Canada officially went metric in the 1970s, yet we still give our height in feet, buy deli meat by the pound and set the oven in Fahrenheit. Here are the conversions you will actually use. For anything else, try the unit converter.
Height and body weight
- 1 inch = 2.54 cm; 1 foot = 30.48 cm
- 5 ft 10 in = 177.8 cm
- 1 kg = 2.2046 lb; 1 lb = 0.4536 kg
- 150 lb = 68 kg
Cooking
| Measure | Metric |
|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 ml |
| 1 tablespoon | 15 ml |
| 1 cup (Canadian metric) | 250 ml |
| 1 US cup | about 237 ml |
| 1 oz (weight) | 28.35 g |
Oven temperatures: 350 °F = 177 °C, 375 °F = 190 °C, 400 °F = 204 °C, 425 °F = 218 °C.
Driving and distance
Road signs are in km/h. 100 km/h is about 62 mph, and 1 mile is 1.609 km. Fuel economy is measured in litres per 100 km: 8 L/100 km is about 29 miles per US gallon.
Weather
A quick mental trick for Celsius to Fahrenheit: double it and add 30 (close enough for the weather). 10 °C is about 50 °F, 25 °C is about 77 °F, and -20 °C is -4 °F.
Home projects
Lumber and building materials are still sold in imperial (2×4, 4×8 sheets), while real estate listings use square feet. 1 square metre = 10.764 square feet. Use our square footage calculator to measure rooms.