Favourite scents of Canada

By Deborah Fulsang

Happy Canada Day Weekend everyone! To celebrate the occasion, we pondered over the best smells of this country – what, we asked our readers during this past week’s Fragrance Giveaway Contest, was your favourite Canadian smell?

So fun, we thought we’d share.

“I’ll say maple syrup and maple trees,” tweeted L’ Esprit de Corps @LEspritdeCorps1

Beth W @BWhitty23 said “Fallen leaves ! The scent of fall is so refreshing.”

And asked, @denise_berube, “Does the smell of fresh fallen rain in the spring count!”

Absolutely, we concurred.

Joy Mills @Jemrah1 went with “the smell of sizzling Canadian bacon :D”, while our own @deborahfulsang offered up “the smell of maple syrup, hot, drizzled on snow in the sugar bush.”

We loved the suggestion by angela m @skyalive1976: “The smell of the new growth on fir trees in summer.”

Very nice.

Then there was the iconic olfactory image from Red Owl @ReadyOwl: “The scent of fresh fallen snow, crisp and clean!”

And on a more seasonal-apropos note, Hazel Ainslie @Hazelainslie tweeted us her “Love the smell of peony flowers, have lots in my garden so must be Cdn:)”

On the same wavelength was Valerie Mallette @WillFerret with her “The smell of lilacs, apple blossoms and other flowers and greenery in the spring :).”

We’re still brainstorming: The smell of fresh warm butter tarts from the oven. The smell of springtime rolling in mid to late March when the ice is thawing and you can start to smell the earth below. Warm, yeasty pancakes. Canadian whisky. MAC Cosmetics’ vanilla-scented lipstick. Montreal bagels still warm from the oven on a Sunday morning. That clear crisp scent when you wake up at a cottage or cabin or tent in the Canadian woods and you smell the scent of pine needles mixed with dew and the warmth of the sunrise.

Keep ’em coming. We love this game. And this country.