Harsh Bansal your avatar is a dead meme
Plainoldbread meh I don’t care that much about it lol
Because some French-Canadians are really really intolerant. Like, no one is telling them to stop speaking French, we just want them to be more open to English
They already are open to english. Have you ever visited Montreal? That city might be in Quebec (so up to 80% its population are french-speakers) but you have to speak good english to find a job there. Now you may be asking me "but why are they protecting their language?". Lemme explain you whats going on: 8 millions french-speakers are surrounded by 350 millions english-speakers so they feel threatened by anglos colonizing their lands and making english the everyday language and quebeckers stopping to use french to better fit in North America.
I feel this is pretty spot on! When people say Canadians(like me) sound way different than Americans, they don’t take into account that even in the states there are many American accents based on region and not ‘country’. Since I’m from BC when I go down to the states along the west coast people almost NEVER notice I sound different!
I see that Canada and South-Canada don't have a lot of cultural differences.
canada and low canada
Given that a major cause of the Revolution was the British extending Quebec to include everything west of the Appalachian mountains and as far south as they could, I can live with that South-Canada joke, if you can live with a musket blast in the guts. :-)
Thanks for being our tophat 🤭
A sentence only ever spoken in Canada
united states of america and united provinces and territories of america
Here's all the differences I can think of between American and Australian culture using the same categories.
This'll be a long list...
Language; Unlike the US, Australia does not have an official language. While English is the de facto language in Australia it is common in major cities to have things such as street signs written in multiple languages. There is also considerable Government support for non-english speakers.
The most common second languages in Australia are: Mandrin, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Hindi, Punjabi, Various Aboriginal languages and Auslan (Australian Sign Language). Australians also use British English in writing form and Australian English/Aboriginal English in verbal form.
Medical Cures; Australia has a duel Private/Public healthcare system where the majority of health procedures are either; subsidised by the government, free, or allow for bulk billing (Interest free loans payed back through taxation) Healthcare is also free for children. Australia has volunteer paramedics and 'The Flying Doctor' (Planes that airlift people to major cities from other countries or rural areas). In Australia, healthcare is also highly regulated; Healthcare may not be advertised, pseudo-scientific medication or procedures are highly discouraged and doctors must go through much more training than their US counterparts. In Australia, all citizens get a "General Practitioner (GP)" This doctor can give check-ups, write scripts for medication but most importantly; acts as a liaison between other health professionals. The job of a GP is to send you to the correct specialist in order to give the highest quality of health. This efficient system leads to Australians paying 1/4th of what their US counterparts pay while also living on average 5 years longer than the average American.
Religion: Australia is not a religious country. Church membership in Australia accounts for 5% of the country vs 50% in the USA.
In Australia the most popular religion is: "Irreligious" at 31% of Australians vs 18% of Americans.
10% of Australians refuse to answer what religion they belong to vs 1% of Americans.
52% of Australians adhere to Christianity vs 73% of Americans.
In Australia Christians are divided into, Catholic 22%, Anglican 13.3% United 16%.
In the US the types of Christianity are Protestant 48%, Catholic 23%, Mormon 1.8%
Other religions in Australia are; Islam 2.6%, Buddhism 2.4%, Hinduism 1.9%, Other 1.7%
In the US it's, Jewish 2.1%, Islam 0.8%, other 2.5%
Child-rearing: There is no difference here.
Food: Australia and America both have 3 main meals per day however, it is much more common for Australians to also eat morning tea, afternoon tea and supper while Americans prefer to snack between meals. Australians Also have an advanced cafe culture. In Australia, cafes normally sell multiple different coffee beans brewed in many more styles than can be bought in the US. Generally, Australian cafe cuisine is very different to what is found in the US. Australians also drink large quantities of tea and 93% of Australian households own a kettle. When it comes to meals Australian cuisine is multicultural and shares many similarities with the US. However, Latin American food is almost completely absent in Australia, replaced by South East Asian food and Food from Britain or former British colonies. Mexican food is replaced by Indonesian food, Ethiopian food is replaced by Nigerian food and Filipino food is replaced by Malay food. While most Australians can happily eat bitter food like vegemite, many Americans may find the umami and bitter tastes that Australians eat repulsive. with Americans instead preferring sweet and salty tastes.
