A Canadiano, a Date-Almond Dream, and the State of the Coffee Shop Nation—Eh?

I’ve been a coffee guy for a while now. I couldn’t tell you exactly when my taste for Americanos took hold—probably when I moved to Toronto and started calling jeans “denim.” But I’ve got receipts (embarrassingly public ones) from my university days circa 2011, ordering a large dark roast from Timmies with one cream and two sugars, like clockwork. Classic student fuel.

Fast forward to now, and I’ve discovered a new kind of magic: 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters in Vancouver. They make this unreal almond milk sweetened with date juice—pure West Coast wizardry. Try it with an Americano (or, let’s be patriotic, a Canadiano) and one of their gourmet doughnuts. Your taste buds will thank you. Your waistband, maybe not so much.

And speaking of waistbands, let’s just say our recent stint working out of Brambles Bakery & Cafe—undisputedly the best bakery in Canada (no bias, except for the very obvious bias)—has left me carrying around a few extra croissants. Sausage rolls? Worth it. Regrets? None.

But here’s the real reason I’m telling you all this: I love coffee. I love coffee shops. And yes, I’m a little soft in the middle right now. It’s fine. That’s what parkas are for.

So, what are we actually doing in all these coffee shops? Besides consuming our weight in baked goods? Writing. Always writing. Coffee is the official fuel of words, after all. As I type this, I’m nestled into a well-worn vintage couch at the back of In the Beantime in Ladysmith, B.C. (Yes, Canada is rich in coffee shops with punny names. We even have some stuck on the side of our van. No shame.)

This summer, Lisa and I criss-crossed the country—from Fredericton, NB to Nanaimo, BC—chasing down the best java joints Canada has to offer. And while we didn’t hit even half of them (sorry, Regina), we picked up a few tips on the state of Canada’s café culture.

Here’s what we learned:

1. Wifi + Coffee = Digital GoldI’d say about 90% of espresso-slinging cafés have wifi. Is that an exact stat? Not at all. It’s straight from my national BS broadcaster (a.k.a., my brain), but it tracks. For digital nomads like us, that’s a solid win.

2. Work Gets Done HereYou can spot the freelancers by the glow of their MacBooks. In big cities like Toronto, Halifax, and Vancouver, cafés double as boardrooms. We’ve seen staff meetings, job interviews, and even the occasional awkward disciplinary chat over cappuccinos. It’s weird, but also kind of impressive. The café has become the new corner office—with better muffins.

3. Coffee Shops Are Community HubsA city’s heartbeat often pulses loudest from its most beloved café. Over the last decade, Canada’s downtowns have started to bounce back. Local pride is trending, and cafés are right in the thick of it—selling everything from handmade mugs to local honey. You’ll find folks swapping stories, tourists discovering hidden gems, and artists hanging their prints between shelves of biscotti. It’s more than coffee—it’s connection.

4. Tipping Is Part of the Ritual NowBack in the day, tipping at a coffee shop wasn’t really a thing. Now? The debit machine asks politely, and we’re here for it. Having worked service jobs ourselves, we’re all for showing a little love to the baristas who make our mornings better. Honestly, if you’ll tip the bartender who pours your overpriced bourbon, you can tip the person who just turned steamed milk into art.

5. The Seating Scramble Is RealIn trendy hotspots and tourist towns, good luck finding a seat past 10 a.m. Every chair has a laptop, every outlet a charger. Some cafés even cut off wifi during rush hours or cap your screen time. Fair enough—owners have rent to pay, after all. We’ve learned to swoop in during that sweet post-lunch lull. Pro tip: 2:30 p.m. is golden hour for the caffeinated and unplugged.

So here’s to the coffee shops of Canada—the cozy, the quirky, the caffeine-soaked corners of creativity. Whether you’re sipping a Canadiano in a quiet nook or juggling deadlines over a maple latte, one thing’s for sure: this country knows how to do coffee right.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a maple-glazed doughnut calling my name. Loudly.