25 Funny, Weird, And Stupid Things Americans Have Said To Canadians (2024)

As a Canadian, can I just say it? At times, it feels like we're sort of a laughing stock to Americans. I'm not sure exactly where they've gotten their info about Canada, but we're deeeefinitely not taken seriously enough in their eyes.

And because of this, when we introduce ourselves to Americans, a lot of the time we get some VERY interesting replies. Sometimes they even cross the line into offensive territory.

As it turns out, I'm not the only Canadian who feels this way. Tons of Canadians on Reddit have been sharing their funny interactions with Americans. So because I'm here to educate, here are some of the funniest stories:

1. "Some Americans tried to get me to register to vote. And I said, 'I can't vote, I'm Canadian." And they said, 'Well, Canadians can vote.' And I said, 'Not in the United States.' And they were, like, agog."

–u/bolonomadic

2. "While working in Massachusetts, a coworker told me his wife was from Canada. I asked which province and he didn’t know. She was just 'from Canada.'"

–u/Fun_Mycologist_6639

And speaking of provinces: "'What's a province?' –Every American."

–u/positivepeoplehater

3. "I once had a conversation with a woman on the tech support line who could not believe that Canadians had to work on the 4th of July."

–u/ChrisRiley_42

4. "Went to a magic shop in Vegas. I wanted to buy my kids some cool magic tricks and the guy behind the counter said he knew a cool one that would be easy for them to learn, and that he'd demonstrate it a few times for me before I bought it. He asked, 'Okay, first I'm going to need a coin; hand me 4 loonies.' I smirked and said, 'Now why would you think I have loonies on me?' He said that I had an accent like the guys on Trailer Park Boys."

–u/ExamCompetitive

5. "Older woman down south: 'Do you have hockey in Canada?'"

–u/Valuable-Bug-3447

6. "I worked for a big global company and the Canadian employees kept getting invited to meetings in the middle of the night because the admins at head office thought we were part of Europe."

–u/SMc4941931

7. "My father tried to rent a U-Haul trailer to drive from Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia. They would not rent it to him because they did not believe you could drive there."

–u/DrunkenGolfer

8. "I was on a trip through Montana. At a hotel, I was asked where we were from; we said Canada, and with a serious face, the lady behind the desk says, 'Is it true you only have 1 road up there, and it's covered in ice?'"

–u/rogerdodger2022

9. "My family was transferred to the US for a year while I was in high school. On one of the first days of class, someone said to me, 'Oh, you're from Montreal, do you know [first name of person.] Since I only knew one person with that name, I offered up the last name. The response was, 'Yes, that's the guy, I just spent the summer with him at camp.' So I perpetuated the stereotype."

–u/mishan_ctrl

10. "On vacation in Florida, a woman asked where we were from; we said Canada, and she asked if that was overseas. She didn't believe that we had driven to Florida."

–u/LadybugCalico

11. "Americans I've spoken to who don't live near the border often don't have any idea where major Canadian cities are in relation to them."

"For example, when I was in Portland, OR last year, my AirBNB host was surprised I'd driven there from Vancouver, BC. She was shocked to learn it's only a couple hours north of Seattle and that it's only a 5 hour drive total — and that the Amtrak station a block away has direct trains to Vancouver. She thought Vancouver was several days' drive away, like Calgary."

–u/BobBelcher2021

12. "'Is that near Toronto?' I'm 2,685 km from Toronto."

–u/tangcameo

13. "I moved to L.A. when I was 15. At school, one girl asked me when I had moved down there. I told her, 'In the summer.' She then asked 'Oh! Our summer or yours?'"

–u/tripperfunster

14. "'Have you ever seen a bear?' 'Yes.' *freaks out and hands me $10*"

"This literally happened in Providence, RI."

–u/ellstaysia

15. "I delivered a car to the border in Coutts, Alberta. In June. I met a fellow who had snow machines on a trailer. He stated that he's going to Canada to experience the snow. He was going to go 100 miles north, and was totally sure the ground would be covered with snow."

–u/voitlander

16. "'You're Canadian? That's ok.'"

–u/Judge_Rhinohold

17. "I was vacationing in Miami a few years ago and I was approached on the street by a woman trying ask for donations, the kind where you give them your credit card info and then it's a monthly donation. I listened to her spiel and politely declined. She looked at me very closely and asked me if I was Canadian. I said yes, how did you know? She laughed and said I was too polite to be an American."

–u/notme1414

18. "Sat next to a guy from the US on a plane ride back home. I think he was from the East Coast somewhere and his mind was blown that Calgary was a city of 1.3 million, or whatever it was at the time. He genuinely thought he was going to a remote town or something."

–u/09Customx

19. "In Florida. I was picking out American cash from the Canadian cash in my wallet to give the cashier, and she said with surprise, 'You're from Canada? But your English is almost perfect.'"

–u/AdProud2029

20. "I was in line at a McDonalds and a guy started hitting on me. He was black; I'm black as well. When he asked for my number, I said, 'No, I'm from Canada.' His response was, 'Ohhhh, I didn't know they had black folk up there.'"

–u/No_Conflict_9546

21. "On vacation in Florida. We were asked where we were from, said Canada, and the guy then asked how we liked living in a communist country."

–u/Joanne194

22. "Witnessed a car accident in Connecticut about 10 years ago, and stopped to be a witness. One of the drivers was a 17- or 18-year-old that was about to start university. She said something about my accent, and I said I was from Vancouver. Cue puzzled looks. 'Vancouver, Canada... on the West Coast of Canada?' The response: 'Canada has a west coast?'"

–u/ButternutMutt

23. "I used to work at a museum in Victoria. This one time I had a couple from the States come in and ask very earnestly for directions to Buckingham Palace."

"Instead of just telling them they weren't in the UK, I pulled out a map, grabbed a pen, got their undivided attention, and with a serious expression on my face, drew them directions to the airport, where I told them to get on a flight bound for London."

–u/mitarooo

24. "I went to college in a small backwater Idaho town. One of my roommates asked how long it took to sail to the US, because you know, there's an ocean between the US and Canada. Oy vey."

–u/pascalsgirlfriend

25. And finally: "I was asked if I could speak Canadian. I thought she was joking. She wasn’t."

–u/K-Lashes

Any other funny stories like these you'd like to share? Tell me in the comments below. And Americans, feel free to defend yourselves in the comments as well. And last thing: be sure to follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram for more!