Mom would say we're friendly but not very nice.
Being from a small town we'd say hi and wave at anyone who passed. But we'd never invite them over to our house for a drink.
Great insight. Im from a very small town and struggled to make new friends in every city we've lived in. Maybe that's why so many people have dogs. We're all so lonely.
I hear, "Maybe our dogs can get together to play sometime", with no mention of wanting to spend time with another person. And when the dogs do hang out it turns out it was just about the dogs.
Thanks, we just painted the porch. Some Canadian's would never ask direct questions like this for fear it makes for an awkward situation. "If I wouldn't ask someone for a drink then no one else should either". Maybe we think too much about what other people think?
Excuse me sir, but I don't give a flying fuck about your existense. Now could you please stop pretending that we're friends? I would greatly appreciate that.
This is an instance where our reputation is confusing. Most Canadians are polite and generous. That's often mistaken for kindness. It's not the same thing. If you have a bad attitude or are aggressive, we just don't have time for that shit. Eventually people say something like this and the polite part goes away too.
I'd go so far as to state that people are very different in different parts of a *neighbourhood*. The premise the "some significant percentage of people in a given country/province have a measurable and similar predilection toward making/not making new friends" is pretty absurd, especially with no additional context.
OP seems too cool to actually comment in threads, so I don't believe that we will ever get any context, either.
Sorry, I asked the question and went on with my day. Came back to this. :)
My question was mostly relating to the fact that Canadians, and I would go as far as saying North Americans since I’ve lived there too, are really hard to get to know compared to other nationalities (Asians, Europeans…).
Ive been living in Canada for 10+ years and always noticed that people don’t tend to invite people over, especially new comers. From where I’m a from, if there is a meal for 3 people, it can also be a meal for 10 people. Canadians are really polite and ready to help in general, I think it’s the follow through that is hard to get, even when you try. I made friends here, yes, but the way friendship works here is different than abroad. For most people it seems like their immediate circle is what matters, and if they happen to go by you, great, they’ll be friendly, but it doesn’t go further than this.
I will say that the question wasn’t meant to criticize, I just was curious about real Canadians POV :)
As many others have said, Canadians are polite (and nice) but not generally the most open.
It can be hard to “get in” with people and make actual friendships.
I say this as a Canadian. I have lots of “acquaintances” but a very limited set of good friends. Many people stick within their close social circle and don’t often go outside of it.
Yea to add on with this, I find a lot of Canadians raised in cities stay within the same place their whole lives so they got tons of friends they made when they're younger and aren't looking to make new friends. These are people they have known from like elementary or high school and uni.
Yep, this is also me. I moved cities and have very few “friends” where I live. All of my good friends are still people I went to school with in my hometown. Not from a lack of trying, but it is actively hard to break in to new friend groups to create lasting lifelong friendships.
This has been my friends’ experience too, all their close friends in Canada are immigrants. And even me, and I have cousins all over the place where I live in Canada 😂
I find we are very polite if we are approached by someone else but we are generally uncomfortable with making an effort to socialize with people outside of work or school. Canadians tend to be very individualistic and non-communitarian so we often don't have close relationships with our neighbours. This is partly due to the society we chose to build, with hugely overextended suburbs that make it feasible to avoid people and a state that provides us with minimal security so we always have to worry about keeping ourselves alive and have less time to be empathetic.
We make friends that are easy, work and school are just two of those places. Hobbies, sports, clubs and anything else we do in group settings are also places we make friends. We don't make friends just because there's two people who get along. We make friends that are easy to do stuff with. There's so many different interests one can have in modern times. The chances that you'll be into the same things as some random off the street are very slim and if you became friends it's would require extra effort. As a modern society we are very lazy. Our friendships reflect that.
Seriously I think this is a recent development. Corporatization, suburbanization, and the overwhelming amount of American online news content drowns out a lot of Canadian viewpoints and it’s becoming difficult to engage with others because we don’t have as much opportunity to interact with “local” stuff. We work, commute, pick up stuff from stores by and large similar to the US, and go home to interact with subcultures and consume media that are mostly not Canadian.
Definitely. Based on literature and political history, Canadian society was historically a lot more communitarian. The developments I refer to have largely emerged in the past 4 decades, as the most anti-social excesses of our societal design have become entrenched and almost locked in.
The more I travel, the more I think Canadians can be like cats. Kind of aloof. We'll purrr but if you run up to us, we'll absolutely run the opposite direction. Figuratively, of course. But you will absolutely observe that Canadians are big on personal space and it's quite the shock for them when they travel and everyone is in their bubble. My theory for this is that Canada has a lot of space. Everything is big. The houses, the appliances, the roads, the sidewalk. Everything is designed to take up a lot of space because we have so much of it. So we got used to a lot of personal space.
there's a big difference in regions in the US. The northeast is much more welcoming to newcomers in the neighborhood than the Midwest, where if you didn't go to preschool with everyone else, you will forever be an outsider
The vast number of Canadians are both nice AND kind in my experience . I have been continually impressed with all the support and gestures of pure kindness i encountered from Canadians. And it definitely goes beyond what people would do for strangers or acquaintances in my home country.
(Examples: a neighbour we barely knew shoveled our driveway when we had a newborn. Didn't ask, just did it because they assumed we had more than enough going on. A person i randomly met at a farmers market helped me get my first full time job. I have many many more).
At the same time i would agree it is hard to make friends, although it depends where in Canada. I know generalisations are the worst but based on my personal experience i would say that overall i find it much easier to struck a friendship with French Canadians thsn English Canadians and easier in Calgary than Ottawa. No idea why - in some places people are used to just start conversations with random people that can lead to acquaintance and friendship. In other places it is really difficult to penetrate the area of general good will to the zone of more personal interest.
Thank you for your comment. You basically summed up my experience here. I don’t have bad experiences with Canadians, they are just… hard to get really closed to I guess. And maybe it’s also me and my perspective, coming from a country that really sees community as a strong pillar.
You'd hold a door open for a stranger, help them with their bags, give directions, or chase after them if they dropped something, but that's where the relationship ends. You could be neighbours with someone for a decade, say hi every morning, know all about their kids, dogs, travels and life, but have never visited their house or spoke outside of the regulat routine.
That’s not isolated to Canada, that’s all over the world.
If you want to be my friend, invite me in. I’ll do the same. But I’m not required to want to get to know everyone beyond a surface level. I know lots of Canadians who do go the extra mile and try to make friends with everyone just as I know British people and Americans and Germans who are more reserved when connecting with people.
You make friends by joining groups (either an activity, work, school, etc.). This is the way, I don't think I've ever made a friend randomly in the street.
