Holy moly, it is June!! Can you believe it? I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the things I have noticed and/or thought about regarding Canada, as I ride along, thinking deep thoughts.
(1) Things are not as cheap as you may think. For those of you who have been to Europe, you may have noticed that fruit and vegetables seem a lot cheaper there. Perhaps one thing that makes them seem that way is that they are priced by the kilo. So when you see apples for $1.99/kilo and you are used to working with pounds, you have to do a double take to realize that they are basically half off! However, as I strolled the produce aisle upon my first Canadian grocery store foray, imagine my surprise when I realized that they are denoted by the pound! This did not make sense to me, as I always thought Canada was on the metric system. Then I started digging and realized it is all befuddled! Gas is by the liter, ice cream is by the liter, cereal is by the gram, chocolate is by the gram. Why is fruit by the pound????
 |
| Yes, that is $3.69 per pound! Yikes. |
(2) Things are not as far away as you may think. The mystery continues. As I rode along a rail trail, I noted that the distance was denoted in miles. All of the trestles have mile names: 66 mile trestle, 12 mile trestle etc. However, the road signs are in kilometers. But wait, it gets even more fun. People usually tell you their height in feet, a friend I stayed with told me his well was dug to 300 feet, and when I told someone the other day that I had ridden 70 miles, their eyes did not even glaze over. Most people say the elevation is meters, but some signs are in feet. Which one is it and why are they seemingly random and different?
 |
| This was a fun singletrack |
(3) Some things do not make cents. I brought some spare change with me that I had from the last time I came to Canada in 2018, and some of it was pennies. When the guy at Timmy's rang me up a coffee for $2.02 and I gave him $2.02, he just arched his eyebrow and smiled and gave me my coffee. When the lady on the ferry rang up my coffee for $2.87 and I tried to give her $2.87 she poo-pooed me and made me give her $2.90 (of course they round up!) I remember this happening in Australia when I was there; they were phasing them out or had just phased them out and I thought the same thing then as I do now: why are the prices still in cents when there are no cents? The price should just be $2.90. Side note: either way, the coffee is very cheap and I am very happy about that!
 |
| Timmy's: warmth, plugs, internet. What more can you ask for really. |
(4) Alberta reminds me of Texas with mountains. I have been to Alberta before and have mostly stayed in the mountain regions, which are stunning, and are not like Texas in the least. However, I spent a LONG time riding along the Cowboy Trail, which is flat and mostly made up of ranch land, agricultural land or oil derricks. Additionally, there were a lot of trucks, which of course go hand in hand with ranches, farms and the oil industry. However, I have stayed in Calgary and more recently in Cochrane and both of them slightly remind me of Houston, where things are flattish, spread out, and full of chain and big box stores. Don't get me wrong, the items at the Super Walmart were a lot cheaper than the ones I have been getting in small town grocery stores. However, I feel a bit of deja vu...am I in Texas, Toto?
 |
| I was the only person walking (on foot) here. |
If you are Canadian, can you please solve these mysteries? If you are not Canadian, how much is a cup of coffee at your local coffee shop? Have you been to Alberta and/or Texas, and if so, what did you think?
Yay Canada! I want to visit every province in the next few years. So far I've only been to Ontario and Quebec, mostly for work, and mostly 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIn general I think that things cost more up North, but the exchange rate really worked in my favor when I went there last summer. The prices for Airbnbs were about what I'd pay on our side of the border, so I just assumed everything was USD. Imagine my delight when the charges started hitting my credit card and they were 75% of what I was expecting.
The exchange is still about the same but many things are still pricier than at home, which is saying a lot since I live in the Bay Area! I guess I am spoiled by having a lot of agriculture near me, but even in Kelowna where they grow fruit, it was not cheap.
DeleteThis post is so fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen they phased out pennies - yup, we do not have pennies in Canada; our smallest coin is now the nickel - they brought in rounding. If it's below the half-way point, it's rounded down (so $2.92 will go down to $2.90; $2.93 will go to $2.95)...BUT that's only if you're paying with cash. If you pay with a debit or credit card, it doesn't get rounded and you would pay the exact amount.
