Oh, Canada — land of hockey, double-doubles, and way too many different types of winter jackets. If you grew up here, your childhood was basically a mashup of snow days, strange snacks, and random cultural quirks that only make sense once you leave the country and realize no one else lived this way.
So grab your Timbits, pour yourself a giant glass of milk (in a bag, of course), and let’s take a trip down memory lane with 20 things you may have forgotten about growing up in Canada.
1. Bagged Milk
Yes, it’s real. Yes, we drank it. And yes, we all knew at least one friend whose family couldn’t cut the bag properly and ended up with milk everywhere.
2. The Heritage Minutes
"Dr. Penfield, I smell burnt toast!" burned into your brain forever. Honestly, you learned more from those 60-second commercials than half of history class.
3. BeaverTails
The OG Canadian treat. If you went to Winterlude or any fair, you were covered in cinnamon sugar by the end of the day. Worth it.
4. Mr. Dressup
The Tickle Trunk, the costumes, the crafts — this was pre-YouTube entertainment at its finest.
5. The Friendly Giant
Sit down, look up, way up — and be honest, Rusty and Jerome kind of freaked you out a little.
6. Degrassi (The Real One)
Before Drake was Drake, he was Jimmy. And if you’re a true Canadian, you didn’t just watch Degrassi: The Next Generation — you also remember Joey, Caitlin, and Snake.
7. Roll Up the Rim
The most Canadian form of gambling. Nothing beats the disappointment of "Please Play Again."
8. Canadian Tire Money
Basically our first introduction to cryptocurrency. Still sitting in your parents’ junk drawer.
9. Mini Sticks
Every Canadian basement was basically an underground mini stick league. Extra points if you broke a lamp.
10. Zellers
The restaurant inside Zellers had the best fries. Don’t argue.
11. Raffi
"Baby Beluga" is still somewhere in your head, and it’s not leaving anytime soon.
12. The Looney Tunes Canada Post Stamps
Remember when your school made a huge deal out of these? You had one in a drawer somewhere, never used it, and now you wish you kept the sheet.
13. Pizza Lunchables
Every Canadian kid thought they were a five-star chef while spreading that tiny packet of sauce on a mini crust.
14. POGs
Did anyone actually know how to play? Or were we all just hoarding slammers?
15. The Eaton’s Catalogue
Basically the Amazon of our parents’ era. And yes, we used it as a toy catalogue, too.
16. CBC Kids (with Snail and Pokey)
If you remember the interludes between shows with the weird little clay characters, you had peak Canadian childhood.
17. YTV’s The Zone
Sugar, Carlos, PJ Phil — and that weird green blob Snit. Absolute icons.
18. Smarties (the Real Ones)
Not the chalky American ones. The colourful Canadian ones you ate by the handful.
19. The Hockey Sweater
You read it in school. You quoted it. And yes, you also knew someone who had the wrong jersey.
20. Snow Days
Nothing hits like the joy of waking up to a snow day announcement. Nothing.
Final Thoughts
Canadian childhoods were a weird and wonderful blend of traditions, snacks, and low-budget TV shows. Whether it was saving your Canadian Tire money, singing along with Raffi, or living for Roll Up the Rim, these little moments shaped us into the polite, apologetic, hockey-loving humans we are today.
