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People on the internet are debating the Canadian versions of popular U.S. cities

Natalia Buia
Natalia Buia
|
Sep 10 2026, 5:18 pm
People on the internet are debating the Canadian versions of popular U.S. cities
LisaBourgeault/Shutterstock

Canada and the U.S. have long been compared on just about everything, from politics to food and, naturally, which country has the better cities.

This week, one Canadian X user took the comparison a step further, sparking a debate online over which side of the border does it better.

Toronto user @umeshjj7 went viral after posting a tongue-in-cheek list of Canadian cities he says are the “upgrades” of certain U.S. cities. The post drew more than 1,000 combined comments and reposts since it went up on Sept. 8.

Some of his comparisons are familiar ones. New York City and Toronto are often mentioned in the same breath for their shared size, diversity, financial influence and thriving entertainment industries. Los Angeles and Vancouver also have plenty in common, including their bustling film scenes, proximity to the ocean, and love for sushi.

But as the list goes on, the Canadian choices become more peculiar to online users.

Is Halifax our version of Miami?

“Both are coastal port cities,” the original poster explained on X after enough angry comments came in.

Others online seemed to be bothered by different comparisons.

Though they had escaped the clutches of online slander, someone in Kelowna, B.C., entered the chat.

At this point, others chimed in to offer their own hilarious comparisons, including Oshawa, Ont., as our version of Cleveland, Ohio.

Someone even bravely declared Montreal is a lot more comparable to New York City than Toronto.

The largest city in Alberta took a bit of a hit.

Not every response was a snarky one.

In fact, one person even agreed with at least one of the comparisons.

Another user on X commended @umeshjj7 on his “good sentiment.”

But a lot of replies looked like this:

At the end of the day, the X user who started this now-viral list certainly has a lot of people talking about Canada, right? We’d call that a win.

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