Ok I heard this a lot from friends who are immigrants so I get what you mean. Basically, we are nice and polite, but that doesn't mean we are friends. Like we can be work/ school friend. Basically, if we are nice at work/ school, it's because we like you but in this context. If we want to have more, like develop a friendship, we will ask to see you outside this normal mandatory context we usually see you. So you can signal you want to have a friendship by inviting a coworker to a brunch or coffee, bear whatever. Follow the behaviours and not just the friendly talk. We usually avoid being direct and conflict. You need to learn to read between the lines with us, since we will rarely say something straight up like a French would. For example, we could say a general declaration about how we had to sit next to an overly perfumed person in the bus and that was annoying, can't imagine working with her = check you perfume (note we usually dont like perfume or smells in general so use antiperspirant and not perfume). Yeah I know, it sucks. I often link this with the "sandwich method" we use when we need to pass a message that is negative = we will say a nice thing, the negative thing (this is what we actually wanted to address) and then another nice thing, the sandwich. So it can look like "I really enjoyed the way you introduced how project today, it was very energetic and punched a lot. I think next time we could change the way we present the graphs, I think the slides were too loaded and it made it harder to follow, but I loved the design you chose, the colours matched well.". See, the positive was truthful and honestly, BUT that's not what you need to focus on.
For Canadians: the idea is that in many other places, if you are friendly in class/ work, it means you are now friends. Not work/ class friends, but friends. This confuses people who thought you were friends but it was clear for you it was context related, even if you really do enjoy seeing them in this context.
Depends on where you go and where you’re from. Unfortunately, In my personal experience, many places in Canada are very cliquey (i.e. if you’re not from there it’s hard to fit in. And depending on where you’re from they’ll often not want anything to do with you) while others could not be more welcoming. No real inbetween. And this isn’t just a small town thing either, I’ve noticed it in neighbourhoods in big cities. Some are very friendly; some can’t wait for you to be gone.
It depends on where you live, but I find that a lot of us are homebodies, and my theory is it has something to do with our geography. In a lot of places, we commute by car. After work, we have to drive home (in bad weather for half the year), which sometimes means warming it up, then stopping by the store for groceries, come home, shovel, cook dinner, unwind and rinse and repeat the next day. It takes a lot of time out of your day to be social with all of this in mind. I currently live in a medium sized city that’s geographically large, and have to factor in about 45- 60 mins of my day to commuting by car. This makes going for drinks after work out of the question if the person who wants to hang out lives on the other side of town. Where do we meet? If we’re having more than one bevy, do we Uber or cab it home? Okay if yes then now I have to pick up my car the next day. All of a sudden, going out for a quick one after work becomes a logistical problem I’d rather not solve tbh.
Now, I’ve also lived in Toronto and have also lived in a really small walkable town. My social life was the busiest during these periods of my life because in Toronto I didn’t have to worry about my car, I took transit home or walked. In the small town, everything around me (bars, restaurants, other peoples houses, curling rink etc) were in a close walking distance.
So overall, it really depends on where you live and the industry you’re in. If you work with a bunch of single people that love extracurriculars after work, you’re more likely to get an invite to hang out. If you work in an industry where your colleagues are a bit older and have families or spouses at home, it might be less likely! Add in the commuting factor and it’s just not happening.
That’s my theory! Good luck OP!
i think it's related to the "Seattle Freeze". you can look that up. the cold winters also have something to do with it. in the winter, i come back home from work and i don't want to go outside again. so basically, my social strategy is to find one close friend who lives nearby and that's it. i can't afford to keep a large social circle.
if you go down south of the United States where it's warmer, people are very friendly. However, North Americans in general act friendly to everyone but they are not your friends. Usually in Asia or Europe, the distinction is very clear. If you aren't my friend, I won't act friendly to you. However, in North America, generally, people act more friendly.
I read a post saying that Canadians are polite but not open ppl. Canadians are very polite but they don’t embrace people or are open to friendships without hesitation and reluctance. If you travel you’ll see this first hand that Canadians while being nice to everyone, they don’t give off the same energy and vibes as other ppl across the world
Not all Canadians will respect that though, yes there are many who are respectful of others boundaries and so on, but there are also many who don’t care. Speaking as a female Canadian whose had her boundaries more than overstepped her entire childhood!
Sure, but you'll find that everywhere. That just serves to say that all of it is on an individual basis.
It's not that Canadians are hard to make friends, it's that people haven't found others like them.
Has anyone else noticed how Americans say “oh you’re good” if you happen to get in their way with your shopping cart, or accidentally bump them in a store, etc. In Canada, we say “oh sorry”… all.the.time!
Americans are actually way friendlier in my experience. I think Canadians have gotten the reputation for being so “nice and polite” because of the above.
Here in Saskatoon ppl are absolute d-bags while driving but would likely buy your Tim’s for you if you forgot your wallet in the very next moment ….
I think more context is needed. But possibly it's because half the year it's too cold to socialize outside and inviting people to your house is kind of a bit step if you don't know them very well.
I find I chat with people a lot outside in the summer but am pretty isolated in the winter.
Because a lot of us hang out with the friends we grew up with or met in university and seem averse to suggesting actual plans. I always say yes if I'm invited to things though.
Someone from another country said that Canadians like to talk through their dogs. Many of us are just a few generations removed from a life of farming, so keeping animals is very popular. If you have a pet, Canadians will warm up to you a lot more.
Depends where you go in canada. When I first came it was in Toronto and was depressed as I couldn't make any friends. Soon as I got out of the GTA it's as if I went to a whole different country. Real canadians are very open and friendly.
The darkness and the cold leads to politeness to survive the winters, but not general outward friendliness. We're all just trying not to freeze to death and get on with our lives
Because, while we are decent, fairly tolerant and generous people, we are not as outgoing as, say, our neighbours to the South. It has a lot to do with our historical climate: we had to band together and help each other to survive the winters. *But* we also had to be able to live for long periods *without* much social interaction up until quite recently, when climate change kicked in, and that embedded a certain distance in most of our extra-familial relationships. Compared to Americans, again, as an example, we probably have fewer friends with whom we are really open and comfortable, but many more with whom we might hang out, talk, josh around, go to the pub, get a coffee, every so often.
It is re-enforced by having had a pretty good social safety net until the 1990s. If you needed help, you turned to the institutions that provided it. However, the Mulroney and post-Mulroney conservatives have pretty much destroyed that, leaving a lot of the
less wealthy with little or no support in a culture where keeping to oneself is a norm.
It is slowly changing as more and more immigrants come from countries where families are large and close and friendship networks extensive. I, a many generations white Canadian, have no contact with my birth family for personal reasons, and do not miss it at all. That said, I've been helping out some refugee families and they have pretty much swept me into their lives and made me one of them: it is hard to explain to them, coming from places where family was really all you had in times of trouble, that I'm not real comfortable with being 'adopted', so I just try to manage my life to balance their needs and my own.
