Metrication in Canada
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Canada has converted to the metric system for many purposes. However there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in some sectors of the Canadian economy, mainly due to historical ties with the United Kingdom (prior to its metrication), the traditional use of the Imperial system of measurement units in Canada, and close proximity to the United States.
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[edit] Before conversion
Canada traditionally used the Imperial system of measurement units. These units have the same name but, with the exception of the inch and foot, different values from U.S. customary units. For example, before metrication in Canada, gasoline was sold by the Imperial Gallon (4.5 litres) whereas, south of the border in the U.S., it was sold by the U.S. Gallon (3.8 litres). In cross-border transactions, it was often confusing whether values quoted in pints, gallons, tons, etc. were referring to the U.S. values or the Imperial values of these units.
[edit] Conversion process
The Liberal federal government of Pierre Trudeau first began implementing metrication in Canada in 1970 with a government agency dedicated to implementing the project, the Metric Commission, being established in 1971. By the mid-1970s, metric product labelling was introduced. In 1972, the provinces agreed to make all road signs metric by 1977. There was some resistance to metrication, especially as the sectors of the economy where the federal Weights and Measures Act required metric to be used grew in number. The metrication of gasoline and diesel fuel sales in 1981 prompted 37 Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament to open a "freedom to measure" gas station in Carleton Place, Ontario, selling gas in both Imperial gallons and litres. The small city of Peterborough, Ontario was a noted hotbed of opposition to metric, having been one of the government's three test centres for the metrication process. Bill Domm, a Member of Parliament representing the riding of Peterborough, was one of the country's most outspoken opponents of metrication.
The election of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1984 slowed, and ultimately stalled, metrication in Canada. The Metric Commission was abolished on March 31, 1985 and many regulations requiring metric measurements have either been repealed or are no longer enforced. As a result, Canadians today typically use a mix of metric and Imperial measurements in their daily lives.
Notwithstanding the end of officially-sanctioned metrication in Canada, most laws, regulations, and official forms exclusively use metric measurements. In fact, many imperial measures no longer have a legal definition in Canada. This has resulted in some companies (mainly brewers and bars) promoting "pint" and "quart" sized glasses or bottles, where in reality, they are often significantly less than that.
[edit] Common usage today
Canadians typically discuss the weather in degrees Celsius, purchase gasoline in litres, observe speed limits measured in kilometres per hour, and their road signs and maps measure distances in kilometres. Automobiles have metric speedometers and odometers, although many speedometers also contain a smaller gauge in miles per hour (MPH) for trips to the United States. The Railways of Canada continue to measure their trackage in miles. Canadian railcars show weight figures in both metric and imperial.
Food and many retail products are sold in metric. Some products, however, are sold in Imperial sizes, but labelled in metric units. An example of this is butter, which is sold in a 454-gram package (and labelled as such), even though it represents one pound. This is known as "soft metric" (as opposed to a "hard metric" system, where packages and measures are generally sold in round, even numbers; in a hard metric system, butter would come in a 500 g package). Similarly, fast-food restaurants often advertise measurements of food and drink in US customary units converted to metric units, either because the containers are made to U.S. standards, or the franchise is U.S.-based and uses a standard size for its products, or to make it more difficult for consumers to compare prices between the restaurant's products and those of grocery stores. Thus in Canada a 20 fl. oz (U.S.) bottled soft drink is labelled as 591 ml.
To confuse matters, supermarkets will often advertise foods such as meats and produce "per pound", since such prices may appear lower to consumers than prices advertised by kilogram. However, virtually all supermarket scales are metric, and the products advertised by the pound in a supermarket flyer are inevitably weighed and sold to the customer in the store based on a price "per 100 grams" or "per kilogram".
Similarly, floor space is usually measured in square feet, as a 1500 square foot house may be more appealing to a homebuyer than the same size house that is advertised as 140 square metres. Construction materials, including construction lumber and drywall, continue to be sold in Imperial measurements; retrofitting metric-sized (designed for 400 millimetre centres) wallboard on old 16-inch (406.4 mm) spaced studs can be challenging. Interestingly, however, the zoning by-laws and building codes that govern construction are in metric (as are virtually all official documents), although some building codes will also contain imperial equivalents.
Canadians typically calculate their personal height and weight in feet/inches and pounds respectively, although these measurements are usually converted to metric on official forms. Fahrenheit is typically used for cooking, as are U.S. cooking measurements, although appliances are usually labelled with degrees Celsius as well, and metric cooking measures are widely available. Stationery and photographic prints are sold in sizes based on inches. Not surprisingly, the Canadian Football League continues to play on a field measured in yards.
Free trade with the United States has further complicated matters. Since the United States is Canada's largest trading partner, Canadian exporters and importers must be accustomed to dealing in US customary units as well as metric.
Notwithstanding all of the above, the use of metric or Imperial measurements varies by age and region. For example, some older Canadians persist in using Fahrenheit in discussing temperature, often referring to it as "the old system", despite the virtually exclusive use of degrees Celsius in weather reports. Younger Canadians, in contrast, most of whom have received only metric instruction in school since the early 1970s, are typically more familiar with metric measurements; though traditional units are commonly used for height and weight, and often used for length, a general understanding of traditional units does not generally go much beyond that unless perhaps the user has spent a significant amount of time in the United States. Metric is more widely used in Quebec, whereas the use of Imperial units is more common in rural areas in the rest of the country, where opposition to metrication was strongest, rather than in urban areas.
The use of metric remains a personal choice in Canada. Canadians are exposed to both metric and Imperial units, and is not unusual for there to be references to both feet and metres, acres and hectares, and grams and ounces in the same conversation.
[edit] Health care
In the health care system, SI units dominate (for example, for measurements of blood cholesterol, the units are mmol/l, where they are mg/dl in the United States. Note that while both units are composites of "metric" units, the litre is not an official SI base unit).
[edit] Engineering
Due to the fact that most fasteners, machine parts, pumps, piping, and all building materials are sold in Imperial units or US customary units, engineers in Canada often use Imperial units. As in the US, most prefer to work in metric then convert to Imperial for specification. Canadian engineers are educated in both systems and are keenly aware of the differences between Imperial, US customary, and metric.
[edit] Trades
Trades associated with machine work, such as: machinists, automotive, and heavy duty technicians, frequently use both metric and imperial. Machines made in Canada often incorporate parts from other countries and thus the finished product will have metric and imperial parts on it. Farm and industrial equipment manufactured in Canada will most often use imperial fasteners and structural steel, but fluid capacities are always listed in metric.
Building trades such as plumbing and carpentry use imperial units exclusively. Rough lumber, drywall, plywood, fasteners, pipes, and tubing are all sold in imperial units.
Electricians commonly use metric terms such as volts and amperes, but wire is sized in American wire gauge and conduit in inch diametres.
[edit] Demetrication
In 2005, the Ontario government announced changes to the secondary school math curriculum that would allow imperial units to be taught along with metric units. [1] This marked a huge turn from when the previous governments did everything to make sure that the curriculum only use the metric system. This was done in light of the fact that much of the private sector has either refused or been very slow to metricate, thus many students leaving school found converting their metric knowledge to imperial confusing.
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