One comment that frustrates me, which I’ve been hearing a lot lately since I moved from Canada to the US this month, is the claim that there’s no such thing as Canadian culture.

People usually express this in one of two ways: either Canada has no distinct language, food, music, or anything like that, so we don’t have a culture at all, or they say that everything in Canada is basically the same as in the US, so Canadian culture is just an extension of American culture.

For many, “culture” is merely a catch-all term for things like language, food, music, perhaps a few special holidays or traditional clothing. But I see these as just the outward expressions of culture—the surface-level artifacts. True culture, which is deeply woven into who we are and essential for understanding ourselves and others, lies beneath those visible elements. It’s the underlying values, beliefs, and perspectives that shape those artifacts. And ultimately, it’s what’s beneath the surface that truly matters for understanding ourselves and others.

For example, if I see a group of Canadians and a group of Americans while travelling, I can almost always tell them apart—not by accents or asking about their favourite hockey team, but simply by observing their general vibe and disposition.

When Canadians are surveyed about their values and how they approach different issues, there is cohesion and clear patterns that set them apart from Americans (and from other nations). 

When I think about culture, It’s not about the questions like which specific meals a group of people eat, whether it’s pasta and tomato sauce or hamburgers; it’s about questions like: Are meals quick and rushed or do they take hours? Is the quality of ingredients important? Do people invite others to share food with them? Do they eat the same thing daily/on special occasions, or does it vary? Is cooking a communal activity?

A lot of what makes up culture is hard to recognize because we often confuse these habits, values, and ways of thinking as being universal traits. People don’t always realize how specific their nation’s approach to life is until they spend significant time immersed in another culture, where everything feels different. Only then do they see how much of what they assumed was “just how it is” is actually unique to who they are.

This is even more true for Americans. Most people outside the US are at least somewhat aware of American culture, which helps them see their own culture as distinct rather than universal. But many Americans never have the chance to deeply immerse themselves in another culture, so they’re often unaware of how different their way of life is from others. And it’s not about obvious things like football or trucks—it’s about subtler aspects, like whether people enjoy (or even feel comfortable) dancing, whether they socialize with different age groups, whether they are bothered by others experiencing vastly divergent life outcomes, whether work is a source of joy or tool to achieve status/money, or how central their relationship with their parents is.

And yes, I’m writing this because I believe there are significant cultural differences between Canadians and Americans that a lot of people don’t fully appreciate. But more importantly, I think most people don’t entirely “get” what culture actually is. And having a better understanding of this kind of culture, in my mind, is a critical part of life.