Canada vs USA

I tend to get asked the same question by my friends and family all the time "What are things like in Canada?" So, here it is - the differences I have found since living in Canada. I hope you get a laugh out of some of these. ENJOY! (I live in British Columbia so there may be regional differences)
- Every label on everything is in English and French. It took me twice as long to shop when I first moved here (stupid french)
- Retail stores in Canada have very different hours than U.S. stores. They are usually open until 5pm Monday-Wednesday, 9pm on Thursday and Friday, and 4 or 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Thursday and Friday is the “shopping weekend” here. (to me this is NOT the weekend)
- Banking: You don’t fill out deposit slips in Canada. Just walk up to the teller and tell them what you want. (Business banking is the exception to the rule)
- Canadian debit cards don’t have VISA or MasterCard logos on them. They use the Interac system, which is completely unique to Canada. When you swipe your debit card, you choose savings or checking (sorry chequeing) account and then you enter your pin number to complete the transaction.
- You can’t get credit cards as easily in the Canada as you can in the U.S. You almost never see credit card applications in the mail. Canada has much higher restrictions/qualifications for being approved for credit. (one of my friends said "Building credit here requires the hand of God")
- "U" turns are illegal
- Money: Canada has one dollar coins called "loonies" and two dollar coins called "toonies" There are no one dollar bills here and the 5's, 10's, 25's, 50's and 100 dollar bills are all different colors. The coins here are much lighter in weight than in the U.S. When they jingle in your pocket it sounds like fake, play coins that kids play with.
- Poutine: is a Canadian "delicacy" consisting of french fries covered in cheese curds and gravy
- In Canada a sniggler is someone who takes the parking spot you wanted, or who otherwise does something perfectly legitimate, but nonetheless inconveniences or annoys you
- The U.S. is almost always referred to as "the States".
- "Zed": This is the proper Canadian way to pronounce the last letter of the alphabet. (Z)
- Eh?: A famous Canadian way of ending sentences. It usually means "don't you think?" (Eh would also be in place of “huh” or “what”) Canadians finish the end of their sentences with the tone of their voices moving in an upward pitch. It’s as if there is always a question being asked.
- Deke: In Canadian sports a deke occurs when one player tricks and then skates around another. You can also deke out of meetings if you slip away unnoticed.
- Click: Canadian slang for kilometre. "I drove 50 clicks today."
- Microsoft Word: There is an error-filled "Canadian" speller in some versions of MS Word. (Bill Gates is even making money off the crazy Canadians)
- Most post offices are not open and no mail is delivered on the weekends.
- High School usually starts at 8th grade (or grade 8, eh)
- Most schools don’t have cheerleading or football (which, as you know, Americans couldn’t live without)
- BC Canadians refer to themselves as Canucks (yes it's Vancouver hockey team's name too)
- Canadians say “I was taken to hospital” Americans say “I was taken to the hospital”
- “Bugger” or “Bugger off” is often used by English Canadians
- Pot (marijuana) is everywhere in Canada, but especially in BC
- Canadian parents are expected to pay for all of their kid’s school supplies
- Marks: What Canadians refer to as the grades they receive in school
- Canadian car insurance is only done through the government
- In Canada you pay 2 taxes - Provincial 7% and Federal 5%
- "Free" Canadian health care: Ok, it’s not free, but Canadians think it as. In reality most people still pay for extended health care so they can see specialists and get cheap prescriptions. It takes a long time to get an appointment with a specialist (6-9 months sometimes) and it takes forever to get any sort of surgery or procedure done.
- Hockey is like a religion here. They take it very seriously!!
- All cars in Canada must have daytime running lights