Young Writers Society

I need to know everything you know about Canada. Please. Especially if you live/lived there or could tell me about life in Canada.

I'm working on a horror story set in Canada. Ontario, to be specific. Except I don't know much about life in current-day Canada. I'm also fuzzy on the geography of the area. So I'd very much appreciate any bit of knowledge that helps. Canadian folk legends wouldn't be so bad, either.

Well lets see if I can help you. I live in Vancouver, Canada which is very close to the border of US. But is quite far away from Ontario.

Canadians aren't too different from the Americans.
Here are a few things I think will help you:
Canadians are obsessed with ice hockey like American are with baseball. You people are right?

Canada is an extremely beautiful country. Like nature-wise.

We have the Queen of England on our coins.

Canada is well known for caribou, beavers and snow geese.

Most of Canada tends to have very cold weather.

Ontario is the capital of Canada.

Our national anthem is 'Oh Canada'

I guess this is stuff that you can easily find on wikipedia and stuff. I think you mean to ask more personal questions.

We spell color, coloUr
and favorite, favoUrite

Lol. I dunno I think if you asked more direct questions it will help both me and you more.

Oh es as an after thought. Canadian....and I'm generally speaking...
are known for their manners and cleanliness. And I've also heard that we tend to stick 'Eh' after each sentence.

I hope this helps, eh.

Lol. This is just stuff I've heard about us, if you get what I mean, eh.

Do NOT over use the word "eh". Besides, most Americans I've met can't seem to use it properly. Now, as for setting it in Ontario, Ontario has a population of 10 million, so you need to pick a certain town/city. I'd suggest Ottawa or Toronto, unless you need it to be a small town. Anyway, should you decide to set it in Toronto or Cornwall, pm me. I've lived in both cities and can tell you everything you need to know.

I guess this is stuff that you can easily find on wikipedia and stuff. I think you mean to ask more personal questions.

I certainly do.
About half my cast are in high school, so I need to know about the lives of teenagers in Canada. What's emphasized, what isn't? What's popular? What's cult? What do you do for fun? And how much French do you need to know to live in Canada? o.O? Personal things like that. Wikipedia can give me statistics and history, but it can't tell me how Canadians live and what your hardships are. Well, maybe it can, but I haven't read that far...

Do NOT over use the word "eh".

Right now I'm only considering using "eh" every now and then with long intervals between each because I don't know how Canadians use it. Do you use it?

Now, as for setting it in Ontario, Ontario has a population of 10 million, so you need to pick a certain town/city.

I was going to set it in the Manicouagan Reservoir, but that's in Quebec and I only know about three words of French and one sentence saying I'm a pineapple. Plus it seems a bit too far North and probably way too cold. So now I'm thinking of taking the basic idea of a town surrounded by a circular body of water in the middle of a continent and moving it south and closer to civilization, possibly taking the place of a preexisting town. However, my characters will most likely go to a city like Toronto.

*raises hand*

I live in Ontario! ^_^

But I have not the strength to write down every little thing. I've only ever been to NY, so I can't compare to many other places (besides Italy, I went there too!).

But yeah, it's pretty basic. There are only a few things I think that come to mind.

1) Bigger country, less people. Between Provinces (states) there are huge expanses of greenery. Nice to look at, LONG ride.

2) Multiculturalism. Ontario (Toronto being the capital of multi...) is pretty proud of it's mixed cultures, and Canada is as a whole.

3) Clean. I'd say we're very clean. There was lots of garbage in New York. =P I blame the fact there were no garbage cans anywhere. XD

Um... there's a lot more, but it all kind of doesn't stand out. If you have any questions about something specific about Canada (less)/ Ontario (more)/ Toronto (even more, I used to live there ^_^) PM me! I'd be glad to help.

Oh! Schools. We have lots of schools for all different languages and cultures. I have to say it, since my school board is forever telling us how much of a struggle it was to get french schools. French is the second official language of Canada, btw.

