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‘Canadians are so nice’ and ‘Justin Trudeau is fine AF’ were two of the most frequent comments about Canada I would hear when I told people I was Canadian during my time as an ex-pat in Korea, the UK, Germany, and Malta. That and a lot of people got some family or relative scattered across Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal.
Nevertheless, it’s always warming to hear how universally well-liked Canadians are. As someone born and raised in the land of long winters, Tim Hortons, and hockey fanatics, I know it to be true.
Canadians are one of the friendliest, polite, and apologetic people you will ever meet on this planet. Seriously, I mean I could get hit by a car just standing on a sidewalk and I’ll probably be apologizing to the driver profusely for something I didn’t do. But it’s in my nature to apologize for absolutely nothing because it’s just ingrained in me. Sorry.
After deciding the expat lifestyle wasn’t for me anymore after nearly six years abroad, I traded living in Europe for my sleepy hometown in Ontario. I was eager to reconnect with friends and family and finally “settle” down in the non-traditional sense of just staying in one place for the foreseeable future.
You could say I was spoilt living in Asia and Europe in the quality pool of men. I met men from all walks of life doing things that I loved — exploring dive bars, baking in the sun at the beach, smoky clubs in a tourist trap part of town, impromptu concerts on street corners. I never really had to think about how hard it is to meet men.
Until I came back to Canada.
Well, as one can say, reverse culture shock can be a bitch. But dating in Canada pre-apps and after apps is one dark, dark, dark abyss.
Canada has a total population of 38 million since 2020 despite being the second-largest country in the world after Russia (which happens to have a total of 144 million people). Roughly 90% of the population…
