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A while back we wrote a piece about 20 ways you can spot an American from a mile away. People seemed to appreciate it, so we did a follow up with 15 surefire ways to spot British people at the airport.

Some of our Canadian readers wrote to us and essentially said, “Excuse me, sorry, but what about us?” Canadian friends, this is for you! 😉

These were culled from a variety of sources – a Canadian magazine called HI CANADA, Reddit, Buzzfeed and a few friends of mine who either live in, or are originally from The Great White North. We didn’t include Canadian-forward accents or spellings, because those are obvious. And, of course, this is being written tongue-in-cheek, with the realization that not EVERY Canadian does what’s on the list.

They’re polite

This one, of course, is pretty much a given, maybe even to the point of being stereotypical. But many, probably even most, Canadians are uber polite. They apologize for anything they realize might be taken as an affront (they’ll even apologize if someone bumps into THEM). They’re helpful. They even mention when they’re, “just gonna sneak right past ya.”

They call some of their money “Loonies” and “Toonies”

Canada offers both a one dollar and two dollar coin as currency. The one dollar coin has a loon on the backside of it and Canadians have coined the colloquial term “loonie.”

Similarly, many Canadians call their two dollar coin a “toonie” (also sometimes spelled “twonie” or “twoonie”)

Canadians describe a 10-below day as “mild”

It gets cold up there in the Great White North. Of course, I can’t talk because I live in Florida and once it gets below 70, I consider wearing long sleeves. But Canadians? They’re so used to the cold that even when it’s REALLY cold, to them it’s not all that cold (no lie…they, the Minnesotans and the Brits are the ones you see in the unheated pools in Florida in the wintertime LOL).

They’re also ready, willing and able to BBQ at -20 degrees. 😉

They don’t like being mistaken for Americans

Canadians and Americans have differences in accents; how big those differences are really depends on where in either country you hail from. That being said, Canadians, much like Australians, New Zealanders and folks from the Great Britain area really aren’t thrilled when they’re asked if they’re American.

And speaking of accents, according to my friend Allie, not all Canadians say “eh,” which blew my mind. However she says they virtually all have that sing song “out and about” and, they “…almost all Canadians have a lilt to their voice where it goes up at the end of the sentence like they’re asking a question.”

Canadians love to validate their country and its residents

It’s more than suggesting they’re (GASP!) American. It’ when they watch TV and mention “that scene” was filmed in Toronto. Or Vancouver. Or…wherever. They can also point out every famous person, past and present, who’s originally from Canada. William Shatner? He’s Canadian. Alex Trebek? Also Canadian. Michael Bublé? Canadian with a great singing voice. Justin Bieber? Not a big fan but yes, from Canada as well. 😉

They adore their Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo bars are a no-bake dessert named after Nanaimo, which is a Canadian city in British Columbia. It’s made with three layers: a coconut crumb base, a custard filling, and a chocolate ganache topping. I had one (or maybe two LOL) during an Adventures By Disney tour in Banff several years back, and it was pretty delicious.

They also love their “Timmy’s” and “Timbits”

“Timmy’s” is the Canadians’ pet name for Tim Horton’s coffee (Canada’s largest quick-serve restaurant chain which was established in 1964) and I think it’s adorable; MUCH better than “Starbs” (although I prefer Starbucks’ coffee to Tim Horton. Sorry not sorry).

“Timbits” are the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin’ Donuts’ “Munchkins.”

They’re ALWAYS ready for an emergency

I mentioned my friend Allie before; we’ve known each other for somewhere around 30 years (holy crap, really? THIRTY years?!?!) but she was the one who told me, YEARS ago, that Canadians always carry a stash of trail mix in their car, so if they get stuck in a blizzard, they’re prepared. My friend Leah pretty much backed that up – she says they have “go bags” at the ready, in case of fire, floor or tornado. I’m assuming that means trail mix too. 😉

They use both metric and imperial measurements

The U.S. does this, as well, but generally only for liquid measurements. For example, soda cans are in ounces but bottles are in liters. Canadians though?

Metric, or time when measuring large distances, like geographic features, but imperial when referring to real estate, a house has square footage or flooring is an amount per square foot. Height of a person is still in imperial. The temperature outside is metric, but oven temperature or body temperature (fevers) are imperial. The weight of meat or produce is metric, but the weight of a person is imperial.

So says u/Vast_Section_5525

Your turn!

OK Canadian friends…what else? What did I miss? 😉

*** MANY thanks to Allie and Leah for their help!

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary