I plan on traveling to Canada, but I do have this worry.
To be more specific, I’m not kinda black, my skin’s somehow white, but I have black relatives, which means I got wavy hair and some other things.
Stay out of Quebec and you’ll be fine.
Alright, off Qebec, off Alberta, off islands and off rural zones. This post’s getting helpful.
Yes. If you are from the United States, you might not get welcomed as warmly as you once were. There is an occasional racist, but overall, Canadians are very welcoming.
Remember… “planning on traveling to Canada” is like saying you’re planning on traveling to Europe… it’s a BIG place that spans four time zones and has all sorts of people.
So you’re likely to spot some bigots, but there’s also plenty of welcoming people. Part of it depends on where you go. In general, cities are more multicultural and a little of more rural areas used to be very white, with indigenous reservations in the most unexpected places.
Beside that, Alberta is “Little Texas” and BC isn’t that different from Washington and Oregon states. Manitoba is really friendly, Quebec tends to be welcoming in the cities and culturally insular in many of the rural areas. All the east coast provinces tend to be really friendly. The territories are very sparsely populated, so other people are treated like a gift OR like something the person is trying to avoid — race doesn’t tend to come into it.
6 time zones
Call it 5.5
I was debating on calling it 5.5 but just because Newfoundland.
Can you give me more opinions on more states/regions racism chances?
Generally, in cities you won’t have really any problems. My fiancee is Turkish and we live in the prairies and she’s never had anything happen. Folks stumble on her name sometimes but it’s not really racism.
If you go rural, you always up your chances of encountering more racism. Rural PEI/NB will be accidentally racist, rural AB/SK will not care if they’re racist. Generally this is true unless you’re camping/hiking, when you wrap back around to people who are generally just happy to see fellow outdoorsmen.
Much of North American racism isn’t from individual people but in systems. My fiancee’s experience is that European systems are more likely to be equitable but the people will be racist. In general, if you visit Canadian cities from Vancouver to Montreal, I wouldn’t expect you to have any racist encounters.
We have provinces, not states, and it really depends on what you are wanting to see.
Not really; racism in general isn’t the issue. Canada’s been multicultural from the beginning. Bigger issues are things like cultural sovereignty— indigenous and French mostly. Skin colour really doesn’t come i to it.
Might help to know what you’re comparing it to though.
Also, it might help to watch “Race Across The World Series 3” if you’re from the UK — and a good interview is here: https://www.canadianaffair.com/blog/canada-advocate-q-and-a-trish-and-cathies-race-across-the-world-adventure
That show did a pretty good job of capturing the highs and lows of interpersonal relations in Canada.
If they’re not, you let me know. I’ll thump 'em a good one for you.
I only speak for most Canadians, but we’re the greatest fucking country in the world, and we love all colours, sizes, types…
ymmv, eh!
Seriously, though, there are assholes everywhere but you’re unlikey to encounter them. We’re an extremely polite, helpful, accomodating and accepting society, so carry on!
Yes. If you’re out east, there’s a ton of black people. Out west, less so. Either way people will be friendly.
Lol as a minority that’s born here and lived in cities across the countr: Canada definitely has racism still. We are very diverse; especially in the bigger cities of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
I recently travelled to NB and witnessed some racism. Wasn’t anything too bad. I’ve had worse. But you’ll find more ignorance than hate. Hate looms it’s ugly head depending on where you go and what minority you are. I think for the most part, you’ll be okay, you might get weird comments here and there, but most people will be nice as a general rule of thumb.
Canada is very welcoming and people are friendly. After living abroad for a decade I can say it pretty confidently. Nowhere is perfect but the level of racism in Canada is very low compared to the things I’ve seen in Europe and Asia.
Not sure how it is where you’re from but don’t get caught thinking because Canada is safe that you can be careless with your stuff, don’t let your guard down with personal belongings. Don’t leave your things unattended in cafes or shops, don’t leave your mobile phone on the table, and especially don’t leave anything in your car if rent a car. Canada is safe but there is still a lot of petty theft… you won’t get mugged but someone might try to swipe your backpack at a cafe when you aren’t looking.