Canada is very expensive. Housing prices are expensive. Groceries are expensive. Taxes are high. Your USD goes a long way, though - the exchange rate is definitely in your favour!
I never, never use miles for anything and can't think of a single time where I've seen a sign denoting miles in Canada, but I've never been west of Ontario before. Kms is it (below 1 km, we'll talk in meters). That said, for height, I would say it in feet + inches (though on things like a passport application, it will ask for it in total cm). I have no idea how a gallon works. It is liters for everything for me!
The lb/kilo thing IS odd; in the medical system everything is in kilos and, I suspect, if you squinted at the smaller print on any label at the grocery store it would show the lbs in big numbers, but the kilo's below it in smaller print. You're right - that doesn't make sense!
How do you find the temp conversion to Celcius?
The exchange rate is in my favor, but it's still not enough! Also I wonder if since you are in the French side of the country, the European/metric thing was always more prevalent.
DeleteThere are kilos in smaller print but apples are still expensive! 😁
I have no trouble with any of the conversions. I am math minded and have traveled enough that none of it bothers me. I like C because 0 sounds so much colder than 32!
Units of measurement as so messed up in North America! That's all I can say about that. The rest of the world has figured it out - why can't we?!
ReplyDeleteI used to go to work in Toronto fairly regularly and everything was really expensive! I was super glad that my company was paying the price of the hotel, that's for sure!
Yes accomodations are the worst. Although the price of meat is shocking. Seriously, I can get hamburger meat in the states for $3.99 a pound sometimes but here it's been around $6-$10. Even with the exchange rate it's not cheap!
DeleteI would be surprised to encounter someone in Canada that could understand distance in miles. When Leigh used to blog, she would post our training info in kilometers and I was always so confused about how far she had ran. I can convert celsius to fahrenheit but km to mi is a bridge too far.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the Banff region last August I found dining out to be SO CHEAP compared to Minneapolis thanks to the exchange rate. The price in CAD was very similar to what you'd pay in Mpls but you could kind of take 20% off to account for the USD/CAD conversion! I felt similarly about the price of accomodations. We got some groceries and that seemed a bit expensive but then again, I do not grocery shop for our family so I couldn't tell you how much the same item would have cost in the US!
That's interesting that you have trouble with the miles to km conversion! To me that seems easier than the F to C. I am in Banff now and I think some things are the same or cheaper, like coffee, but other things are just crazy expensive. However, I don't really eat out so most of my costs are groceries.
DeleteThe other thing is accomodations, but that's just national park costs, and would be the same in Tahoe for example, but it's still hard to swallow!
The phrase ‘Blame Canada’ is from the South Park movie. I now have that song stuck in my head! No need to give a prize. Glad you’re continuing to enjoy your travels! I’ve been to several places in the eastern part of Canada but hope to make it further west-Banff is top of my list.
ReplyDeleteBanff is beautiful and if you come you should definitely drive the Icefields Parkway!
DeleteYou are right about Blame Canada! You must be a child of the 90s, as that is when I saw that episode and I probably have not seen an episode since then, although my brother says that it went on for years!
LOL on the ear worm, now I have 'Blame Canada' in my head too. From South Park, right?
ReplyDeleteThat's 2.87 rounded up to 2.90 would bug the heck out of me. I would feel ripped off. Of course if they just charged me 2.90, or even 3.00, I would be fine with it. I think I would use my credit card, so I only paid the 2.87, which isn't good for the merchants, since they have to pay a fee.
I agree, if they just charged $2.90 I would not care. However, I did want to rid myself of the cash, so it really wasn't too big of a deal.
DeleteYes, South Park! It's been a while since I've seen it, but now I have the song stuck in my head too!
Love Tim Horton's coffee.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from Ontario, and I noticed NONE of these things. LOL I will say, however, that the rate of exchange is so favourable for US currency right now that I felt like I was getting a great deal on everything. We brought home four cases of wine and it felt like we got it for free.
