O Canada, I will just come out and say it. I am a bad Canadian. The sweet scent of maple syrup makes me sick. Not even a Canadian team in the NHL playoffs can excite me about hockey. I never finished reading Anne of Green Gables. If I had to live in the sub-zero conditions experienced by the Canadian majority for eight months every year, I would sprout wings and fly South with the Canadian geese. And–Canadians may disown me for this–I do not care for Tim Horton’s coffee. Not even their nation-wide Roll-Up-to-Win is enough to rip the Starbucks cup from my hand.

Since moving to New York City for school, though, I miss home. But I am not the only Canadian who ventured to the Big Apple.

According to the latest U.S. Census, over 25,000 Canadians live amongst New York City million immigrants. The city is bursting with ethnic micro-neighborhoods, each with strong cultural presence and pride. But, there is no ‘Little Canada’.

Still, I know Canadians have superhuman hearing for skates scraping on the ice or the cracking-open of an ice-cold Labatt Blue; Canadians love their culture, and will take every opportunity to come together and celebrate it. Authentic Canada has to exist in New York, so I decided to redeem myself as a good Canadian and find it.

The first step was going online and searching for the local Canadian community, leading me straight to the Canadian Association of New York. I infiltrated their Facebook group, asking where Canadian expats feel most at home in the city. Within minutes, the comment section blew up. By the following morning, my weekend tour of Canadian New York was set.

The Canuck entrance in Chelsea, Manhattan (Julia Laurenne Chambers)

The Canuck - Chelsea, Manhattan

My trip kicked off on Friday night at The Canuck in Chelsea. This bar is dressed in Canada from head-to-toe, from maple-leaf lighting dancing across the floor and portraits of Canadian celebrities plastered on the wall, to the moose head mounted behind the bar, seating a sea of bodies in Canadian jerseys.

Inside The Canuck in Chelsea, Manhattan (Julia Laurenne Chambers)

British Columbian bar-owner Denis Ladouceur opened this true North haven in December 2021 for Canadian locals and passing tourists alike. “The Canadian flag awning is a beacon,” he said. “I wanted people to stop and take a look, and so far, it’s worked.” After fifteen years of working in finance, the pandemic gave Ladouceur pause to follow his dream of opening a bar where expats can cheer for their home teams.

Ladouceur can be found behind the bar every night, serving poutine and Canadian-imported beer on-tap. The standout is the Canadian Caesar–a vodka, clam juice, and Worcestershire sauce-based cocktail dressed with a celery stalk and peppered-rim.

Canadian Pancake House - Midtown East, Manhattan

On Saturday morning, I ordered a spread of pancakes, eggs, Canadian bacon and Nova Scotia lox from the Canadian Pancake House in Midtown East. Although, my breakfast seemed underwhelming compared to local Canadian violinist Claudia Schaer’s meal at the original Royal Canadian Pancake House. “My school took thirteen students, and one order of three giant blueberry pancakes was enough to feed us all and more,” she said. Sadly, the tire-sized pancakes are no more, as the restaurant was forced to close its doors in 1998 due to legal issues with its investment banker. However, the real maple syrup remains the staple-ingredient of the new pancake spot, and keeps Canadian nostalgia alive.

The Ravine Trails - Prospect Park, Brooklyn

The Ravine Trails in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (Slow Nature Fast City)

Canadian Tara Lanoway found solace during lockdown walking the ravine trails of Prospect Park. “Something about me needed to connect with nature,” she said. “I’m sure many people in New York felt the same way, but I also think that’s part of being Canadian.” Nature is the cornerstone of Canadian history and identity. In this concrete jungle, it is difficult to connect with my Canadian roots. But as I walked the tree-lined pathways of Prospect Park, I was ten-years-old again, playing explorer on the trails behind my house with my friends before being called inside for dinner.

Mile End Delicatessen in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn (Julia Laurenne Chambers)

Mile End Delicatessen - Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

Dinner at Mile End Delicatessen in Boerum Hill was a French-Canadian treat. The deli, which opened in 2010, features authentic Jewish Montreal-style specialties, including real squeaky-cheese poutines, wood-fire baked bagels, and smoked-meat sandwiches. With a mission to introduce Montreal-style cuisine to New York, original co-founder Joel Tietolman started out driving bagels every Friday night from Montreal to be sold in Brooklyn the following morning. “For a while, it was a little crazy, or ‘mshuge,’ as we say in the Jewish deli business,” he said.

Since officially relocating to New York in 2012, Tietolman has catered large local events like Canada Day and the annual Terry Fox Run. He has proudly served his smoked-meat sandwich to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and approximately a thousand of his poutines at a United Nations conference.

Catering smaller-scale milestones are just as special for Tietolman. “We get a lot of life-cycle events… who want to have some Canadian representation,” he said. “We had somebody who was Brooklyn-Jewish marrying a French-Canadian, who wanted us to cater their wedding, and that’s pretty nice.”

Canadian expats learning to curl with CANY at LeFrak Center in Brooklyn (Julia Laurenne Chambers)

Curling with the Canadian Association of New York - LeFrak Center, Brooklyn

Later in the evening, I attended a curling night hosted by CANY at LeFrak Center, where a group of forty Canadians were learning how to curl for the first time. Since moving to New York, I have never seen so many Canadians in one place. Dressed in red Roots fleeces, these perfect strangers stumbled on the ice as they learned to throw stones with zero finesse. Their joy, though, was undeniable. Perhaps I am cold toward Canadian culture. But the Canadian community warms my heart.

Tim Horton’s - Jamaica Station, Queens

Tim Horton’s in Jamaica Station, Queens (Flickr)

I awoke late Sunday morning feeling more at home in the last three days than I had in the last three years of living in this city. Still, there was one looming thought clouding my perfect weekend getta-stay. If I wanted to redeem myself as a good Canadian, I had to pay a visit to Tim Horton’s at Jamaica Station in Queens.

During my hour-long commute, I could not believe the effort I was putting into visiting a coffee shop I normally would not walk five minutes for. Once I was there, though–sitting at a table with my sub-par double-double and miniature box of timbits–I smiled. I may not be in Canada, but I know it is here.

Dear Canada, With Love From New York

A Canadian expat goes on a mission to find ‘Little Canada’ in New York City.