Canadian Self-Image

Canadian patriotism is a unique sort of national pride in that it relies heavily on how outsiders view the country. Part of this is doubtless due to the fact that Canada is one of the few countries on earth where the majority of foreign stereotypes about its people are either neutral (for example, Canadians being boring, unemotional or forgettable) or positive (Canadians being nice, polite, gentle and so on). Many of these stereotypes are both encouraged and spread by Canadians themselves.

Canada is also a country whose culture emphasizes the importance of introspection and modesty, however. In recent years particularly, a number of Canadian critics have argued that many well-worn clichés about the stereotypically “goody-goody” Canadian are quite vain, outdated and inaccurate, and represent an effort to spin what are actually problems with Canadian society into unjustified self-regard. There is, as they say, two sides to every story, and the truth is often somewhere in the middle.

The following is a table of stereotypes that patriotic Canadians like to believe about themselves, or believe others think about them. On the other side is a list of rebuttals which are almost equally common.