What does being Canadian mean to you?

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I was born in 1974. To me, Canada means inflation, high prices, ridiculous taxes, MAID (medical assistance in dying) which I don't believe in, abortion which I don't believe in, bad politics and a nation that's no longer safe.

I am more of a All Dressed chips guy myself, which I believe you cannot get in the states also.

Well I was born in the 1990's but I have talked to friends and family members that were alive in the 1970's, so I figure I have a better idea of what happened than your average millennial.

Agreed

That's OK. I was just curious.
I was here in the 60s too.

Multiculturalism. That's the one good thing that Canada has going right now. Bumper stickers that say, Coexist with each letter being a different symbol. Lots of hippies, which means that I'm actually able to fit in without even trying. Protests in the summer and hockey in the winter. The Maple Leaf which is equally as important as multiculturalism.

I will have to disagree with you on that point. I believe in assimilation over multiculturalism, that does not mean that you cannot practice your own culture and customs at home but once you step out into public spaces you should honor Canadian social customs and be able to speak English or French.

And what exactly are "Canadian social customs," if not an amalgamation of social customs from around the world?

Are they Indigenous customs of the people that were here for at least 15,000 years before us?

Are they English customs from British colonizers?

Are they French customs from their competitors?

Are they Irish, Scottish, Ukrainian, Italian, Philippino, Jamaican, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Brazilian, Hong Kong, Dutch, Persian, Croatian, or from any other immigrant group large or small that's settled in Canada over the last 150 years of people making their way to The New World in search of a home, political stability, and perhaps access to natural resources to sell back to their countrymen?

Canada is only 150 or so years old. A very young country. It's still evolving and defining what it's customs even are, and they're being amalgamated by newcomers from all over the world.

So, perhaps it's fair to say, that Canadian social customs are a blend of social customs from the world over - not some rigid set of unwritten rules established by the first handful of Canadian citizens ~150 years ago. They also tend to acknowledge and include ever more Indigenous social customs as well, as people learn about the original peoples of Canada who are still here carrying on their traditional ways.

It would be more convenient for all if every newcomers made an effort to learn English (or I suppose French, but that's all but useless outside of Quebec.) as then everyone would be able to understand each other language wise. There are now so many non-English speakers that people don't Need to learn it to get by or conduct business, though.. whereas they did 100 years ago. Times change. And times will change again with technology.. text translation software already exists for most products, and there's some rudimentary hardware available already.. but we are on the cusp of having fully functional digital "babblefish," in our ears translating everything anyone says in real time, making language barriers completely moot and everyone able to understand everyone else.. no more thinking people are being rude speaking in a different language, or fearing people because we cannot understand them and assume they're up to no good speaking in coded language that we cannot decipher. Like this country, things change.

One could argue honouring Canadian social customs would require embracing our long-established tradition of multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism was a term that was established and popularized in the 1970's, 50 years does not qualify for long established in my books.

We had the philosophy prior to the term.

Goldfish, that's another stellar answer.

It's what I wanted to say but don't have the brain space to do it.

I would say that generally speaking Canadian culture and social customs are derived from British/Christian ideals with some add mixture of traditions/customs from other smaller cultural groups in Canada.

I would say that generally speaking those sound like the cultural and social customs of your family, friends & relatives. But you're ignoring that there are people here from all kinds of different backgrounds and cultures that have quite different social customs. There are Asian Canadians who's families have been here for like 5-6 generations, and I'm sure they carry on various traditions their ancestors brought with them 5-6 generations ago. Meanwhile, my family has only been in Canada for 2-3 generations - grandparents generation was mostly born in the USA and moved to Canada. So, in conclusion, some of those Chinese Canadian social customs are at least Twice as Canadian as the one most of my ancestors brought with them from Europe.. they were here longer and I'm sure called dibs. (as you do.)

"Canadian," hasn't been defined by British or Christian ideals for decades. It's an ever evolving term that now includes an incredibly diverse range of people from all over the world - not just new arrivals, but full fledged Canadian citizens.. so it only makes sense that our national identity changes lock step with our national population. And 50 years of something like multiculturalism covers plenty enough of Canada's history - a full 1/3rd of it - to be considered Canadian now.

1867 was when the British North American act was passed creating a union of all the colonies on the land mass currently known as Canada, white european settlers have occupied this land for much longer.

How does speaking the language of occupiers and colonists honour Canadian customs? It really seems to honour foreign customs imposed by colonizers.

Overall I'm still proud to be Canadian.
I can't think of any other country I'd prefer to live in.
We certainly have our faults but it's a beautiful nation.
Most people are friendly.
Most people are liberal-minded and accepting of diversity.
Sorry USA, but I'd rather live here than there.
I can't deal with America's gun violence and political strife.

AUS would be good if not for the earthworms.
It always cycles back to that.