I can't recall the posting I saw that mentioned Canadians are lousy tippers.
It's true, sort of, but there is a reason. I only found this out since I
lived in Maryland for 4 years. I'm a Canadian by the way.

One area where the countries differ are minimum wage rates.

In Maryland, if you're in a job where tipping is likely to provide a
substantial part of your income, the state minimum wage can be as low as 50%
as the regular minimum wage. In MD, the state minimum wage was $5.15/hour.
Restaurant servers can be legally paid as little as $2.38/hour and have to
rely on tipping to make up the rest!

http://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wptipped.htm

So people that know this (and probably those that don't because it's the
customary tip) all tip at least 15% which makes up the shortfall in their
wages. I *think* they are also taxed as though a certain portion of their
wages are assumed as tips. So that poor guy who you stiff on a tip is
really hurting because he's expecting a decent tip even if the service
sucks.

In British Columbia, Canada, where I live now, the minimum wage is $ 8/hour.
Living prices are pretty comparable in MD and BC if one ignores the fact
that the currency is different. i.e. a pound of apples in MD is about $1
US/lb and is about $1 Cdn/lb in BC. So the BC waiter is making a higher
income before tipping, and nobody thinks twice about tipping 10% and
thinking it's reasonable.

--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)