Metrication in Canada

While Canada has converted to the metric system for many purposes, there is still significant use of non-metric units and standards in many sectors of the Canadian economy and everyday life.

The metrication of gasoline and diesel fuel sales in 1979 prompted 37 Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament to open a "freedom to measure" gas station in Carleton Place, Ontario, selling gas in both imperial gallons and litres.

Bill Domm, a Member of Parliament representing the riding of Peterborough, was one of the country's most outspoken opponents of metrication.

[9] The election of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1984 resulted in the abolition of the Metric Commission on March 31, 1985.

Poor metrication training was a contributing factor to Air Canada Flight 143, the so-called Gimli Glider, running out of fuel mid-flight on July 23, 1983.

[citation needed] However, imperial measures still have legal definitions in Canada and can be used alongside metric units.

[3] Net quantity declarations on prepackaged products sold to consumers must be stated in metric units.

The railways of Canada such as the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific as well as commuter rail services, continue to measure their trackage in miles and speed limits in miles per hour (although urban railways including subways and light rail have adopted metres and kilometres for distances and kilometres per hour for speed limits).

One area where imperial measures continue to be used, despite official practice, is with respect to human height and weight.

Newborns are measured in kilograms at hospitals, but the birth weight and length is also announced to family and friends in pounds, ounces, feet and inches.

Inside newer buildings, digital and analog thermostats display temperature settings in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Similarly, fast food restaurants (e.g. McDonald's Quarter Pounder) often advertise measurements of food and drink in US customary units, but converted to metric units, because either the containers are made to US standards, or the franchise is US-based and uses a standard size for its products.

In English-speaking Canada commercial and residential spaces are mostly (but not exclusively) constructed using imperial units and advertised accordingly, while in French-speaking Quebec commercial and residential spaces are constructed in metres and advertised using both metric and imperial units as equivalents.

In addition, rural areas in Western Canada (Canadian Prairies) were mapped and segmented using the Dominion Land Survey.

This based most rural roads on a mile measurement which when viewed from the air has the appearance of a checkerboard or grid.

1.25 mi is equal to 100 chains (or 10 furlongs) and it was that sized grid that was used in the original surveys and thus would have been more familiar.

Canada uses an Avery or imperial bushel (36.369 litres) when selling oats, wheat, and other grains.

Trades associated with machine work, such as machinists, automotive, and heavy duty technicians, frequently use both metric and imperial.

Farm and industrial equipment manufactured in Canada will most often use inch system fasteners and structural steel, but fluid capacities are always listed in metric.

Rough timber, drywall, plywood, fasteners, pipes, and tubing are all sold in imperial units.

Nails in hardware stores are measured in inches but sold in metric weight packages.

Electricians in every country use metric units such as volts and amperes, but motors and engines in Canada are still often quoted in horsepower.

Typical terms include bullet or bore diameter, cartridge length or capacity, a proper name or company.

In the manufacture of ammunition, bullet and powder weights are expressed in terms of grains for both metric and imperial cartridges.

Land surveys occurred long before the adoption of metric, using imperial units of length and area.

[40] This marked a departure from previous governments' efforts to make sure that the curriculum used only the metric system.

This was done in light of the refusal or reluctance of much of the private sector to metricate; thus students had been leaving school unprepared for the units used in the workplace.

Many other provinces and territories also include the imperial system of measurements as part of their educational curriculum.