Folk art: This doesn't have much affect on Australian culture but Australian Aboriginal art is very prevalent in art galleries, is taught in many schools and can influence architecture and public artwork.
Celebrations: Australia and the US share many celebrations. However, Christmas isn't winter themed in Australia and instead is "Aussie summer" themed. Christmas in Australia is far less of an event than it is in the US however and many Australians would like one day to have a "cold Christmas" Besides that; Australians don't celebrate thanks giving, the closest holidays are NADOC day (Celebrating Aboriginal culture) and Harmony day (celebrating multiculturalism and getting free food). Australians celebrate Australia day on January 26 (however, if it's on a weekend it will be moved so we get a day off work).
Australians also celebrate Melbourne cup day where the vast majority of Australian women have a fancy hat and fancy dress competition, betting on the races is also extremely common and many Australians stop to watch the horse races.
Finally; The most "sacred" day in Australia is ANZAC day which commemorates "The suffering of those who serve in the armed forces." ANZAC day normally dominates the news and history channels with many people going to the sights of major battles Australia took part in or to war memorials, town centres and city centres for a morning service and last post.
Jokes: Australian comedy is virtually the same as British comedy so I won't explain it. Australian jokes on the other hand can be very different to those found in the US. Australians often "tell it how it is" and super oversimplify things while also making it as vulgar as possible while attempting to stay honest. Other than that; American jokes are still funny to many Australians (Although to many it's a guilty pleasure since it's seen as inferior)
Manners: In many ways Australia and the US are the same. However, in Australia sometimes "telling it how it is" can be seen as rude, sexist, racist etc. Even though there is generally no hard feelings. Australians also often tease friends much more than Americans do, and, in Australia, in all non-formal situations swearing is used as an expressive tool and is almost never seen as offensive. Speaking of swearing, it isn't generally seen as being stupid but is often seen as a sing of intelligence when someone can swear or insult in a creative way.
Manners are also quite important in Australia. Not saying please, thank you, you're welcome (when it isn't friends) can come off an snobby and ungrateful.
Table manners in Australia are generally more lax than the US.
Clothes: Pretty much the same. The only point of difference would be in Australia work-wear is very PPE focused. For example, it is super common at Australian airports to see entire plane loads of people getting off wearing high-vis clothing. Besides more safety equipment for workers, there's no difference.
Working schedules: Australians get much more time off work than Americans. Australia has many more public holidays, shorter open hours at shops, many more employee benefits and a minimum wage of $19 per hour. Many many Australians work multiple jobs and will never be able to buy a house, many Australians are currently working much more than the legal maximum. A lot of people also work FIFO (fly in fly out) jobs where they work for a month straight working over 12 hours per day on a job sight (often working 16 hours), the up side to this is getting payed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I'd just like to say if you made it to the end of this. Thanks for sticking around. I obviously couldn't go into more detail since i've already spent like 45 minutes writing this comment. But yeah, if you're reading this, have a nice day I suppose.
1.America does not have an official language
2.As in Australia, most major american cities are multicultural and have street names and signs in spanish, italian, greek, chinese etc...
3.there is lots of government support here for newcomers i.e in my school in a mostly white area there are teachers to help new students who don't speak english fluently.
4.it's not like healthcare isn't regulated here, but I will agree that it is objectively better in Australia. But because each state has different rules, the quality varies greatly. America doesn't need a 'flying doctor' in 99% of places because our road system is more extensive.
5.The aboriginal day is something unique to Australia and maybe new Zealand, but Anzac day is similar to memorial day here.
6. Besides the British style humor, there isn't much to because as you said, it isn't that much different apart from that.
7. Manners vary greatly depending on where you are in the us, and what the circumstances are, america is really to diverse in customs to paint it with one brush.
8. clothes the same
employees get more benefits, but 19$ is a bit deceiving because that is only 13.50$ an hour in usd and there are several us states and cities where the minimum wage is higher than that. In most places, it doesn't need to be that high because housing is on average cheaper in the US.
Overall I would say we are more similar than different and these are minimal differences
sorry if this came off as aggressive, that wasn't my intent.
"Australians also often tease friends much more than Americans do, and, in Australia, in all non-formal situations swearing is used as an expressive tool and is almost never seen as offensive." I don't see how that is any different from the US. What made you think it was?
