Canada's Next Major Metropolitan Areas?

[north 42]

I would say that Montreal is definitely the fashion capital of Canada!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I'm obviously referring to the former. Kids are inspired by their parents and naturally become like their parents and take on similar narratives.

My point remains that your kids actions are anecdotal at best. .

Well, through my kids' social life and activities, I have weekly exposure both direct and indirect to around 50 Gatineau teenagers. I have a pretty good idea of what they talk about and are interested in. Granted, they're mostly but not exclusively from a similar socio-economic class to us, but they're not even close to being massively of the same origins as us. So to say that my assessment can only really apply to my kids would be inaccurate. My kids aren't partaking in most of this stuff alone in silos. They're going to the Salon du livre de l'Outaouais this weekend with groups of friends, and scouting out which authors they want to hit up for book signings. This isn't just a niche thing for my kids and their upper-crust friends: my wife and I go there too every year and it's obviously full of groups of pre-teens and teens checking out books and other cultural stuff.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by north 42

I would say that Montreal is definitely the fashion capital of Canada!

yes for sure..My point is that it seems like we have less obvious "specialized" cities then our U.S counterparts, which is understandable given our size..
Canadian rappers, rock and country artists all go to Toronto to record for example, and not Atlanta, L.A, or Nashville depending..Windsor's car industry isn't large enough to have that Motor City label,..Ditto for any Canadian city to have an equivalent of an identifiable Mo-town sound or a Chess records making the Chicago Blues, San Francisco folk, etc.

[Acajack]

Just to prove I am not making this up. This is from the Salon du livre de Montréal, but it gives a pretty good idea of the phenom. (Perhaps WhipperSnapper thinks I worked my magic on all of these kids too!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH2mXoSReZg

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Notwithstanding the Ottawa Region being much more influenced by Montreal with both cities being bilingual and much closer to each other than Toronto.

Yeah but, what's the point?

Gatineau is certainly the most "tuned into Toronto" city in Quebec by virtue of its relationship with Ottawa.

I have friends who are Québécois Gatineau residents who work for francophone institutions in Ottawa like the school boards, the University of Ottawa, La Cité collégiale or hospitals and who go to the GTA periodically due to "all-Ontario" aspects of their work.

Not to mention all of the people who work for federal and national institutions that also have professional linkages with Toronto.

Even with the high degree of business interactions between Toronto and Montreal, I strongly doubt that the latter city has the same level of "Toronto focus" that Gatineau has. (Even if it's not really that huge in the grand scheme of things.)

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by north 42

I would say that Montreal is definitely the fashion capital of Canada!

The joke that i've heard is that Montrealers know how to dress and they have little money and Ottawans have a lot of money and don't know how to dress.

Montreal is likely the fashion capital of Canada. Not sure how much weight Toronto carries in the arts scene as a comparable.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The joke that i've heard is that Montrealers know how to dress and they have little money and Ottawans have a lot of money and don't know how to dress.

Montreal is likely the fashion capital of Canada. Not sure how much weight Toronto carries in the arts scene as a comparable.

I am not sure that the two are analogous in any satisfactory way.

Fashion transcends language (at least in theory ) whereas a huge chunk of the arts is language-specific.

The latter therefore tends to lead to largely parallel and unique scenes in Toronto and Montreal, even if there is of course a bit of interplay. (More in some areas than others.)

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yeah but, what's the point?

Gatineau is certainly the most "tuned into Toronto" city in Quebec by virtue of its relationship with Ottawa.

I have friends who are Québécois Gatineau residents who work for francophone institutions in Ottawa like the school boards, the University of Ottawa, La Cité collégiale or hospitals and who go to the GTA periodically due to "all-Ontario" aspects of their work.

Not to mention all of the people who work for federal and national institutions that also have professional linkages with Toronto.

Even with the high degree of business interactions between Toronto and Montreal, I strongly doubt that the latter city has the same level of "Toronto focus" that Gatineau has. (Even if it's not really that huge in the grand scheme of things.)

Ugh. forget it.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Things I've learned from this thread:

1) no one knows where London, Ontario is
2) Calgary and Edmonton don't like each other
3) Regina and Saskatoon don't like each other
4) Regina is a dump
5) French may not be French
6) Things that are close by are more relatable
7) There are many things to do in Okotoks

I have not learned what is Canada's next major metropolitan area.

[phone]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I have not learned what is Canada's next major metropolitan area.

Saint John NB, clearly.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by north 42

I would say that Montreal is definitely the fashion capital of Canada!

Not to diss you at all, as this would be my hunch too, but I am not sure how we can even make that statement, beyond the generalized perception that "Montreal = French = fashion capital"...

