It’s not surprising that laws and regulations are based on many factors—cultural, economical, political, etc.—and vary greatly from country to country.
I didn’t research legal matters much when I came to Canada. I assumed that there wouldn’t be too many differences with France and that I’ll be fine just observing people and using common sense.
I learned about local customs and laws little by little, in context. For instance, my journey to Canada started with an introduction to immigration law. I learned to respect local traffic laws when I took my driver licence. I became familiar with labour law as an employee and later as a freelancer. Most areas of law are still a mystery to me—property law, contract law, etc.—because I’m not a professional and I’ve never had to dig into these areas.
But there are some laws or bans that you really, really can’t guess. Here are 5 things you wouldn’t believe are banned or illegal in Canada!
Used or Second-Hand Mattresses
If you are in the process of immigrating to Canada, don’t change your bedding just yet. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) decided to ban the import of used or second-hand mattresses, unless you have a certificate verifying that the mattresses have been cleaned and fumigated in the country of export.
This decision has safety and health in mind–some old mattresses don’t meet the new fire safety standards, and bedbugs are an increasing problem.
Baby walkers
Like CBSA, Health Canada has funny priorities. In 2007, the experts (the baby walker specialists?) decided that it was illegal to import, advertise for sale, or sell baby walkers in Canada. It is also illegal to sell baby walkers at garage sales, flea markets, or on street corners.
And what if you have a baby walker at home? Well, Health Canada shows no pity for the remains of our childhood, and orders people to “destroy it and throw it away so it cannot be used again.” Apparently, these devices lead to injury and don’t teach a kid to walk faster. Gee, I wonder what Health Canada would say about my little wooden rocking horse that is still in my parents’ living room!
Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing”
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has ruled that “Money for Nothing,” the band’s hit, is too offensive for Canadian airwaves. The song is being singled out for using an anti-gay slur (“that little faggot”) three times in its second verse. According to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council chair, “This is a word that has no place today on the airwaves.”
Funny thing is, the song was written in 1985 and it apparently took 26 years for a Canadian to be offended. Presumably, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council will spend the next two hundred years going through millions of lyrics and banning many more songs—last time I turned the radio on, I heard a lot of things about sex, drug and rock & roll.
Taking your spouse name (in Quebec)
Traditionally, in most Western countries, women used to automatically assume the family name of their spouse. As gender equality progressed, women were given the freedom to keep their birth name or even append a spouse’s name to their birth name.
But in Quebec, since the passage of a 1981 provincial law intended to promote gender equality, no change may be made to a person’s name without the authorization of the registrar of civil status or the authorization of the court. This law does not allow a woman to immediately legally change her name upon marriage, as marriage is not listed among the reasons for a name change. What is described as a “highly symbolic gain for the feminist movement” angered a few newlyweds who wished they had the right to choose what works best for them.
Common Sikh names
Citizenship and Immigration has a long-standing policy to ask people to provide a third name if their last name is extremely common. This is the case for popular names in the Sikh community, such as Singh and Kaur. Indeed, in a tradition that began more than 300 years ago, the name Singh is given to every baptized male and Kaur to every baptized female Sikh. CIC fears that files could be mixed up.
In CIC’s defence, when I briefly worked in a call centre many years ago, there were thousands of files by the last name “Singh”—good luck finding the right person! That said, I can understand why the Sikh community could take offence, there is a history behind these names.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.A.… Kinder Surprise are banned
Would my life have been different if I had grown up in the U.S.? Undoubtedly. For instance, if I have been deprived from Kinder Surprise, I wouldn’t have developed an addiction to chocolate and to cute plastic toys.
The product, available worldwide, has never been allowed into the U.S. for two main reasons—the U.S. has a prohibition against having an inedible item inside an edible object, and Consumer Products Safety Commission determined that the product creates a choking and asphyxiation hazard in young children. Tell that to the Canadian woman who was fined $300 for “smuggling” to Kinder Surprises across the border!
Have you ever heard of a surprising ban or a strange law? Did you know about the ones in the article?
