5 Reasons why the Rest of Canada Hates Vancouver Drivers

Canada is the second largest land mass in the world, and driving in this country is like few other places on the face of the planet.

Take for example a road trip east from Vancouver, where your first major metropolis outside of provincial borders is Calgary – 970 kilometres away. Compare this with the same length trip in Europe, where you could easily hit over a dozen countries and hundreds of comparably-sized cities.

This of course offers a range of weather patterns and circumstances across six time zones. That being said, the Canadian winter, and those that have to endure it year in, year out, are bonded by commonality. Yes, it’s cold – and this is a bond that Canadians tend to embrace, and even take pride in.

Unless you live in Vancouver, that is.

In the age-old debate of who qualifies as Canada’s best drivers, location is powerful in determining everything from style to skill level to expense. Vancouver, however, stands alone (even when compared to the rest of BC), and is met with ample eye-rolling from the rest of the country.

Here are the top 5 reasons why most Canadians drivers resent their Vancouver counterparts:

1) Snow? What's that?

A few centimetres of the white stuff on roads in a city like Vancouver can create chaos amongst drivers with little to no experience in true winter driving. Who can forget the time that Vancouver needed to import snow-clearing equipment from Seattle for what most across Canada would classify normal? When it does fall, it usually melts by the next day. Snow on the ground for more than six months is merely a thing that West Coast drivers learn about by watching the national news, and not experience.

2) Smooth sailing - no potholes or road salts

Eastern drivers are highly skilled when it comes to handling snow, slush, ice, black ice, and freezing rain. They also know the costs of annual vehicle maintenance with brutal potholes that destroy axels and alignment, and road-salts that are highly corrosive. In Vancouver, powerful windshield wipers are about the only tool drivers need to brave the damp few months comically referred to as winter.

3) Heating broken? Didn't buy AC? No problem

Vancouver’s range of temperature is 1 degree Celsius on the low end of December and January, and 22 degrees Celsius at its highest in July and August. Contrast this with Winnipeg, which can experience a 47 degree swing (-21 – 26) between January and July, or Montreal, which encounters a range of 41 degrees (-14 – 27) between December and August. Oh, and high humidity is extremely rare, lasting at most a few days.

4) Let's ski, swim and play golf...today

Throughout most of the year, Vancouver offers the proximity of a natural environment that can accommodate all pastime cravings. A dip in the Pacific Ocean, followed by a mid-day round of golf, and a little night skiing is possible. Meanwhile in the rest of Canada, a trip to cottage country, or some world class ski hills, can take hours – for each leg!

5) A luxury vehicle paradise

Year-round driving is mild, making luxury cars an indulgence that is always viable for a cruise. Whether it be congestion in a maze of highways, limited months for driving due to temperature and hazards, or a lack of picturesque drives to truly enjoy your high performance vehicle, the high-end vehicle culture in the east is something that is revered rather than constantly celebrated.