rudest cities canada vaughan

This Ontario city is considered one of the rudest in the country

While Canada is known for its politeness, it turns out there are some cities across the country that are home to some rude residents.

E-learning platform Preply surveyed almost 1,518 people from 44 Canadian cities, who had lived there for at least one year, to rate the average rudeness of their fellow residents.

So which city won the top spot for being the rudest?

According to the results, the first-place honours go to Vaughan, Ontario, which scored an 8.05/10 for average rudeness.
rudest cities canada vaughanPreply notes that Vaughan has become a hub for many commuters, which has resulted in more traffic.

"This may be part of why residents have become frustrated and why you're more likely to encounter people who won't wave a thank you if you let them merge here than anywhere else," states Preply.

The platform also dove a bit deeper into some of Canada's most common rude behaviours, noting that people "being absorbed" by their phones in public was Vaughan's rudest trait.
rudest cities canada vaughanThe second rudest city in Canada is Coquitlam, BC.

The city scored 7.85 on the rudeness scale.

Preply says a combination of heavy rainfall in the West Coast city, and its steep hills “may leave residents feeling moody and less inclined to fulfill the polite stereotypes.”

The list is dominated by cities in Ontario and BC as Brampton (7.05), Surrey (6.91), and Windsor (6.88), took third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively.

Preply also looked into which cities engage the most in one particularly rude trait: swearing.

It found that Canadians swear an average of nine times a day, but in some cities, residents appear to be more keen on cussing.
rudest cities canada vaughanBurlington, Ontario, claimed the top spot, with an average of 15 swears a day, followed by Guelph, Ontario, with 14. Chatham, Ontario; Gatineau, Quebec; and Regina, Saskatchewan, tied for third with 13 swears a day.

Preply didn't just focus on rudeness. It also highlighted Canadian cities that were the most polite.

Survey participants were asked to rank their city on a scale of one to 10, where one was the most polite.
rudest cities canada vaughanWith a score of 2.91, Markham, Ontario, topped the list as the politest.

"Markham's cultural richness and varied residents may contribute to them being the most tolerable and polite, unlike some of the other cities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)," stated Preply.

Saguenay, Quebec, (3.87) and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, (3.88) rounded out the top three spots.

Preply notes that despite some cities being ruder than others, overall, Canadians are still "relatively polite in public."

"With an average rudeness score of 5.41 on our scale of one to 10 (10 being the rudest) and a strong tendency to apologize, Canada’s reputation still rings true."

Lead photo by

Shutterstock/Blair Gordon Main


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