I’m in Alberta. Many of the people I share this beautiful province think they’re American (or wish they were). It’s… Unfortunate

This is a Caucasian issue only … I’m Indigenous Canadian - I’m a big tall brown, long dark haired full blooded Ojibway/Cree … and I’ve travelled the world in Asia, South America, Caribbean, northern Africa, Europe, Asia and India … I’m a budget traveller with my wife so we seldom stayed in any high end places.

I’ve been confused for Portuguese, Brazilian, Moroccan, Algerian, Thai, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Pakistani, Burmese, Laotian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Mexican, Chilean but never for an American or even a Canadian. My personal favourite was being identified as an overweight Thai. I’m also a straight guy but I’ve had Sri Lankan men comment on my beautiful tits … lol. In Cambodia, we had a laugh as airport security couldn’t decide if they should have a male officer or a female officer pat me down … I sheepishly looked at the male guard and told him he was my guy … laughs all around. My proudest one was being identified as Peruvian … when I saw the Indigenous people in Cuzco, I felt like I had entered a dimension where I could see my grandparents, uncles, aunts and old Elders I knew a long time ago.

My family on both sides of my family have been here for thousands of generations and I still meet people in my home country who assume I’m an immigrant of some sort.

Me, personally, it’s not a big deal. But in several ways Canadian identity is based on comparing ourselves with the United States, as if it were the only relevant comparator. I see this in policy and people’s national identification. So, I do think a good number of Canadians dislike being mistaken for Americans because it doesn’t align with their identity. Separate from that - and the context of this post is travel - there’s a popular idea amongst Canadian travellers - especially the hostel-going type - that the world perceives Canadians better than Americans. So, many will display Canada flags when they travel to preemptively fend off the idea that they’re American

Born in Canuckistan, I’ve lived in NY + WA and I work remotely with LA+GA people.

Yanks pick out the Canada right away, and Canucks spot the dialect mods at similar pace. Neither country is confused about my origins, though.

When I’m abroad, I remember to be polite as my mom taught me, and no one’s surprised to learn I’m Canadian :-D

I was born and raised in England by my Canadian dad, and every time he heard the words “Is your dad American” I watched a little piece of his soul die.

A lot of Canadians can be bothered by it. I’ve seen them bothered by it. It’s sorta cute.

However, I’m ethnically Chinese (born in UK) and the ongoing joke is how Asians (Orientals if you’re from the UK) hate being confused for one another as well.

Also, not gonna lie, I’ve confused Taiwanese/Chinese/Japanese/Korean/what-have-you people before. However, I don’t get called racist because I’m East-Asian :P

Here’s the deal. I don’t care … people are rarely ever doing it to get a rise out of you. Most of the time, these are conversation starters. Also, I’m a Chinese-Brit that was confused for being Japanese growing up. Then I moved to Canada and when I said I grew up in London. They all thought I meant London Ontario because apparently London England didn’t exist. Then I moved back to Canada and they all thought I was American.

I don’t mind getting mistaken for American, it’s an easy enough mistake to make.

I have a loosely-related story which was not an easy mistake to make, though. I’m French-Canadian, and a few years back I was traveling in Vietnam with my partner at the time, speaking our accented French when talking to each other (we’re from New Brunswick). Anyway, we get to our hostel after arriving in a new city and hang out for a bit in the common area, planning the rest of our evening (in French of course). There was another couple there, who seemed to have overheard because they glanced towards us. When we glanced back, one of them excitedly said “We know where you guys are from!”

We were a bit surprised, since our accent is pretty obscure and rare; “Oh really?”

“Yeah you’re Russian!”

My ex and I both had a good laugh before explaining that we’re French-Canadian. Here’s the kicker though: they were from Toronto and both said they speak French…

I’ve also had the very unpleasant experience of Québecois or French people not believing me when I tell them in French that I’m a francophone and that French is my first language. So yeah, compared to that, you can call me American all day!

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Nah its just statistics. Historically Canadas population has been less than 10% of that of the US, we’ve almost hit a record of 12% now.

I live in Germany but im from BC so i get hit more often with the “it must snow a lot there!” and i have to explain that it only snows a few days a year and that i’m a cold weather bitch.

Funny story though, i was on a pub crawl in 2018 in London (the real one) and i happen to run into a group of ~20 Canadian soldiers who had also joined it. There was 1 American on this pubcrawl and later in the night he comes up to me in a panic and says “NAME! You’re american right!?!” Haha. He had never been the minority before.

Gah! I had the comment mostly typed out and tabbed out and it was gone. Alas, here we go.

Once I was in London (your London, not our fake one here in Canada) riding a bus. There was an empty window seat, so I asked the young lady “is this seat taken?” She looks up and me an scowls, clearing picking up what she perceived to be an American accent or turn if phrase and says: “it’s not for Americans.” I reply, “but I’m Canadian!” fully expecting it to end there. But to my surprise she says, “oh, in that case” and slides over to the window.

In Germany, I’ve gotten into vigorous arguments with Germans over the proper adjective to use to describe where I’m from. See, in German, the adjective “American” describes anyone from the continents of North or South America. So when I tell them I am not an American, they usually respond with “yes you are.” Much debate follows, usually with beer involved.

Speaking of beer. I was in Stuttgart for an open source hacker meeting a while back. After spending the day around a conference table and whiteboard, we head to the bar. The Germans in our group are ordering beer by the litre, in very large steins. When the server comes around, I ask for one as well, and she says: “most Americans find out beer pretty strong. Would you perhaps like to start with a half litre?” to which I naturally reply “But I’m Canadian!”. She just goes “oh, I’ll bring you a litre.”

There are many more such examples. :)

This may be ranty, so sorry in advance. Canadians and Americans are very different. They are our brothers and we love them.That being said politically, socially and culturally we are very far apart. I would not be offended if someone thought I was American but I would correct them. I belive the equivalent would be if someone said “Oh your a Scott?” neighbour’s for over a 1000 years but not the same. I’m assuming your British sorry. Also, to add we do have a growing presence of “We should be part if America” weirdos. Who would say something like “Canada has no culture”.