I heard about the Kinder Surprise ban and went WTF back then 🙂 Other than the baby walkers and and used mattresses, everything else is a little odd.
Yeah, the woman who got caught “smuggling” them at the border must have thought they were kidding!
Older baby walkers are pretty dangerous — I thought they got rid of those long ago. I’ve only seen stationary ones for years.
I’m surprised it’s just Sikh names, the same goes for the Chinese community — lots of people with the same names. There are advantages and disadvantages to that extra name: less exposure to identity theft/fraud, plus there are instances of the U.S. border guards holding Canadians if they’re on the no-fly list or terrorism watchlist or criminal list just by their names.
Re: Kinder Surprise — I’m guilty of smuggling, I just hope not to get caught! It’s crazy that there are laws protecting the right to bear arms, but they’re so threatened by Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs.
That’s true about Chinese names… I wonder how CIC deals with them. I’ve never heard anything about it. I think most Sikh have a third name and CIC is asking them to use it.
I’m glad I have a relatively uncommon name for the reasons you mentioned, although it’s a pain to spell!
Over 50% of Koreans have a family name of Kim, Lee, Park, or Choi. Are they also on CIC’s list along with Singh? And there are more Wangs/Wongs in the Toronto phone book than Smiths (Smith, Jones, and Robinson were once the stereotypical common English language names – now Wong, Singh, and Álvarez would be more likely).
Banned substances… Khat is illegal in Canada, but legal in some other western countries, like the UK. A nasty surprise to someone entering Canada thinking they have nothing worse than caffeine, and getting a criminal record.
Baby walkers – the typical story is the baby who is far from learning to actually walk, but when mum is looking the other way for a few seconds, skids the walker along to the top of the stairs, and like Winnie the Pooh, it’s bump bump bump the only way he knew how to go down. 🙁 Not an unreasonable thing to ban, because the danger is extreme, and it’s not the stupid adults who suffer.
Khat? Never heard of it! On a side note, rules around prescription drugs can vary greatly between countries and it’s always a good diea to check before crossing a border.
I agree that baby walkers are probably dangerous, I guess I was only surprised that the ban was official. To my knowledge, baby walkers aren’t used much these days, but in most countries you can still find them.
Zhu,
Second-hand mattresses? Who travels with a second-hand mattress? This is totally new for me. It is quite understandable that Canada banned it.
I’m with Canada on baby walkers as well: those thingies are lethal. LOL wooden rocking horses are fine…they don’t pose the kind of danger walkers do. Imagine your kid (in a walker) getting near a staircase or a door-step…
LOL Dire Straits: I love them!!! But yeah, I had already read about this on BBC…*nodding*…
Oh Feminists…this has their label all over it: what is wrong with taking one spouse’s name? What about men who take their wife’s name (cause it happens too)? Feminists *nodding*…
I am not with Canada on Sikh names either.
Kinder Surprised is part of any Euro-child’s life, no doubt.
Cheers
I know a lot of immigrants (permanent immigrants who are about to land) bring all their belonging, including their bed frame and sometimes the mattress because US mattresses don’t necessarily fit European frames (or maybe Asian frames too?). Anyway, I read a lot of immigration forums are immigrants are sometimes unaware of the ban, even if they understand the reasons behind it.
Wow. I guess there isn’t a country that is perfect. I don’t mind banning the mattresses, but I take issue with the gay slur lyrics. Just because some group is offended, doesn’t mean we immediately need to take it out of public consumption. I am all for tolerance over political correctness. I guess this echoes the Danish cartoon controversy back in 2005: obviously I favor freedom of expression over religious and political correctness. I mean, I know that there are 7 billion people in the planet. Surely every single thing I do must offend someone out there. So does this mean we should just clam up and live within the privacy of our four walls in fear of offending somebody? Ridiculous.
I usually disagree with these politically correct types of decision. The problem is, when you start, where does it end? And it’s all about context too. I doubt a the majority of homosexual are offended by Dire Straits lyrics because it’s said in a certain context. Now someone holding a sign in the street saying “God hates fags” (ahem, the Westboro Church?) is much more offensive and is meant to hurt.
