I Love Canada, Ottawa, April 2012

The results of the first round of the French presidential elections came as no surprise: the two favourite candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Holland, will face each other in round two on May 6, 2012. The only “surprise” was that the Front National, the anti-immigrant party, ended up at the third place with a record 17.9 per cent of the vote.

The Front National went from being a marginal party in the 70s to being the third largest political force today. Considering the party’s history and its platform, that’s rather scary. For instance, some party officials have occasionally promoted historical revisionism, specifically related to the Second World War, and the party’s opposition to immigration and immigrants has never been stronger.

Frankly, if such a party existed in Canada, I’d be really annoyed. Fortunately, here, the influence of such fringe parties is very limited, so limited that I never hear anything about the Heritage Front or the Nationalist Party of Canada.

Canada is a very multicultural country: in fact, multiculturalism was adopted as the official policy of the Canadian government and the 2006 Census reported more than 200 different ethnic origins in the country. Few politicians even question the need for immigration, and the debate is usually around immigration quotas.

Oh, we do have a bunch of nuts here too. There are mostly linked to their U.S. counterparts, from religious fanatics who want to reopen the abortion debate in Canada to those who would love to see creationism taught at school.

But I don’t see Canadians are racist—that should be pretty good news for most immigrants.

Admittedly, I may not be the right person to judge whether Canadians dislike immigrants. After all, French is my first language and I’m not a visible minority. I blend in easily and I’m much less likely to be discriminated against than other immigrants from Africa or Asia.

That said, Canadians can be conservative. I lean to the left, sometime the far-left, and conservatism drives me crazy. For instance, I stay away from the Sun, a conservative rag that typically rant against Liberals, high taxes, socialism, lazy unemployed people, unruly children and “punks” and promote the “not in my backyard” mentality. I wouldn’t even use this “newspaper” to clean my windows. But I must admit I rarely read or hear blatantly racist comments.

Can Canadians even afford to be racist? Canada needs immigrants—to meet demographic challenges and to fill the gaps in the labour market—and the country is well aware of that. Canadians don’t really question multiculturalism. At times, the religion or cultural practices of some groups are under the spotlight but such “diversity dilemmas” are to be expected and they remain relatively low-key compared to other countries (try to talk about Islam with French people…!).

I believe that what some immigrants brand as “racism” is simply the rite of passage most newcomers have to go through, no matter where they are from. The frustration of not finding a job because of having foreign credentials or the feeling of not being appreciated enough by locals can be overwhelming for some immigrants, but it’s rarely racism per se… more like an adaptation period. A Canadian who just moved from Manitoba can face problems finding a job in Ontario or in Quebec simply because he doesn’t have the network and references he used to have in his home province, not to mention that each province has its own vibes.

Immigrants to Canada will sometime hear stupid comments about the immigration system, but most can be chalked up to ignorance. For instance, I remember chatting with a woman in the bus who assured me Canada was being invaded by sick immigrants who just wanted to take advantage of the country’s great health system. Once I explained her that immigrants who had health problems were usually not allowed to immigrate in the first place, and that there was a waiting period to be eligible to get healthcare in Canada, she looked away. Much easier that way. But hey, maybe she learned something that day?

Have you ever been discriminated against in Canada? Elsewhere in the world? Would do be worried if Canada has a major national far-right party, like in France

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The Ottawa Senators made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and on Monday night, it was game 3 against the NY Rangers. We headed to Scotiabank under a dramatic stormy sky—it was over 27°C that night (and it’s now 4°C… go figure).

Every time we go to a game or to a concert, I curse Ottawa’s poor city planning. I know Kanata was supposed to boom and I know it may have seemed to be the best place for an arena at the time, but really, it’s a pain to get there. It took us 25 minutes to enter the parking lot—20,000 people heading to the same place at the same time can be messy.

Unlike concerts, games start on time since they are broadcast on TV. At 7:25 p.m., we finally parked somewhere and ran to the arena, right on time for the singing of the national anthem. There were few Rangers fans (I guess it’s a bit far to drive to Ottawa) and the arena was entirely white and red. Pretty impressive.

One thing I like with hockey games here, is that people go a bit nuts but the atmosphere is still friendly. Barring occasional excesses and brawls (er… the Vancouver riots, anyone?), no one is going to get killed for supporting the wrong team. Which isn’t always the case for other sports in other parts of the world—see hooliganism in soccer, for instance. I remember soccer games in France where the riot control forces routinely had to intervene with tear gas or water cannons between supporters of rival teams. Sure, people drink a bit too much during the game, they are louder than usual… but as a “neutral” fan, I still feel comfortable with the crowd.

