There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that Canadians enjoy living here, but apparently someone thought we needed some hard proof, so they conducted a poll about national pride. The survey, conducted by ebates.ca, asked respondents how they feel about Canada and what they love about living here. Many of the answers aren’t too surprising—they reflect our love of the outdoors, nature, and, yes, maple syrup.
Here’s the breakdown:
We think we’re the best (well, some of us do)
The poll found that 59% of respondents strongly agreed that Canada is the best country in the world to live in, while another 35% somewhat agreed—making a total of 94% who at least partially agree that there’s nowhere they’d rather live.
We love parks
National parks were very close to the top of the list of things Canadians love about this country. Other high-ranking items included our healthcare system, our politeness, our diversity, and our Canadian foods (aka poutine and maple syrup). Surprisingly, hockey was only slightly more beloved than Canadian weather, proving that as much as we may complain about long winters, we secretly love them.
We love winter, but we love summer more
Maybe we secretly love the winter, but 57% of respondents still said summer is their favourite season. However, Canadians don’t wish for endless summer. 88% of those polled said they enjoy the fact that Canada has distinct seasons. (They also said that they have to spend more money on clothes because of those seasons, but hey, those are the breaks).
We love and hate the stereotypes
While 18% of those polled said they enjoyed the stereotype about Canadians saying “eh,” 28% percent said they hated it. And while some respondents liked stereotypes about maple syrup and Tim Hortons, many found stereotypes about Canadian tuxedos and igloos to be annoying.
We like to celebrate
Two thirds of respondents said they planned on doing something special to celebrate Canada 150, including seeing fireworks (63%), attending a Canada Day party (48%), or visiting a national park (33%). If those numbers hold up, you can expect this July 1 to be a real rager—but hopefully a polite one.