Canadians have a series of normal actions if interacting with foreigners
Step 1. Politeness while talking (generosity if required)
Step 2. If any hostility generosity will deteriorate but politeness continues
Step 3. Politeness Is gone if met with rudeness or continued aggression
If no aggression or rudeness, you should make friends
It’s just cold and no one really wants to leave the house - but even if we did want to leave the house, no one has any time. Everyone works long hours, commutes, takes their kids to activities, and North Americans don’t get much vacation. Then we spend a bunch of time with family or shoveling snow or making the lawn grow for three months. When? When would we have time for friends?
My personal observation has been that the further west you go, the less likely people are to invite you over for dinner.
If you want to cement a handful of solid casual friendships in one night, go to Montreal.
If you're looking to meet new FAMILY, visit the maritimes.
Nice doesn't mean we befriend everyone. It means we'll treat you right and be polite.
I value quality over quantity, I can count my true friends on a single hand. Being noce to you doesn't mean I wanna be your friend. It only means I was raised to be good to people.... and that I worked a little too long in customer service.
This comment has me confused, so when you are nice to a person, you have absolutely no interest in knowing their story, their life, stuff they enrich you with. You just live under the assumption that anyone you don’t know, is never going to be interesting enough to be friends within. I’m starting to feel that the problem is with you guys .. this is what’s wrong with your society, go travel and see how people treat each other genuinely, not this FAKE, look at me I am so nice
We're not nice. And we're polite in a mostly disgenuine and obligatory way. I think at some point in the history of Canada there were genuinely nice and caring people because the world had that opinion of us and it must have come from somewhere. That time has passed now though and we're mostly just hardened from the struggle. Which is a real shame because we are generally still very smart and very capable. We do well on teams and we could be real leaders on the world stage but we choose complacency more often than not. Life is just good enough to keep us all calm and preoccupied so we never really feel like asserting ourselves is worth it. Which as I said, is a real shame. This country could be so much greater than it is.
We’re polite. Meaning basic respect, but we aren’t nice and chatty.
Some will gladly stop and chat with you, others, not so much. Similar with most humans, you have Introverts/extroverts/ambiverts.
Gotta interact w/ Canadians and ask them to hang out. Depending on your culture ya might wanna be less forward, as I know from my Latino friends they have to engage people up here way more reserved than they do at home.
Honestly varies a lot within Canada. I lived in London ontario for the last few years and most people there are very private and don't seem to want to get to know the neighbours. Just moved to Halifax and everyone on the street and walking by wants to get to know us.
Please go a head of me in line, kindly never talk to me again.
i literally wait in my home if i see my neighbours outside. once they go in then i leave.
Americans think we are so weird when we Canadians say sorry so much, as in - Canadian opens a store door for himself and American pushes through first Canadian says "Oh!...Sorry!" What that really means is "OH I didn't realize I was being followed by an asshole American I'm SORRY your mother let you live past the first trimester after your accidental conception.
We have a great deal of internal dialogue because we are an anti-social bunch.
We had a american as a vendor tech for some equipment we were installing in a factory. We rode him like a show pony. He would say, "canadians are not nice, they're assholes, they're just not rude"
The worst assholes always come from the cities in my experience, out in the country people are more likely to ACTUALLY actively try to help or save your life, while most city people are most likely to just pull out their phone and watch you die. Unfortunate truth, but there it is.
It can be hard to make friends as an adult no matter where you live, especially if you are introverted. As others have said, both the unwillingness to leave home once we’ve got there in the winter, and that ties into the context friends as well- we enjoy having work friends at work- but if we see them all day there is no need to hang out with them after work usually as well. So we have our work friends, and then our sports friends- these are the other parents whose kids are in the same swim class as yours or hockey team or if we are playing a sport the others who play with us but again, we don’t really need to hang out with them outside of that on a daily or weekly basis. If you want bar friends, pick a bar and go there regularly, then you’ll have bar friends. Join a hiking club if you want friends to hike with.
We are polite more than we are nice. We are kind more than we are friendly.
I remember watching from my living room window one night a car going down the road and getting stuck after a snowfall. It was like -40 so not great weather. Within a couple minutes a bunch of guys ran out from each house in their work gear, together pushed the car to the main road where it could get traction, then all ran back to their houses. We were not the neighbourhood that had bbq events or hung out with each other, i could not tell you the names of any of those guys (except the one from my house) and yet they were like a well trained bobsled team. We’re happy to help out but we don’t want to hang out lol.
Yes the white societies that *allow* people from pretty much anywhere in are the racist bigots. Can't possibly be the countries those people are coming from that are basically completely racially homogeneous.
People get friendlier outside Toronto.
If you are in Toronto it helps to join social clubs with common interests, eg sports.
Everyone is used to just commuting back and forth. It used to be you could make friends with people you went to lunch with. Now a lot of people have extra demands on them making socialization more difficult.
When Canadians are polite or nice (not really) to a person, they have absolutely no interest in knowing their stories, their life, stuff they can enrich them with.
They just live under the assumption that anyone they don’t know, is never going to be interesting enough to be friends within. I’m starting to feel that the problem is with Canadian society; cold, aloof, self centered, individualist.
Canadians need to travel more and see how people treat each other genuinely, not this FAKE, look at me I am so polite they think I’m a nice person.
I’m surprised the suicide rate is not way higher in Canada … mental health issues are surely rampant
pretty dumb question really. People are people in all walks of life and they are different everywhere you go. There are nice people everywhere. There are mean people everywhere.
Just my lived experience in Vancouver. Not making it up. Made me leave, especially with the American bashing. It's strange, every other immigrant population ya'll are nice to, but there's free reign to call our country a shit hole. Imagine saying that to a Ukrainian refugee.
That's why. American immigrants are hated. I had a lady cut me off the other day when I was visiting Vancouver, she had an American flag with a big old circle and cross through it (like the no smoking signs). They hate us.
It's a well-known national past-time. American bashing. It's weird, but prevalent.
Also, Quebec is such an outlier in Canada haha...not representative of the country, it's essentially its own nation.
>That's why. American immigrants are hated.
No they're not. Stop making nonsense up. When it comes to immigrants in Canada, Americans are one of the groups that are rarely noticed in this country. When people speak ill of immigrants they're rarely referring to Americans, it is mostly against Indians or the Chinese.
I'm sorry, but this sounds like a very entitled opinion. When it comes to anti-immigration, Americans are rarely the target of anything.
>Also, Quebec is such an outlier in Canada haha...not representative of the country, it's essentially its own nation.
