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Comment by metaloha | Hacker News Reader

When did Montreal become "central" Canada? Why didn't Amazon call it Canada East instead?

Not sure why you were down voted, I was born and raised in Montreal and was also surprised by this, especially given that the US regions seem to refer to time zones. I am guessing it's possibly for marketing reasons, calling it "central" might help get more customers both in the east and west. Calling it "east" could mean anything from Toronto to the maritimes.

As far as I've ever known, Ontario and Quebec are central Canada.

Growing up in Alberta, people often referred to Ontario/QC as "out east" and "down east." My brother still does that. And many people there seem unable to make a proper distinction between eastern and central Canada economically or politically too.

In my experience, Ontario and Quebec are colloquially referred to as "Out East" or "Eastern Provinces" while the Atlantic provinces are referred to more often as "The Maritimes" or the "East Coast".

I'm curious - where did you grow up?

Growing up in Ontario I remember always being told we were in "Eastern Canada".

Ontario/Quebec are definitely commonly called "East" out here in Vancouver. The Maritimes are, well, the Maritimes. Central usually means the prairies.

Central Canada means Manitoba mostly, since it is geographic centre as well as being in central timezone.

Looking at a map, I guess I can see Ontario being close to central Canada (along with Manitoba and Saskatchewan), but Quebec is definitely almost as East as it gets, and since the data centre is in Montreal...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Canada

Because it _is_ central Canada? The Atlantic provinces are Canada East.

You say that so definitively. Like anyone is stupid to even question it. But the Central Canada thing is merely a historical artifact and has no real basis in, well you know, actual geographic location.

Quebec actually extends farther east than all other provinces (except Newfoundland). In other words, it's farther east than 3 out 4 so called "Atlantic" or "Eastern" provinces.

It's a mix of geography, demographics, and history. But I say it definitivly because it's not just something I've made up or decided... it's a pretty well known designation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Canada

The center of Canada is Winnipeg.

There's the geographic centre, and there's the region known as Central Canada. Two different things.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Canada

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