“O Canada! Our home and native land!” These words comprise the first line in the English version of Canada’s national anthem. Our American readers may not know this, but Perka has strong ties to Canada. In fact, you could say that we, as a company, were born there! Our founder certainly was! Today, we’ll take a glance at some fun facts about Canada and discover how that country has influenced Perka in the past and how it continues to inspire us.

Did you know? Canada has two official languages: English and French. (Certains d’entre nous parlent français. Parlez-vous Francais?)  Interestingly, New Brunswick is the only province that “officially” speaks both. Quebec is predominatnly French, and all the rest of the provinces technically moslty speak English. 

Speaking of English, did you know that the entire United Kingdom could fit into Canada over 40 times? It makes sense, however, because Canada is one of the largest countries in the world in terms of land mass, second only to Russia.

On a completely different note, Canada Day (the Canadian national holiday celebrating its original birthday much like Independence Day for the United States) is almost upon us! It is celebrated every year on the first day of July. 

And while there is no official national hockey day, as one might expect, there is an annual national hockey event. Hockey is considered the national sport, but golf. lacrosse and soccer are also very popular. 

Of course, to fuel all that sporting, Canadians need to produce and consume a great deal of food. They, in fact, eat more macaroni and cheese than any other country in the world. Also, contrary to popular opinion, Hawaiian pizza was actually invented in Canada. And instead of calling the lean cut of pork “Canadian bacon”, Canadians actually call it “back bacon”.  So many very interesting anecdtes of a culture that is generally calm, poised and invariably free.   

Now, let’s return back to the original purpose of today’s article: how Canada influenced our company and continues to do so each day.

To begin with, Perka was started by a “born and raised” Canadian, Ed Thevenot. Moreover, all of our skilled metalworkers are certified by the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB), meaning that your structure has been built to satisfy the highest standards.  The American Welding Association (AWA) recognizes the CWB for all its certification requirements.   So it made perfect sense to get the CWB inspections and attestations as it automatically provided for American requirements as well.

(And if you haven’t purchased from us yet but are planning to, then your building will still be completed to the highest standards.) Not only do we have Canadian connections and certifications, but we also have a Canadian locations and representatives for the procurement of Perka Products all across Canada. In fact “Uncle Tom” has been with the family business since the early 80’s and at 75 years young he is still serving fellow Canadians with some of the best buildings in the continent!!  (A legitimate international company, we are!) 

Of course, if you, like many of our readers, don’t live in Canada, you can follow this link and find a dealer near you! And feel free to contact us. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about Perka (or Canada, too!).  You may want to try some Poutine, or Beaver Tails (just a couple of some of the more famous Canadian specialties).   Thank you and Sorry if this took a little longer to read…  but have a great day, eh?!  CHEERS!