Culture Times:
The stereotype of the “polite Canadian” may be cliché, but it does have some basis in reality. Canada is a nation with fairly strong conventions of social etiquette, and properly obeying and understanding these rules is an important way to “fit in” to broader Canadian society.
In general, Canadians are a mostly friendly, unpretentious people who value honesty, sensitivity, empathy and humility in their relationships with friends and strangers, as well as respect for the privacy and individualism of others. While obviously many Canadians fail at honouring these lofty principles, such values nevertheless provide the essence of “good manners” in mainstream Canadian society.
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Dressing for the occasion
Most corporate Canadian workplaces embrace a dress code known as "business casual," with outfits similar to the ones above representing the norm. Ties and jackets for men have become increasingly uncommon in all but the most formal or high-ranking office settings.
Roles and Formalities
Canada is usually considered a mostly egalitarian country in the tradition of other western democracies, meaning respect for hierarchy is not considered a particularly important value in daily life. Most Canadians are strong individualists of one form or another, and will dislike changing too much of their behaviour or personality to please others — indeed, such aggressive conformity may actually be scorned by others as phony or weak.
Modern Canadian children are usually permitted to be relatively outspoken and independent from a young age, and may speak to adults, even teachers or parents, in the same casual way they do to friends. The same is mostly true for employer-employee relations, and maintaining a friendly workplace where everyone acts as if they’re on the same level (even if they’re obviously not) is exceedingly common these days. Though the Canadian government, judicial system and militarypossess a lot of complex protocolsdictating things like proper titles of address and appropriate dress, such institutions are considered outliers of unusual formality and strictness within a broader, casual culture of relaxed relationships
The main figures of reverence in Canadian society are people over the age of 70 (so-called “senior citizens”), who are usually given a higher-than-normal degree of politeness and courtesy, and people with obvious handicaps or physical disabilities, who are expected to be treated with compassion and understanding. Authority figures with obviously intimidating powers, such as police officers, will usually be given polite deference as well, though it should be noted that Canadian law and the Canadian Constitution grants individual Canadians significant legal rights to question or disobey authorities whom they have reason to believe are acting improperly.
Canadian Attitudes Towards Time
For the most part, Canadians are quite literal about time and schedules. If someone says to “come at 3:00” he usually expects his guest to be there at 3:00. Lateness of more than 15 minutes is considered rude, and an apology or explanation will be expected. Likewise, earliness of more than 15 minutes is usually considered presumptuous and may cause an awkward surprise for a host who is not yet ready.
Most Canadians with full-time careers work from roughly 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday (so-called 9-to-5 jobs). 12 noon is usually considered lunchtime, while 6 PM is approximately when most families eat dinner. With some exceptions, telephoning people in the very early morning or very late night is considered rude and disruptive. Most do not appreciate being disturbed at work, either. Weekends (Saturday and Sunday), when most people do not work, tend to be the most busy and active days for socializing, though Sunday morning can be a somewhat taboo time to make plans since many religious Canadians will be attending church.
Canadian Social Customs
Greetings
Canadians meeting for the first time usually shake hands to introduce themselves, and may shake hands before departing, as well. Short hugsare becoming more common for closer friends, particularly women. Kissingremains mostly reserved for family or lovers, though some French-Canadians may partake in the European practice of giving light cheek kisses as part of a friendly greeting.
These days, a lot of Canadian restaurants will give customers the option to give an automatic 10, 15, or 20 per cent tip when they pay using a debit or credit card machine, thus sparing them the difficulty of after-dinner math.
Gifts
Giving gifts to strangers is generally rare in Canada, unless the person in question has done some favour or is otherwise considered to be “owed” one as thanks.
Even on designated gift-giving holidays, the decision to actually exchange gifts with friends (or even certain family members) is very much dictated by the degree of closeness one feels towards them, as well as personal tradition. Gifts for “no occasion” can be sweet, but also hold a high potential to create lingering feelings of awkwardness for the recipient, especially with expensive gifts. Giving cash as a gift is generally only done within families.
Tipping in Canada
When dining at any “sit-down” style restaurant, Canadians are expected to tip, or donate, some extra money to their waiter at the end of the meal. The bare minimum expected is 15% of the total price of the bill, but over-tipping in the case of exceptionally good service is common as well. Failing to tip (or under-tipping) is considered extremely rude and will be immediately noticed.
A variety of other professions in Canadian life expect tips as well, including pizza delivery men, taxi drivers, bellhops, and hairdressers, among others. Confusion over exactly who should and should not be tipped (and how much) has led to the creation of a lot of helpful online guides. In general, Canadian tipping etiquette is the same as that of the United States, and American tipping manuals are often used for reference in Canada.
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