It's funny how our impressions depend on where we go, what we buy, and what we are used to. It's l relative, as they say! I guess I'm used to getting cheap produce; maybe yours is more expensive or you go to a higher end store?
DeleteI get wine for free as my brother is a winemaker, but I also buy wine from Costco normally so $10 is about my price point. Having said that, I have no idea how much a bottle of wine is in Canada!
It's interesting to read about the things you've noticed. I didn't know they'd quit using pennies! I wish the US had gone metric when I was growing up - but now I'm so firmly set in my ways, I'd be confused all the time.
ReplyDeleteI would be happy if the US went metric now. I think the reason Canada has both is that they switched to "fully metric" in the 70s but many people either still spoke imperial or did not want to go metric, so stood their ground. So they still have some holdover. I am sure the US would have that same issue for a couple of generations.
DeleteOh darn! I thought I was going to win the prize, but someone beat me to it. South Park- Bigger, Longer and Uncut. If I told you I could actually sing the "Blame Canada" song, could I still get a prize?
ReplyDeleteThis was all very interesting- I didn't know Canada had phased out pennies. I wonder when the US will do that? And... growing up in the 70s, we were taught the metric system (not that I remember much of it now) because supposedly the US was going to switch over. So I guess Canada switched and we never did!
You can still get a prize! It is one for all and all for one in this space! I would love to hear you sing Blame Canada and you can send me an audio clip and maybe I will send you two prizes. :) I think the US should phase out pennies, but I think prices should just be in increments of five if you only have nickels. You are right! Canada did switch in the 70s, but some older people or imperialists (is that a term?) still use the imperial system.
DeleteWhen I went to Canada (Niagara Falls region + Toronto) two years ago, I enjoyed that everything ended up a bit cheaper due to the exchange rate, haha. It was like a little surprise in my bank account!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Canada phased out pennies, and I was just there! I guess because I never use cash and didn't while I was there, I didn't notice it.
I think it feels cheaper because they are also the dollar, so in your mind you think $50 is $50 USD and then it ends up only being $37 and it is like a bonus. However, for me, $37 is still a lot for a hamburger for instance (not that they were $37). But I wonder, did the USD equivalent seem cheap still to you in the end? I don't really use cash either but I wanted to use up some old cash from my last trip! Also some campsites do require cash, so I tend to carry around $40CAD just in case.
DeleteI agree, if there is no cents anymore (or stores won't except it), change the prices to reflect that. Otherwise it's just silly. $2.87 for a cup of coffee is cheap. I don't even need to tell you how expensive a cup of coffee is in CA(lifornia).
ReplyDeleteYeah the regular drip coffee is not too expensive here! However, I have been having a lot of fast food coffee, not fancy coffee, and my brother assures me that a cup of coffee at McDonalds at home is also pretty cheap. I would not know as I have not been to MCD in the states in a long time!
DeleteLove these thoughts on Canada! i'm so intrigued by not using cents anymore. When I lived in Sweden a long time ago there were decimal places in currency that weren't used. So when something is 2.02 in Canada how far do they round up?
ReplyDeleteI think they would round 2.02 down, not up, but if it were 2.03, it would cost you 2.05 in cash. It is kind of moot normally, as I would use my card, and in that case it would just cost 2.02, but I just happened to have some spare change!
DeleteIn Australia with the cents, if you buy multiple things then it makes a difference. ie if something was $2.99 and you buy three you'll pay $8.95 instead of $9.00, but that is because we round down 6 and 7 and up 8 and 9. I'm surprised they round everything up in Canada. That being said, things like coffee etc are usually not priced in less than 5c increments. Credit cards there's no rounding.
ReplyDeleteI'm still shocked that the US has not changed to metric yet, it seems very backward. Using metric makes all your calculations much easier.
I think in the 70s the US talked about changing, but I guess enough people did not want it that it was not changed. I am not sure of the politics of it, but I agree that metric is much easier.
Delete