I gave up on trying to sneak my DSLR inside Scotiabank (they don’t even let you keep the cap on your water bottle…) so I made do with my BlackBerry. The Torch features a pretty nice camera—good enough for atmosphere shots.

Ottawa lost (final score was 1–0) but the game was pretty good.

Hurrying To The Game

Sens Flag

Driving To Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place

National Anthem Singing

Passing The Flag

Cheering

Focused On The Game

Playing

Sens Jersey

Sens Army

Trying To Score

Playing

Sens Fan

Cheering

On The Ice

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The Geese Are Going Home, Ottawa, April 2012

Other than my mother and my brother who came to Canada last summer for a visit, no one in my close family or friends has ever been on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I don’t talk about Canada that much when I’m in France—I’m usually too busy enjoy France in the first place. Besides, I’ve been away for a long time now: although I still enjoy writing about cultural differences, I don’t make a point of commenting on them out loud (it could get pretty annoying!).

One thing you have to know about French, though, is that they have an opinion on everything. And sometimes, it leads to funny comments and questions!

“It must be nice in summer when it’s 5°C!”

When people hear “Canada”, they automatically shiver with cold. All that snow… surely, it doesn’t melt, does it?

Well, it does. Granted, our winters are longer and colder than in Western Europe, but unless you live really north (as in Yukon or Nunavut) chances are you will experience spring and fall. And depending on where you live in Canada, it can get brutally hot in the summer, like over 40°C!

“North American food…tsk-tsk, they are all obese over there!”

I also used to think that French were culinary superior to North Americans. Granted, French food is pretty damn good but most French today don’t spend hours preparing elaborated traditional recipes (not to mention that traditional French food isn’t exactly diet food either!).

This trip, I noticed that a lot of French ate “the American way”, i.e. lots of junk food. Fast food joints like McDonald’s seemed constantly packed, and local franchises were similarly busy.

I’m the first one to sigh with Jay Leno and his catchphrase,  “how fat are we getting that… [insert latest food craziness here]”. But whether you live in France, in Canada or in the U.S., what really matters is the food choices you make every day. You can eat crap in France and healthy stuff in Canada if you choose to, and it’s possible to have a balanced diet in North America!

“So, you can work in the U.S., right?”

Believe it or not, Canada and the U.S.A. are two different countries. And sorry, not Schengen agreement over there.

Besides, why would I want to work in the U.S. right now? The economy is crappy and the gold rush is over!

“How do you pay for your medical bills?”

It’s very complicated. First, I have to open my wallet. Second, I have to pull my health card out—and this is the tricky part, I almost break a nail each time. Then, I hand it to the doctor and put it back into my wallet. Et voilà!

French are so proud of their health care system that they don’t realize that most countries adopted a similar approach. When it comes to health care, the U.S. is actually the exception, not the norm.

From a user’s point of view, the French and the Canadian health care systems are quite similar. Both have their strengths and weaknesses but none will bankrupt you!

“How does it feel to live in a soulless suburb in a city without a centre?”

Most French learned at school that city planning in North America is very different than in France: the downtown core is typically run down and poor and suburbs are more affluent, whereas in France, it’s the opposite.

This view is a bit extreme, though. Ottawa (and many Canadian cities) has a vibrant downtown core and not all suburbs look like what you see on TV!

“Must be tough in the winter when it’s dark 24/7…”

Huh huh. Try again. We do see the sun in Ontario, this ain’t Baffin Island!

“Ah, Canada! Sleigh dogs, Indians, bison, igloos… lucky you!”

Er… I’m sure the Arte (note: the French-German cultural channel) documentary on the Wild West was great but Canada changed quite a lot these last couple of hundred years.

“How often do you go to New York/L.A./Chicago etc.?”

How often do you do to Greece, Turkey or Tunisia? Every weekend? During holidays?

All the American cities that are famous in France because of U.S. TV series look close to Canada on the map. But most are still far enough that we don’t go there all the time. NY is 700 km from Ottawa—that’s almost like crossing France from north to south. As for L.A…. sure, it’s on the same continent but it’s about the same distance as from Paris to Baghdad!

