Cue those beloved Canadian stereotypes.
Sure, they may prompt a cheap laugh or two, but when it comes to over-generalized beliefs about Canadians, many of them appear to hold true, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency has crunched the numbers and has compiled a list of reasons to be proud of Canada.
1. Approximately 9,976,182 square kilometres make up our vast nation, affectionately known as the “Great White North,” the second-largest country in the world. Russia is the largest, with 17.1 million square kilometres of land.
2. Canada’s road network is so long it could circle the Earth’s equator more than 19 times. Road trip anyone?
3. If driving isn’t your thing, how about exploring some of Canada’s pristine coastlines? There are 243,042 kilometres of it touching three different oceans, so you’ve got options.
4. Sharing is caring. Data suggests Canadians donated a total of $9.6 billion to charities in 2017.
5. There were more than 250 different ethnic origins reported in the 2016 Census. In the same year, more than 7.5 million foreign-born individuals were living in Canada, or nearly 22 per cent of the population.
6. Canadians are living longer than ever, with average life expectancy pegged at 82.2 years. That’s 12th overall in the world, with Japan leading the pack at 83.7 years.
7. More than half, or 54 per cent, of Canadians aged 25 to 64 have either a college or university education.
8. Hockey is considered Canada’s most popular sport (of course it is).
9. Canadian beer sales accounted for 39.7% of market share of alcohol sales in 2017/2018.
10. Sugar rush: Canada produced 12.2 million gallons of maple syrup in 2016, thanks to 47 million maple syrup taps. Quebec is by far the largest producer, with more than 7,600 sugar shacks responsible for about 70 per cent of the world’s total maple syrup output.
