I unusually travel into British Columbia every now and then to get
my filling of metric. Too bad the west is less metric than the
east. I do remember everything was metric that I saw in Toronto.
In short. I saw several things that were non-metric in BC. Acres,
pounds in grocery stores, and occasionally people using non metric
measurements when they find out that I am from the US. I usually
respond in metric... "I will have the 500 ml beer."
I did find a choice Celsius only thermometer at Canadian Tire in BC.
To American visitors Canada would appear very metric. Especially since
the highway signs are all metric, gasoline is sold and priced by the
litre,
weather information is mostly always reported in metric units, and
dairy products are sold in metric units.
But there's still a lot of non-metric or hidden non-metric measurements.
Products sold in packages that are 454 g, 3.78 L, usually when they
are either from the US or manufactured in Canada for both the US
and Canadian markets. There are other products sold in hard metric
sizes, of course. Produce and meats are officially sold and
labeled in metric, but the price per pound is usually (not always)
displayed - and much more prominently too. Deli meats on the other
hand are usually requested in grams. In Toronto, office
space is rented per square footage, and home sizes are listed
in square feet.
There are more examples, of course. Still, to someone who is not used
to seeing so much metric, Canada probably seems to be very metricated.
There's still a long way to go, though.