“My cousin/daughter/boss went to Canada for two weeks last summer. He is now completely bilingual!”

Yeah, right. As if you could become bilingual in a couple of weeks. I heard that one so many times it’s not even funny.

In two weeks, you can certainly improve your English and pick up some new vocabulary but you will be nowhere close to bilingual, unless you were already fluent.

But wait—chances are the language-gifted person was in Montreal in the first place. Montreal, a city where most residents speak… French.

“You live in Canada? Oh, Quebec, you mean, right?”

This one annoys me to no end. French always assume that Canada = Quebec. If you are French, it goes without saying that you live in Montreal—you’d be crazy to live anywhere else. I mean, the rest of the country speaks English! And they look like Americans!

There is nothing wrong with visiting Quebec or settling there, it’s just the way French disdainfully claim that there is nothing to see outside of that province that bugs me.

Meh. At least, in Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg or Vancouver, we don’t feel like we are living in a “petite France.”

Have you heard any funny comments about Canada? Any weird questions?

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Bank in Canada

On Monday afternoon, the phone rang. I picked up and heard two seconds of static, often a telltale sign of telemarketing. I’m not sure why I didn’t hang up the phone. I usually do—we get a lot of telemarketing calls, and I have no patience for sales pitch at 2 p.m.

I braced myself for the “how are you today?” (another telltale sign of the beginning of a telemarketing script). But instead, a pre-recorded message started to play, saying that my bank account might have been compromised. I was invited to check my account activity and call my bank if I noted any unauthorized transactions.

I suddenly remembered that Feng, who uses a different bank, told me he had received a similar message the previous day.

Since I was already online and not doing anything special, I logged into my bank account to make sure everything was okay.

It wasn’t. My checking account had been emptied.

I reviewed the transactions, a very easy task considering I don’t have much in my checking account and that I rarely use Interac. I had made a withdrawal downtown Ottawa a few days earlier, that was right. However, the five subsequent withdrawals made just a few hours earlier that day weren’t mine. They were all strange amounts: $204.51, $108.32… not the kind of amounts you can withdraw at the ATM. And I definitely hadn’t used my card that day.

I called Scotiabank to sort this out, and was told to go to my branch in person.

Half an hour later, I showed up at the customer service counter. “I received a message from you saying my account had been compromised…” I started to say. “That’s fine, you can just change your PIN to be on the safe side.” “No, but my account was compromised,” I explained. “The latest transactions on the account aren’t mine.”

This changed everything. After I swore that I was in possession of my debit card (yep, in my wallet) and that the PIN wasn’t written on a post-it stuck on the card (this is apparently more common than you’d think), I was given a brand new debit card. “The transactions will be investigated,” explained the employee, “but don’t worry, the money will be returned to you in a week or two.”

While this is a pain, I’m glad that the bank took me seriously and that getting the money back shouldn’t be a problem.

However, it bugged me that the employee wouldn’t tell me what had happened. I have no idea how my account was compromised, and I wish I knew. I barely use debit and I usually monitor my account closely. For Scotiabank to send recorded messages to customers, the problem must be widespread, right? Otherwise, an actual employee would have called directly if there was some suspicious activity on my account only. Funny too that Feng, who banks with CIBC, had received a similar message the day before (no issue on his account, though). The bank told me the withdrawals made with my card had probably been made at the counter, and that they’d check the security cameras. But they couldn’t disclose more “for security reasons.”

Morale of the story? Sometimes it pays off to listen to pre-recorded messages. And to check your bank account often. I’m not sure it would have been that easy to dispute the transactions a week or two after they were made, if I hadn’t noticed right away.

Have your bank account ever been compromised?

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Canada, Gatineau, February 2012

I have been living in Canada for quite some time now and all in all, I think I adapted pretty well.

I left France at 18 years old, traveled a lot and of course, I’m living with a Canadian—all that probably explains why embracing another culture was fairly easy for me.

Yet, there are a few cultural facts—habits, customs etc.—that I adopted without being entirely comfortable with.

Tipping — Before the flaming starts, let me assure you that I do tip—I was told it was proper etiquette in North America and I respect that. Yet, I don’t truly understand why I tip. Normally, people tip because they receive good service but most Canadians automatically tip 15–20%. It is expected, regardless of whether the service was good or bad. So what’s the point of going through the “Gee, what’s 15% of $9.48?” routine? Why isn’t there a service fee included in the price? And while tipping in restaurants is now second-nature to me, I’m still not entirely sure who I’m supposed to tip in other service industries. Hair stylist? Massage therapist? Gas station attendant? Why should I tip them rather than, let’s say, a doctor or a receptionist? Why should I tip professionals who are paid to be their job? I think part of the problem is that I have never worked in a tipping job, and that France doesn’t have a tipping culture.