That’s amusing, but I think the US probably has many laws that may seem strange to others or even citizens who are not aware of them.
When I first discovered Kinder Surprise in France, I figured the reason why I had never heard of them in the US was because of the choking hazard. Good thing I never sent any to my family because I didn’t know they were legally banned until I read that article about that poor woman!
Quite interesting. I didn’t know any of these. I’m not surprised about Quebec… Quebec is like that eccentric uncle in the family.
It is, isn’t it! It makes Canada an interesting country. Canada wouldn’t be the same without it!
I have to remember that! > u < Some of them are strange, but rules are still rules.
Ah yes… but some rules you really can’t guess!
I am glad taking your spouse name is forbidden in Quebec, it’s much better than here where the gov agencies sometimes impose you the name of your spouse! Plus, I find it irritating at work when some of our contacts change name, it’s plain confusing!
I agree to a certain extend: I think couples should be allowed to do what works best for them. It seems counter-productive to forbid a woman to assume her husband’s name!
I’m Canadian and I hadn’t heard of any of these things – very strange indeed and I’m really surprised about the name change in Quebec, nothing about the old law said that women had to change their name. It’s always been optional, so why make it difficult for people to choose what works best for them?
I think Quebec is a bit like France, administrative decisions are made and they mean well but in practice, they backfire!
Interesting article about the “spouse name change”.
I was in the exact same position when I got married in Quebec 8 years ago. The feminist movement didn’t do anything productive in the name of equality with that law. It would have been more understandable to give the right to the husband to take his wife’s name (as is allowed in Scandinavian countries), if he wishes to, but take the choice away from the woman is unfair.
I agree with you, it seems that the decision wanted to help the cause but it backfired.
Ok, so first I wanted to question that issue that Canadians seem to have with baby walkers, but then I realized that it’s not worth discussing – The US doesn’t allow Kinder Surprise?!
What kind of childhood can a kid have without Kinder Surprise!
Don’t get me started on baby walker…! I was surprised to see people’s reaction to the article. Apparently, it’s the object of death 😆 I take safety seriously but I had no idea it was such a touchy subject! 😆
What is Kinder Surprise..never heard of it and must look it up. Surprised by many items on the list.
Kinder are soo good… all Europeans kids are hooked to that! 😆 I did some research to build the list and many of the items/policies on it surprised me.
My wife and I like to take road trips with our 11 year old dog Smokey. He goes everywhere with us and is the sweetest most loving dog I have ever had. He does not bark, I have never heard him growl, and greets everybody with a wagging tail. Many hotels have “dog-friendly” rooms and he is welcome almost everywhere. The problem is that he is an American Pit Bull Terrier and by virtue of that fact he is forbidden to enter Canada. That is the reason we have not come up to see you Zhu. It is doggie discrimination plain and simple.
Oh that sucks! I didn’t know that. This is strange actually… I know some breeds of dogs can be more “aggressive” but it mostly has to do with the owners. Maybe a “good behavior certificate” should be implemented? Dogs that bite often have an history of doing so…
Good thing i read this article Zhu, hubby and I was planning to bring our 10 year old matteresses to Canada when we move next year….what a nightmare it would have been.
I was surprised to learn that it is forbidden to drink a beer in public spaces.
This is not very accurate.
Baby walkers are illegal, true. But if they don’t have rollers, it’s permitted.
Married women can take their spouse name, but it won’t appear on their provincial identifications unless they got married before 1981. It can be on their federal identification paper if they wish. In their social life, they can be called under their spouse name if they wish. But marriage isn’t popular in Québec, most couples are in a common law partnership.
Nikky
Actually if someone owns a walker in Canada they can fined up 100 000.00 and or go to jail for 6 months!!! Walkers without wheels is just a exersaucer.
Wow, I didn’t know about the fine! Yes, we discovered the exersaucer… but I don’t find them any safer, Mark somehow gets out of it!