US has no official language
The US doesn’t have an official language 😭
The US has better handcrafted memes
I would like to see a meme made folk art style.
J.J. McCullough I would too
J.J. McCullough same lol
Idk do you have moose go into your shopping centres ?
most memes make fun of the US so I’m pretty sure Thee are made by everyone BUT Americans
BuT aMEriCA dOeSn'T hAvE CuLtUrE!
Suhaib Banihani _woosh_
WeArePSU632 whoosh
Suhaib Banihani then neither does Canada.
Then neither does anywhere.
J.J. McCullough
Then the relativists have won
I think you missed some things with Leisure, as far as culture, which includes musical styles, and sports, with Canada being much more found of winter sports than the US.
And the US is more found of Water sports, especially in the states with warmer climates.
I think the difference probably isn’t as big as you might think because I’m from michigan and we’re also very fond of winter sports here. Skiing, snowboarding, hockey, ice skating are all big here
@@Dankmeister_ Michigan is just Canada with worse health care and more shooting deaths.
Hockey, winter culture and geography are characteristicsimportant that define the lifestyle of Canadians.
Same thing in America but we replace Hockey with Football (the American one)
Yes hockey, the sport no Canadian team can win a cup in
Always a pleasure to see JJ triggered by Québec!
exactly
It's the wrench in his Americanized-Canadian vision. 😂
He is so obsessed by Quebec but lives in Vancouver?? Quebec mays as well be on Mars for all the influence it has on BC (unless you like reading the French on Corn Flake packets).
Yeah also the erasure of French speaking populations is honestly more than disengenuous. New Brunswick is provincially bilingual and there's entire school systems for French in most provinces.
Je me Souviens !
Two fundamental difference between the two countries are GUN RIGHT and RIGHT of HEALTH CARE.
And the third one freedom of speech and expression
@@jonphillips7845 Yes, this restriction in US is so hard, everything is censored with beeps. It's the only country in the world with such a hard censorship.
What about equality between races? I remember once talking as a with European man to Black US colleagues about travelling to Tennessee, and for them it was like a nightmare. I am not so aware about Canada, but I believe there is not this weight of recent history of segregation...
@@MrTartiflettePower If we say there are no races, equity is no topic any more :-) For racism to develop, you need a larger group of people. I think in Canada as well as in Europe, to see a black man was for long time rather an exception. Without black people you cannot develop racism.
@@holger_p Holy shit! Seriously? "Just get away from all the black people and there won't be any racism anymore!"
Or we could, you know, recognize that (primarily if not one hundred percent due to socialization but no less real because of that) differences exist between the races and their cultures and learn to acknowledge and negotiate those differences better than we do. And also realize how unfairly non-white people often get treated because of their race, because the first step to solving a problem is to acknowledge it. Not to deny that it exists!
The metric system vs imperial would be quite a difference for those who drive, or check on the weather~!
As I learned, for pretty everything except tubes and babies. Tubes come in inch and babies in pounds.
Uh, jj has another vid explaining the uk and canada still use shittons more of imperial, and i had to learn it in school
Yes it is i tell my American friends its -30 outside and its cold and they dont say 1 word main reason they dont have a clue what that means.
@@ThePhantom712 like WTF is 73 F
Just say 23 Celsius or whatever its easier to understand
@@MarcusCollins69 what's 23 c? See what I mean both people don't understand either opposite system. And if you didn't know metric is actually taught in us schools
The United States is extremely diverse and being somewhere rural vs. being in a big city feels like being in 2 different countries. This recent election has also taught me how much democrats and republicans live in completely different worlds despite living in close proximity.
Food wise I’d say they are mostly similar, but this heavily depends on region...like Virginia and southern food is is more different from Canadian foods in most regions just cause you don’t get certain foods there like we can as often (crabs, crawfish, biscuits (american kind), catfish, gator, etc)...
So this really varies by region
Southern Virginia and Southern Ontario-very opposite mostly ! Peanuts grow in Virginia-Ontario imports peanuts from Virginia !
What does alligator even taste like
@@MarcusCollins69 kind of like chicken
@@rbunebula_1551 cool cool
This was very interesting. Would love to see more videos in the same format
jefferkid like, Dutch culture vs German culture or something?
