Hi Lobo, yessiree .shoe removing is second nature here! If one is attending a party where shoes are part of the overall "look" people either bring "indoor shoes" or wear a hole in the welcome mat and invite at least two other guests and the hostess to inspect...at which point the hostess says not to be silly (meaning "they had better be clean after I spent a week getting this place spotless for this party" LOL What are we like, eh? M

It was always the case with my family and friends in NS that you removed your shoes when you came in. Most people here in Montreal do it too, but not everyone. As Mora said, dress shoes for a party or dinner are fine, as long as they're clean. The default is you remove outdoor shoes unless you are told to keep them on.

My parents have lived in Florida for the past eight years, and it's very uncommon there to remove your shoes when entering a house. I have a bunch of cousins down there too, and one of them married a guy that is insistent on having guests remove their shoes. People consider it very odd that he askes this. My mum would love it if people would remove their shoes, but is too old fashioned polite to ask them. She just mutters after everyone has gone about the mess :-)

I don't really care about our floors being marked up or scratched anymore - the place needs new flooring throughout, but I'm not going to ask the landlord to fix them because the rent will go up a lot. But we still have a shoes off policy because I don't want dirt and dog crap tracked in. Having shoe trays full of shoes by the door helps to give the message :-)

BP

I would imagine that this 'Canadian custom' comes from our winters since tracking boots in the house during that season is simply not acceptable. I can only imagine if my siblings and I (9 of us) had been allowed to keep our boots in the house... What a mess!! Mother would not have been pleased.

But on nice dry days in other seasons, we were not required to take our shoes/sneakers off.

I'm Asian and you'd probably think shoe removal is a custom from where I came from. It's not actually. We wear our normal walking shoes in the general high traffic areas - even to our bedrooms. Interestingly enough I encountered the shoe removal culture only here in Canada. And the most obvious reasons is how the homes were built. The larger the homes, the more solid flooring, the less need for shoe removal. The smaller homes, the type of flooring (wooden and carpeted), are the likely culprits. Wall to wall carpeting is not as common back there. It is here. It accumulates dirt fast and is far more difficult to clean. It was common sense to remove street shoes at the entrance and to change to slippers when entering one's home. You track in less dirt. Back home, the floors were made of very solid materials like tiles, cement, or even marble. It was easier to clean and even when made muddy or wet, it didn't harm the floors. In Japan where the practice of shoe removal is very entrenched, you find homes made primarily of wood and usually very tiny. Dirt simply accumulates faster if you do not take that extra step.

Ianna

I wish i new,but i hope it is not a Canadian culture thing from aestethic reason and hygienic reason.I do not think it is a Canadian custom.I personally wouldn't dare take my shoes off Usually i visit my friends wearing dress shoes.When i must walk on snow i wear boots,then i carry with me my dress shoes and change if i am allowed.I do not allow people to take theirs shoes off.Me and my family ware house shoes around the house.Never touch the floor with bare feet.

This is an interesting topic to me

I am Canadian, retired now
My family have always removed shoes

But as someone mentioned in the U.S. at least in Florida, people seem to be offended if you take your shoes off when entering their house

I have a home there the past seven years. In a retirement community

Several Canadians there and they are getting easy about the subject, as am I. It is kind of funny though, that when an American comes to visit, or a group of them they all take off their shoes even though I say or we say, Oh, now, that's okay.

Then they still take their shoes off

When a Canadian though goes to one of the American owned homes, we now try to leave our shoes on, and they say, the Americans that is, Oh, you can take your shoes off, if you feel that you should.

So, whatever the custom or whatever it is about. It seems people do want to please one another and go with what the home owner will be happy about

Torontonian here. Not going to sound off or anything, because I really could, but I would like to point out it's a custom that's more controversial than it appears. We could call it the no-shoe debate. I, for instance, dislike the custom, although I always take my shoes off anyway to avoid displeasing the host, unless I have an established rapport with the host where I know he/she doesn't care. I've taken my shoes off my whole life, and I didn't used to care, but in recent years I've just come to view the practice as tremendously tedious and time consuming. I don't even prohibit shoes from my bedroom these days. It's just so easy to sweep the dirt up, it's really not a problem for me.

It's often a necessity in the north. Many remote communities do not have paved roads (or walks), and the likelihood of tracking snow and/or mud in is high throughout the year. I've actually had judges yell at me in the NWT for wearing dress shoes (they were clean) in the courtroom; socks were completely acceptable in that setting. Even some of the court buildings In which I work in northern Alberta politely request visitors to take their shoes off. Few people do it here, though.

it arose naturally because of the way homes were built. It basically has become a Canadian custom. Home are smaller, have fine wood floors, carpeted areas, no mudrooms. Makes sense to leave dirty shoes by the entry and not track them around the house. also many floors easily shows scratches and marks left by heels. We just seem to go by what types of homes we have. Also I believe it shows respect for the home owners. Tracking dirt inside the house would mean more work for the people living in it. In our rushed lifestyle additional housework would be irritating to many.

