Interesting Facts about Canada That Will Blow Your Mind

Canada is an incredible country, which is well known for it's incredible scenery and beautiful natural environment.

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Yet, there is also a lot of other surprising facts about Canada which you may not know, so here's a list of some of our favourite Canadian facts.

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Canada Fact 1: Canada Has the Longest Street in the World

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This fact is up for debate, as it’s been stripped from it’s former status in the Guinness Book of World Records.

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But we’ll make the case, for argument’s sake. The stretch of pavement in Canada that connects Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe is precisely 1,178 miles long. The portion of the street in Toronto is called Yonge Street, which opens up into Highway 11 near the town of Barrie. Due to not being officially named “Yonge Street” for it’s entire length, it’s been downgraded. But since there doesn’t seem to be another street that’s willing to take the crown, we think it still rests in Canada.

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We also assume there are probably quite a few gas stations along the way.

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Canada Fact 2: Canada Has the Largest Coastline in the World

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Spanning a total length of 202,080 kilometres, Canada’s coastline is 4 times the size of the world’s second longest coastline, Indonesia.

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It also borders on three oceans - the Atlantic, the Arctic & Pacific. If you ran a 10k every single day, it would take you a grand total of 66 years to cover the coastline. Now there's a fact!

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Canada Fact 3: Canada Has More Lakes than the Rest of the World Combined

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Almost 9% (or 891,163 square kilometres, to be exact) of Canada’s total surface area is covered by freshwater.

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The largest lake in Canada is the aptly named Lake Superior, which covers 82,100 km squared. That’s a lot of water.

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Canada Fact 4: Canadians Are Clever Cookies

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According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 51% of Canadians have a credible degree. Canada ranks number one on the list of countries with the highest number of adults having a college education.

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Canada Fact 5: Canada Give out “positive Tickets” When They See People Doing Something Positive

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Canadians are world renowned for being super friendly, and the police are included, too.

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The world’s most iconically-clad police force (see: Mounties) doesn’t just catch the bad guys - they catch the good ones in action, too. The positive reinforcement for good deeds done by kids and #teens has apparently led to a big downtick in youth crime. It’s been cut down by 41%, according to the official website.

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Canada Fact 6: Canada Eats More Doughnuts than Any Other Country in the World

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Canadians love their Tim Hortons.

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The famous coffee and baked-good restaurant serves some truly delicious baked goods, leading to worldwide domination of donut consumption.

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Canada Fact 7: They’re Polite, but They’ll Stand Their Ground

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Canada and Denmark have been “fighting” over an uninhabited island by each leaving each other bottles of alcohol and raising their own flag since the 1930’s.

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Canada Fact 8: Canadians Are Inventive

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They’ve made many important inventions, including Kerosene, the electron microscope, the electronic organ, insulin, the IMAX film system, the snowmobile, and the electric cooking range.

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They also invented the oft-debated Hawaiian Pizza.

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Canada Fact 9: Canada Has One of the World’s Largest Temperature Ranges

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Canada is famous for it’s bone-chilling winters.

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In 1947, the temperature in Canada’s Yukon Territory reached a record low of -63C, which is around the same as the surface of Mars. But Canada in the summer? It often has temperatures in the 30-40C range. You’ll feel like you’re in Florida, except you can swim in the water.

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Thank goodness for all the lakes and coastline!

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Canada Fact 10: Kraft Dinner Is the Top-selling Grocery Item in the Country

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This much-loved brand of Mac-n-Cheese is extremely popular in Canada - Canadians consume 55% more of it than Americans do.

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Canada Fact 11: Canadians Are Even Better at Ice Hockey than You Thought

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Canadians are so good at ice hockey that in the 1930 World Cup, they didn’t even have to play knockout rounds. They were placed directly in the final games. They won gold…of course.

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Canada Fact 12: Your Favourite Actor Is Probably Canadian

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The list of famous Canadians in film includes big names like Jim Carrey, Ryan Gosling, Ellen Page, Mike Myers, Ryan Reynolds, Rachel McAdams, Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Oh, Cobie Smulders, Eugene Levy, Matthew Perry, and many more. (Oh, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a bit of an actor, too. He starred in CBC’s The Great War in 2007.

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Canada Fact 13: It’s in the Dictionary, Eh?

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The famous Canadian interjection “eh” is actually listed in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary as a valid word.

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Canada Fact 14: The Official Phone Number for Canada Is 1-800-O-Canada

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We called. It’s real.

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Canada Fact 15: Santa Lives in Canada

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At Christmastime each year, Canada Post receives millions of letters addressed to “Santa Claus, The North Pole, H0H 0H0.” They reply to each one of them.

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Canada Fact 16: They Used to Have the World’s Tallest Building

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The CN Tower in Toronto was the world's tallest free-standing structure until it was eclipsed in 2007.

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Canada Fact 17: Centennial Pam

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Pamela Anderson is Canada’s “Centennial Baby”, having been the first baby born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada’s official founding.

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