Editor’s Note: this article has been updated to correct a misattributed quote. The following quote was originally attributed to Ivan Hue, but has since been corrected and attributed to Greg Saourine: “Saourine also said he finds people in Ottawa to be less friendly.”
The following quote was also attributed to Hue, but has since been corrected and attributed to Bassam Helou: “Calgary is obsessed with cowboys. One of my favourite things about coming to Ottawa is the lack of country music played in clubs. So, I think it’s kind of nice to get away from that cowboy westernism.”
The Charlatan regrets these errors and apologizes for any inconvenience caused.
Lui Xia Lee looks at the challenges out-of-province students face adapting to life in Ottawa. Graphics by Paloma Callo.
Canada as a country spans over 9.9 million square kilometres, with landscapes from mountains to beaches to the Arctic. With such a vast amount of variety and space, it’s inevitable that cultural differences exist from province to province.
Carleton University’s current Canadian student population is at 25,475, with at least 11,000 Ontarians enrolled, according to current data from Carleton’s Office of Institutional and Research Planning. That means more than half of Carleton’s Canadian student population originate from outside Ontario.
Paul Litt, history and Canadian and Indigenous studies professor at Carleton, said the differences between provinces are normal. It’s because cultures form over time, because of the way people are interacting with the land and they become conscious of their distinctiveness.
Cultural dissonance is something talked about a lot when people travel between multiple countries, but what about people who travel within one?
Choice to Move
Many students, like Bassam Helou and Erica Van Loon, moved to Ottawa for university. Helou, a second-year Carleton health sciences student from Calgary, said he was very excited to move to Ottawa.
“I wanted to get away from my parents, and Carleton was offering a pretty good scholarship, so I was like ‘let’s come here.’”
Van Loon, a second-year Carleton global and international studies student from Pemberton, B.C., said she was attracted by the university’s degree.
“I came for the program, so obviously being in the capital for this program was a great idea. This program doesn’t exist in British Columbia.”
Not many of these students knew much about Ottawa except for the city being Canada’s capital, including Jaden Slawter from Halifax.
For Slawter, he said all knew about Ottawa was that “it’s super cold, big, Justin Trudeau, and Parliament.”
Van Loon said she visited Ottawa once during high school. She said she got to see Parliament and thought Ottawa was a really cool place.
“I was really fascinated by Parliament and everything. We were kind of in the outskirts of Ottawa, and we did do some excursions, so I didn’t really get a full view of it, but I liked it then.”
In addition to Ottawa being conveniently located, Helou cited a significant provincial law that made a difference for him.
“The drinking age is 19, and I wouldn’t have to wait long to drink and it’s right next to Quebec where I didn’t have to wait to drink,” Helou added. “It’s also filled with Canadian culture, but that’s a given with Parliament being here.”
Ivan Hue, a fourth-year Carleton aerospace engineering student from Regina, said he likes Ottawa because it isn’t too big of a city.
“It does feel like it’s Regina, in a sense that [Ottawa is] a little bit bigger but it doesn’t have [a] big city feel to it,” he said. “It reminds me of home without being too big.”
For Helou, he said this change of scenery was great for him.
“Calgary is obsessed with cowboys. One of my favourite things about coming to Ottawa is the lack of country music played in clubs. So, I think it’s kind of nice to get away from that cowboy westernism.” – Bassam Helou, second-year Carleton health sciences student from Calgary
Weather or not you like it
Greg Saourine, a University of Ottawa student from Vancouver, said he originally thought Ottawa was a decent city, but his feelings have changed somewhat since then.
“I don’t really like it whatsoever—I despise it. Well, to be fair, I’m usually here for eight months and out of those, six months, it’s freezing cold. I don’t understand why anyone would live here. I feel like everyone or majority is forced to work here through school or government positions.” – Greg Saourine, University of Ottawa student from Vancouver
Weather is a big factor that underlies the differences between provinces, said J.J. McCullough, editor of The Canada Guide.