Racism seems to be getting worse in Canada, but right now it’s mostly directed at Indians (or south Asians in general).
I’ll add that over the past few years the homeless situation has gotten out of hand. For my small town (pop 46k) this is the source of our rise in crime. Garbage, abandoned tent encampments, vandalism, B&E, etc.
We get tourists to the beach near us but very few international tourists.
I would say Canadians are more polite than friendly. Too polite to be really friendly a lot of the time.
I hear this all the time. What does friendly mean in this context? When you’re meeting complete strangers for a very brief time (like in an elevator or a coffee shop) do you want them to be close and intimate like a friend? I would think the best you can and should be is polite.
Canadians are generally more passive in their racism.
In Toronto you’ll find Canadians that are all sorts of colours names and sizes, and a restaurant somewhere that serves your home country’s cuisine. Most people in the city don’t care.
The closer to the urban centre you are the less you are likely to be judged for looking foreign, though that chance is very small to begin with. If something racist gets shouted at you in public here, people are going to look down and walk away, look with disgust at the person making that remark, or tell them off.
Outside of the city, bigots are still the vast minority, but there may be more subtle ways you could be looked at differently, well-intentioned but largely due to the unfamiliarity with outside cultures.
Thanks buddy
I’d say generally yes. Of course, there are still assholes like in any country.
Cities are generally quite multicultural with people from everywhere. Every major Canadian city I’ve visited has seemed to be quite friendly.
I’ve seen people say to avoid Alberta in this thread. Generally, unless you are going to Middle of Nowhere, Alberta where their yearly tourism consists of a single person stopping by to get gas, you’ll be perfectly fine.
My friends who live in Alberta get racially profiled all the time, they are natives. Alberta is the most conservative province, still happens outside that province but not as extreme. You will have to learn Québécois(French Canadian) if you move to Quebec.
My parents will say it behind your back, and be very racist/transphobic, if you are not white and straight. But not everyone is like that. It saddens me, but they are in their 60’s. But usually no one will be racist to your face, from my experience living in Ontario.
You will be just fine. Enjoy yourself here.
Depending on where you’re coming from, you might have a different idea of what friendly is. While nearly all Canadians will treat any foreigners with kindness and respect, we don’t tend to go out of our way to talk to and be hospitable towards strangers as much as people in a lot of other countries do. Especially in big cities.
Stay away from Alberta and you should be safe.
Not all of us are jerks :(
The majority are though. I didn’t feel safe when I last went there.
I’m not gonna pretend everything is fine and dandy here. Not an Alberta native, and a lot of things still shock me even after 3 years here (how dominant religion is in some segments of the population, all the fucking trucks everywhere all the time, people keep on voting conservative despite, well, everything they’re actually doing…). But I don’t think it’s as big of a majority as one would think. FPTP politics will distort reality and make the place look more conservative than it really is. All that to say - I get the negative image, and the reality on the ground will vary based on where you are and who you meet. Hopefully we can get the place into a state where people feel safe coming here.
alberta politics is awkward but people are friendly in larger communities. Some remote small communities may be awkward but not always.
I was frequently harassed and the rest just stood by and did nothing. I won’t be going back.
I would actually say Alberta politics are insane, but disregarding that, people here are still usually friendly enough. Yes racism and bigotry is still (baffling) a universal experience, something you could possibly come into contact with, well, just about anywhere in the world.
Are you going to get a sideways look somewhere? I mean maybe, can’t say for sure you won’t. But are you going to get run out of town by people bearing pitchforks and torches? Well no. I can almost say for certainty that won’t happen anywhere in our country. A Canadian, even the goofy ass hillbilly ones that shout at clouds and vaccines on Facebook, would file that under something pretty god damn weird. And we collectively largely ignore those ones. Behind their backs we point and laugh at them too, so fear not.
Come see our country OP. It’s beautiful, and almost universally welcoming and accessible. Don’t forget your coat this time of year, it sure is beautiful but it’s also cold as shit in certain areas. Personally I think the atmosphere adds to the beauty.
Thanks, friend. Noted that down.
