Must-Eat Canadian Food List (2026) — 10 Authentic Canadian Foods You Can’t Find in Taiwan

Updated: 2026-06-17｜Actual store addresses, opening hours and prices are subject to change; please refer to official announcements.

Canada doesn’t really have that kind of “say the country and one dish comes to mind” signature cuisine, because it’s itself a melting pot pieced together by immigrants, and its food culture is just as mixed. But mixed doesn’t mean it has no character — some things really were born and raised in Canada, or were shaped here into what they are today, and no matter how you look back in Taiwan you just can’t quite find that flavour. The following 10 are the ones I personally, after eating my way through different cities over the past few years, think are most worth getting to know. For the ones marked “where to eat,” I’ve tried to give you a named, traceable shop you can look up; the ones marked “everywhere” are everyday items you can run into at a convenience store, supermarket or street stall. First let me lay out roughly what these 10 look like in a table, then talk about them one by one.

Poutine (fries with gravy and cheese) is probably the Canadian savoury food most people would vote for. The make-up is simple: fried fries, cheese curds, and then hot gravy poured over the top. It originated in rural Quebec in the 1950s, and you can now see all kinds of variations everywhere from fast-food joints to fine-dining restaurants. The key to judging whether it’s authentic lies in the cheese — it has to use cheese curds, not melted shredded cheese or cheese slices; fresh curds give a slight “squeak” and bounce when you bite into them, and the gravy has to be eaten while hot, because it loses its flavour once it cools. For your first time I’d suggest starting with the plain version, and not rushing to pick the deluxe ones with smoked meat, chilli or bacon added. If you want the authentic stuff, Montreal’s La Banquise (address 994 Rue Rachel E, open 24 hours, a local institution with over thirty varieties on the menu) is perfect as a late-night snack after a night out; the nationwide chain Smoke’s Poutinerie has branches in every major city and is easy to find. A portion is not small — two people sharing one medium is just right — and it suits those who love strong flavours, aren’t afraid of the calories, and get peckish in the middle of the night.

BeaverTails sounds bizarre as a name, but it’s really just a piece of dough pressed flat and fried until crispy, shaped exactly like a beaver’s tail, which is how it got the name. The most classic way to eat it is dusted with cinnamon sugar, and there are also flavours like Nutella and lemon-and-sugar. It got its start at a rural Ontario market in 1978; the founders were the couple Grant and Pam Hooker, who opened their first storefront at Ottawa’s ByWard Market in 1980, and only later did it grow into stalls you can see at tourist spots nationwide. Ottawa’s ByWard Market is its birthplace, and in winter eating a hot one beside the Rideau Canal skating rink in Ottawa has the best atmosphere; other cities’ tourist areas, ski resorts and summer festivals often set up stalls too. It’s best eaten hot, fresh out of the fryer, the portion is large, and those with a sweet tooth or who love taking photos are advised to share.

Once in Montreal, there are two things that are almost compulsory homework to compare: one is smoked meat, the other is bagels. Montreal smoked meat (smoked meat sandwich)‘s most famous flagship shop is Schwartz’s Deli (address 3895 Boulevard Saint-Laurent), founded in 1928 by Romanian Jewish immigrant Reuben Schwartz and regarded as a cultural landmark of Montreal; the classic way to eat it is rye bread filled with freshly sliced smoked beef and spread with yellow mustard, and when ordering you can specify the fat-to-lean ratio (medium is usually the most popular). There’s often a queue during meal times, and there’s a takeaway shop next door that lets you avoid the crowds. Montreal bagel (Montreal bagel) is smaller, sweeter and has a bigger hole than the New York bagel; it’s boiled in honey water and then baked in a wood-fired oven, with a slightly charred-aromatic edge. The two local old-name shops St-Viateur and Fairmount each have their diehard supporters, so you can buy from both and compare. For meat lovers and bread fans who want to eat two iconic foods in a single city, Montreal is the top choice.

Nanaimo bar (three-layer chocolate square) is named after the city of Nanaimo in BC province, and has three layers: the bottom is a crumb base of coconut and cocoa, the middle is a pale-yellow buttery custard, and the top is a layer of chocolate — the point being that it goes into no oven at all; once made you just chill it and it’s ready to cut. The earliest known related recipe appeared in 1952 in a cookbook by the women’s auxiliary of Nanaimo Hospital, but it was only the 1953 cookbook that formally used the name “Nanaimo bar.” The taste leans sweet and rich, and a small piece is very satisfying; you can buy it at supermarket bakery sections, cafés and dessert shops, and it’s not hard to make at home either. If you’re afraid of it being too cloying, pairing it with unsweetened black coffee is just right, and it’s suggested to cut it into small pieces and share.

