the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2011 in Canada

To be fifteen in Canada in 2011 was to have “Moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera everywhere, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 on every screen, and Degrassi on after school. That year, gas cost $1.24/L and Polymer $100 banknotes enter circulation was the new thing. Born in 1996? You turned 15 in 2011 — a teenager from 2009 to 2015, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 2011 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2011

Moves like Jagger — Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera

  1. Give Me Everything — Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & NayerPitbull's dale and that sax made grinding through the last all-ages night feel gloriously endless.
  2. Party Rock Anthem — LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRockEverybody shuffling in the driveway, that unkillable synth riff meaning summer had officially lost its mind.
  3. Jet Lag — Simple Plan ft. Natasha BedingfieldMontreal's Simple Plan traded pop-punk angst for a globe-crossing duet you kept on repeat all summer.
  4. Rolling in the Deep — AdeleAdele's roar filled the car when someone finally said the thing you'd both been avoiding.
  5. The Motto — Drake ft. Lil WayneYOLO wasn't a word yet, but Drake and Wayne were already writing your reckless summer's motto.

▶ Play your 2011 reel

why this one mattered

It owned the back half of that Canadian summer for ten straight weeks at #1 — the song blasting from every backyard speaker, cottage dock and last car ride before school started again.

the year-end #1 was Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' was the official Canadian Hot 100 year-end #1 for 2011, but 'Moves like Jagger' was the song that actually ruled the summer, debuting at #1 the week of August 20 and holding it for ten consecutive weeks — the longest run of the year.

what topped the Canadian box office in 2011

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
  • Thor
  • Fast Five

the tv shows you are binging in 2011

  • Degrassi
  • Rookie Blue
  • Flashpoint
  • Glee
  • The Big Bang Theory

the games you are playing in 2011

  • Club Penguin
  • Minecraft
  • Angry Birds
  • Just Dance 3
  • Mario Kart Wii
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

what things cost in 2011

What things cost in 2011
average annual income$62,900 CAD
gas$1.24/L
minimum wage$10.25/hr
movie ticket$8.15
stamp$0.59

trending this year

PC Black Label
AI-generated illustration
PC Black Label
The polymer $100 bill
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_Currency_100_$_bills.JPG · CC0
The polymer $100 bill
Presto card
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Presto_Card.png · Public domain
Presto card
Google+
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Google%2B_logo_(2011-2019).png · Public domain
Google+
Rookie Blue / Flashpoint success
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flashpoint_(TV_series)_logo.svg · Public domain
Rookie Blue / Flashpoint success

the gadgets you just got

iPhone 4S
MerveillePédia, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
iPhone 4S
BlackBerry Bold + BBM
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackberry-Bold-9650-Verizon.jpg · Public domain
BlackBerry Bold + BBM
iPad 2
Photo by Mono (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPad_2_Black_Front.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
iPad 2
Instagram
Photo by Dennis Cortés, released under CC0 1.0 (public domain)
Instagram
BlackBerry PlayBook
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlackBerry_PlayBook_2.jpg · Public domain
BlackBerry PlayBook

what everyone is snacking on

Ketchup chips
Photo by Hannah Clover (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ketchup_chips.jpg · CC BY 4.0
Ketchup chips
All-dressed chips
Photo by Ser Amantio di Nicolao (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_pile_of_All_Dressed_potato_chips_on_a_paper_towel.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
All-dressed chips
Hickory Sticks
AI-generated illustration
Hickory Sticks
Coffee Crisp
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coffee-Crisp-Split.jpg · Public domain
Coffee Crisp
Nanaimo bars
Photo by Alex Lozupone (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NanaimoS1370051.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nanaimo bars

what everyone is drinking

Tim Hortons double-double
Photo by Justin (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_Hortons,_extra_extra_large.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tim Hortons double-double
Iced Capp
Photo by Glenn Samonte (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_Hortons_Large_Iced_Capp_Canada_(54688656929).jpg · CC BY 4.0
Iced Capp
Canada Dry ginger ale
Photo by Lynette (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Dry_ginger_ale_bottles.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Canada Dry ginger ale
Milk in a bag
Photo by incommunicado (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Four_litre_bagged_milk,_Quebec.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Milk in a bag
President's Choice cola
Photo by Kiliweb (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President%27s_Choice_Cola.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
President's Choice cola

what made the news in 2011

  • Osama bin Laden is killed by US forces (May)
  • Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dies (October)
  • A massive earthquake and tsunami devastate Japan, triggering the Fukushima disaster (March)
  • NASA's space shuttle program ends with Atlantis's final flight (July)
Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal tour of Canada, coast to coast (June 30–July 8)
Photo by tsaiproject (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kate_and_William,_Canada_Day,_2011,_Ottawa,_Ontario,_Canada.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal tour of Canada, coast to coast (June 30–July 8)
The Vancouver Stanley Cup riot erupts downtown after the Canucks lose Game 7 to Boston (June 15)
Photo by Charles de Jesus (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Riot_police_in_Downtown_Vancouver_during_2011_Stanley_Cup_riot.jpg · CC BY 2.0
The Vancouver Stanley Cup riot erupts downtown after the Canucks lose Game 7 to Boston (June 15)
Jack Layton leads the NDP to Official Opposition in the federal election's 'Orange Wave' (May 2), then dies of cancer that August
Photo by Matt Jiggins (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jack_Layton_-_2011.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Jack Layton leads the NDP to Official Opposition in the federal election's 'Orange Wave' (May 2), then dies of cancer that August
Occupy protesters camp out in Toronto's St. James Park that fall, part of the global Occupy movement
Photo by Fightback / La Riposte (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Occupy_Toronto_P1010127_(6247628483).jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Occupy protesters camp out in Toronto's St. James Park that fall, part of the global Occupy movement
Canada ends its combat mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after nearly a decade (July)
Photo by Laura K. Smith (ISAF HQ Public Affairs) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soldiers_of_the_Royal_Canadian_Regiment,_and_their_RG-31_Nyalas_in_Kandahar_-a.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Canada ends its combat mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after nearly a decade (July)

what everyone is saying

  • "eh"the tag dropped at the end of a sentence, on purpose or not
  • "give'r"go all-in, full effort, no holding back
  • "beauty"high praise — 'that's a beauty' meant it was great
  • "double-double"how you ordered your Tim's — two cream, two sugar
  • "keener"the kid with their hand up before the question finished

the summer of 2011.

the best of it still feels like it's coming.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2011 goes.

Turn 2011 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2011 reel with sound