Poutine, Timbits and more: 20 typical Canadian foods to try | ImmigraCan
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Typical Canadian foods — poutine, tourtière, butter tarts, Nanaimo bar, ketchup chips, Kraft Dinner. What to try and where to find each one.
Canadian cuisine is underrated. There's a lot of English, French, and Indigenous influence — mixed with unique regional adaptations. Here are 20 foods to try when you arrive.
Iconic savory dishes
1. Poutine (Quebec) — French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. The original version is simple; today there are dozens of variations (with pulled pork, mushrooms, tofu).
2. Tourtière (Quebec) — Ground meat pie (pork and/or veal) with spices. A Christmas tradition.
3. Montreal-style bagel — Smaller, denser, and sweeter than the New York bagel. Baked in a wood-fired oven. Boiled in honey water.
4. Montreal smoked meat — Beef dry-cured and smoked for 8 days. Served in a sandwich on rye bread with yellow mustard. Iconic spot: Schwartz's Deli.
5. Peameal bacon (Ontario) — Canadian bacon rolled in yellow cornmeal. Served in a sandwich with mustard. Iconic spot: St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.
6. Beavertails (Ottawa) — Flattened fried dough, topped with cinnamon sugar, Nutella, or fruit. Common at skating rinks and winter festivals.
7. Butter tarts (Ontario) — A mini pie made with butter, egg, and brown sugar. Semi-liquid filling. A heated debate: with raisins or without?
8. Nova Scotia lobster rolls — A hot dog bun filled with lobster in light mayonnaise. Simple and delicious.
9. Fish and chips (especially in British Columbia) — Fried fish (halibut or cod) with French fries. British heritage.
10. Split pea soup / Habitant — A French-Canadian soup made with dried yellow split peas and a ham hock.
Sweets and desserts
11. Nanaimo bar (BC) — A three-layer dessert: a base of cookie crumbs, coconut, and cocoa, a custard layer, and a chocolate topping. No baking required.
12. Butter tart — Already mentioned, but it deserves a second mention. Worth seeking out at local bakeries.
13. Maple taffy (tire d'érable) — Maple syrup heated and poured over clean snow, then rolled onto a stick. Only available in winter.
14. Timbits (Tim Hortons) — Donut holes. Flavors: sour cream glazed, chocolate glazed, birthday cake, honey dip.
15. Ketchup chips — Ketchup-flavored potato chips. Practically nonexistent outside Canada.
16. All-dressed chips — An "everything" flavor — ketchup, BBQ, onion, and salt. Unique to Canada.
Typical drinks
17. Caesar — A cocktail made with vodka, Clamato (tomato and clam juice), Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Born in Calgary in 1969. Especially popular at brunch.
18. Maple syrup — Not just for pancakes. Used in vinaigrettes, meat glazes, coffee. Quebec produces 70% of the world's maple syrup.
19. Molson Canadian, Labatt Blue, Moosehead — Iconic national beers (though most Canadians today prefer craft beer).
20. Tim Hortons "double-double" — Coffee with 2 sugars and 2 creams. Informal slang.
Unique regional ingredients
- Bakeapple / cloudberry (NL) — an orange berry that only grows in subarctic bogs
- Screech rum (NL) — rum imported from the Caribbean and bottled in Newfoundland
- Solomon Gundy (NS) — pickled herring with vinegar and onion
- Ice wine (ON, BC) — wine made from grapes harvested frozen. World production is concentrated in Canada
- Bison / caribou (in practically any western or northern province) — wild game served at fine-dining restaurants
- Wild salmon (BC) — far superior to farmed salmon
Where to try it without spending too much
- St. Lawrence Market (Toronto) — peameal bacon, cheese, fish, sweets
- Jean-Talon Market (Montreal) — Quebec products, poutine, tourtière
- Granville Island Market (Vancouver) — seafood, artisanal goods
- ByWard Market (Ottawa) — beavertails, local products
- Tim Hortons on any corner — timbits and a "double-double"
- Costco food court — a large poutine for under CAD 6
For Brazilians
Some Brazilian products are hard to find (guaraná, farofa, pão de queijo). But there are Brazilian stores in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Many Brazilian ingredients arrive via imported grocery stores in Latin American neighborhoods.
Next steps
Curious about the cost of living (including food)? Check out our calculator by city — grocery prices vary quite a bit between provinces.
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*This content is informational and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. ImmigraCan is not affiliated with the Government of Canada or IRCC. Always confirm official data at canada.ca and, for your specific case, consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or specialized lawyer.*