Butter tart is a small tart made of pastry holding butter, sugar and egg mixture baked together, with a thick, runny filling in the centre, and is often seen as Ontario’s representative dessert. Locally there’s even a long-running debate over “whether or not to add raisins,” as well as a butter-tart food trail that tours the small towns. The filling is high in sweetness, and pairing it with black coffee or unsweetened tea is the most balanced; you can find it at chain coffee shops, supermarkets and farmers’ markets, and the home-bakery versions in some Ontario small towns are even worth a special trip. For the afternoon-tea crowd who love dessert with coffee, those who like a rich texture should choose the versions with raisins or pecans.

Maple syrup is probably the “safest” choice on this list: almost everyone can accept it, and it’s convenient to bring home as a gift. Canada is the world’s largest producer, and the single province of Quebec accounts for about 70% of world output — a maple-syrup kingdom in the truest sense. When buying, look for “100% pure maple syrup”; it’s not the same thing as the much cheaper “table syrup / pancake syrup” common in supermarkets (mostly corn syrup with flavouring). Grades mainly depend on the depth of colour and flavour (such as Golden, Amber, Dark, Very Dark) — light colours are fresh and crisp, dark ones are rich, with no ranking of better or worse, just personal preference. If you want to bring it back to Taiwan, please note the regulations on carrying food through customs and the airline liquid limits, and remember to wrap glass bottles well for checked luggage; for gifting, the dark types have a pronounced flavour and are widely accepted.

Tourtière (meat pie) is a meat pie originating from French Canada, traditionally served at festivals such as Christmas and New Year. The filling is usually minced pork, beef or a mix, seasoned with spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, with a pastry crust on the outside. It isn’t as touristy as Poutine, but it’s a memory on the winter dinner tables of many Quebec families. If you want to eat it, you have a chance to come across it at traditional Quebec restaurants (such as the French bistros around Old Montreal), supermarket deli sections during festive periods, and farmers’ markets; it’s home-style and unfussy, and a common way to eat it is with a little sweet-and-spicy sauce or ketchup. For those wanting piping-hot home-style food and interested in spiced meat pie, it’s especially fitting when visiting Quebec in winter.

Ketchup chips are a regular shelf item in Canadian supermarkets, yet are quite hard to buy in many other countries, so they’re often held up as the representative “most Canadian” oddball snack. The bright-red powder and the sweet-sour-salty taste usually divide first-timers into two camps: either you get addicted, or you keep your distance. They’re available at all major supermarkets and convenience stores, the price is cheap, and handing them out for friends to try as a souvenir makes for a great talking point; another “very Canadian” snack of the same kind is the all-dressed flavour, which you can also grab a bag of along the way.

Peameal bacon (cured back bacon), also called back bacon, is made from lean pork loin that’s been cured, coated in a layer of cornmeal and then sliced; when pan-fried the edges turn golden and the meat is firmer than regular bacon. It’s completely different from American crispy bacon, more like something between ham and pork chop. The peameal bacon sandwich from the stall inside Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market (a stall within the South Market) is a local specialty, perfect as a brunch while browsing the market — the market’s opening hours are closed on Mondays, with set time slots on the remaining days, so please check the official announcement before going to avoid a wasted trip. Brunch lovers and those who want something with more texture than crispy bacon will like it.

For your itinerary, if you’re a short-term traveller, I’d suggest splitting it up by city: in Montreal concentrate on smoked meat, bagels and Poutine (La Banquise); in Toronto eat peameal bacon and hunt for butter tart; in Ottawa top up with a BeaverTails; as for maple syrup, leave it until just before you head home and buy it all at once at the airport or supermarket. For the supermarket-available kinds like Nanaimo bar and ketchup chips, just grab them while you’re doing your usual shopping — no need to schedule a special trip. A reminder: restaurants where you sit down properly and order with a server usually expect a tip, the going rate is about 15% to 20% of the pre-tax amount, and when paying by card the machine will mostly bring up the options directly; for situations with no table service like buying ketchup chips at a convenience store, buying a bagel at a market stall, or taking away Poutine, you don’t necessarily have to tip. Tax rates and shop practices differ by province, so just look at the bill clearly at checkout before deciding. All shops’ addresses, opening hours and prices may be adjusted, so before setting off please refer to the latest information on each shop’s official website or Google Maps, and for bringing maple syrup or meat products back home, remember to check Taiwan’s customs food regulations first.

To plan this eating-and-drinking trip together with accommodation, transport and shopping, you can refer to our Canada Life Guide; and if you’re eating while you travel, the Canada Attractions Overview can help you string the food spots together with your itinerary.