I did some searches for fun and it appears Montreal still has the most jobs in the fashion industry - a lot of which tend to be manufacturing clothing.

I was actually a bit surprised by this as on most metrics the sheer size of Toronto these days often allows it to outgun Montreal in terms of straight numbers and output.

Does anyone have anything else to contribute beyond "Montreal is the biggest French (sic) city in the country, so it follows that it's the fashion capital"?

[saffronleaf]

Damn London needs to change its name. No, not the one in the UK. The one in Ontario.

I think there was a petition from some locals to call it New London or something.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by saffronleaf

Damn London needs to change its name. No, not the one in the UK. The one in Ontario.

I think there was a petition from some locals to call it New London or something.

London (Ontario) just can't win a break!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London

[HomeInMyShoes]

london, london, london...

ondlon
ondoln
dolnon
donlon
nodlon
donnol
oldnon
nonold
doolnn
noodln

All sorts of possibilities.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Not to diss you at all, as this would be my hunch too, but I am not sure how we can even make that statement, beyond the generalized perception that "Montreal = French = fashion capital"...

I did some searches for fun and it appears Montreal still has the most jobs in the fashion industry - a lot of which tend to be manufacturing clothing.

I was actually a bit surprised by this as on most metrics the sheer size of Toronto these days often allows it to outgun Montreal in terms of straight numbers and output.

Does anyone have anything else to contribute beyond "Montreal is the biggest French (sic) city in the country, so it follows that it's the fashion capital"?

"What's the fashion capital of Canada?" seems like a three way race to cross a finish line that, in the global sense, is one where the victors (e.g. Paris, Milan, New York, etc.) have already ascended the podium, gone to the afterparty and are presently in bed nursing a hangover...

The "big" Canadian brands all come from various places: Lululemon (Vancouver), Canada Goose (Toronto), Naked & Famous (Montreal), etc.

Interestingly, to bring this post full circle with a theme of this thread, one Canadian fashion brand that has some international presence is headquartered in a place I never expected. I could have sworn that Sorel, makers of the fashionable snowboots, was based out of Sorel. Or maybe it had been founded there and long since moved to Montreal. After all, I associate Quebec with snow and reveling in snowy winters a little more than other parts of the country. But nope; it was founded in Quebec but its headquarters are in London, Ontario!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

"What's the fashion capital of Canada?" seems like a three way race to cross a finish line that, in the global sense, is one where the victors (e.g. Paris, Milan, New York, etc.) have already ascended the podium, gone to the afterparty and are presently in bed nursing a hangover...

The "big" Canadian brands all come from various places: Lululemon (Vancouver), Canada Goose (Toronto), Naked & Famous (Montreal), etc.

Interestingly, to bring this post full circle with a theme of this thread, one Canadian fashion brand that has some international presence is headquartered in a place I never expected. I could have sworn that Sorel, makers of the fashionable snowboots, was based out of Sorel. Or maybe it had been founded there and long since moved to Montreal. After all, I associate Quebec with snow and reveling in snowy winters a little more than other parts of the country. But nope; it was founded in Quebec but its headquarters are in London, Ontario!

Yeah.

As a total layman with respect to the field of fashion, just thinking of which "big" Canadian names immediately come to mind: Alfred Sung, Simon Chang, Linda Lundstrom, Philippe Dubuc, Marie Saint Pierre... that's about it.

And of course our local Ottawa-Gatineau fashion designer Richard Robinson (please pronounce all syllables in French!).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by someone123

In English there are different dialects and sometimes extreme accents too. Native English speakers can have a hard time understanding a Scottish accent or a rural Southern US accent, and regional slang abounds. Someone from the UK may even (usually jokingly) say that North American English is not "real" English. I don't think French dialects in Canada are very different from this. If anything I think the British Isles may have any French areas beat in terms of diversity of dialects.

If you could magically erase a lifetime of hundreds of hours of listening to or watching American music, TV and movies from their brains, I seriously doubt the average Briton could intuitively make very much out of the chatter on Honey Boo Boo or Jerry Springer... any more than a Parisian can decipher a slangy Québécois sitcom's dialogue.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Things I've learned from this thread:

1) no one knows where London, Ontario is
2) Calgary and Edmonton don't like each other
3) Regina and Saskatoon don't like each other
4) Regina is a dump
5) French may not be French
6) Things that are close by are more relatable
7) There are many things to do in Okotoks

I have not learned what is Canada's next major metropolitan area.

I learned that Red Deer is the Drummondville of Alberta.


That you should know.

[MolsonExport]

what the hell is honey poo poo?

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Things I've learned from this thread:

3) Regina and Saskatoon don't like each other