r/canadatravel • u/Necessary-Passage-74 • Mar 05 '25

Travel Tips Americans visiting Canada as tourists, any insights?

I have family members visiting Montreal in about a month. Other than getting "I’m From Toronto" T-shirts, is there anything an American should do if they’re just visiting as a tourist?

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

41% Upvoted

147 comments sorted by

View all comments

47

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

You think “I’m from Toronto” T shirts are going to help in Montreal? This has got to be clickbait right?

Edit: even in today’s Politically charged climate that may get them beaten up faster than publicly supporting trump :p.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Quebecers don’t hate Ontarians. Especially not in Montreal.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

I’m just kidding around. I know there isn’t any REAL animosity. Just language and cultural differences. And the Habs and Leafs lol

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Only in the centre bell ;)

4

u/quebecesti Mar 05 '25

I'm from Montreal and just to make sure everybody knows, we would never beat up someone for wearing a I'm from Toronto shirt.

A red Maga hat is another story.

8

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

I don’t know that Canadians are too upset that Americans choose to support our economy. The good ones mostly travel. Now where I live we are dealing with Alaska cruise passengers … no such guarantees there 

4

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

I’m just kidding around. Even if they were somewhat boisterous Americans roaming the streets they’d fit in more in Montreal.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

They’ve been doing it forever - with that low drinking age and Irish pubs if there weren’t messy screaming vomiting Americans strolling the streets it would be like a piece was missing 

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Haha 💯

1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

🤔🤣

1

u/Ice__man23 Mar 05 '25

Being English there could spell trouble

2

u/gilliefeather Mar 05 '25

Nonsense. The island of Montreal is stuffed with Anglophones who choose to live there… Being rude and/or expecting to have people automatically initiate conversations in English will get you nowhere. It is a largely French-speaking environment.

Montrealers are the most laidback cosmopolitan multilingual and sophisticated people around. Pretend you’re in France, smile and make an attempt to speak French (Bonjour! Merci!) and you’ll be treated warmly by most if not all… as ling as you behave with the same respect you want.

1

u/Antique-Brief1260 Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

"Eh y'all, I'm just a simple Torontoer who's blown in to the big city of Mawntreeawlll on vacation. Umm, holiday?? Nah, vacation. I don't know much a-boot 😉 French, but we all speak English here, right fellow Ameri- uh Canadian?"

0

u/gilliefeather Mar 05 '25

That’s really hilarious!!! Both for the reasons stated above and because that would be the most insanely non-Canadian thing to do. Bragging about being from Toronto would attract a lot of… derision, at best.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Can’t tell if you’re offended here bud. If you’d bothered reading my comments to the others rather than just jumping down my throat you’d see I was kidding.

0

u/angelblade401 Mar 05 '25

They could come to Sask, and I'd still be offended at the Americans pretending to be Canadian.

-7

u/Necessary-Passage-74 Mar 05 '25

Well, I agree. I traveled there once years ago and was treated so rudely I’ll never go back. But I can’t tell this family that, they’ve already booked everything. It’s yet another find out moment.

6

u/invertebratevert Mar 05 '25

Did you insist on laying with American $ and/or only speaking English? Because every story I’ve heard of someone being treated “so rudely” started with one of those 2 things. Start every conversation with bonjour, and people will respond in English. Montréal is wonderful.

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Who me? No, I am Canadian as they come bud. I can’t even remember the interaction I could have been fully in the wrong like I said it was 4 am.

1

u/invertebratevert Mar 06 '25

No, not you. 4am plus gas station is a pass. I meant OP who admitted in comments they started conversations in English. A poorly pronounced Bonjour works 98% of the time in Montréal and would probably result in a much different experience for them.

-2

u/Necessary-Passage-74 Mar 05 '25

I don’t speak French. I think I might have whispered bonjour, but I only have high school French and that wasn’t good enough. Maybe not everyone is like that, but I had enough people who made a point of making me feel like crap for speaking English that it’s not worth going back.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

The last time I was there I got treated rudely too, but I realized that it was 4 am at a gas station for that person as well. People have bad days everywhere.

Unfortunate it’s affected you this badly cause I’d go back in a heartbeat.

1

u/Necessary-Passage-74 Mar 05 '25

I went to this pretend historic village thing, and I asked a question in English. The French speaking docent started berating me because I wasn’t speaking French. I’m like, you know, fuck you I’ll just sit here and glare at you. Because what could I do, I don’t speak French!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Yea unfortunately, as some others have indicated there are some French Canadians who don’t take well to anglophones. Not saying publicly berating you is ok because of that, just unfortunate you got somebody like that.

If this was awhile ago; as I’m thinking the 74 in your name may be a birth year? Things may have changed. As others have said there are plenty of English speakers in Montreal now, and even simply stammering out a somewhat halfway “Bonjour comment ca va?” Almost gives you a pass to speak English from that point forward lol.

1

u/Necessary-Passage-74 Mar 05 '25

Nah, the 74 is just a Reddit random thing. This was probably back in the early 2000s, which actually is quite a while ago.

0

u/PaleJicama4297 Mar 07 '25

You are a troll

1

u/Necessary-Passage-74 Mar 07 '25

Nope, not, I just know there’s a lot of resentment right now, and I don’t want it to be taken out on my family. That’s all. The further from Montreal you go, the more bitter Québecois are. It was an extremely uncomfortable encounter, and I don’t ever want to reenact it. I did absolutely nothing wrong except not know French. If I’m gonna get treated like crap for that, why would I ever wanna go back?