5 Culture Shocks From Canada To Australia
In case you’re new here, my name is Ioana (it’s a real name, I promise!) and I’m a Canadian who has been living in Australia for the past six years.
I’ve lived in Melbourne, Northern NSW, and now the Gold Coast, and here are some culture shocks I experienced when moving from Canada to Australia!
Rental Prices
Hooo boy, rental prices. Rental prices are messed up everywhere in the world right now, but Australian rental prices are something else.
I lived in Melbourne for three years and when I first got to Melbourne and I saw rental prices, I thought they were monthly!
Um, no - they're weekly. The base rental price in Melbourne can range anywhere from 500 to 800 a week. It's insane, and that blew my mind. I'm from Montreal, where sometimes you could get rentals for as low as 600 a month if you looked hard enough. Rental prices in Australia are crazy unaffordable. And even though I live on the Gold Coast now, it's not much cheaper here (it’s actually on par with Melbourne at the moment!).
Restaurant Portion Sizes
When you go to a restaurant in Australia, you’ll notice that portion sizes are a lot more balanced.
I actually had reverse culture shock when I went back to Canada in December 2022 because I had breakfast in Montreal and this was literally what they served me:
I didn't even get the whole breakfast in the photo! Everything was just slathered in sauce. I also had four pieces of toast in the corner there. I’m not saying getting a lot of food isn’t good value for money, but I’m just always taken aback by North American portion sizes now, after living in Australia.
This is a breakfast I had on the Gold Coast not too long ago - as you can see, it's a lot more balanced:
Food portions in Australia are a lot more manageable and the quality of the ingredients is also way better!
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee
Australia has some of the best coffee I've ever had in my entire life. The cafe culture here is insanneeeee. (And I'm from Montreal, where the cafe culture is not bad!) But yeah, North American filtered coffee can suck it - Australian coffee is some of the best I’ve ever had.
Tipping & Wages
Sooo, tipping in Australia is optional, which is pretty cool. But I think the bigger culture shock was that everyone is paid a living wage. The median salary is a lot higher here than in North America, and that's why the cost of living is much higher ‘cause people make a lot more money!
Bare Feet Everywhere
Lastly, I think this is more of a Queensland thing, but: being barefoot everywhere.
I can't talk ‘cause I live at the beach and I am literally barefoot allll the time. But Queenslanders love to walk barefoot everywhere - in changing rooms, in shops.
I think the North American “no shirt, no shoes, no service” thing is engraved in my brain, but it’s always a bit shocking to see people half-naked in bikinis at the store. Not that I haven’t done it! Haaaaa.