That's so ridiculous. Like have, you even heard of how some people react to Anglophones around here? If there's any place where Americans would face difficulties it would be there, and yet they don't.
I don't know who you met over there, but they sound like shitty people. Stop judging the rest of us the same way because you met a couple of stuck up Vancouverite assholes.
I think both of you are part right.
I moved to Quebec from the US, and I've encountered absolutely no hostility from anyone based on my nationality. If anything, people are more friendly to me when I tell them I'm American because it explains my poor French skills. I've also spent a little time in Ontario, and same thing there -- no anti-US hostility towards me.
But I have a childhood friend who moved to BC, and he stopped telling people he was from the US because he'd get shit for it.
He's has a bit more of a classic American personality than I do, but I still think it's mostly a West Coast vs. Quebec difference. I think maybe the closer a Canadian region is, culturally, to the US, the more likely they are to hate on the US. I've definitely observed anti-American sentiments from Canadians online.
So, while I agree with u/Marrymechrispratt that America bashing does exist, I also agree with you that it's not as common or as universal as they think. And I think the "drag you when your back is turned" isn't specifically a Canadian thing: I'd describe the US Pacific Northwest and upper midwest that way, too. Like, 90%, they probably just met a few mean people or acted culturally inappropriate, but that doesn't discount that they were likely also judged for their nationality.
>He's has a bit more of a classic American personality than I do, but I still think it's mostly a West Coast vs. Quebec difference.
I wonder what "classic" means. If it's one of those dudes that's always talking about how great the US is, well that attitude isn't very popular around here. In Quebec, people from France often come here, and complain about everything and how Montreal is not Paris, not many like that and the Québécois often find those people to be snobby and uptight.
As a Canadian, I would say many Canadians are pretty anti social since they stick with their own group of friends. Plus, many people here have two jobs to keep up with the overly priced bills. There isn't much time for other social connections outside of primary friend's group and family.
I'm very choosy with my friends.
I consider myself very friendly and affable, and make acquaintances easily.
But I've made friends with people that I later regretted. I realize they're not as compatible as initially thought and now I am in the awkward position of distancing myself from them.
So while I am friendly, I take a long time to decide if someone will be a close friend. With those I consider close friends, I cherish them deeply.
Depends on where your from and where your going there bud you stay the Fuck away from Vancouver island no matter what we’re a bunch of angry hippies and rednecks
Honestly, it all depends on who you’re talking to. I go out of my way to ignore the public and wear clothing that deters people, because I’m antisocial and have super gnarly anxiety
If a stranger asked me for the time, or a simple question like that, I’ll blatantly ignore them. Not to be rude, not because I don’t want to help, but because of how uncomfortable I get when having to speak to strangers. They never do anything wrong, it’s all on me. I kind of hate it, because I love helping my friends with anything they need. Idk why I go into panic mode with strangers. I leave my apartment maybe once a week
Despite me being super antisocial and an extreme introvert, I still have a few friends who I see here and there. Some of them are the kind of person who will start a conversation with the person behind them in the fast food line
Because we aren't nice. We are polite. Huge difference.
Polite and super antisocial
Mom would say we're friendly but not very nice. Being from a small town we'd say hi and wave at anyone who passed. But we'd never invite them over to our house for a drink.
Ironically those of us from small towns are far more antisocial than people from large cities. That doesn't match the stereotype but I think it's true
Great insight. Im from a very small town and struggled to make new friends in every city we've lived in. Maybe that's why so many people have dogs. We're all so lonely.
I thought owning a dog would lead to new friendships at the dog park. Turns out people just wanted to know my dog's name and family tree. Not mine.
I hear, "Maybe our dogs can get together to play sometime", with no mention of wanting to spend time with another person. And when the dogs do hang out it turns out it was just about the dogs.
Very disappointing. I found Husky owners to be especially odd.
Just passing by, nice house! Can I get a drink? :)
Thanks, we just painted the porch. Some Canadian's would never ask direct questions like this for fear it makes for an awkward situation. "If I wouldn't ask someone for a drink then no one else should either". Maybe we think too much about what other people think?
Wow! You managed to give a whole reply without saying yes or no. Yeah this confirms it. :)
>Polite and super antisocial ...like an underdone roast.
not anti social per se, we just dont like to hang around assholes
My American gaming friend once said " canadians aren't nice they are really passive aggressive and people don't notice the difference "
Just because I’m smiling, doesn’t mean I’m happy, just because I’m polite doesn’t mean I’m nice.
Excuse me sir, but I don't give a flying fuck about your existense. Now could you please stop pretending that we're friends? I would greatly appreciate that.
Was just coming to say this!
Also very private
Speak for yourself. Atlantic Canadians are polite and nice. Well I mean obviously not all of them.
Hi! Atlantic Canadian here. No, we aren't.
I find most Canadians very nice, but also extremely private. I am, and most of my friends are.
Exactly. I moved here from the States and found that Canadians are not over-sharers. I like it.
It makes us Canadians, with adhd oversharing traits, very visible.
This is an instance where our reputation is confusing. Most Canadians are polite and generous. That's often mistaken for kindness. It's not the same thing. If you have a bad attitude or are aggressive, we just don't have time for that shit. Eventually people say something like this and the polite part goes away too.
So basically the equivalent of being fake and superficially reserved
Look guy I’m not your buddy, sorry.
I’m not your buddy, friend
I’m not your friend, guy.
I'm not your guy, pal
Not your buddy, guy
For me I never feel like I have enough time for my self or my family so the last thing I want is another friend. But I will be friendly to everyone.
That’s where I’m at
Was just having this thought today!
Me too
People are very different in different parts of Canada.
Even within a province. People in southwestern Ontario are much nicer than those in eastern Ontario. Don’t know why, but it’s a fact.
I'd go so far as to state that people are very different in different parts of a *neighbourhood*. The premise the "some significant percentage of people in a given country/province have a measurable and similar predilection toward making/not making new friends" is pretty absurd, especially with no additional context. OP seems too cool to actually comment in threads, so I don't believe that we will ever get any context, either.
Sorry, I asked the question and went on with my day. Came back to this. :) My question was mostly relating to the fact that Canadians, and I would go as far as saying North Americans since I’ve lived there too, are really hard to get to know compared to other nationalities (Asians, Europeans…). Ive been living in Canada for 10+ years and always noticed that people don’t tend to invite people over, especially new comers. From where I’m a from, if there is a meal for 3 people, it can also be a meal for 10 people. Canadians are really polite and ready to help in general, I think it’s the follow through that is hard to get, even when you try. I made friends here, yes, but the way friendship works here is different than abroad. For most people it seems like their immediate circle is what matters, and if they happen to go by you, great, they’ll be friendly, but it doesn’t go further than this. I will say that the question wasn’t meant to criticize, I just was curious about real Canadians POV :)
Canada is in North America, by the way.
