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5 More Things My French Mum Noticed in Canada

Canadian Inventions, Ottawa, June 2011

I never get tired of small cultural differences—I even have a blog tag dedicated to them!

My mother and my brother came to visit us in July and I eagerly wrote down what surprised them, and what probably surprised me as well a few years ago.

Start with 5 Things My Mom Noticed in Canada!

Cars and Licence Plates

The first thing my mom noticed was vanity plates. But even regular licence plates caught her eye. In North America, they are issued by provinces/states and typically include original design or tagline (such as “Yours to Discover” in Ontario). In France, licence plates are white or yellow and all have a common format and size.

She was also amazed by the size of the cars, especially pickup trucks and SUVs.

Finally, she noticed there was little incentive to take the bus since it’s expensive and service isn’t great.

Nice and friendly Canadians

My mom found Canadians really nice and helpful. “They aren’t pushy or rude like in France,” she said. For instance, we attended the Canada Day celebrations together and my mom isn’t a huge fan of large crowds, so she wasn’t sure whether she’d like it. Turned out she did because despite the impressive gathering, people were well-behaved and there was room to breathe.

The way people patiently queue everywhere puzzled her.

Finally, she noticed our society was very multicultural and people from all walks of life seemed to blend in.

Life in French and English

Because I speak English daily, I forgot how hard it is when you don’t master the language. My mom and my brother both speak basic English and people in Ottawa helped them in French if needed.

But I still laugh at the time my mom mentioned that she had been shopping for clothes and that she saw a lot of “that clearance brand.” “Is it a famous brand?” she asked. It took me a second or two to get it. “Mom, it’s not a brand, it means it’s on sale,” said, laughing.

Similarly, she had trouble understanding street names the way locals pronounce them in English. For instance, “Lyon” isn’t pronounced like the French city of the same name, which is confusing. The same goes with “Orléans,” “Catherine Street” etc.

Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara Falls and Montreal

She didn’t think Ottawa was that spread out but she liked the city. I can see why—it’s picturesque and gorgeous in the summer. We have so many parks right in the downtown core! Her favourite places were the locks and riverside trails.

When we visited Montreal for a day, she noticed the difference between Ontario and Quebec regarding the people, the language and the culture. She found Toronto’s skyline very impressive, especially from the CN Tower.

Cost of living

At first, she didn’t find the cost of living in Canada so low, even though I’m pretty convinced that living in Canada is cheaper than living in France. But that’s mostly because, for the first few days, she shopped like a French person, looking for cheese, imported brands, etc. Once I showed her some local products, she did find the average grocery trip much cheaper than in France, especially for fresh products.

She was also surprised to learn that there are sales all the time—in France, the government sets certain times of the year when shops can put their merchandise on sale (usually summer and winter).

What little cultural differences did you notice when you first went abroad?

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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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