Problem with setting a goal to write every day means I run out of ideas. My life isn’t exciting to write about every day so I crowd sourced some ideas. Today’s came from an awesome Twitter follower who wanted to know “Things that people elsewhere misunderstood about Canada?” I asked her if she had any specific questions and I love her question. So today’s blog post I’m going to try and answer her question (listed below).

I’m by far not the only one to write about this. Or talk about this. In fact one of my fav YouTubers is putting together a Podcast exploring this very topic. They are releasing it next Tuesday so I will link to it when I can.

I live in Waterloo, part of the region of Waterloo in the province of Ontario. I do say sorry and eh a lot, sorry. I also love poutine and maple syrup. Winter sucks!

The question posed by Belinda on Twitter is “How do Canadians draw Canada with all those islands” she was referring to growing up in school. I had to think but I’m almost positive I never had to actually draw Canada. We were always given maps that were printed out. We coloured them and had to identify the province, territories and capitals. Now I kind of want to try to draw that. If you want to see that let me know, I will make a YouTube video with that.

One of the things most joked about when people talk about Canada is how NICE we are how polite we are. I don’t know where this came from but if I had to take a guess and NOT google it I would say we are a nation that welcomes people. We have a history of being open to those in need. I’m sure the reputation is well founded but not entirely true. There are plenty of people who are assholes. I just need to go out in public to prove this.

Some weird random things I can think to mention are:

~ In Ontario where I live our milk comes in bags. Why you ask? Well it’s better for the environment. I like having bagged milk my sister does not.

~ Our $1 and $2 comes as coins. The $1 is known as a Loonie and the $2 is known as a Toonie. We also did away with the penny since it cost more to make than it was worth.

~ Our healthcare isn’t “free”. We do have what is called Universal Healthcare. This means a portion of our taxes goes to supporting healthcare. Having Universal Healthcare is absolutely amazing. When I visit my neurologist, respirologist, or local ER I don’t leave worrying about a bill in the mail. If an ambulance is required it’s about $40. Medication is not covered nor is services such as massage therapy, optometrists, chiropractor and the like. A tweak to this optometrist are covered for kids 16 and under, seniors 65 and older or if you have specific medical conditions. My visits are covered, I go once a year, most go once every two years. Most employers will offer benefits which reduce cost of medications, cover portion of other services. My employer covers $200 every two year for eye glasses and a decent lump sum to divide amongst other services. There are exceptions for seniors over 65 getting government support, they pay between $0.11-$6.11 per prescription in Ontario but pay $100 yearly deductible. Other programs exists to help those in need.

~ In Canada we differentiate between University and College. Mostly you go to collage for more trades or certificate level trainings but not always. It used to be Nursing was offered at colleges that’s still the case but there is more connection with a University for a degree instead of a diploma or certificate. University is for degree programs. We don’t use their term collage for all/any post secondary school education.

~ There is no where in Canada that minimum wage is lower than $11.

I’m a very proud Canadian. There are lots of things to like but I wouldn’t sugar coat the bad. This land was taken from the indigenous population and the treatment of our indigenous lands and people is nothing to celebrate. We have a lot of work to do to make up for that.

If there is something specific about Canada you want to know just leave a comment below. Maybe a part 2 will be required.