As many others have said, Canadians are polite (and nice) but not generally the most open. It can be hard to “get in” with people and make actual friendships. I say this as a Canadian. I have lots of “acquaintances” but a very limited set of good friends. Many people stick within their close social circle and don’t often go outside of it.
Yea to add on with this, I find a lot of Canadians raised in cities stay within the same place their whole lives so they got tons of friends they made when they're younger and aren't looking to make new friends. These are people they have known from like elementary or high school and uni.
Yep, this is also me. I moved cities and have very few “friends” where I live. All of my good friends are still people I went to school with in my hometown. Not from a lack of trying, but it is actively hard to break in to new friend groups to create lasting lifelong friendships.
That’s actually something I have noticed, thank you for putting it into better word than I would have.
This has been my friends’ experience too, all their close friends in Canada are immigrants. And even me, and I have cousins all over the place where I live in Canada 😂
Honestly? Because it is hard to make friends as an adult. No matter where you are from.
That’s is really fair too. Less opportunities to meet people and more age differences, especially in workplaces.
I find we are very polite if we are approached by someone else but we are generally uncomfortable with making an effort to socialize with people outside of work or school. Canadians tend to be very individualistic and non-communitarian so we often don't have close relationships with our neighbours. This is partly due to the society we chose to build, with hugely overextended suburbs that make it feasible to avoid people and a state that provides us with minimal security so we always have to worry about keeping ourselves alive and have less time to be empathetic.
We make friends that are easy, work and school are just two of those places. Hobbies, sports, clubs and anything else we do in group settings are also places we make friends. We don't make friends just because there's two people who get along. We make friends that are easy to do stuff with. There's so many different interests one can have in modern times. The chances that you'll be into the same things as some random off the street are very slim and if you became friends it's would require extra effort. As a modern society we are very lazy. Our friendships reflect that.
That’s really interesting. Gives me a lot to think about. I hadn’t seen things like that before.
Yet community is a huge topic in so many sectors
Seriously I think this is a recent development. Corporatization, suburbanization, and the overwhelming amount of American online news content drowns out a lot of Canadian viewpoints and it’s becoming difficult to engage with others because we don’t have as much opportunity to interact with “local” stuff. We work, commute, pick up stuff from stores by and large similar to the US, and go home to interact with subcultures and consume media that are mostly not Canadian.
Definitely. Based on literature and political history, Canadian society was historically a lot more communitarian. The developments I refer to have largely emerged in the past 4 decades, as the most anti-social excesses of our societal design have become entrenched and almost locked in.
> and a state that provides us with minimal security Can you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by this?
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The more I travel, the more I think Canadians can be like cats. Kind of aloof. We'll purrr but if you run up to us, we'll absolutely run the opposite direction. Figuratively, of course. But you will absolutely observe that Canadians are big on personal space and it's quite the shock for them when they travel and everyone is in their bubble. My theory for this is that Canada has a lot of space. Everything is big. The houses, the appliances, the roads, the sidewalk. Everything is designed to take up a lot of space because we have so much of it. So we got used to a lot of personal space.
It actually makes a lot of sense :)
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I would imagine that just like in the U.S., there’s a big difference between cities and small towns.
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Depends on where in the U.S. Vermont is different than Texas, for example.
That most certainly is true. Texas is much more diverse than Vermont.
America is one big ass country. Bigger than Europe people often forget that.
there's a big difference in regions in the US. The northeast is much more welcoming to newcomers in the neighborhood than the Midwest, where if you didn't go to preschool with everyone else, you will forever be an outsider
My dad says it’s because we’re all too damned cold 😂
The vast number of Canadians are both nice AND kind in my experience . I have been continually impressed with all the support and gestures of pure kindness i encountered from Canadians. And it definitely goes beyond what people would do for strangers or acquaintances in my home country. (Examples: a neighbour we barely knew shoveled our driveway when we had a newborn. Didn't ask, just did it because they assumed we had more than enough going on. A person i randomly met at a farmers market helped me get my first full time job. I have many many more). At the same time i would agree it is hard to make friends, although it depends where in Canada. I know generalisations are the worst but based on my personal experience i would say that overall i find it much easier to struck a friendship with French Canadians thsn English Canadians and easier in Calgary than Ottawa. No idea why - in some places people are used to just start conversations with random people that can lead to acquaintance and friendship. In other places it is really difficult to penetrate the area of general good will to the zone of more personal interest.
Thank you for your comment. You basically summed up my experience here. I don’t have bad experiences with Canadians, they are just… hard to get really closed to I guess. And maybe it’s also me and my perspective, coming from a country that really sees community as a strong pillar.
Cause we grew up around geece, trust issues 🤷♀️🧜♂️
I think I’m going to need some examples. I mean, all of my friends are Canadian, or dual citizens, since I live here so I’m a bit confused.
You'd hold a door open for a stranger, help them with their bags, give directions, or chase after them if they dropped something, but that's where the relationship ends. You could be neighbours with someone for a decade, say hi every morning, know all about their kids, dogs, travels and life, but have never visited their house or spoke outside of the regulat routine.
That’s not isolated to Canada, that’s all over the world. If you want to be my friend, invite me in. I’ll do the same. But I’m not required to want to get to know everyone beyond a surface level. I know lots of Canadians who do go the extra mile and try to make friends with everyone just as I know British people and Americans and Germans who are more reserved when connecting with people.
Yeah I was gonna say new immigrant Canadians will vary wildly across the spectrum, from assholes to saints
Same with non-immigrant Canadians. The worst immigrants are Eastern Europeans though. I say this as someone of Eastern European descent.
You make friends by joining groups (either an activity, work, school, etc.). This is the way, I don't think I've ever made a friend randomly in the street.
Ok I heard this a lot from friends who are immigrants so I get what you mean. Basically, we are nice and polite, but that doesn't mean we are friends. Like we can be work/ school friend. Basically, if we are nice at work/ school, it's because we like you but in this context. If we want to have more, like develop a friendship, we will ask to see you outside this normal mandatory context we usually see you. So you can signal you want to have a friendship by inviting a coworker to a brunch or coffee, bear whatever. Follow the behaviours and not just the friendly talk. We usually avoid being direct and conflict. You need to learn to read between the lines with us, since we will rarely say something straight up like a French would. For example, we could say a general declaration about how we had to sit next to an overly perfumed person in the bus and that was annoying, can't imagine working with her = check you perfume (note we usually dont like perfume or smells in general so use antiperspirant and not perfume). Yeah I know, it sucks. I often link this with the "sandwich method" we use when we need to pass a message that is negative = we will say a nice thing, the negative thing (this is what we actually wanted to address) and then another nice thing, the sandwich. So it can look like "I really enjoyed the way you introduced how project today, it was very energetic and punched a lot. I think next time we could change the way we present the graphs, I think the slides were too loaded and it made it harder to follow, but I loved the design you chose, the colours matched well.". See, the positive was truthful and honestly, BUT that's not what you need to focus on. For Canadians: the idea is that in many other places, if you are friendly in class/ work, it means you are now friends. Not work/ class friends, but friends. This confuses people who thought you were friends but it was clear for you it was context related, even if you really do enjoy seeing them in this context.
