Cultural and Social Differences between India and Canada

This report explores the cultural and social differences between India and Canada, focusing on aspects such as religion, marriage, and work culture. It discusses the differences in beliefs, values, and norms, highlighting the contrasting approaches to marriage, gender roles, and work-life balance. The report also examines the impact of religion on daily life and the influence of cultural traditions on social interactions.

Running Head: Sociology
Sociology
Report
System04104
4/3/2019

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Introduction
Culture and society differ from one country to another country and it is universal truth
that no culture can be the same. Even I can say that culture, norms, religion, and values of
people also differ from one region to another region. The same concept applies to Indian and
western culture. A few years back, I moved to Canada from India and I saw and experience
various cultural and social differences between these two countries. The Indian culture differs
in many aspects from the western-culture, such as cultural differences, family relations,
religion, marital life, working style, clothing, and social life etc. (Patel, 2014). The present
work shows the social and cultural differences between India and Canada.
The cultural difference between India and Canada
Indian culture is known as the oldest culture in the world while Western culture is
known as the modern culture. People in India mostly believe in religious aspects of life and
share a strong bonding with other family members. People in India share a great bonding
among family members whereas it is absent in the Canadian culture. Indian people normally
believe in a joint family relationship while the Canadian people believe in small family units.
I observed from my experience in both the countries that Canada and India have
different culture and living style. One of the major cultural differences in Canada and India
can be experienced in the form of openness. I experience that the Canadian people are more
open in compare to the Indian people. Although, social mixing is a common part of the
western lifestyle, but these things are not approved in the Indian culture. If I consider the
dressing style, the Indian culture is not known for revealing dresses while it is more common
in the western dressing style where people wears more revealing dresses than Indian people.
When I moved to Canada, I experience that people may become fiend very soon here and
they are more friendly, but they cannot take it as a commitment. A person takes some time to
committed to another person, but in Indian, people become committed very soon and they are
taking too much time to friendly with other person or with an unknown person. The Indian
people are very shy in nature and having low esteem of their skills while in Canada, people
have a high esteem of their skills and they openly admit their skills in public. However,
Indian people want some other people or source to boost their own skills. If we considered
the status of women in the Indian and Canadian culture, it can be said that women are treated

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equally with male in western culture, while in India Gender inequality is still a major
problem.
Work Culture Differences
Work culture is also different between India and Canada. Work culture can be
determined as the rules and regulations, policies, value, beliefs, and traditions of the
organisation and it is very much inspired by the local culture, norms, and standards of people.
I have observed that my father is working in Indian Railways and he is only permitted a
single holiday in the week. Indian companies mostly prefer six days of working in a week,
while in Canada and other Western countries, people are used to working only five days in a
week and they enjoy remaining two days of the week with their family members. Although,
in the era of globalisation and technological advancement made the business enterprises to
work across the borders in various countries. This helps in providing a cross-cultural
environment to both the organisation and employees (Tindall, 2014).
A decade ago, the work culture in India was vast different in compare to other
countries like USA, Japan, and Canada etc. Especially, Canadian and American business
organisations provide a large number of opportunities and facilities to its employees, but in
India, working conditions were not as suitable as Canada and other western countries have.
However, now a paradigm shifts due to enormous growth in IT and BPO's sector in India,
where due to globalisation and technological advancement people are working across the
border (Mudey, Ambekar, Goyal, Agarekar, & Wagh, 2011).
In Canada, people are more adhere to the work timings and they are very punctual.
People work eight hours in a day and also attend the meetings on time. I have experienced
that one of my friend Raman has to join an urgent meeting in his company, but he arrived at
meeting one hour late. I have observed that people in India are not very punctual but they are
hardworking people. The Indian people are normally found to be late in the office. Although,
Indian people are usually working 10-12 hours in a day and sometimes it has been seen that
people are working on weekends as well. People always negotiate about the extension of
deadlines and sometimes, scheduled meetings are cancelled due to the absence of key person
(Coward, Hinnells, & Williams, 2012).
One major difference between the working cultures of these two countries is the
work-life balance. People in Canada give more importance to their personal life and do not

