I had no idea these 10 things were actually Ontario-specific until I moved away

Moving from Ontario to B.C ., I expected to notice the big differences.

The mountains.

The ocean.

The weather.

The fact that a two-hour drive can take you somewhere that looks completely different.

What I didn't expect was to start noticing all the little things I had always assumed were just Canadian but were actually very, very specific to Ontario.

Here are 10 surprising things I didn't know were Ontario-specific until I moved to B.C.

Going "up north" In Ontario, you can drive a couple of hours north of the GTA, see some trees and a lake, and confidently announce that you're "up north." You don't even necessarily need to say where.

Everyone knows what you mean: cottage country, a lake, a dock, a fire, mosquitoes — and basically "past Barrie." In B.C., you can drive two hours north of Vancouver and still be in Whistler, surrounded by mountains, and people here still don't call it "up north." True "up north" here feels like something much farther away, like Prince George and beyond.

Further than, like, Barrie, lol.

Bagged milk See on Instagram I genuinely thought this was a Canadian thing.

You know: buy the milk, put the bag in the plastic pitcher, snip the corner, pour.

Then I moved to B.C. and discovered that apparently most of the country has been buying milk like normal people this entire time.

Calling May long weekend "May 2-4" In Ontario, you don't necessarily say "May long weekend." You say "May 2-4." And everyone knows what you mean, even if May 24 isn't necessarily the actual date of the long weekend.