Calculating the HST — In Canada, sales taxes, such as the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) are not included in the price: they are added at the time of purchase. Don’t bother getting your change ready at the cash register, because your $24.04 hardcover book won’t be $24.04 but $27.17. To make matters even more complicated, taxes are not levied on all items—good luck guessing what goods are exempt. The fact that taxes are not consolidated in the price displayed annoys me because it’s hard to compute the final cost mentally. On small purchases, the difference between the price without tax and the price with tax isn’t an issue but for bigger items, such as electronics, it makes a difference.

The identity quest — Canadians seem to be obsessed with defining themselves as a nation. There are a lot of documentaries, TV shows, books etc. dedicated to showing the world—or more likely, Canadians—that Canada is a bona-fide country and not just a cold suburb of the U.S.A. The Canadian psyche is often probed and our national identity is examined a lot. And I don’t get it. Of course Canada is a country! Sure, it’s a young nation (by European standards) and sure, it shares some similarities with its southern neighbours, much like France shares some similarities with Italy or Spain. Defining Canada is difficult because it’s a huge multicultural country but to me, this is a strength, not a weakness.

Profanities and censorship — Yes, “flower” is a much nicer word than “fuck”, and “peace” is better than “piss”. But hey, shit… I mean, bad things happen, and few of us actually say “oh, fudge!” I know I certainly don’t, and I don’t care whether it’s lady-like or not—if I stub my toe against the table, I’m piss… I mean, slightly annoyed. That’s why I don’t understand media censorship. When I found out that the version of “Creep” by Radiohead issued for North American radio play replaced the line “So fucking special” with “So very special”, I was puzzled. Can you actually do that? Who these days if offended by a single “fuck”? Beeping bad words on TV doesn’t make sense to me. Ever tried watching Hell’s Kitchen? Gordon Ramsay’s rants are basically a long succession of “beeps”! Either censor the entire show or quit being hypocritical, for fu… I mean, “please”.

Some comfort food — Some food are an acquired taste and I never truly learned to like Canadians’ favourite comfort food. Like peanut butter for instance: there is peanut butter, and then peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter candies etc. I still don’t get why people are crazy about it! Same goes with hot dogs. I don’t think I ever had one actually. Back when I was a teacher, my students would line up in the cold on Bank Street to buy them from the hot dog cart—I don’t see what’s so great in a sausage, bun, mustard and ketchup. And I don’t get Kraft’s mac & cheese (it’s just… macaroni and cheese!), Pop-Tarts… or poutine!

Are there still some cultural facts here that puzzle you? Some customs you never truly adopted in your new country?

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United States One-Dollar Bill

At home, we always joke that if a product is expensive, I’m naturally attracted to it; and that if product is cheap, Feng is the one who can’t resist buying it. This is especially true when it comes to food: Feng likes good deals while I always subconsciously think that if food is inexpensive, there must be a catch. I guess it’s my French upbringing: in the old world, we think of food as a delicacy—the less, the more expensive, and the more expensive, the better.

This is probably why it took me a while to get into “couponing”—a very North America sport and a verb since the TLC show, “Extreme Couponing.” Indeed, “Coupon” may be a French word but these little pieces of paper are not used much in Europe. French go crazy during the sales periods, twice a year (imagine, in France, sales periods are regulated by the government!), but the rest of the time, they aren’t natural bargain-hunters—maybe because of this very French taboo?

When I first came to Canada, I did notice stacks of flyers filling the mailbox and catalogues left periodically at the front door, but I didn’t think much of it. Spontaneously, I’d put all that in the recycle bin. I mean, I hadn’t skimmed through a brochure since I was a six years old impatiently waiting to look at the Galerie Lafayette toys catalogue around Christmas time!

Feng like to skim through flyers. Sometimes, it drives me crazy. But I must admit they do contain some good deals. For instance, we often get coupons for restaurants in our neighbourhood. Since we go there once in a while, may as well use the “20% off dinner” or “two for one” offers, right? And we also use in store coupons to rent movies at the nearby video shop.