Yeah, French is the official language, but the majority of Torontonians that I've known only take it between grade four and grade nine (the mandetory years in the Toronto school board) Just to give you an idea of how diverse we are, half of the people who live in the city were not born here, and there are over one hundred languages.

I'll just talk about the whole French thing... I'm not quite sure if it's the same in Ontario, though.

In Saskatchewan, we have the choice to either go into all-english classes (meaning everything is taught in english) or to take all-french classes (meaning everything is taught in french, except for english). The kids in english have to take french classes untill high school when they can choose to learn a different language.

I was an all-french student for eight years (just transfered to english this year, phew, it is sooo much easier), so if you have any other questions about that just ask.

Ummm. That's all I have for you, sorry.

I had to learn french up to 8th grade then I can drop it. I dropped it and took spanish.
Basically, for me, I learned french but I never spoke it outside of french class.

Umm... like the people above have pointed out, Canada is a country with lots of diversity.

And I was actually joking about the 'eh' thing. Like we've been 'known' to say it but I think actually very few people say it. I don't know anyone who does.

Oh yes but I do say
"I know, eh"
When I'm agreeing with a friend.
For instance

My friend: Mrs. Robertson is getting fat
Me: I know, eh

Yupp that's pretty much.

And in Toronto, we're contantly complaining about the cost of transit, as well as just about everything the mayor has done. The rest of the province is always complaining about the provincial government.

Thanks guys. This is awesome info and very helpful. I can't think of any more specific questions at the moment, but I may PM some of you in the future.

<3

Everything you've said is the same for Ontario except for how the grades are divided up. There are some elementary schools that run until grade eight, but most of them go until grade six (a few go until grade five.) In Ontario, every board is different, really. In Toronto and the surrounding areas, if the elementary schoold don't go until grade eight, there are middle schools that have seven and eight (I have heard of one that has grade nine) and then there is high school for nine to twelve.

In Cornwall, it's an odd set up. They have their elementary schools that end at six, then they have intermediate schools that are grade eight to ten, and the one high school that has only eleven and twleve.

Well, I live in Ontario, Canada.
I know pretty much our life is just like people's in Michigan in the Southern part where I live..

I know this is old but I reeeeally want to chime in. I'm not gonna answer many of these due to age, though.

What's popular? What's cult? What do you do for fun?

Same thing people everywhere else do. Not much. (Kidding.) The same things tend to be popular, with some extras thrown in like Canadian Idol, Degrassi, Instant Star, renegadepress.com. It tends to differ from person to person, though, like anywhere else in the world.

And how much French do you need to know to live in Canada?
I took French from kindergarten to grade six while I was living in Ontario. It was manadatory. When I moved to Saskatchewan, there wasn't even the option. No one took it, no one wanted to. Not mandatory.

So, anyways, I can count to thirty or so in French, name the colours, tell you the date, and tell you to close your big mouth. That's about it. You don't really "need" to know any unless you live in Quebec or that side of the label is missing and you don't know what's in the can. (Joke.)

And I was actually joking about the 'eh' thing. Like we've been 'known' to say it but I think actually very few people say it. I don't know anyone who does.

Oh yes but I do say
"I know, eh"
When I'm agreeing with a friend.
For instance

My friend: Mrs. Robertson is getting fat
Me: I know, eh

Where I live, we say "hey" instead of eh. I don't know anyone who says eh.

On cold... I complain about the cold and call pretty much everyone else on earth wimps. Our winters tend to hover below the -20, -30, -40*C mark. So, yeah, it's cold.

When I was in Ontario, my elementary school went from junior kindergarten (kind of like preschool, I think only Ontario has it) to grade 8 and then the high school went from grade 9 to grade 12. Here in Sask, elementary goes from kindergarten to grade six, high school grade 7 to 12. Agreed on the sophomore etc. thing. It's always the grade number.

I don't know about every place, and I did move when I was only in 6th grade, but none of my schools had prom, homecoming or football teams or cheerleaders. Just dances and then grad.

But yeah, I'm replying on an old post 'cause I'm bored that no one's probably going to read. Go me.