J.J. McCullough YES!!!, DO THAT!!
J.J. McCullough yeah. Stuff like that.
Man please upload moreeeee, I've watched all of your videos and once a week doesn't satisfy my needs. Btw do more Canada- politics type videos please.
These videos take soooo long to make. Otherwise I would. I don't know how people do more than one a week.
J.J. McCullough yeah it makes sense❤ plus you're also a writer. Your videos are really great though
I’m an American from the Upper South who lived in Ontario for two years. I would say that the cultures are sneakily different such that you are regularly lulled into trusting that things will be the same until you are inconveniently reminded that they are, in fact, not. That said, I also spent a year in north-central California, and ran into a similar issue (though to a lesser degree) there.
1:30 "Language" has a dutch picture. we're honored.
Laiks honoured
@@thenamethename7250 First of all I commented this a year ago and secondly American English vs British English?
canadian english
I feel like comparing these two countries is kinda useless, because you have to make a LOT of generalizations about extremely diverse areas around the entire North American continent. Comparing the US and Canada would produce a lot less general differences than say, Florida and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Hey JJ, so I have to disagree with you here, there are more significant cultural differences between the two nations. First of all, I found Americans, in general, to be more influenced by the military with it taking a much bigger role in their culture than it does here. From our Remembrance Day to their Veteran Day, from applying to jobs where being a former Service member is a crucial part for any application, to the higher prestige that comes with military traditions (most people in the US know about West Point, few know about RMC). Furthermore, if people are poor in the US, it is more likely for them to join the Army than here in Canada.
Another big difference is race relations, as a person who identifies as a minority, I found it more common to be asked about my background in the US than here in Canada. In fact, I can never forget stepping into a McDonalds at a rest stop in upstate New England on the way to Yale for a competition and chatting with an older gentleman who then proceeded to ask about my heritage. It wasn't offensive or negative in any way (though he did make an observation that a lot of Asians came with us) , just surprising to me since that would never happen in Canada.
Moreover, I found that people in the US are a lot more partisan and political ideologues, whether that be on the right or left. And I believe that has to do with the higher cult personality politics that occurs there than compared to here (though that is starting to become more and more intense in Canada). Especially since Presidents and different national leaders are worshipped to almost godly levels in the US while here in Canada all of our PMs are ridiculed if they are remembered at all. Finally I found Canadians to be a lot more smug than Americans, however Americans are more likely to dismiss issues people bring up - both of which are negative consequences of international relations and our place in the world
Shred130 while some of what you said maybe true at some point I’d say that you’re going a bit to the extreme. First America isn’t all focused on the military and that there’s a huge emphasis on the military. As being a US citizen I find that while we do have respect towards people who have served our country, we don’t have some concept where the military is all powerful. We have knowledge about West Point since it’s been in American revolution history and there is just a general knowledge about it from that. On your point on the homeless it doesn’t make sense unless you have some specific evidence.
I also find your statement on race relations mostly inconclusive because there was just a point emphasis on heritage, not race relations. While America has some deep flaws to be resolved we aren’t just assuming things on on your race, unless there’s that certain few which every country has. I am also a minority, people in America just maybe more say things freely but have no intent in a bad way.
You’re definition on American politics are very extreme and are very mislead, as Americans don’t worship their politicians (unless you’re taking about the whole trump problem) where the there are many problems in that whole thing. But there’s no political worshipping happening and people are always critical of the president, and if they do something good then praise for them. And the whole point of the dismissal of issues is very dependent on the people who you’re talking to.
Overall the whole point in that is very polarized and seems like just one big stereotype, which isn’t a good way to prove a point. Another flaw is that you haven’t addressed other issues that JJ pointed out.
Though I’m not forcing you on anything I’m just giving you a realistic point of view of an American and trying to remove stereotypes as not every person out of 320 million is the same.
My Dad was from Canada he served in U.S. Marines, U.S.Coast Guard, and Canadian Army.
