A Peek at Canadian Courtesy, Coast to Coast
Our testers share the polite high points and the discourteous lows of our city-by-city testCalgary
At a large flower shop, the female salesperson went to extraordinary lengths to dress up the single bloom our female tester bought, adding pussy willow, beargrass and purple ribbons. Despite all that, she didn’t forget to thank her for the purchase. “I find the more courteous you are, the more people respond to that,” she said. “I like to make contact with people, have conversations with them.”
Saskatoon
In the Midtown Plaza, our male tester dropped his papers just as a group of young people walked by—and kept walking. We overheard one girl say to a friend, seemingly in response to a comment, “You could have helped.” But at the gift basket and flower store Creative Compliments, owner Ellie Richardson served our tester with a smile and a big thank you. “I’ve been in business nearly 20 years,” Richardson, 56, said. “Being polite to people is important because it makes you feel good.”
Winnipeg
When an older man in front of our female tester emptied a bag of coins at the cash register in a Giant Tiger store, the blond, middle-aged cashier patiently counted out the amount necessary for his purchase and then, despite a growing lineup, put the rest of the coins back into the man’s bag for him. “Thank you very much!” she said with a broad, genuine smile as the transaction ended.
Toronto
A 36-year-old project manager holding a lunch bag and a coffee didn’t hold the door open for our female researcher who followed him out of a coffee shop in the financial district. But he was amiable enough to take out his earbuds and talk when our team gently challenged him. “I had my hands full,” he said. “And in the morning I’m getting into work mode, thinking about the day ahead. I like to think I’m generally helpful.”
Ottawa
We found it interesting that many of the people we tested in our nation’s capital felt that Ottawa was “very friendly,” “polite” and “courteous”—and it wasn’t just the ones who passed our test. A number of those who failed to pick up papers, hold open doors or thank us said the same thing. The owner of a cheese shop in Byward Market, for example, informed us, “It’s a very nice and courteous city, people are always polite. Our policy is to always say thank you.” This despite the fact that neither he nor the clerk who took payment for the wheel of brie our tester bought thanked her for her purchase.
Moncton
We found a lot of pride in being polite there. When we told Spin It record-store employee Eric Daigle, a mop-headed 25-year-old, that he’d passed our thank-you test, he pumped the air with his fist. “What’s the point of ruining somebody’s day?” he asked. As we left, he thanked us for making his day, and that made ours.
Moncton was one of only two cities to earn a perfect score in the thank-you test. (Vancouver was the other.) Many of the people we “tested” and spoke with made a point of shaking our hand when we parted. Must be the Moncton way!
Halifax
Alyson Digby is a 19-year-old university student with a sharp, infectious laugh. She held the door open for our female tester at a downtown mall one morning. This tall, slim woman with her dark hair in a ponytail, said quite simply, “I was brought up to do it. It’s not nice if people don’t.” When she heard how many people had held doors open so far (everyone at that point) she exlaimed, “It's because you're in the Maritimes!”
When our female tester scattered papers in front of her, Dorothy Haché didn't hesitate, but ran after them as they started to blow away. Speaking to our researcher while continuing to hurry along the street to her meeting, Haché, who’s originally from New Brunswick said, “We’re pretty courteous in Halifax.” She came here as a graduate student: “Loved it, got married, had babies [two boys], and now it’s home.” She finds people here are “more courteous than in other Canadian cities I've been in, like Montreal and Ottawa.”
Charlottetown
At the Shoppers Drug Mart, where our tester bought a bottle of pain relievers, Joanne Aylward, 37, said, “I treat people how I want to be treated in a store. It’s my opinion that politeness is important.” The lean, frosted blond was personable and efficient when we made our purchase. “We’re friendly in Charlottetown. It’s not a busy city so you can take time to say hi.”
In fact, we noticed that people generally do say “hi” as they pass you on the sidewalk, despite not knowing you.
St. John’s
Our tester dropped her papers as four teenagers, obvious fans of the CSI series on television, walked past without stopping. One of them, wearing a black wool cap pulled low, was heard saying, “No way I'm going to stop. I don't know what those papers were. What if I got my fingerprints on them and regretted it later?”
If you’re ever in St. John’s, you can expect doors to be held open for you—it’s the one city that earned ten out of ten on this test.