Canadian stereotype? Canadian identity?

Not to come off as offensive or anything but Canadians ARE NOT just like Americans! We're more accepting, friendly, laid back, openminded and the list goes on....and my American hubby and friends who've lived in Canada for any length of time or just visited even AND my Canadian friends who've lived here in the U.S all agree...There is a HUGE difference...

I'm an American and I have to say from what I've heard, there's quite a difference between Canada & America - and thus Canadians & Americans. I'm from Minnesota, though, and often people assume that any "Canada stereotypes" also apply to us for some reason. . Not that stereotypes hold very much truth to begin with, though. I know that some of the common stereotypes are that you all say "eh" a lot and have a VERY Minnesota-n accent, but other than that.. There aren't any other major stereotypes that I can think of. My perception is very.. limited. I've never been to Canada (well I once drove to the border, and crossed it, and then came back LOL) and we didn't really learn about anything that has to do with Canada in high school (OR college). From my very small perspective on things, I see Canada as a much more .. stable place to live, actually. It seems nice. Much more peaceful than America, which is crime-ridden and just plain annoying if you ask me! LOL. Also, perhaps I see Canada as a more passive country; practically opposite of America - we seem overly aggressive in terms of war and politics. Canada is also perceived as VERY liberal (universal health-care?), and slightly blue-collar. Have you seen the movie Bowling for Columbine? (By Michael Moore?) If you haven't, you definitely should watch it. For some reason, for a long duration in the movie, he seems to talk a lot about American perceptions of Canada, and the differences between the countries in terms of crime and violence, especially.

You are a student and you are still very young. I am so glad you are exploring the idea of a Canadian Identity. While it is true that the US is our closest neighbour and biggest trading partner and that our economies are closely entwined it is so important to realize that we do have a separate identity. I am a proud Canadian myself and while I have no issues with our American neighbours I see many differences. For one, in Canada we have the dual English-French fact. While this is not obvious in the most of the West it is certainly a presence in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario and of course Quebec. I must say it is music to my ears when I return by plane from somewhere and board a Canadian plane to hear the announcements in English and in French. I also appreciated the opportunity to send my kids to French immersion school. Not that they need the French for their day to day work now or that they are totally fluent in it, but they have travelled widely in Europe, used it there in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland (there is a German, French and Italian part of Switzerland) They have also travelled to Quebec and New Brunswick and were even able to follow a play in French. Right now there is an event coming up in Toronto called "Nuit Blanche" I don't have to explain to my kids what the translation of this is. So how do we define our identity? I would say we are definitely North Americans, but not Americans. We do not have a "melting pot" but rather we support multiculturalism so we get a lot of hyphenated Canadians as well. Irish-Canadian, Ukrainian-Canadian, French-Canadian etc. etc. How do you define yourself as a Canadian?

I am an American and I have visited Vancouver and also Montreal. I am not sure I could define Canadians by those two trips though. Both experiences were completely different and offered no sweeping views of Canadians as a whole. There is however one thing that I have encountered unanimously with Canadians when traveling abroad: Canadians are so proud to be Canadians and they want to make sure that everyone knows they are Canadians and NOT Americans. In fact whenever I have met Canadians abroad they find it incredibly important to define themselves based on how they are different from Americans, and so far, this has always happened to be why they feel they are better than Americans. I also know Americans who wear the Canadian flag on their backpacks when traveling so that they don't get greif for being an American. When I think of the American stereotype and I see the know-nothing, god-fearing, walmart shopping, drive-thru lunch and microwave dinner eating, bigot, I remember this stereotype has fallen on all of us. So I think as Americans it is extra important not to hide our nationality when we travel, we have to change this identity one person at a time and then maybe Canadians wouldn't be so ashamed to be mistaken for American.

I am a new immigrant in Canada and its interesting to read ideas and insights of both parties (Americans and Canadians). Apparently now that I have decided to relocate here a lot locals are telling me to learn who Canada is and to love Canada. So here I am figuring out who Canadians are and how different are they from their American neighbor and from the other nations. First off, I noticed the most commonly used expression "ey". I have lived in Singapore for a few years and had gotten used to their expression of "lah". So I find it interesting to adjust and get used to this new Canadian "ey" expression. Hehe. Secondly, I also heard and so far I do notice that Canadians are more laid back than Americans. I have worked with Americans before and they are really more aggressive and has a fast-paced type of lifestyle (no offense intended to Americans). I guess it's how the society has shaped its children that distinguished the attitudes of their citizens. Canada is more open and I've read that it encourages immigrants from all across the globe to come here, I for one am a product of this. Geographically speaking, Canada is mostly colder weather compared to America. And it is the 3rd largest country in the world. So I guess there's much to see and explore here. I intend to do that one of these days. So far those are what I've learned and heard and read about Canada. I do appreciate all the inputs here as I learn more of this nation.