The way I see it is that in the developed world there is the stereotypical European and the stereotypical American
And then the mix of the commonwealth countries
(Uk Canada aus nz etc) are somewhere in the middle
This is a lot of stereotypes
Exactly, you brought up some very solid points, thank you 🇨🇦
I've been to the United States twice. Once on a road trip to Disney World when I was a kid, once to Minnesota to watch the eclipse a few years ago. The biggest difference was: On the road trip, once we got to the South, whenever we went to eat at Denny's or wherever, the staff were almost aggressively friendly and hospitable (compared to what I'm used to). Aside from that, most of the time I would never have known the difference.
Talking about cultural differences - I'm in South Africa. There have been Americans and South Africans who have said that there should be more cultural exchanges between the two countries. No politics.
I'd say an example of cultural exchanges is with food, and an example is pumpkin recipes. Another example is with music, and an example is country music.
South Africans in the USA, and Americans in South Africa (There are for instance 4000 at Cape Town.) can have a blending of the two cultures.
South Africans generally tend to have a fascination for all things American. The two countries have also had similar histories. For instance both started out as partially Dutch and then British colonies.
It also seems that often whatever happens in the one country also happens in the other. For instance, in 1994 both countries moved more away from isolation and into the international community. In South Africa it was with the first democratic elections, and in the USA it was with the Soccer World Cup. (And then, South Africa moved more towards that with the 2010 Soccer World Cup.)
As an American I have always found South African culture interesting to the point I taught myself Afrikaans . I traced my own Dutch lineage to several of the Voortrekkers and political leaders of South Africa including Jan Smuts and Hendrik Verwoerd. I’ve even seen the Springboks play in person a few times. Not many yanks can say that! I’d love to get down there one day and check it out
6:40
Burgers, Hot Dogs - German
Pizza - Italian
French Fries - Belgian
I love both countries, as a us citizen I have to say I love our neighbors :)
Loved your vid J.J. :) I think mentality plays a part in national identity. Certain things can affect a nation like war ect which can make a country different from its neighbours. Since the U.S. went through a revolutionary war and then a brutal civil war (Not too long ago) I would assume that affected the mind of of Americans in a way that would differ the "national mentality" from Canadians . I can't think of anything quite like that for Canada ( obviously the First Nations haven't had it great) but other-than-that I can't think of anything else and so wouldn't that give a different mentality for Canadians? I'm British and the second world war, especially the battle of Britain in 1940, still has a huge affect on folk. How we see ourselves, define ourselves, how we think ect. I don't just mean just politically but how ordinary people act. I know this isn't culture but it did get me thinking.
Also sentimentality. There was a French philosopher (I think French), can't think of his name at the mo, who said a Nation is defined more on sentiment than race, language or religion, "the fact that one thinks they're Canadian makes one Canadian".Austrians, Liechtensteiners and German-Swiss are all German yet their sentiment of being Austrian, Liechtenstein, or Swiss makes them so (despite of cultural similarity with Germany-Proper). I bet there's a small group of pan-germanists but from my experience everyone is happy being what they are rather than nationally german despite being ethnically german - minus the French and Italian speaking bits of Switzerland.
Again I know its not culture but just something "interesting" to take into account, in my little opinion anyway. :)
good observation !
JJ, there's probably more differences in regional culture than there is at the country level. I'd say Alaska, Alberta, and Texas have a lot more in common due to the oil industry and farming influences and conservative views, where as BC, WA, OR and CA have more in common just due to the shared time-zone and thus are watching many of the same television shows at the same time, and because we're 3 hours behind Eastern time, have all our shows spoiled by our friends out east. Also you probably should have mentioned the bilingualism in marketing in the US is more about Puerto Rico, much in the same way French is for Quebec. It's just cheaper to produce packaging and marketing materials once, Spanish-speaking immigrants directly benefit from that, where as French-speaking immigrants benefit from Canadian packaging while in Canada.
When I visited the New England area of the US, it felt exactly the same as being in Vancouver or Seattle (which Vancouver doubles for Seattle, Portland and LA in films and TV, and has doubled for Boston and NYC as well, at least when the film producer doesn't show any building above the 5th floor) except for the traffic signals and lights being just a bit different, which is really the only give-away to someone who hasn't been here. Traffic lights and Signs are essentially identical save for the speed limits, however there's often some localized signage (Eg French signs in Quebec, First Nations-language signs in Vancouver, etc) and peculiar signs that people from out-of-state/province wouldn't immediately recognize, and that again comes back to regional culture.
