Canada's rudest city and most polite city are neighbours, survey finds

Vaughan is almost three times ruder than its neighbouring city Markham, the survey found

Nationalpost.com
Aug. 24, 2023
Lynn Chaya

Canadians have long had a global reputation for being polite, but what do people in Canada think of that stereotype?

In a new study published by online learning platform, Preply, 1,500 residents were surveyed in 44 of the largest cities in the country to determine which are the rudest and most polite, while also highlighting various prevalent behaviours.

Ranked on a scale of one to 10 (10 being the rudest), the survey asked people how often they see common rude behaviours, how often they swear, how noisy people are in public, if they allowed others to merge in traffic, among other questions.

Topping the list as Canada’s rudest city is Vaughan in Ontario, with a score of 8.05 compared to the average of 5.22.

“I’ve lived in Vaughan for close to 40 years, and I’ve always found our community to be caring, generous and home to hard-working families who look out for one another,” Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca told NewmarketToday.

“While we are always looking for ways to grow stronger and we are open to feedback, there is no doubt that Vaughan is one of Canada’s most dynamic, exciting and fastest growing cities.”

The most common behaviours reported in the city were being absorbed by phones in public and not waving thank you when allowing cars to merge lanes.

Coquitlam, B.C., and Brampton, Ont., ranked second and third scoring 7.85 and 7.05, respectively.

Not all cities in Canada are rude, however. In its key findings, Preply found that four in five Canadians agree with the country’s stereotype of being polite.

Only 20 kilometres away with Yonge Street separating the two, people from Markham were ranked almost three times more polite than those from the rudest city.

As Canada’s most diverse community, Markham’s cultural richness may be attributed to their politeness, ranking with an average rudeness score of 2.91.

The survey found that the top ten politest cities were all located in eastern Canada.

In addition to gathering data on Canada’s rudest cities, Preply also tallied which cities swore the most.

According to their survey, Canadians swear on average nine times daily, with Burlington, Ont., ranking first with 15 swear words per day.

Conversely, Burlingtonians also ranked first for being the most apologetic in Canada. The average resident says “sorry” nine times per day, but those in Burlington apologize 18 times per day.

“While our study may have outlined some cities that are ruder than others, it’s important to note that overall, Canadians are relatively polite in public,” the study said.

“With an average rudeness score of 5.41 on our scale of one to ten and a strong tendency to apologize, Canada’s reputation still rings true.”