Last year, I also started to use coupons for services, such as massage, pedicure, facials etc. These online deals are great is you are willing to be flexible and to read the fine print, and so far I haven’t had any bad surprises.

This is called “recession 101”: scoring deals is in, and paying full price is so 2008.

The savings added up, and little by little, I got into couponing. Don’t be afraid if I’m in front of you at the cash register—I’m not as bad as these people who show up with two carts of food and hundreds of coupons. I only collect coupons for brands I actually use, and I don’t have a pantry full of cans “because they were cheap.”

Lately, I discovered I could also get online codes discount. Ever better than browsing  badly-designed supermarket flyers, I can go online, search for the products or the brands I’m interested in, and get a coupon if available. If so, I just have to print it. Ta-da! That’s how I save quite a lot on amazon.ca,  or on photo printing, for instance.

In North America, competition between stores is fierce, and consumers can easily take advantage of it. I’m not saying you should go to great lengths to save a few pennies but shopping around, comparing prices and using coupons when available is a great way to make your money go further.

How about you? Do you use coupons? Do you have any tips for saving money?

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This Doesn’t Count As Fitness, Does It?

I hated PE at school (you could usually find me in the locker room with a book), and had naturally assumed I was allergic to sports. But when I started yoga four years ago, I amazed myself: I immediately loved it.

Canada is a car country, and winters are long and cold. It’s harder to exercise outdoors and it’s not often possible to walk from point A to point B. I quickly understood that I had to make a conscious effort to exercise in order to stay healthy.

Shortly after coming to Canada, I joined the YMCA. But I quickly got bored with the machines, half of them bearing cryptic instructions. Then I found a yoga studio and never looked back. In 2010, I started hot yoga. Sweating like a pig in a very hot room full of strangers might not sound so fun but I found it liberating. Not to mention that yoga is a good workout and it isn’t so much about meditation (phew!) but rather about building flexibility, strength and balance.

Unfortunately, yoga has become popular in Ottawa. Not as popular as the Lululemon store at the Rideau Centre where hipsters pay $200 for sweatpants, but popular enough that classes are getting very crowded and very expensive.

Heartbroken, I decided to look for a cheaper alternative.

My first thought was to join the YMCA again. But at $60 a month, the membership was more expensive than I remembered it to be, and the class schedule wasn’t too practical for me. I kept this option as a plan B.

My plan A was Goodlife Fitness, a gym with several locations in Ottawa. The membership fee being one of my main criteria, I went online to see how much it was. Surprise surprise, the fees were nowhere to be found. Instead, those interested in joining Goodlife where asked to provide their info to be contacted about plan rates.

Not being the patient kind, I went to one of the Goodlife clubs (the one at the Rideau Centre) to ask directly about membership fees.

“Take a sit, fill this out and someone will be with you shortly,” instructed the woman at the front desk.

I looked at the paper she handed me. Full name, phone number, email, address, signature… I wrote down my name and signed, assuming the rest was optional.

The woman looked over my shoulder and frowned. “You gotta fill out e-very-th-ing.”

I love when people treat me like an idiot.

“I just want to know the price of a membership,” I argued. “You don’t need my contact info for that.”

She sighed. Clearly, I wasn’t getting it.

“We are gonna give you a tour of the gym. This is a waiver. It’s compulsory. By law.” She stressed the last word, as if to impress me. She failed. I wrote down I lived on Sunset Blvd, Strawberry Fields, ON. What? It sounded nice. Sue me.

Two minutes later, the local male bodybuilder/personal trainer took a sit in front of me. Subtle. Sent a guy for a female “applicant.”

“How is your nutrition?”

“Great.”

He looked up at me, as if to guess when I last had French fries.

“What?” I protested. “I eat my broccoli!”

“Why do you want to join a gym?”

“I’m going to a yoga studio but I’m looking for a cheaper alternative,” I answered honestly.

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a freelancer.”

“Who are your clients?”

This is none of your fucking business. “It depends,” I deflected.

I looked at the piece of paper on which he had actually scribbled “it depends.”

He kept on asking questions, all more personal than the next. Remember that at this stage, I just wanted to know how much the membership was. Right there, I decided I did not want to get a membership there. If I had to take an entire survey just to know the prices, I would probably have to share my DNA to exercise there.

Eventually, the guy mumbled something about the price, quoting a bi-weekly rate. “The contract is here,” he added. “I just need your signature.”