As for manners, yeah I would almost agree with that assessment, except that Americans are capable of adhering to the same manners, and just don't due the the sense of entitlement that is more pronounced (American's are quick to threaten a lawsuit to get their way with other Americans, Canadians are more willing to walk away from another Canadian in an argument. However the American will nearly always bully their way past the Canadian because the Canadians are perceived to be push overs.) Compare the talking-heads opinion shows on CBC/CTV/Global/etc with CNN/MSNBC/FOX/etc. The Americans are always fighting tooth and nail over political things and almost never put a Democrat and Republican on the same show because they try to yell past each other, where as CBC will put everyone (Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, etc) on the same show, and rarely is anyone yelling at each other even when they disagree.
Like if there is any one thing that sticks out, it's really just the news cycle, and a bit more obsession with patriotism in the US (Flags and statues are everywhere.) Canadians tend to kinda "meh" at patriotism unless they have a military connection.
agreed. one thing i mention when people compare specific european counties to america(yes, i know Canada is not European, i get to that) is that the united states is more analogous to the European union. California, Texas, many of the bigger states are basically "countries" in the European sense, we just have the federal government on top of it all. so yeah, a person from Arkansas would be about as similar to someone from maine as a Spaniard and a german, minus the language situation. Now canada's political setup us closer to Europe, with the parliament , healthcare(and i am jealous of that one) and some cultural things. but proximity affects trade, which leads to cultural interaction, So thats one reason we are so close(current moronic leader antagonizing you notwithstanding..sorry bout that)
you should compare the politics and political systems of Canada and the US
I feel that would rather boring and obvious
The Avrowolf yes you have 3 parties, 2 of which are very similar.
It is true currently the liberals and NDP are very similar but I'd argue it has quite an impact on politics or at least the social discourse around them. There are many progressive Canadians, but having two progressive parties makes disliking a candidate much more accepted and practiced. 'Hating' Clinton is often synonymous with loving Trump, while in Canada progressives seem much more willing to 'hate' Trudeau or the NDP because it doesn't mean they are conservative. It seems to at least slow partisanship among the public
Yeah, because that’s not a recipe for controversy
There are more than 3, and we let them actually enter debates. You have 2 and only 2 and no one else will ever be welcome. And lets be honest, they both act the same behind closed doors.
the expected etiquette when interacting with others (especially strangers) is different. Canadians value personal space and try to show respect to those around them by being extra polite. Americans are more informal and try to be as friendly as possible. This leads to the positive stereotype that Americans are friendly and Canadians are polite. It also leads to the negative stereotype the Americans are obnoxious and Canadians are cold.
To be fair, Canadians ARE cold; mainly between the months of November and April!
Hahahaaa... well written!!
You should have a youtube channel...
You might appreciate this:
You comment got me thinking of relationships between other countries.
How about....
If Canadians are Japanese
Then Americans are Chinese?
Generally, a canadian and an american could meet and could not tell eachother apart unless they had a strong specific accent that gave it away.
Im moving to Canada soon
Nova Scotia if your wondering.
P.s love the vids keep it up!
Same here. Im going to move to Quebec in 3 years or so.
@@Demonex118 You're welcome ! Hope you'll like it here :)
Douglas Denham you’re clearly an American
@@DeanTBO He's the worst of us, and far too often, the face of us 😔
Great concept for a video! The only area I'd say you missed out might be sport, but I guess that's not to important.
I'd love to see a version of this for the following countries:
Ireland & UK
Portugal & Spain
Austria & Germany
Belgium & The Netherlands
Argentina & Uruguay
Australia & New Zealand
Denmark & Sweden
Hungary & Poland
Thailand & Vietnam
Greece & Turkey
Iran & Saudi Arabia
India & Pakistan
Japan & South Korea
Russia & Ukraine
Could be some good videos there, as I'm somebody who also likes to know what makes countries similar/different especially neighboring countries where you always assume there will be a lot cultural crossovers when it comes to things like cuisine, architecture etc
Hey JJ, fan of the channel: keep doing what you're doing. On most points I agree, but I wanted to give some constructive feedback on Healthcare. Just a bit of background, I'm a Canadian that has also lived in both the USA and the UK. I'm afraid that there is one very fundamental difference between Canada and the USA that Canada shares in common with UK. In Canada, the UK, Australia and NZ accessibility to healthcare is socially and culturally seen as a Human right. As someone who lived in the US and experienced what it was like when my family fell on hard times and couldn't afford private insurance, I can personally attest that this isn't the case in America. You get sick in America and you don't have insurance 'it's your fault'. You set sick in Canada and the UK, people widely agree that you are entitled to Healthcare. Whether or not you agree with this notion, 'Healthcare as a human right' is seen as a point of cultural pride in Canadian and British socieites. So yes, still very American, but Canada also comes with some remarkable Commonwealth influences.
