At Remitly, we’re all about sending money from one country to another. But finances aren’t the only thing that can be exchanged. We know that cross-cultural friendships are an enriching part of life. If you’re moving to Canada, you’ll have to understand the local culture in order to properly integrate. It’s also just as important to bring your cultural heritage with you.
We’ve compiled our best practices for contributing to Canadian multiculturalism and building a network of share culture as a newcomer to Canada.
Building bridges with Canadian friends
Spending time with people who share your culture and background is easy. However, there are so many benefits to cross-cultural friendships. Plus, multiculturalism is built into the Canadian experience. In fact, Canada was the first country to put multiculturalism policies into legislation with the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.
So why is multiculturalism so important? Socially, experiencing different cultures provides experience-based learning opportunities. These help break down stereotypes and build empathy. Cultural exchange is also a fun way to make friends in a new place. Here are some benefits of sharing culture:
- Enhances cultural awareness and inclusivity. Although you can learn about any culture through a book, documentaries, or the internet, no cultural touchpoint is as valuable as a friend. By sharing your culture and being open to learning about other cultures, you can foster inclusivity in a tangible way.
- Promotes empathy and mutual understanding. Understanding someone else’s feelings and perspectives is an invaluable soft skill. Learning about different cultures gives us an opportunity to practice this empathy.
- Stimulates personal growth and promotes lifelong learning. Cultural exchange can both satisfy and increase our curiosity about the world around us. It provides an avenue for us to learn more about other people and places.
- Increases creativity and innovation. Different cultures think differently. Some cultures are direct, while others are passive. Some cultures value emotion over logic or vice versa. When we collaborate with people of other cultures, we invite different approaches. This can lead to an increase in creativity and innovation.
- Preserves cultural heritage. When we share a culture, we become stewards of it. Inviting other people to share in our culture also helps to preserve its heritage, regardless of where in the world we are.
- Combats feelings of homesickness. Connecting with your home culture is a way of experiencing the familiar patterns of home, even if you’re far away. This can help you feel more calm and settled in a new place.
Socialising with sensitivity
As you integrate into Canada’s incredibly diverse population, you’re bound to cross paths with people of other cultures. Moving through these interactions with kindness and sensitivity will help you better fit into Canada’s polite culture.
As you navigate sharing your culture and learning about the cultures of others, remember to keep an open mind. Staying curious and positive helps foster genuine relationships in any context, but especially between people with different backgrounds. You should try to engage in open dialogues that will help you seek to understand others and their relationship with their culture. A great way to do this is to ask open-ended questions.
Address your own bias when you are engaging with other people. Everyone has their own perspective, and remembering this can help you prevent misunderstandings. It’s also a best practice to avoid making negative assumptions. If you’re unsure about something, ask a question or engage in a conversation.
At times, cultural exchange can be difficult. There might be moments when someone’s words or actions don’t feel quite right. In these moments, try to focus on the other person’s intentions. While avoiding negative assumptions is important, assuming the best of people will always help when building friendships.
What’s old to you is new to them
As you build new friendships, you might wonder what parts of your culture are worth sharing. Identifying which cultural touch points could be interesting to other people starts with identifying what parts of your culture are most important to you. Remember that different cultural experiences that might be familiar or automatic to you could be new and interesting to someone who hasn’t experienced them before.
Traditions and customs from your culture to bring to Canada
An easy way to introduce new friends to your culture is to discuss traditions and customs. These could include national holidays, religious festivals, or social activities.
It’s interesting to see how different cultures celebrate the same holidays or time markers. For example, are your wedding customs different from the normal ones in Canada? How so?
It’s also fun for friends to learn about holidays or traditions in your culture that are foreign to them. The Holi festival from the Hindu culture, La Tomatina from Spain, or Midsummer celebrations from Scandinavian culture are all great examples of traditions that are tied to specific cultures.
Highlighting unique cultural practices
Aside from standout cultural traditions and customs, sharing your daily practices with friends is a great way to share your culture. Our daily practices that are informed by our cultural background often feel automatic to us. As a result, identifying daily practices that are relevant to your culture can be difficult. Consider the following questions to help you identify parts of your daily life that are culturally influenced:
- What is your relationship with time? Is it important to you to be punctual or are you more relaxed about time?
- Do you have any ritual associated with the beginning of a meal? If you drink alcohol, do you have any toasts or cheers that are common in your culture?
- How do you move through your home? Are you relaxed and casual in your private spaces? Are there rules about how you interact in private spaces? For example, do you always remove your shoes when entering your home?
- How do you interact with people of different ages or generations? Do you automatically show respect to people who are older than you? How do you expect to be treated by people who are younger than you?
- How do you interact with people of the opposite gender? Is it normal to have casual friendships with people of the opposite sex? How does your culture inform your ideas of dating and romantic relationships?
Discussing the answers to these questions with friends is a good starting place for cultural exchange. It will also give you insight into your friends’ habits and behaviours that might be culturally informed.
Methods to share your culture
There are plenty of ways to share your culture with your new Canadian friends. That being said, there are three main touchpoints of culture that can be easy entry points for people who are experiencing a culture for the first time. These three categories are especially effective in sharing culture because they cross cultural boundaries and are already familiar because they appear in almost every culture across the globe.
- Language exchange. This can be particularly helpful if you are also trying to pick up on some of the British colloquialisms, as well. Pair up with a local friend and teach each other common phrases or slang in your native languages.
- Media and entertainment. Share book recommendations, social media posts, music, and movies from your home culture.
- Meaningful conversations and storytelling. Once you’ve developed a friendship with someone, you can share stories that provide insight into your home culture. Sharing information about the history and values of your culture will promote mutual understanding.
