7 Things My British Partner Loves About Canada

One thing my British partner loves about visiting Canada is parking. It isn’t the most glamorous item on a holiday list, but being able to find a space at a shop is something he notices. I understand the appeal. I’ve had plenty of errands in England where finding somewhere to leave the car was the difficult part.

In my July 2022 video, I shared the things he liked about Canada, along with my own comparisons after six years in the UK. When we visited, we went to southern Ontario, where I’m from. The space, summer weather and everyday interactions there stood out to us. These were our impressions from visits, including some trade-offs.

Room to spread out

The amount of space was something my partner really enjoyed, and I noticed it too when I went back. Homes and towns felt more spread out, with a lot of breathing room. To me, that could feel peaceful. Having lived in the UK for years, it was a difference that stood out on the Canada visits.

There was a downside to the same thing. Getting from one place to another could take forever when everything was spread out. I liked the open space as its own quality, but I didn’t pretend the distance came without inconvenience. Both sides belonged in the comparison.

Summer, with somewhere cool to go

My partner liked the access to air conditioning when we were in Canada. In the part of Ontario where we visited, I was used to finding it in homes and businesses. It felt ordinary there, rather than a special extra. When the weather was hot, being able to cool down indoors was something we appreciated.

I was describing this while sweating through a heatwave in England, with my glasses slipping down my nose. The argument that air conditioning wasn’t needed here wasn’t particularly convincing to me in that moment. My partner’s fondness for it in Canada made perfect sense.

He also liked the hot Canadian summers. The southern Ontario I knew had lovely sunny weather as well as cold and snow at other times of year. I wanted to push back against the idea that a visit to Canada could only mean being cold. The summer was part of what he enjoyed, and also part of why having air conditioning was useful.

The appeal of an ordinary parking space

Parking was another practical comfort. He noticed the room around shops and businesses when we visited. In my experience of driving and shopping in England, I sometimes couldn’t find a space, had to park somewhere else or avoided busy times because I didn’t want the traffic and parking battle. The contrast was one he liked on our Canada trips.

Distance also shaped my own memories of going out in Canada. As a teenager, I had to think about how I’d get home from a bar: a designated driver, the price of a taxi and whether a taxi would take me somewhere rural. In England, I found I had more options such as walking, a taxi or the train. I still had to avoid missing the last train, of course.

People started conversations

My partner noticed that people would start talking to us when we were out, in a queue or at a shop. I was proud of that friendliness. I found it comforting, and he liked how approachable people seemed. I wasn’t saying every Canadian was friendly or that British people weren’t. It was a pattern we noticed in those interactions.

Customer service was another point where I agreed with him. I liked how accommodating and friendly people could be, making you feel that you mattered as a customer. I had also had interactions at English shops, pubs and restaurants where the person serving me made it fairly clear they weren’t happy. That difference was something I’d noticed, rather than a verdict on everybody working in either country.

I’d worked at Walmart for a couple of summer months between my first and second years of college. Being friendly and accommodating to customers was an important part of what I learned there. That experience was part of why the customer-service comparison resonated with me.

There were things we loved about those Canada visits, and there were drawbacks too. The space could be lovely and the distances inconvenient. My partner’s favourites included the very ordinary comforts of cool rooms, parking and friendly conversations, which were all things I was happy to talk about alongside Canada’s less convenient parts.

Watch my full video about what my British partner loves in Canada on YouTube.