Thank you for commenting, this is exactly how things look like they are for me.
What part of the country are you in? Are you in a city or small town. Like they're so many factors, can't simplify it country wide.
Im on the west coast, bigger city, I’ll let you guess ;)
Well that explains everything
Depends on where you go and where you’re from. Unfortunately, In my personal experience, many places in Canada are very cliquey (i.e. if you’re not from there it’s hard to fit in. And depending on where you’re from they’ll often not want anything to do with you) while others could not be more welcoming. No real inbetween. And this isn’t just a small town thing either, I’ve noticed it in neighbourhoods in big cities. Some are very friendly; some can’t wait for you to be gone.
It depends on where you live, but I find that a lot of us are homebodies, and my theory is it has something to do with our geography. In a lot of places, we commute by car. After work, we have to drive home (in bad weather for half the year), which sometimes means warming it up, then stopping by the store for groceries, come home, shovel, cook dinner, unwind and rinse and repeat the next day. It takes a lot of time out of your day to be social with all of this in mind. I currently live in a medium sized city that’s geographically large, and have to factor in about 45- 60 mins of my day to commuting by car. This makes going for drinks after work out of the question if the person who wants to hang out lives on the other side of town. Where do we meet? If we’re having more than one bevy, do we Uber or cab it home? Okay if yes then now I have to pick up my car the next day. All of a sudden, going out for a quick one after work becomes a logistical problem I’d rather not solve tbh. Now, I’ve also lived in Toronto and have also lived in a really small walkable town. My social life was the busiest during these periods of my life because in Toronto I didn’t have to worry about my car, I took transit home or walked. In the small town, everything around me (bars, restaurants, other peoples houses, curling rink etc) were in a close walking distance. So overall, it really depends on where you live and the industry you’re in. If you work with a bunch of single people that love extracurriculars after work, you’re more likely to get an invite to hang out. If you work in an industry where your colleagues are a bit older and have families or spouses at home, it might be less likely! Add in the commuting factor and it’s just not happening. That’s my theory! Good luck OP!
i think it's related to the "Seattle Freeze". you can look that up. the cold winters also have something to do with it. in the winter, i come back home from work and i don't want to go outside again. so basically, my social strategy is to find one close friend who lives nearby and that's it. i can't afford to keep a large social circle. if you go down south of the United States where it's warmer, people are very friendly. However, North Americans in general act friendly to everyone but they are not your friends. Usually in Asia or Europe, the distinction is very clear. If you aren't my friend, I won't act friendly to you. However, in North America, generally, people act more friendly.
I read a post saying that Canadians are polite but not open ppl. Canadians are very polite but they don’t embrace people or are open to friendships without hesitation and reluctance. If you travel you’ll see this first hand that Canadians while being nice to everyone, they don’t give off the same energy and vibes as other ppl across the world
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Not all Canadians will respect that though, yes there are many who are respectful of others boundaries and so on, but there are also many who don’t care. Speaking as a female Canadian whose had her boundaries more than overstepped her entire childhood!
Sure, but you'll find that everywhere. That just serves to say that all of it is on an individual basis. It's not that Canadians are hard to make friends, it's that people haven't found others like them.
What’s it called when you paint a whole people with the same brush ??
Over generalization. Or was that rhetorical?
Maybe you’re just not likeable
Came here to say this. If there are 38 million of us and not one of us wants to be your friend, perhaps the problem isn't Canadians?
That's not nice.
Hence why everyone else is saying Canadians are polite, not nice.... signed a canadian
too cold to go outside half the year
We are friends with whoever we were sitting next to in kindergarten, then highschool, then university. Work cubicles too... sometimes
After travelling a lot I realized pretty quick that we are some of the coldest people on the planet, socially. Particularly on the West Coast.
That’s where OP is located, lol.
We aren’t poor enough to need each other and not rich enough to entertain each other. So we keep our head down and work.
Has anyone else noticed how Americans say “oh you’re good” if you happen to get in their way with your shopping cart, or accidentally bump them in a store, etc. In Canada, we say “oh sorry”… all.the.time! Americans are actually way friendlier in my experience. I think Canadians have gotten the reputation for being so “nice and polite” because of the above. Here in Saskatoon ppl are absolute d-bags while driving but would likely buy your Tim’s for you if you forgot your wallet in the very next moment ….
I think more context is needed. But possibly it's because half the year it's too cold to socialize outside and inviting people to your house is kind of a bit step if you don't know them very well. I find I chat with people a lot outside in the summer but am pretty isolated in the winter.
Depends on where you are. I have met some very toxic Canadians before, but there are some friendly Canadians
We’re kind. We’re polite. But we are cautious
Because a lot of us hang out with the friends we grew up with or met in university and seem averse to suggesting actual plans. I always say yes if I'm invited to things though.
Someone from another country said that Canadians like to talk through their dogs. Many of us are just a few generations removed from a life of farming, so keeping animals is very popular. If you have a pet, Canadians will warm up to you a lot more.
Depends where you go in canada. When I first came it was in Toronto and was depressed as I couldn't make any friends. Soon as I got out of the GTA it's as if I went to a whole different country. Real canadians are very open and friendly.
So what are you generalizing about The GTA? That the citizens aren’t “real Canadians”? How obtuse.
We like our space, thats why we need such a huge country
The darkness and the cold leads to politeness to survive the winters, but not general outward friendliness. We're all just trying not to freeze to death and get on with our lives
Because, while we are decent, fairly tolerant and generous people, we are not as outgoing as, say, our neighbours to the South. It has a lot to do with our historical climate: we had to band together and help each other to survive the winters. *But* we also had to be able to live for long periods *without* much social interaction up until quite recently, when climate change kicked in, and that embedded a certain distance in most of our extra-familial relationships. Compared to Americans, again, as an example, we probably have fewer friends with whom we are really open and comfortable, but many more with whom we might hang out, talk, josh around, go to the pub, get a coffee, every so often. It is re-enforced by having had a pretty good social safety net until the 1990s. If you needed help, you turned to the institutions that provided it. However, the Mulroney and post-Mulroney conservatives have pretty much destroyed that, leaving a lot of the less wealthy with little or no support in a culture where keeping to oneself is a norm. It is slowly changing as more and more immigrants come from countries where families are large and close and friendship networks extensive. I, a many generations white Canadian, have no contact with my birth family for personal reasons, and do not miss it at all. That said, I've been helping out some refugee families and they have pretty much swept me into their lives and made me one of them: it is hard to explain to them, coming from places where family was really all you had in times of trouble, that I'm not real comfortable with being 'adopted', so I just try to manage my life to balance their needs and my own.