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carry work pressure or stress to home. However, in India people are usually working day and
night in the office and losing the work-life balance. Indian gives more value to their works
than that of their personal life and they have also a sense of ownership in their assigned jobs.
Apart from this, it has been seen that Indians do not accept the change easily and an
organisation has to encounter lots of resistance in order to implement a change in the
organisation, but in Canada, people are more adaptive and conducive to change
implementation (Brubaker, 2013).
Religious Differences between India and Canada
As a Hindu, I always wonder why my mother praying to different Gods on different
days. India is known for its diversity in all over the world. India has more than 300 languages
and has a deeply religious society and culture. In recent times, religious beliefs, culture, and
values has attained increasing importance within a liberal democratic society. The liberal
societies support religious freedom and protect individual rights. Both India and Canada are
democratic countries and allow people to live freely and enjoy their rights in the country.
Religion is a different monarchy of social and personal life (Macionis, Benoit, & Jansson,
2000). Both India and Canada are known for their multicultural and the number of religious
places. The majority of the population in India are Hindus, but there are significant numbers
of people from other religions as well such as Muslim, Christian, Sikhs, Buddhists, etc.
However, these people are living together in India and treating each community member as a
brother despite being cultural and religious differences. However, In Canada, the numbers of
Christians are more than any other religions. Religious practices are an integral part of daily
life and its roots were dating from 2001500 B.C.E. Vedas and Upanishads are the holy boos
of Hinduism whereas in Canada people believe in Bible, which is holy book of the Christian
community. If we consider Canada, the majority of people belong to the Christian religion
and praying to one God while the Hindus in India praying many Gods and every people
believe in many Gods. Although, Canada has also a diverse culture because a large number of
people migrated from other countries including India (Guo, 2011). All though, if we consider
the religious differences between these two countries then we found that a large number of
people believe in old tradition and culture in India, while the Canadian people adopt new
changes and more modern and open in compare to Indian people.

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Marriage Differences in India and Canada
Once I invite my friend Mr John in India to enjoy an Indian wedding. I thought it
might be fun for him but he was totally surprised to see the wedding ceremony in India and
told me that it was totally a different style of marriage ceremony and culture. He told me that
this wedding culture and process is very different in from his culture in which he raised. I told
him that the main differences between Indian and Canadian cultures were religion, marriage,
and social interaction.
In the cultural view, there are many differences and similarities between Indian and
Canadian culture, but the greatest difference is marriages. In Canada once can marry as they
wish and to whom they wish. However, this is not possible in India. People in India are more
conservative than Canada. People follow the traditional approach even in the metropolitan
city in India. The love and affection in the public area are not allowed and in rural areas, it is
treated as the un-cultured activity. However, in Canada, people can easily show their love and
affection in public areas (Siapera, 2010). In modern time, most of the people believe in
arrange marriage. People think in India that marriage is fixed by God and it should be done
according to the religious culture and rituals. People do not support love marriage or even
court marriage is not popular in India. People follow the religious rituals and cultural
tradition for marriage and invite the people in a marriage function. One of the major problem
or stereotype in India that in rural areas, people still they do not ask the girl about her choice
rather girl has to accept the choice of his family as her life partner. Despite being, the
happiness level after marriage life in India is more than Canada (Almond, Edlund, &
Milligan, 2013). The rate of divorce is also very less in India in comparison to Canada.
People in India believe in single marriage and an unbreakable marriage relationship.
Especially in the Hindu religion, a person strictly believes in a single relationship and
marriage and they follow it until last breath. People are more committed and loyal to their
relationship. It results in very few divorce cases in India. However, in Canada people are not
bound to a single marriage concept or in a single relationship (Skirbekk, Kaufmann, &
Goujon, 2010). In India, marriage has a religious significance and people involved in a
marriage relationship after a religious marriage function. Unlike India, marriage under
Canadian law is a legal agreement between two people and it may or may not have religious
significance. The marriage laws apply to everyone who lives in Canada and each people in a
marriage relationship is treated as an equal partner under Canadian law. However, in India,

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people understand it a religious bonding that is made by God and it should be unbreakable. If
we consider marriage in India, then I found that it has been more about devotion towards the
husband of women after marriage. Gender inequality in India is not favouring the women to
work outside of the home. Most of the females are considered as caretaker of kids and
managing household chores. Even, most of the key decisions are taken by the husband
without any consent of his wife and the women obey and accept all the decisions of her
husband without ant resistance (Patel, 2011). However, in Canada, it can be seen that women
enjoy the freedom of life after marriage and she share equal rights in decision-making with
husband. In Canada, both male and female are working member of the family and spouses are
caring by the maid and another person of the family. However, in India, it is the
responsibility of the mother to look after her children.
Conclusion
In conclusion, India and Canada have more differences than similarities if we
consider the living style, marriage, freedom in life, and working environment etc. People in
Canada are more modern and wealthy in comparison to India who still believes in traditional
culture and rituals. Gender discrimination in India is a major problem, which cannot be seen
in Canadian culture. However, it has been seen that the marriage system in India follows the
religious beliefs and social interaction. The choice of girl for marriage is not entertained in
many regions; therefore, people believe in arrange marriage rather than love marriage. The
Canadian Christian people pray to one God but while the Hindus and Muslims in India
praying many Gods. The classism and castism system still prevails in Indian culture, where
people are known by their religion. It is the part of India culture where in Canada people are
divided into various classes based on their incomes. Therefore, we can say that there are
many differences in Indian and Canadian culture and people share different beliefs, opinion,
norms, and values.

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