Compare And Contrast Canadian Culture Vs American Culture

From outward appearances North Americans seem very similar, but Canadians have a distinct culture of which they are extremely proud and that is celebrated around the world. These subtle social, economic, religious and political differences can be hard to detect unless one is immersed in the culture. Canada’s unique culture is due in part to the various ethnicities who have been integrated over time. From her inception, Canada had two founding cultures (French and British) and today we are proud to consider ourselves a diverse and multi-cultural country. We are a nation of immigrants who celebrate everybody’s cultural background. Canadians are extremely conscious of our culture considering our close proximity to the United States. We are unduly aware that we are not American and constantly compare ourselves to
America.
Canadians forever talk about our similarities and differences socially, economically, politically and religiously. One of the things that Canada is most proud of is that we consider ourselves to be a cultural mosaic which means that we allow various cultures to coincide and flourish in our communities. We value harmony, equality, freedom, and respect. Our population is not big enough to sustain our economy, so we are much more open to economic immigration. Economically, we have much higher taxes providing us with a more socialized system. This allows free health care and decent education systems for all Canadian citizens. Due to this system, we do not have the same amount of money to spend on “stuff”, which makes us a less materialistic population. We have less disposable income and less disparity between the rich and poor. In regards to religion, we do not have a dominant religion and accept all religions across the globe. Americas, on the other hand, identify themselves as mainly Christian. According to a Pew Research Religion and Public Life survey taken in 2007, 78.4% of Americans identified themselves as Christian,
where as Canadians have an ever-changing religious composition. Politically, we have a parliamentary system of government which is more unified and group-oriented; we elect a party, not a person. Like the USA, our government is a democracy which means the people choose their own government and majority rules but in a parliamentary system, a minority government must find consensus with the other parties or the government will fall. Canada’s values are built on acceptance, tolerance, and harmony. We are patriotic, but in the way that we accept people world-wide and celebrate the combination of Canadian and other cultures intertwining. I am proud to be a Canadian citizen and feel privileged to have grown up in a city as diverse, inclusive, and nondiscriminatory as Toronto. Being exposed to people with various religious beliefs, racial backgrounds, and birthplaces shaped me into an accepting and globally aware citizen. One of my favourite things about Toronto is the fact that we celebrate cultural, social and ethnic acceptance year-round. For example, this summer I went to multiple festivals that celebrated Toronto’s diversity. We hosted World Pride 2014, which celebrated the LGBTQ community, Fusion of Taste festival which honoured diverse cultural food, Franco-fete which celebrated Toronto’s French speaking community, Chinatown festival which showcased Chinese culture, Taste of the Danforth which celebrated Toronto’s Greek community, and Scotiabank Buskerfest which lauded artistic performances from around the world. Toronto is frequently commended for being one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are over 140 languages spoken, half of our population was born outside of Canada, and almost fifty percent of the population define themselves as a visible minority. Toronto is a true cultural mosaic and due to this fact Torontonians are open-minded, accepting, tolerant, and polite. I am grateful to have been raised in a city that is proud to integrate and pay tribute to various cultural backgrounds.