“I don’t want to sign a contract,” I replied. “I just wanted to know the price of a membership. Thank you for the information.”

“Wait! You will never get that rate again!”

“That’s fine. I’m not ready to sign a one-year contract on the spot.”

“I just need your banking information.”

“And I just needed to know the membership rate. I’m not signing a contract today.”

“You are passing on a great deal.”

“I’m taking my chance.”

I left.

I later found this article when I did a quick search on Goodlife. Can’t say I’m surprised.

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Snowman on Frozen Ground, Ottawa, February 2012

If you are from Russia, China, the U.S., Brazil or Argentina, you may skip the article. You are big too. But if like me, you grew up in a relatively small country, I’m sure you will agree: Canada is huge.

At school, I learned that the three largest countries in the world were Russia (and at the time, the USSR was larger than current-day Russia!), Canada and China. As a kid, it was hard to comprehend how big these territories actually were. But as a new Canadian, the country immediately struck me as humongous.

When I landed in Canada, I had only heard of two cities: Montreal and Toronto. I ended up in Ottawa, conveniently located about halfway between those two famous places. On the map, these cities looked really close to each other… until I realized that from Ottawa, driving to Toronto took five hours, and to Montreal two hours. Clearly, I wasn’t going to visit Churchill anytime soon—I couldn’t even imagine how long it would take to get there.

Driving across France from north to south takes about ten hours. And it’s not like French actually do it. Too far, too long of a trip. But Canadians seem to enjoy driving from the East Coast to the West Coast and from the West Coast to the East Coast just for the sake of it, even though it takes days. Different perspectives, I guess.

That said, Canadians’ daily commute to work is also pretty impressive. A lot of folks choose to live in the far suburbs because it’s quieter and cheaper, and it’s not rare for people to drive 20, 30 or 40 kilometres to work. I even know people who live in Montreal and commute to Ottawa!

At first, living in a country that has different time zones felt strange too. Canada has six:
Newfoundland Time, Atlantic Time, Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time and Pacific Time. France has one (Central European Time) and has the name says, it shares it with a bunch of countries such as Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany… and even Poland. Having different time zones has its perks. For instance, it comes in handy if you want to watch a rerun of a show on TV. But it can be a pain if you work in a call centre based on the East Coat that also deals with Vancouver, because it means staying at work well past 5 p.m. to reach the West Coast.

Speaking about media… France has very little regional programming—no need to, it’s well known that Paris is the centre of the civilized world. So if you buy a national newspaper, such as Libération, most news will be about the capital even if you live kilometres away. And don’t even get me started about weather forecasting! In Canada, we have The Weather Network, a serious and accurate channel with in-depth analysis for each city, town and township across the country, including places where no one actually lives. In France, weather forecasting is wrapped up in five minutes or less with these kinds of comments: “the North, kind of rainy; the South, kind of sunny, Paris 15°C with a low of 14°C.” You don’t live in the North, the South or in Paris? Too bad. Open the window and check for yourself.

French like to pick on regional differences within the country (those in the South have an accent and exaggerate everything, those in the North are moody and boring etc.) But the truth is, after living in Canada, I find France has a remarkably homogenous population. The same can’t be said for Canada. There is a real cultural difference between provinces. Whenever I read a Quebec newspaper, I’m completely lost. Who are these politicians? How come I’ve never heard of that movie? And we are a neighbouring province! Some would argue that it’s a perfect example of the “Quebec exception” and that the French-speaking province is just misunderstood. But I feel the same cultural difference with the other provinces as well. I don’t know what makes Saskatchewan rock, and I don’t know the name of local stars in P.E.I.

Each province has its own government, set of rules, laws, service providers and makers and doers. It can be quite confusing at first when you grew up in a country with a very centralized government, like France. For instance, in Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta, the legal drinking age is 18 while in the rest of the country, it’s 19 (which doesn’t really matter in Ottawa, where teens cross the bridge to get drunk in Quebec).

Overall, I find living in a big country is pretty interesting. Sure, it has downsides: for instance, traveling can be expensive (flying to Vancouver is typically more expensive than flying to Europe!). But you can easily find a province or a city that fits you, and the cultural mix is refreshing. I sometimes hear stories about immigrants who didn’t like Quebec, Ontario or whatever province they settled in, and who headed back home. I always feel sorry for them because moving to another province might have been what they needed. That’s the perks of living in a huge country! There is enough room for all of us.