O_O… I swear, I’ve been living in Quebec my whole life and never knew the baby walker thing was illegal… well, just goes to show you, the government can be batshit crazy at times. -_-
I was really surprised too! The things you learn… I guess it makes sense in a way, it can be dangerous.
Despite all of the comments here about it being ridiculous and crazy for the government to ban child walkers, I think that it’s a very good and safe idea. My mother has always told me how worried she was of me walking my walker right down the concrete basement stairs in my childhood home, and because of that she never really used the walker. There have been countless accidents that were made possible by these walkers, and I personally think that it’s in every mother and child’s best interest to have them banned.
It kind of make sense when you think of it. But again, any toy can be dangerous. Mark recently got a small truck for his birthday, kids are supposed to push it around. I took it away for now because there are no brakes and he could fall pretty hard!
I think banning walkers is silly. I grew up with a walker, my baby brother who is 10 grew up with 2 walkers and we used common sense. They are not dangerous if the child is supervised and kept away from stairs. I think it’s sad they are illegal because people don’t watch their kids, it’s not meant to be a babysitter but an activity. An activity that allows a child freedom to move on their own and explore in a different and generally safe way if supervised. I would bet more children die every year in the bath or a pool than in a walker but both of those are still legal.
Anything can be dangerous with a baby, when left unsupervised! I tend to agree with you.
Rats are illegal to own as pets in Alberta. If caught you can be fined up to $5000, no joke. Supposedly, Alberta is ‘rat free’, which is a huge load of poop.
I had NO idea! Wow, funny. I learned something tonight!
I think walkers should deff be banned, so many children have been harmed or killed because of these things, ehy would someone take a chance?
I guess. But many things can be dangerous if kids are unsupervised…
I am curious why the us ban on inedible choking hazards inside edibles would apply to Kinder Surprises (never heard of them) but not to our traditional King Cakes?? They have a small plastic baby hidden inside.
Never heard of King Cakes before!
King Cakes are a traditional Mardi Gras celebration item. They come with colored beads and a mini plastic baby (think Christmas mini nativity set baby) that are hidden inside, and then served to party guests. Supposedly, the one who finds the baby is the “King” for a day, as I understand it… used to make these when I worked in a grocery store around March/April time.
That’s cool! Never heard of the tradition before. It reminds me a bit of the Épiphanie in France where you hid a baby Jesus in a cake. But it’s usually in January… if I remember correctly.
**Correction on Common Sikh name**
-SINGH is not a last name. It’s the middle for all men not just for the baptized. for example: Harpreet Singh Gill
– Similarly KAUR is the middle name for all females. for example: Harpreet Kaur Gill
Image if Singh was the last name.
Thank you so much for the correction! This is a culture I don’t know well at all and I appreciate the insight. I did notice that in Canada, there seems to be a lot of people with the last name “Singh” (or at least, this is the name they give), hence my mistake.
Just couldn’t write an article without bashing the US. I will never understand why Canadians call themselves friendly.
You call that bashing? Gee, you should hear what French say! Blame it on my French side, then.
(Joke aside, no bashing here.)
Matthew Jameson Read the whole article buddy, she’s not Canadian she came to Canada.
Canada is not a country. Canada is a America’s backyard, period.
I would discuss and argue, but considering your username, I figure there is no point in doing so.
Semantics, though–maybe America’s fridge? Cold room? Freezer?
Actually no,if u lived here like me and learned the history of Canada, you would be surprised about what Canada did to help the U.S, U.K, and France. For example when NASA was established the first scientists who helped America put a man on the moon were from Canada, but they went to America because of WW2
What? I’m confused here!
That’s what you get for being deprived of Kinder Surprise in your childhood: lower IQs… ^_^
… and the joy of finding this tiny magical toy!
Good article Zhu, I got my citizenship in Canada last year and give birth to a lovely girl early this year, I was a little bit surprised about the baby walker but have to respect the law 🙂
Congratulations on the two achievements, the citizenship and becoming a mother! How is life with baby?