Quote:
Originally Posted by ue
I think the SW Ontario cities most directly influenced by the United States (Niagara Falls, Windsor, Sarnia) as well as British Columbian cities which are neither more Americanized nor distinctly Canadian in the same way as that which lies east of the BC-Alberta line are less Canadian seeming for different reasons.
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The Lower Mainland has a lot of American influence. It is a border region. People here tend to go on road trips to the US, or quick shopping trips, and there are a lot of American chains. In Vancouver proper the Asian businesses are more prominent but head east and the focus shifts toward American chains.
This was particularly noticeable coming from Atlantic Canada where there aren't even chains like Denny's. Many American chains that operate in Canada do not make it east of Ontario.
Western Canada has Safeway too. And Starbucks hit earlier here in Vancouver. People tend to think of the Tim Hortons -> Starbucks transition as being a movement toward more upscale coffee. But Starbucks is not great and many cities have better independent coffee shops. Some of the independents died when Starbucks was brought in. I guess Second Cup is a roughly analogous Canadian chain.
I have noticed that some American companies operating in Canada use generic BLM or other political advertisements and materials here. I'd guess some of those are designed for the US market and then pushed out to all locations.