So, how do you feel about living in a big country?

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Nothing Says “I Love You” Better Than A Dildo, Bank Street, Ottawa

The other day, I was shopping at Herbs & Spice, a food store on Bank Street. I walked out carrying heavy bags and in a hurry to go back home, and fell face to face with this sign from the shop next door, Wilde’s: “Nothing says ‘I love you’ better than a dildo”.

I was sort of taken aback for a second, then it made me giggle like a schoolgirl. Probably the bluntness of the sign mixed with the expectation of corny family-friendly ads for the holiday season. Or my weird French mind—who knows!

I actually went back there on Saturday to snap the picture—I was relieved the sign was still there!

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Open 24 Hrs — It’s always Time To Shop!

Okay, we get it, the economy sucks. Every single day we are bombarded with stories of people losing their jobs, houses being repossessed and unhappy employees because “in this kind of economy, you don’t complain if you have a job in the first place”.

But at the same time, Christmas shopping is underway in most parts of North America and a lot of consumers took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

So, how to not become poor in Canada? How to manage your money smartly?

Here are ten useful tips.

Get familiar with local products – Thanks to globalization, newcomers to Canada will likely be familiar with some brands sold here. Yet, a lot will be totally new. I strongly recommend you to adapt to local brands and products as soon as you can for two main reasons: first, foreign brands and imported products are typically more expensive; second knowing the prices of local products will help you budget in the long run.

Pack your lunch – You can never go hungry in Canada. There are fast-foods, restaurants, cafés and food courts everywhere and grabbing something on the go is always easy—easier than packing lunch, that is. But even though your daily $5 lunch may sounds cheap, it adds up. Besides, eating out all the time isn’t usually good for your waistline. Do yourself a favour and pack your lunch most days of the week to save both money and time at the gym later on.

Use your credit card wisely – You will need a credit card sooner or later to build your credit history, make online purchases etc. Credit cards are great financial tools but learn to use them wisely, especially if it’s your first one. Always pay the balance in full at the end of the month, don’t apply for too many cards and track your spending to avoid a big surprise when receiving your monthly statement.

Use cash – Most Canadian pay with debit or their credit card because it’s very convenient. However, bank fees can add up and it’s easy to lose track of how much you spend. A few years ago, I decided to withdraw a fixed sum every two weeks (usually between $200 and $300) to pay for all of my purchases, minus gas and monthly bills. I definitely spend less this way and I always know exactly how much money I have left for these miscellaneous purchases.

Monitor your bank fees – Bank fees can really add up. For credit cards, compare their perks wisely: some are free while others have an annual fee (usually between $30 and $100). It may be worth paying the fee if the card offers interesting rewards. Otherwise, stick with the cards with no annual fee. Make sure you select a banking package that fits your need: most banks offer up to ten transactions at no fee and then charge about 50 cents for each transaction. If you use debit a lot, pick a package with unlimited transactions. Finally, make sure to withdraw money at your bank’s ATMs, otherwise a service charge may apply.

Consider shopping in the U.S. – Even though the US dollar and the Canadian dollar are almost at par, Canadian prices are sometimes ridiculously higher than south of the border. Typical example: books. I usually buy them from Amazon.com. Even after shipping fees, it works out to be cheaper than buying them in Canada.

Resist social pressure – In North America, consuming is almost seen as a patriotic thing to do—yes, you’re helping the economy! But for your wallet’s sake, learn to resist social pressure and marketing tricks. For instance, the year is an uninterrupted series of events to celebrate: Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Boxing Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. You certainly don’t have to splurge every time. Similarly, new needs are constantly created by marketing campaign. For instance, while I encourage newcomers to buy a warm winter coat, most of us living south of Nunavut do not need a $700 parka designed for Arctic expeditions. Especially if you live in Toronto.

Learn to negotiate – If you are a good customer, take advantage of it and negotiate. For instance, when I switched bank, I made sure the new bank waived all banking fees for a year. It never hurts to ask for perks and special offers. Competition is stiff and good customers can sometimes be rewarded.

Take advantage of reward cards – Before the program changed for the worse, I had a free Shopper Optimum card and regularly got $5 or $10 off my purchases, with little to no efforts. I now have a Scene card and I regularly get free movie tickets just by using my debit card. Figure out what reward program works for you and take advantage of the perks!

Do you have any money tips for newcomers to Canada? How do you save money here?

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