I am a third generation Canadian on my mother’s side and a second generation Canadian on my father’s side.  Growing up in a small town in southern Ontario I often felt like the ‘new’ Canadian since most of the kids I grew up with had families which had been here for five or more generations.

Then in my twenties I moved to Toronto and spent nearly a decade living in a part of the city that had a lot of first generation Canadians.  Additionally, most of my friends at that time were born in other countries and I soon found myself to be one of the few  Canadian-born people at social gatherings.

My thirties brought marriage, a mortgage and suburbia where once again I found myself surrounded by neighbours who are fourth and fifth generation Canadians.

Reflecting upon these periods of my life I am reminded of how much the social landscape of our country has changed in the last 25 years.  I believe this has also greatly affected our national identity and has caused me to wonder what is the new definition of a Canadian?

Growing up it was simple enough to define ‘Canadian’ – it consisted of ice sports in winter, cottages in summer, camping after prom, Molson Canadian as the first taste of beer, listening to the Tragically Hip and Barenaked Ladies (and secretly Shania Twain and Celine Dion), attending maple syrup festivals, being polite and saying ‘sorry’ (whether you mean it or not) and learning french songs in school.  As for style and design, it often included having furniture along every wall so that no baseboard could ever be seen, carpet throughout the majority of the house and a lot of brown in basements.  Mittens connected by a long string that you wore on the inside of your coat (which funny enough, I saw some for sale at a Christmas market this winter), toques, corduroys and turtlenecks.

Therefore, my desire with this blog is to discover what it now means to be Canadian. Do we have a national identity?  How do we socialize?  What activities do we enjoy? Are there any traditional Canadian dishes? Music? Architecture? Design? Celebrities? Icons?  How are we viewed abroad as tourists?

I’m not sure whether anyone will care about my opinion or observations about Canadian life but if by chance you find yourself joining me, I hope you will enjoy the journey!