I really think the difference between Canada and American culture is less what we see in lifestyles and institutional differences, but more in the mentality of two very different nationalities; our outlook on life, religion, politics, family, friendship, etc. That's where I see a major difference.
I lived in Edmonton - AB for 3 years and now i live in Denver and i don't feel any differences between both, of course have when is about politics and sports, but only that.
Politics isn't necessarily a cultural thing
“two very different nationalities” no one takes you guys seriously because of statements like these. our individual states have more differences than parts of Canada, besides Quebec.
@@JorgefromtheOautism
Overall I think Canada and USA have different cultures (similar but different) but between different countries there is bound to be different cultures.
Yay!!! You mentioned Alabama hahaha. I’m from Alabama and I was just in Canada this past week!! For ten days. And I was surprised at how FEW differences there were!!!
On the language thing, I think it is interesting to look at the accents. It seems to me, as an American from the New England region, Most Americans and Canadians mostly share the same accent. Now there are some distinct accent, like the Southern accent and the stereotypical Canadian accent, but from what I've seen most Canadians don't actually have that much of a distinctive accent. This is most commonly born out to me in that I have watched many Canadian RUclipsrs, and in most cases I don't know they are Canadian until I am told so, because their accent cannot be differentiated from what someone in the Northern US would sound like. Interestingly, this isn't the case for you. You actually have a bit more of the stereotypical Canadian accent, with the way you say "about", and de-emphasizing the 'c' sound in "schedule".
Perhaps strangely, when I moved to the Netherlands from the U.S. 3 years ago, I found that people around here dont seem far removed culturally from People in Ohio.
That being said I live in a relatively small town in the Netherlands far removed from Amsterdam.
I suspect most Cultural diffrences are found between City and Country, not Nation and Nation.
USA 2: Electric Boogaloo (French subtitles)
For food, I know in the United States there’s a lot of African and general Black cultural influences with a lot of the foods as well. Especially in the south.
J.J: "two countries that both originate from british colonists that are right next to each other are very similar"
me:"interesting"
Canada is french colonists
@@christophecharette1272 no it was given to the british after the 7 years war
Well if you compare Latin American countries there is a lot more difference than the US and Canada
I would say that a HUGE commonality we have with each other, is in pop culture. Film, music etc. Many Canadian actors in American made movies, Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey, Seth Rogan etc. I grew up with bands like Barenaked Ladies. I'm American but all of these Canadian pop cultural aspects are a part of my own culture.
I visted Canada for the first time recently, And the thing I miss most about Canada right now is Tim Hortons😢
There are tim hortons in the US
There are some Tim Hortons in USA you could go to their website to see if one near you.
@@hydrolito not in Georgia at least
@Brickblader 2000 am from SoCal I love Tim Hortons 😋. Wish it was here. There was one in LA but I don’t live there.
Same 😢
The way you pronounce “about” or “around” is one of the differences lol
Nobody in Canada talks like that
@Kay Flip I think he's exaggerating for effect.
"Sorry" as well
the US and Canada are similar, but still very different. I think that Canada is a lot like the US if the US was on the European model of Government. Canada has a Prime Minister and we have a President. That I think is the most obvious difference. Also I was watching a show hosted by a group of Canadians once and the guy who was considered to be the host said that Visiting the US, and the same is probably true for Americans visiting Canada, there is something that is just a little off as opposed to your country of origin.
One thing I think is worth mentioning is the difference in foods between northern/western America and the south; things like soul food and sweet tea and the different types of BBQ are very important in the south but are pretty scarce or unimportant in the rest of America and Canada.
I dont think that makes southern food culture extremely different, there are still more similarities, but I think it's a distinction worth acknowledging