Do you consider yourself a law-abiding citizen? You may have broken one of the Weird Canadian Laws without ever realizing it.
You’d be astonished to learn what is illegal in Canada. In 2012, for example, a Toronto businessman discovered that he needed a food license to sell edible underwear in his “sexual entertainment” store. The bylaw was later overturned, but there are many other odd Canadian regulations you probably aren’t aware of. Here’s a list of offenses that could get you in hot water in some country sections.
Keep your liquor at home.
The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (which dates back to the days of prohibition and bootleggers) states that you can only legally transport a bottle of liquor from one province to another with the consent of the provincial liquor control board. The situation altered on May 28th, 2012, allowing you to legally transport wine but little else. I guess your days of moonshining are finished, hey boys?
Get out of here, margarine! – Weird Canadian Laws
Few people recall that until 1995, it was illegal to sell butter-colored margarine in Ontario due to dairy farmers’ campaigning. From 1886 to 1948, margarine was completely prohibited in Canada. (There was a brief reprieve during World War I.)
Don’t use too much change!
While it is not illegal, the quantity of coins you can use in a transaction is limited by Canada’s Currency Act of 1985. Are you collecting nickels now that we’ve abolished the penny? Regarding nickels, sellers can refuse purchases over $5, whereas the loonie limit is $25.
Caffeine in non-dark soft drinks was prohibited.
Sprite, Mountain Dew, and other non-dark soft drinks couldn’t previously include caffeine, but that all changed in March 2010 with the introduction of “energetic drinks” like Redbull. Caffeine is now available in soft drinks such as orange and grape soda—but there is a limit, and it is still lower than in colas.
In Toronto, you can’t just jump in the lake – Weird Canadian Laws
Swimming is prohibited anyplace in the harbor that has not been authorized as a swimming area by the City of Toronto, according to the Toronto Port Authority. Keep this in mind if you’re out on a boat and want to cool off. Historically, swimming in Toronto Harbour in “unseemly” apparel was also prohibited. According to travel writer Mark Stevens, when the beach at Hanlon’s Point in the Toronto Islands became known as a nude beach, this bylaw authorized police to penalize skinny dippers. That bylaw has now been changed, and you can now swim in the buff if you are at the nudist area of the beach.
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