Hey everyone! Dana here. Some people might think: Canada...the U.S., pretty much the same, right?
No, they're really not.
These two countries do have a lot in common.
But they also have a lot of differences.
So today, a look at some interesting differences, put together by me, an American who has not
yet visited Canada, but would definitively love to change that in the future.
I would love really love to visit Canada one day.
Okay, so just quick little technicality point here.
Technically I actually have been to Canada, once for quick stopover in Vancouver on my
way to Alaska, but I don't really think stopovers count.
And I think when I was 5 years old I went with my family to Nova Scotia, but most of
what I remember from that trip is eating Oreos.
So I would still say that for all intents and purposes of this video, I still have not
yet, you know, visited Canada.
Canada has hockey, and the U.S. has football.
America has the bald eagle, and Canada has the beaver,
which makes an appearance on the Canadian nickel.
And Canada used to have the maple leaf on their penny, and I know that because when
I lived in the U.S., I noticed that Canadian pennies often ended up mixed up in our coins,
and I’d get them as change at the store or from a vending machine, but since 2013,
no more penny in Canada.
They got rid of 'em.
Can’t have a comparison video without food, right?
And let’s start with the obvious one: Canada...maple syrup.
Nobody makes maple syrup like Canada does.
Although Vermont does try its hardest.
Most of the world’s maple syrup comes from Canada.
And on the U.S. side?
I don’t know if there’s one food product that comes from the U.S. that we are really
known for around the world in that same way that Canada is known for maple syrup.
Idaho potatoes, maybe?
Or Florida oranges?
But Canada grows potatoes too, and the U.S. even imports some of them.
According to the USDA, mostly in the form of frozen potato products and frozen french fries
Speaking of which, I’ve heard that in Canada, coming out of Quebec there’s something called
Poutine, which is french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.
And I guess the American “equivalent” to that would be chili cheese fries.
I love chili cheese fries.
And, even without visiting Canada and living all the way down in South Florida, about as
far as you can get in America from the Canadian border, I have still heard of Tim Hortons,
known for their coffee and doughnuts in Canada.
And in the U.S., the two big donut shops are Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme.
Canada has two official languages: English and French.
While at the federal level in the U.S., there is no official language whatsoever.
But the two most spoken languages in the U.S. are English and Spanish.
In both countries there are many different regional English accents spoken around the country.
As far as individual English words, or in this case sounds go, Canadians are known for
their "eh" at the end of sentences, and I’d say the American equivalent to that is "huh."
It’s nice weather, eh? It’s nice weather huh?
Also in Canada a hat like this and also I think a hat like this is called a toque.
Whereas in the U.S., I'm pretty sure we just call these winter hats.
A restroom is called a washroom in Canada.
And Canadians call candy bars chocolate bars, and actually I realized in my video on trying
German versus American chocolate bars, that I also sometimes call them chocolate bars.
And English in Canada still holds onto some of the influence of British English, spelling
color and flavor with a U, for example, and center with -re, whereas in America it's -er at the end.
And to me, it also sounds like some words are pronounced a little bit more “British”
in Canada than in America.
Like whereas Americans tend to say “pants,” I’ve noticed some Canadians saying it more
like “pants,” so a bit of a softer A. But again, accents do differ regionally, and
I'm really bad at doing accents, so that was my best.
To me it's like, in America it's like "pants," with kind of nasally A. Versus "pants."
Yeah, little bit softer.
The U.S. has states. 50 of them.
While Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is bigger than the U.S. in total area, but not by much.
It’s pretty close.
But when it comes to people, about 9 times as many people live in the U.S. as Canada. 9 times!
That's a lot more people.
And as far as the the climate in Canada goes, well basically it goes from cold to really
freaking freezing cold, while the climate in the U.S. goes from cold to really freaking sweating hot.
Alright, getting into everyone's favorite subject now: politics.
The big one here is that the U.S. has a president while Canada has a prime minister.
Unlike the U.S., Canada did not fight a war of independence from Great Britain to become
a country, and even to this day, even though now Canada is independent from the UK, the
Queen is still Canada's head of state and she’s featured on their money.
What this means for politics is that the Queen is Canada's head of state and the prime minister
is the head of government.
Two people for two roles.
In Germany, just for reference, the president is the elected head of state while the chancellor
is the head of government.
But in the U.S. the president is both the head of state and the head of government.
Also, the U.S. has a two-party system of government, while Canada has a multi-party system.
And in Canada there is universal health care, whereas the U.S. does not have universal health
care, and the health care that people do have in the U.S. is a mix of private insurance
and public support for low-income families and the elderly.
And in 2005 Canada became the fourth country in the world to federally legalize same-sex marriage.
The three countries before it, by the way, were Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Same sex marriage was legalized in the whole of the U.S. almost exactly 10 years later in 2015.
So my question for you is: what other differences between Canada and the U.S. do you know of,
and what do you think about the differences that I mentioned?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching, and liking and commenting and subscribing.
I really hope that you enjoyed this video, and I also hope that you will enjoy the bloopers
that are coming up next.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
The big one here is that the U.S. has a president, while Can...canister. I almost said canister.
As far as indiv... Individual. Indiwidual.
But they also have a lot of...differences!
Oh! We've been recording the whole time. Oops!