“It’s not that Ontarians than British Columbians are inherently different and experience weather differently,” he said. “Frankly, in most of the provinces outside British Columbia, there’s some kind of sense of the weather—particularly, the extreme cold as being [a] distinctive and identifiable part of their Canadian experience.”
According to 2018 data from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere administration (NOAA), Ottawa gets on average four times as much snow as Vancouver. Vancouver’s average temperature didn’t drop below zero for a single month of the year, Ottawa’s was below zero for five months.
For other students, weather was also a big part of their problem with Ottawa.
Both Saourine and Helou said the weather, compared to where they come from, was definitely different. Saourine said he really misses the warmth of Vancouver.
Van Loon also misses B.C.—she added that she definitely noticed how Ottawa is a lot more boring to her because there are no mountains.
“Basically for me, the number one thing is mountains—I’ve grown up with them my whole life and it’s something I need. They’re so amazing and everything that comes with them—lakes, hiking and all these other stuff. There’s so much to do all year round.” – Erica Van Loon, second-year Carleton global and international studies student from Pemberton, B.C.
In Calgary, Helou said, it’s not as cold, but there are chinook winds. Chinooks occur when mountain ranges are exposed to strong prevailing crosswinds, creating a hot wind. The winds then increase the temperature, melting the snow in the winter, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“So it’s crazy because in mid-January, we see all these people walking around in T-shirts and stuff. But, it’s honestly really fun because it keeps you on your toes.”
Hue said Regina gets a lot more snow and people there tend to be less afraid of snow.
Culture Clash
Saourine also said he finds people in Ottawa to be less friendly.
“For example, very few people say thank you on the buses. If you’re going on a walk, the normal thing to do is say hello.”
People in Ontario tend to be negligent of other provinces because of its role in Canada, according to Litt.
“Ontarians tend to think of themselves as Canada, whereas people from other provinces have a much more highly defined sense of being from a region. They might think Saskatchewan is this flatter version of their regional Ontario.” –Paul Litt, history and Canadian and Indigenous studies professor at Carleton
McCullough agreed and, because Ontario occupies close to 40 per cent of Canada’s population and holds the biggest city and the capital, “Ontarians are pretty satisfied where they are.”
Helou, on the other hand, said he finds the community more intimate and accepting in Ottawa.
“I find that although Ottawa is smaller, it has a bit more intimate feel to it. I find that at least from the people I know, they know all these other people really well, and I don’t understand how you all know each other, and it’s just really friendly as well.”
Slawter said that compared to Halifax, Ottawa is quieter.
“It seems like quiet but once you’re in it, you’ll also become quiet too. It’s a quiet place but if you’re not quiet, once you enter it, you become less loud,” he said. “[Halifax] is more urban, more modern. We call it Halifornia.”
Dealing with the Differences
Despite these differences, there are various ways to cope.
Helou said he copes by surrounding himself with his friends and doing new things.
“Whenever I’m feeling depressed or stressed out, I do fun things with friends, like getting a tattoo or getting a piercing or dyeing my hair.”
Van Loon, on the contrary, said she finds it difficult to not miss home as she finds Pemberton to be the most beautiful place on Earth.
“There’s no comparison to this in Ottawa. I guess going outside but it’s not really the same. I guess looking at photos, but there’s not really much I can do from here.”
Saourine said he copes by being busy with university assignments.
“I cope by counting down the days until I’m out of here,” he said. “School also keeps me fairly busy so my mind isn’t necessarily focused on ‘coping with the challenges of Ottawa as a city’ but instead I’m focused on getting all the school projects that I have done because the more projects I complete, the closer I am to home.”
Litt and McCullough said they suggest people get educated about other provinces, especially people from Ontario.
“It might jar them out of the people in Ottawa’s complacency, make them appreciate the differences,” said Litt.
McCullough reiterated these sentiments.
“Be aware of the gaps of your own understanding and try to fill them in with knowledge from somebody who comes from somewhere else,” he said. “Ultimately, what you can do, if your goal is to alleviate division, is engage in an effort of good faith to learn.”