- Local exploration. The UK is a very diverse place with pocket neighbourhoods of ethnic minorities. You can likely find a neighbourhood where your home culture is more visible. Check out these places and bring your British friends along!
Events and celebrations
As you integrate into Canadian culture, you should continue to celebrate the holidays and events that are meaningful to you from your home culture. Inviting your new Canadian friends to celebrate these events with you gives them an easy—and memorable—way to experience your culture.
Food and recipes
According to surveys, the vast majority of Canadians enjoy international food. There’s also been a 57% increase in Canadians who are open to trying new foods compared to a few years ago. Share some traditional food or treats with your friends, neighbours, or coworkers to give them a literal taste of your culture!
Stories and music
As your friendships develop, music and storytelling become a way to deepen cross-cultural exchange. Music and other media present a style of storytelling that can represent a culture as a whole. In fact, many people enjoy music in languages they can’t understand because it is still able to convey a mood or atmosphere.
Sharing personal stories and meaningful conversations can help provide insight into your home culture and values that promote mutual understanding and empathy. Hearing about cultural experiences firsthand from a friend often helps put your background into an accessible context for foreigners.
Understanding Canadian culture
If you’re new to Canada, it’s important that you understand some of the local cultural practices. Taking the time to learn about Canadian etiquette is the first step to making friends with locals with whom you can engage in cultural exchange. Understanding the local culture is also a measure of good faith, demonstrating your own empathy and willingness to learn about local practices. This, in turn, can make you an approachable person to engage with culturally.
Canadian cultural values
Canadians are often thought of as very polite people. For example, it’s not unusual for a Canadian to apologize, saying “Sorry” or “Excuse me,” if you bump into them. This hallmark of Canadian culture is tied to the values that underpin the Canadian mentality:
- Egalitarianism. Canadians deeply believe in the equality of all people. They will show respect for everyone regardless of age, race, socioeconomic background, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
- Multiculturalism. Canada is made of people from many different backgrounds. There are many Indigenous people who call Canada home. There are also large immigrant populations. Canada’s multiculturalism is reflected in policy and legislation. For example, Canada has two official languages, English and French.
- Respect and tolerance. In general, Canadians are polite and respectful of others. They move through their lives with the knowledge that diversity is a positive aspect of their society. As a result, they are sensitive and tolerant of differences.
- Community. It’s common for Canadians to value the community over the individual. Canadian culture is very collaborative and takes into consideration the good of all. As a result, Canadians are not thought of as selfish people.
- Environmentalism. Canadians love time in nature and outdoor activities. Respect for the environment is built into the Canadian way of life.
Canadian traditions and customs
Getting to know the ins and outs of Canadian culture is a good way to establish some local friends. By learning about their culture—and participating in it—you’ll model the openness that is necessary for cultural exchange. Here are five noteworthy Canadian cultural traditions and customs that you should know about.
- May 2-4. Pronounced “May two-four,” this is a public holiday in Canada also known as Victoria Day. It’s celebrated on the last Monday before May 25. This holiday was originally used to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday, but now marks the start of summer in Canada.
- Canadian Thanksgiving. This holiday is celebrated on the second Monday of October. This autumn or harvest festival is celebrated by sharing a meal with family and friends. The food is similar to American Thanksgiving and incorporates turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. However, the atmosphere is a little more casual and homey than in the US, and there is no big parade or official celebration.
- Saint Patrick’s Day. The longest continuously running parade in Canadian culture is the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal. The parade has been running since 1824, and the celebration of Irish culture draws huge crowds around Saint-Catherine Street.
- Bloody Caesar. This national cocktail of Canada shows up at a lot of parties. Although it might seem similar to the Bloody Mary in the US, it’s different. Instead of using a tomato juice base, the Bloody Caesar mixes vodka with clamato juice. This mixture of clam juice and tomato juice gives the cocktail a unique umami flavour. If you want to explore Canada’s culture through food and drink, you should also check out beaver tails, poutine, and maple taffy or tire d’érable.
- Cottage culture. Canadians love the outdoors. Weekends and vacations spent near a lake or in the woods constitute “cottage culture.” In different places in Canada, the wooden houses where you spend time with nature have different names. You might hear them called chalets, lake houses, or camps.
Effective communication across cultures
As you begin to engage in cross-cultural exchange, remind yourself that it can sometimes be difficult or uncomfortable. In order to get the most out of your new friendships, consider the following if you’re ever in a tough situation:
- Different cultures have different values. If something someone has said or done has offended you, it might not be personal.
- Most people think of their own culture as their main reference point. It will take conversation and curiosity to reset someone’s perspective.
- Cultural differences can include different ideas of what is right or wrong. Instead of arguing morals in a black-and-white way, try expressing how someone has made you feel with “I statements.”
- Different cultures have different communication norms. In Canada, it’s normal for people to prioritise politeness. This can mean that people might be more passive or guarded in the hopes of avoiding offence. To get to the root of how someone is feeling or what they’re thinking, you’ll have to be patient and ask questions.
FAQs
How do you introduce your culture to others?
Sharing your culture means sharing what’s important to you. This can include traditions, food, history, and customs. Try starting a conversation with someone from a different culture or invite a new friend to a cultural event!
How would you describe Canadian culture?
Canadian culture is known for being incredibly polite and nice. Canada is a diverse, multicultural, and tolerant society.
What should I do if sharing my culture makes me anxious?
One way to feel less anxious in a new place is to make sure that you’ve done your homework. Take care of the bureaucratic side of immigration so that you can focus your energy on making friends.
Is Canada a culturally accepting place compared to nearby countries like the US?
Canada is a very diverse country in terms of ethnicity, religion, and language. In general, Canada is considered more accepting of immigrants and diverse cultures than the United States. Canada has a reputation for actively welcoming newcomers and promoting cultural diversity. This is reflected in legislation, like immigration policies.