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

Question

I am an Aussie goin to Canada for 9 months next year to work I was goin to the us (sorry yanks i was told by so many poaple that Canada is a nicer country) but ive changed my mind there is heaps of imformation online about living in the us but nothing about Canada.
i want to know about tipping and stuff from wat ive read u need to tip everywhere in the us is Canada the same, Thats the sort of things im trying to research i want to try and fit in with the locals as much posible I know there are french speakin provinces on the east side but im staying on the english speaking provinces in either Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Ontario also i will be working on a farm so ill be in a rural area.

Answer 1

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

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

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

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

best of luck to you

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

Hello,

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

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

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

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

Best regards,

Tatercanuck

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

Answer 4

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

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

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

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

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

Answer 7

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

Answer 8

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

Answer 9

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

Answer 10

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