Tipping in Canada

Re: sub-minimum wage, it depends on the State. the Federal rule is that you can make $2.13 so long as tips will make up the difference. In some states you have to pay minimum wage and do not get to factor in tips, such as CA. I still tip the same no matter where I am though.

As for drinks, I will tip more depending on the difficulty of making the drink rather than how expensive it is. Like if I am ordering a Mojito for my wife or something. Or if I ask the bartender for change or ask them to do something else extra.
 
- In Canada you tip whatever you want based on how good or bad the service was, but 10-15% seems to be the average
Click to expand...
Except socially you are expected to tip 10-15%. If you don't, even if the service is terrible, you are looked down on as a cheap ass. Even tipping 10% often gives people that impression.
In general it seems you are expected to tip 10-15% for bad service, with increases for better service.

In a bar good tipping definitely has immediate returns.
Click to expand...
Of course, tipping for alcohol is a completely different beast from tipping for food.
I would also note that most provinces where this difference exists (most don't and it varies in amount) it is only for liquer servers. I think Quebec is the only province that defines it more broadly as "workers recieving gratuities". Of course, I am sure there are plenty of employers who fudge it and most restaurants where you would tip also serve liquer.
 
Wow, this guessing the tip thing really looks inconvenient. I'm happy there's no such such custom here in Europe. Tips, only if the service really is exceptional, or if we're cerebrating something and have cause to throw more money around.

But, I'm starting to wonder, is that really so all over Europe, or does in vary from country to country? And are people supposed to tip everywhere in North America, or is it a regional thing also?
 
Another view I once heard expressed: tip based on how long you were there. If you're in and out in 15 minutes, you can cut your tip down; the wait staff has plenty of opportunity to sit more customers and earn more in the same time frame.

If you're there as a social thing for an hour or three, then up that tip significantly if the service was good; the staff could have earned far more by ignoring you.
 
In Australia I tip cabbies (usually) and restaurants if the food was decent or I was in a large group.

Tipping isn't a big thing here, but we have higher minimum wages than basically any other country you people are talking about, so yeah.
 
innonimatu said:
Wow, this guessing the tip thing really looks inconvenient. I'm happy there's no such such custom here in Europe. Tips, only if the service really is exceptional, or if we're cerebrating something and have cause to throw more money around.
But, I'm starting to wonder, is that really so all over Europe, or does in vary from country to country? And are people supposed to tip everywhere in North America, or is it a regional thing also?
Click to expand...
In Germany it is a custom to give 5% tips to waitresses/other people serving you food(+drinks), more is appreciated though. When it comes to deliver pizza service or something, more is custom. But I feel like there isn't any actually strong code of conduct, but rather in reality tips are very individual in their realization. There certainly is no comparison to the general importance of tips and its social enforcement in the US.

In the USA, it is my understanding and experience that you are supposed to tip everywhere. In deed, there are places where the tip is a sort of mandatory part of the overall price.

To illustrate with an anecdote: A friend of my family went to New York, totally estranged to the US-American tip-culture and especially estranged having grown up in Communist East Germany I imagine. When at a restaurant, he wanted to pay the basic price of a meal and didn't care or know about any demands for tips. However, the restaurant seemed to have a policy of strictly demanding 15% tips, which he was not prepared to pay after the meal for he had not seen a note of this additional financial markon on the menu. Being a good German concerned with the order of things, he hence refused to pay any tip on demand. Which resulted in him leaving, while some employee of the restaurant was following him and harassing him. But he stood his ground. ;)

Is there a strong tip culture in the UK? In Australia it seems no.
 
Tipping's more common here than it once was, but yeah, not a norm.
 
I always tip well when I'm in Canada. I figure I'm traveling, so what the hell.
 
SiLL said:
However, the restaurant seemed to have a policy of strictly demanding 15% tips, which he was not prepared to pay after the meal for he had not seen a note of this additional financial markon on the menu.
Click to expand...

These places are dumb; I refuse to tip anything over the required amount, which is generally less than I would otherwise.
 
Here's a tangential question about tipping: why is tipping done as a percentage of the total bill, rather than some fixed dollar value? Why should a waiter at a cheap diner not make the same tips as a waiter at a fancy restaurant? I understand why it makes sense from a business perspective, but why did society decide to go along with that?
 
Has the USA followed the Brits in tipping ? which I understand comes from the British class system, ie charity to the working class .
You will notice it is the working class only who are expected to make their money from charity with a few exceptions

Neither NZ nor Aus have a habit of tipping, our argument, you are not competent to run a business that pays your workers a living wage, what are you doing trying to run it.
 
warpus said:
So.. Why the hell do I tip waiters here in Canada 15% then? I was under the impression that these guys were making $2 an hour (like in the U.S.) and relying on my tips for a decent wage.

Sure, the "standard" tip in the U.S. is supposed to be 20% while here it is 10%-15% or so, but.. again.. if these guys are making at least minimum wage before tips, why am I tipping them such a large amount? In the U.S. I can understand, these guys need tips to get by.. but here? In my mind the whole reason for tipping is because the waiter basically doesn't get paid by the establishment and relies on tips to make a living.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I don't know about other states, but here in California minimum wage is $8.00 period (plus tips if applicable).

And the rule of thumb is to tip double the tax of the total (around %15), any higher or lower you're sending a message to the server.
 
wilycoyote said:
I have never had the guts to tip 0% (or less than 10%) even when I receive terrible service. I commend you! I'm just a wimp, I guess.
Click to expand...

I too can never bring myself to tip 0%, unless it's unimaginably terrible service like the server being extremely rude or downright insulting.

The last haircut I got was THEE worst haircut I have ever had in my life, but I still ended up tipping her $5 for a $15 haircut -___-
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Klaus Hergersheimer
Drugs and the US market
4 5 6
Replies
112
Views
5K
Hygro
Hygro
EgonSpengler
Tourist-spotting, visitors from (seemingly) other worlds, etc.
Replies
15
Views
2K
Valka D'Ur
Valka D'Ur
Zardnaar
Rich Dad Poor Dad: Problems
2
Replies
36
Views
4K
Farm Boy
Farm Boy
Birdjaguar
General News Regarding Japan and Korea
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
Takhisis
Takhisis
Zardnaar
Jobs Then And Now?
Replies
2
Views
743
Zardnaar
Zardnaar
Back
Top Bottom