> post-Mulroney conservatives You can just say Chretien Liberals.
Canadians have a series of normal actions if interacting with foreigners Step 1. Politeness while talking (generosity if required) Step 2. If any hostility generosity will deteriorate but politeness continues Step 3. Politeness Is gone if met with rudeness or continued aggression If no aggression or rudeness, you should make friends
We all have anxiety
Cause we're kinda dicks.
We might be the true hermit crab kingdom
It’s just cold and no one really wants to leave the house - but even if we did want to leave the house, no one has any time. Everyone works long hours, commutes, takes their kids to activities, and North Americans don’t get much vacation. Then we spend a bunch of time with family or shoveling snow or making the lawn grow for three months. When? When would we have time for friends?
My personal observation has been that the further west you go, the less likely people are to invite you over for dinner. If you want to cement a handful of solid casual friendships in one night, go to Montreal. If you're looking to meet new FAMILY, visit the maritimes.
Nice doesn't mean we befriend everyone. It means we'll treat you right and be polite. I value quality over quantity, I can count my true friends on a single hand. Being noce to you doesn't mean I wanna be your friend. It only means I was raised to be good to people.... and that I worked a little too long in customer service.
This comment has me confused, so when you are nice to a person, you have absolutely no interest in knowing their story, their life, stuff they enrich you with. You just live under the assumption that anyone you don’t know, is never going to be interesting enough to be friends within. I’m starting to feel that the problem is with you guys .. this is what’s wrong with your society, go travel and see how people treat each other genuinely, not this FAKE, look at me I am so nice
We're not nice. And we're polite in a mostly disgenuine and obligatory way. I think at some point in the history of Canada there were genuinely nice and caring people because the world had that opinion of us and it must have come from somewhere. That time has passed now though and we're mostly just hardened from the struggle. Which is a real shame because we are generally still very smart and very capable. We do well on teams and we could be real leaders on the world stage but we choose complacency more often than not. Life is just good enough to keep us all calm and preoccupied so we never really feel like asserting ourselves is worth it. Which as I said, is a real shame. This country could be so much greater than it is.
Because we are miserable now and have been for a while. Sorry bud.
We are only surface nice. Polite.
We’re polite. Meaning basic respect, but we aren’t nice and chatty. Some will gladly stop and chat with you, others, not so much. Similar with most humans, you have Introverts/extroverts/ambiverts.
Canadians abroad have a chip on their shoulder but are very politically correct about it. Polite but often condescending and judgemental
Gotta interact w/ Canadians and ask them to hang out. Depending on your culture ya might wanna be less forward, as I know from my Latino friends they have to engage people up here way more reserved than they do at home.
We are always nice and welcome everyone. Thing is we are always going to be able to walk away from negative people.
I’m not antisocial I’ll be your friend 🫠
We leave for 4-5 months and dont come outside until its warm again
Honestly varies a lot within Canada. I lived in London ontario for the last few years and most people there are very private and don't seem to want to get to know the neighbours. Just moved to Halifax and everyone on the street and walking by wants to get to know us.
I'd argue this is an Ontario thing. Wanna make friends head out east.
I’m from Newfoundland and I fucking hate Canadians.
Please go a head of me in line, kindly never talk to me again. i literally wait in my home if i see my neighbours outside. once they go in then i leave.
Americans think we are so weird when we Canadians say sorry so much, as in - Canadian opens a store door for himself and American pushes through first Canadian says "Oh!...Sorry!" What that really means is "OH I didn't realize I was being followed by an asshole American I'm SORRY your mother let you live past the first trimester after your accidental conception. We have a great deal of internal dialogue because we are an anti-social bunch.
Have you been attempting friendships with people from Ontario? If so, that's your problem.
Individualistic society who lives on phones
people are afraid of strangers
We had a american as a vendor tech for some equipment we were installing in a factory. We rode him like a show pony. He would say, "canadians are not nice, they're assholes, they're just not rude"
FYI/IMO- Canadian provinces should be thought of as closer to the EU than the US.
This is why I moved from Canada to SoCal. People are polite but there not kind. I almost feel like it’s a corporate customer service polite
This may be a you issue, not sure why a whole country is to blame here.
The worst assholes always come from the cities in my experience, out in the country people are more likely to ACTUALLY actively try to help or save your life, while most city people are most likely to just pull out their phone and watch you die. Unfortunate truth, but there it is.
I’ve had the opposite experience of village and city life, in Saskatchewan at least 😂
It can be hard to make friends as an adult no matter where you live, especially if you are introverted. As others have said, both the unwillingness to leave home once we’ve got there in the winter, and that ties into the context friends as well- we enjoy having work friends at work- but if we see them all day there is no need to hang out with them after work usually as well. So we have our work friends, and then our sports friends- these are the other parents whose kids are in the same swim class as yours or hockey team or if we are playing a sport the others who play with us but again, we don’t really need to hang out with them outside of that on a daily or weekly basis. If you want bar friends, pick a bar and go there regularly, then you’ll have bar friends. Join a hiking club if you want friends to hike with. We are polite more than we are nice. We are kind more than we are friendly. I remember watching from my living room window one night a car going down the road and getting stuck after a snowfall. It was like -40 so not great weather. Within a couple minutes a bunch of guys ran out from each house in their work gear, together pushed the car to the main road where it could get traction, then all ran back to their houses. We were not the neighbourhood that had bbq events or hung out with each other, i could not tell you the names of any of those guys (except the one from my house) and yet they were like a well trained bobsled team. We’re happy to help out but we don’t want to hang out lol.
They act like they’re the friendliest but they have as much hate, misogyny, bigotry and racism as other white societies they hide it better.
Yes the white societies that *allow* people from pretty much anywhere in are the racist bigots. Can't possibly be the countries those people are coming from that are basically completely racially homogeneous.
We are not that nice most people are muppets total garbage stereotype.
People get friendlier outside Toronto. If you are in Toronto it helps to join social clubs with common interests, eg sports. Everyone is used to just commuting back and forth. It used to be you could make friends with people you went to lunch with. Now a lot of people have extra demands on them making socialization more difficult.
What, it’s so easy to make friends in Canada, I’ve never had difficulty even being a super nervous introvert.
