Who is Canada eh?

Lacrosse. Poutine. Insulin. Bryan Adams. Where would the world be without the 2nd largest and 1st most apologetic country?

When people want to eat Timbits, go whale watching and skiing in the same day and cheer on the finest hockey teams in the world, they make the trip to Canada. While 90% of Canada’s ~35 million population huddles within 160 kilometers of the United States border, we are a country that spans 9.9 million square kilometers, touches 3 oceans and juggles 6 time zones. We have a lot to be proud of, even if we aren’t comfortable with tooting our own horns. And although some areas of Canada never see a flake of snow, we’re honoured to have been given such a grand nickname as the Great White North.

Canada is the kind of place where Saturday night hockey is a family tradition, where Double-Double is slang for coffee, where 80% of the world’s pure maple syrup is produced, and where 15,500 of the world’s 25,000 polar bears live. And no, we do not have polar bears for pets.

Polar bears however love it in Canada because it’s cold, especially in Nunavut, where the coldest day of the year in 2014 was -50.4 degrees Celsius. Not all of Canada is cold, however, and we do have four seasons. Visit us in the summer and you might experience temperatures as hot as 41.7 degrees Celsius, our hottest day of the year in Ashcroft British Columbia.

You may have heard about SAP Labs Canada but before we tell you about us, we thought you should know about Canada and its Canadians. Do you really know the difference between fact and fiction? Some things might surprise you.

The Facts – Why Canada is Amazing

• We have a shocking 3 million lakes, more than any other country.
• We invented lacrosse, basketball, and ice hockey. Lacrosse is our national summer sport and hockey is our national winter sport.
• People in Churchill, Manitoba leave their car doors unlocked in case their neighbours need to make a quick escape.
• Our neighbours in the United States might keep stock of extra oil but in Canada, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers keep a maple syrup reserve.
• An Ontario man invented Hawaiian pizza.
• Canada has more doughnut shops per capita than anywhere else in the world. Thank you Tim Hortons, or as the locals call it, Tims.
• Kraft Dinner, KD, is the top-selling grocery item in the country. Canadians consume 55% more of it than Americans do.
• Canadians eat beaver tails and poutine. Poutine is fries, gravy and cheese and it is Canada’s de facto national dish.
• A bear cub named Winnipeg who was exported from Canada to the London Zoo in 1915 inspired A.A. Milne to write about the loveable Pooh bear, Winnie-the-Pooh.
• A disproportionate number of the world’s comedic heavy weights are Canadian. This list includes Seth Rogen, Russel Peters, and Catherine O’Hara.
• Canada is the second largest country in the world, and the largest country that is easy to travel across. From the East Coast to the West Coast, hours a day

SAP Labs Canada is From Sea to Sea

Over these next few weeks, we will introduce you to our Canadian Labs locations, our amazing people, our accomplishments and community efforts, and our #MadeInCanada innovations.

We are thrilled to share and invite you to take the time to get to know Canada and SAP Labs Canada. Please check back tomorrow and learn more about who we are.

Did you learn a new fun fact about Canada?

Share your favorite Canadian fun fact by retweeting:

Facts I didn’t know about Canada, eh. @SCNblogposts  #MadeInCanada http://bit.ly/1ydzl2k