As a Canadian custom apparel company, we couldn’t be prouder of our country. There are so many things to be proud of. Last year, our staff made this video to share all the reasons we’re proud to be Canadian. But here are a few facts about our country that you probably didn’t know:
1. Canada has superpowers! Some of the world’s most popular superheroes, including Spiderman and Wolverine, were created by Canadians.
2. Canada got its own flag in 1965, 100 years after officially becoming a country.
3. “Eh” is an actual word, listed in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
4. The Royal Canadian Mint once made a gigantic loonie made of 99.9% gold that was worth $1 million.
5. Forget the Loch Ness Monster. Canada has Ogopogo, a creature that is said to live in Lake Okanagan, BC. Sightings of the creature have described it as multi-humped with green, black, brown or gray skin. Or it could just be a floating log. (Timber is a major industry in the region).
6. Despite its name, Hawaiian Pizza was actually invented by an Ontario Man. Sam Panopoulos, who was born in Greece and moved to Canada when he was 20, first served pineapple on pizza in 1962 to attract customers to his restaurant in Chatham, Ontario.
7. Canadians consumer more mac and cheese than any other country in the world.
8. If you have ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), you’ll want to stay out of Manitoba. The province has the largest concentration of snakes in the world. Around 70,000 garter snakes come out of hibernation in May.
9. Churchill, Manitoba has the world’s only prison for polar bears! Canada is home to 15,500 of the world’s 25,000 polar bears. In October and November, the number of polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba outnumber its human population of 800. People actually leave their car doors unlocked in case their neighbours need to escape from polar bears, and the prison houses polar bears to protect people from the hungry bears, who venture into town in search of food.
10. Canada has 198 jails for humans. The smallest jail in the world is located in Rodney, Ontario and is only 270 square feet.
11. Canada has more doughnut shops per capita than any other country in the world.
12. Canadians speak for Santa Claus. Thousands of kids write letters to Santa using the postal code HOH OHO. Letters are answered by Canada Post volunteers.
13. Canada built the world’s first UFO landing pad in St. Paul, Alberta in 1967.
14. Canada is home to many culinary delights including ketchup-flavoured potato chips, poutine and Beaver Tails!
15. Canada is home to many amazing events, but by far the weirdest one is the Annual Bathtub Race in Nanaimo, BC. “Tubbers” attach motors to bathtubs and race each other from Nanaimo’s harbour to Fisherman’s Cove in Vancouver.