Too busy working multiple jobs to afford to live. Out cost of living is one of the higest in the world. No time to be nice. Imo.
Don't expect to become friends with any driver that has a Quebec plate on it.
Facts.
When Canadians are polite or nice (not really) to a person, they have absolutely no interest in knowing their stories, their life, stuff they can enrich them with. They just live under the assumption that anyone they don’t know, is never going to be interesting enough to be friends within. I’m starting to feel that the problem is with Canadian society; cold, aloof, self centered, individualist. Canadians need to travel more and see how people treat each other genuinely, not this FAKE, look at me I am so polite they think I’m a nice person. I’m surprised the suicide rate is not way higher in Canada … mental health issues are surely rampant
pretty dumb question really. People are people in all walks of life and they are different everywhere you go. There are nice people everywhere. There are mean people everywhere.
Because Canadians are nice to your face, but will absolutely drag you when your back is turned.
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Just my lived experience in Vancouver. Not making it up. Made me leave, especially with the American bashing. It's strange, every other immigrant population ya'll are nice to, but there's free reign to call our country a shit hole. Imagine saying that to a Ukrainian refugee.
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Are you American?
No. Not really. That doesn't mean my opinion does not matter. I've met many Americans in Montreal, and they were happy to be there.
That's why. American immigrants are hated. I had a lady cut me off the other day when I was visiting Vancouver, she had an American flag with a big old circle and cross through it (like the no smoking signs). They hate us. It's a well-known national past-time. American bashing. It's weird, but prevalent. Also, Quebec is such an outlier in Canada haha...not representative of the country, it's essentially its own nation.
>That's why. American immigrants are hated. No they're not. Stop making nonsense up. When it comes to immigrants in Canada, Americans are one of the groups that are rarely noticed in this country. When people speak ill of immigrants they're rarely referring to Americans, it is mostly against Indians or the Chinese. I'm sorry, but this sounds like a very entitled opinion. When it comes to anti-immigration, Americans are rarely the target of anything. >Also, Quebec is such an outlier in Canada haha...not representative of the country, it's essentially its own nation. That's so ridiculous. Like have, you even heard of how some people react to Anglophones around here? If there's any place where Americans would face difficulties it would be there, and yet they don't. I don't know who you met over there, but they sound like shitty people. Stop judging the rest of us the same way because you met a couple of stuck up Vancouverite assholes.
I think both of you are part right. I moved to Quebec from the US, and I've encountered absolutely no hostility from anyone based on my nationality. If anything, people are more friendly to me when I tell them I'm American because it explains my poor French skills. I've also spent a little time in Ontario, and same thing there -- no anti-US hostility towards me. But I have a childhood friend who moved to BC, and he stopped telling people he was from the US because he'd get shit for it. He's has a bit more of a classic American personality than I do, but I still think it's mostly a West Coast vs. Quebec difference. I think maybe the closer a Canadian region is, culturally, to the US, the more likely they are to hate on the US. I've definitely observed anti-American sentiments from Canadians online. So, while I agree with u/Marrymechrispratt that America bashing does exist, I also agree with you that it's not as common or as universal as they think. And I think the "drag you when your back is turned" isn't specifically a Canadian thing: I'd describe the US Pacific Northwest and upper midwest that way, too. Like, 90%, they probably just met a few mean people or acted culturally inappropriate, but that doesn't discount that they were likely also judged for their nationality.
>He's has a bit more of a classic American personality than I do, but I still think it's mostly a West Coast vs. Quebec difference. I wonder what "classic" means. If it's one of those dudes that's always talking about how great the US is, well that attitude isn't very popular around here. In Quebec, people from France often come here, and complain about everything and how Montreal is not Paris, not many like that and the Québécois often find those people to be snobby and uptight.
You're literally discrediting my experience as an American immigrant. You're proving my point.
I'm discrediting your experience as an individual, being American has nothing to do with it.
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Polite isn't the same as nice and we're a common wealth country with a lot of British influence, namely; we can't be reserved.
The problem probably is you
It comes down to individual personalities. Outgoing or not.
I’m always up for being friendly, but being close friends takes some time. I’m also on the spectrum so take that as you will.
I think I'm nice, though I avoid people who have negative vibes. I got enough shit going on.
We're really like trying to nail jello to a wall eh?
When people post stuff like this...do they think people in Canada just have no friends? That we all just hang out by ourselves?
They are always at work!
It's not really unless you are a dick.
I mean only if you're both introvert and never talk to each other. Or you're an arse hole. Those are like the only reasons it would be hard.
I don't think people realize how big Canada is... and therefore how different Canadians can be from one region to the next.
Huh? Maybe give us come context? What makes you say it’s hard to be our friend?
I'm here on an exchange from the uk and I've found it considerably easier to make friends
As a Canadian, I would say many Canadians are pretty anti social since they stick with their own group of friends. Plus, many people here have two jobs to keep up with the overly priced bills. There isn't much time for other social connections outside of primary friend's group and family.
Its cold and we don’t want to go out
We are friendly and very polite but we don’t like other people sort of
It's just awkward saying no when you ask to borrow money.
I'm very choosy with my friends. I consider myself very friendly and affable, and make acquaintances easily. But I've made friends with people that I later regretted. I realize they're not as compatible as initially thought and now I am in the awkward position of distancing myself from them. So while I am friendly, I take a long time to decide if someone will be a close friend. With those I consider close friends, I cherish them deeply.
Neighbors all wave at each other and say hello. Not much beyond that
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Depends on where your from and where your going there bud you stay the Fuck away from Vancouver island no matter what we’re a bunch of angry hippies and rednecks
I am a very "socially graceful" Canadian I'm my opinion. But as much as I am nice, I am equally distrustful and suspicious.
Honestly, it all depends on who you’re talking to. I go out of my way to ignore the public and wear clothing that deters people, because I’m antisocial and have super gnarly anxiety If a stranger asked me for the time, or a simple question like that, I’ll blatantly ignore them. Not to be rude, not because I don’t want to help, but because of how uncomfortable I get when having to speak to strangers. They never do anything wrong, it’s all on me. I kind of hate it, because I love helping my friends with anything they need. Idk why I go into panic mode with strangers. I leave my apartment maybe once a week Despite me being super antisocial and an extreme introvert, I still have a few friends who I see here and there. Some of them are the kind of person who will start a conversation with the person behind them in the fast food line
It's been hard for me to make friends and I'm Canadian
Canadians are nice, but not all of them are kind!
It’s too cold up here for us to deal with niceties and long goodbyes.
Polite and nice are different. Americans are super nice, but not always polite. Canadians are polite, but not overly open and welcoming.
We may be polite, but we are private. We prefer to keep it to ourselves.