Law rules over daily life in ways that most people don’t notice. It’s only when we leave our own country and cross a border that we suddenly realize that everyday activities can be treated quite differently in another jurisdiction.
For Americans visiting or moving to Canada, some of the rules seem much stricter, others much more liberal. Many of them are based on entirely different underlying philosophies about health, free speech, consumer choice, and public safety. So what are some of the quirkiest laws from up North that can catch Americans completely off guard? This is what we’re going to discover in this article.
The “Loonie” limit
In the United States, you might be used to seeing signs in stores that say “No Large Bills.” However, this is merely a customer service request; in Canada, the law actually puts a limit on the other side of the currency.
The Currency Act says that a store is within its rights to refuse your payment if you attempt to pay with more coins than it finds “reasonable.” A common example is that the law says you cannot use only nickels to pay for items more than $5 worth. You also cannot use more than 25 “Loonies” ($1 coins) to pay for a single transaction.
No “Pleading the fifth”
The U.S. Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination is so famous that Americans sometimes forget that the exact same law does not apply in Canada. When called as a witness to testify in court, you have a legal obligation to answer every question truthfully, even if those answers could make you look guilty of another crime.
In return for these “sworn answers,” the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Canadian Constitution makes a “bargain” with you. The law states that your testimony cannot be used as direct evidence to prosecute you at a later date for the other, related offense.
Uniform criminal law
In the U.S., the criminal justice system is a patchwork of state and federal laws. Things like the death penalty and legal definitions of self-defense can change as soon as you cross a state line. In Canada, criminal law is handled exclusively by the federal government.
This means the Criminal Code applies equally and uniformly across all provinces and territories. The same criminal law applies to a crime committed in a one-room shack in the Yukon and a skyscraper in downtown Toronto. The upside of this is that it makes it very predictable for criminal lawyers.
Alcohol “smuggling” between provinces
It sounds like Prohibition-era fun and games, but there is a law against moving your alcohol bottles across provincial borders and it has been on the books for over 90 years. There are a number of arcane and outdated laws that technically still limit how much beer or spirits you can “import” from one province to another.
The Supreme Court has changed the law in recent years and made it much more liberal, but it is still theoretically possible to get into serious trouble for “smuggling” too many cases of out-of-province wine or spirits.
Mandatory “real” maple syrup
In Canada, the government takes maple syrup very seriously. The federal government has strict laws about labeling and producing syrup that can legally be called “Maple Syrup.” The laws are so strict that even a drop of corn syrup or artificial sweetener or flavoring would require the bottle to be labeled “pancake syrup” or “table syrup.”
The “grade” and clarity of the maple syrup is also rigorously tested by inspectors. In Canada, it is against the law to pretend that maple syrup is maple syrup.
The ban on “fake” witchcraft
Up until very recently, there was a Canadian law specifically against witchcraft fraud. Section 365 of the Criminal Code actually made it illegal to pretend to tell someone’s fortune or use “enchantments” in any way to scam them out of their money.
The law wasn’t against the occult but was used as a consumer protection law to arrest “psychics” who told elderly victims they were cursed and charged thousands of dollars to “lift the curse.” It was finally struck from the criminal code in 2018 to “clean up and modernize” the criminal code.
Alarming the monarch
Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy, so the King is the official Head of State. Because of this symbolic fact, there is a law in Section 49 of the Criminal Code that makes it a criminal offense to “alarm” or “frighten” the Monarch.
This is not a law about physical violence against the King; it is a direct reference from an earlier era designed to protect the Crown’s dignity. It is likely very old, and would be rarely used today, but “alarming the King” is a serious charge that can land you in jail for up to 14 years.
No pet rats in Alberta
Alberta is a province known for being one of the few human-inhabited places in the world that are actually free of rats. The government wants to keep it that way and has made it a provincial crime to own a pet rat, even as a household pet.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a white lab rat, or a dyed long-haired “teacup” pet rat; the law bans all of them and calls them “pests.” Alberta even has an official “Rat Patrol” to investigate rat sightings and make sure no hitchhiking rodents get established in the province. If caught, you can get a $5,000 fine.
Taxi dress codes in Halifax
Taxi drivers in the city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, all look like they have walked right out of the pages of Town & Country magazine. City bylaw T-1000 mandates that cab drivers cannot wear t-shirts and must wear collared shirts or blouses and closed-toe shoes. They are also required by law to wear socks at all times.
The “yellow margarine” ban
For much of the 20th century, a very powerful dairy lobby fought what they referred to as a “margarine war” in Canada. They had significant success passing provincial laws that banned margarine from being dyed yellow so it couldn’t be “confused” with butter.
This meant that in the province of Quebec, margarine had to be sold in its natural, white color. This meant parents would buy small packets of yellow food coloring and knead it into the margarine at home just to make it look “right.”
Pepper spray as a prohibited weapon
Americans often keep pepper spray on their keychains to feel safer, but in Canada, it is a “prohibited weapon.” It is illegal to carry any kind of pepper spray for the purpose of disabling or incapacitating a human being.
The penalties for having pepper spray are the same as carrying a switchblade or brass knuckles. A Canadian police officer can arrest you. The loophole is buying bear spray or dog spray for use in the wild, which is legal, but the law changes once you bring it into a city.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
Americans are only used to a complicated patchwork of “Right to Die” laws depending on the state. Canada has a federal framework that the Supreme Court has said every province must allow.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has been legal in Canada since 2016. Eligible adults can ask a doctor or nurse practitioner for assistance in ending their life. This is a closely monitored and strictly-regulated law.
Patients have to be in an advanced state of decline with a “grievous and irremediable” medical condition that will not get better and is causing them to suffer intolerably. The patient must give repeated informed consent and two doctors have to confirm the patient is mentally capable of making the decision to end their life.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
Like our content? Be sure to follow us.