BTW A good host would provide you with slippers to use.

this is kind of interesting I am a |Canadian \for the past 16 winters \i have spent about five months of the year in \Florida I am in a community where we socialize back and forth often over the years.. in one anothers homes |||||||At first if \Canadians went to a home of people from United States we would take our shoes off upon entering and they would say leave your shoes on. If an American came to a Canadian house they left their shoes on and there where some unspoken feelings on that Not long after though we got it talked about so now it seems often that if Americans come to a ||Canadian home, respectfully they take their shoes off. even now with protest, oh no just leave them on. And if we come into a American home we try to leave shoes on, sometimes though still take them off I do think none the less it is good to take your shoes off. Who knows all that we step on when outside.

It varies, but typically.

I’ve lived in Canada my whole life, its not really a tradition, it’s just polite. I would rather deal with smelly feet that aren't really in my face then having to take out the broom or vacuum and clean again. Shoes also make more noise, which is really annoying. Although when it comes to parties and fancy dinners there’s usually a indoor set of shoes that haven’t touched the outside ground. My family uses “do we live in America?” “Are you American?” As a slight insult when someone walks through the house with shoes on.

I’m born and raised Canadian. I’ve lived in Alberta & BC and have visited many places across Canada, the US & Mexico. Im not sure I would say it’s a “Canadian Custom” but rather a “respect” thing. Growing up on an acreage, I was taught to remove my shoes at the door of anyone’s house out of respect for the homeowner & their house. I’d like to mention the size of someone’s house had nothing to do with this, nor did the flooring within the house. My parents had hardwood & laminate flooring in the whole house with the exception of our bedrooms which were carpeted. Even in the summer my dad wouldn’t allow flip-flops to be worn into the house. It wasn’t just about tracking dirt through the house... my parents had me do floors in the house as I got older and I came to understand the reasoning behind shoe removal. After sweeping, vacuuming and washing over 1800 sq. Ft of house I didn’t particularly want anyone walking on my hard work with dirty shoes. Now, as an adult with 2 teenagers, 3 dogs and 2 cats I live in the City. My house has NO Carpet, but my kids were taught to remove their shoes at the door of any house unless they’ve been told otherwise. In the summer, I’m not as strict with shoes but come fall, winter & spring I am. We vacuum our floors on a daily basis and they get mopped every 2nd day. This would be done regardless of having pets. I’ve taught my children about the cost of living, the cost of replacement and their responsibility to keep things intact. If my husband or I went into someone’s home and wore dress shoes that scratched their hardwood floor or damaged property in someone’s home I would be responsible for that damage. It wouldn’t be “Right” for me to say, “oh well, it’s just a floor.” Or “Oops, sorry I broke your vase.” The proper thing would be to help fix the damage I did or replace the item I broke. If someone came into my home and damaged my flooring I wouldn’t be very happy paying out of my pocket to fix damage done by someone else.

I have family in B.C. who don’t mind if your shoes are on as long as they’re not dirty, they won’t scratch or destroy the flooring and it has to be dry outside. If it’s been raining, shoes aren’t allowed in and you are asked to leave your wet shoes at the door. However, at my Oma’s place shoes are off regardless and she wasn’t born and raised Canadian, nor was my close friend from Israel or my other who was raised in the US.

Canadians are a huge mix of various ethnicities, cultural, religious, financial backgrounds from all over the world.

Simply put, I think most Canadians show more respect to one-another, are more respectful of our neighbours and have more respect for their property.

Many Americans say that they don't take their shoes off because the floor is dirty. Must have been Americans that preceded them that dirtied it up. They complain that their feet stink. Well they wouldn't if you changed socks everyday, showered everyday, and didn't keep your shoes on all day long.

I have always taken my shoes off. I seldom, if ever have had a Canadian guest come in to my home who doesn't take their shoes off or gosture to do so. It is definitely customary and expected

Canadian here. We have big-time seasons. Especially winter. Because of this our houses, both back and front doors need to have a quite roomy "vestibule" where we can put coats, take off winter boots. But so many houses do not have this, which has always puzzled and annoyed me. In the summer we never removed shoes. In winter we had to remove boots. And the place to remove them was about a yard square (sorry, don't know metric yet) usually near the basement stairs where you could fall down so easily. Hence the aforementioned need for an actual fairly large lobby/vestibule/mudroom.

Probably because few houses have such a place, we don't think of removing shoes. Certainly not in summer.