the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2019 in Canada

To be fifteen in Canada in 2019 was to have “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus everywhere, Avengers: Endgame on every screen, and Schitt's Creek on after school. That year, gas cost approx. $1.18/L and Disney+ in Canada was the new thing. Born in 2004? You turned 15 in 2019 — a teenager from 2017 to 2023, 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 2019 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2019

Old Town Road — Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus

  1. Sunflower — Post Malone & Swae LeeSpider-Verse gave the whole summer a hook, and everyone knew the ooh even off the diving board.
  2. Bad Guy — Billie EilishBillie whispering over that bassline felt like a secret your whole grade was in on at once.
  3. Señorita — Shawn Mendes & Camila CabelloPickering's Shawn and Camila made everyone believe two co-stars were absolutely, undeniably falling in real life.
  4. 7 Rings — Ariana GrandeAriana's receipts flex was the confidence you borrowed for every mirror pep-talk that summer.
  5. Des p'tits bouts de toi — Roxane BruneauRoxane Bruneau's tender Québec hit was the one that got the whole festival field singing softly.

▶ Play your 2019 reel

why this one mattered

A meme that became an actual generational anthem - it took over every phone, every school bus, every summer barbecue for the entire summer of 2019, a record no one saw coming and everyone felt.

the year-end #1 was Spent 19 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Canadian Hot 100 (a chart record) and finished #1 on the year-end chart.

what topped the Canadian box office in 2019

  • Avengers: Endgame
  • Toy Story 4
  • Knives Out
  • Captain Marvel
  • It Chapter Two

the tv shows you are binging in 2019

  • Schitt's Creek
  • Are You Afraid of the Dark? (reboot)
  • Big Brother Canada
  • Letterkenny
  • Kim's Convenience

the games you are playing in 2019

  • Fortnite
  • Minecraft
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • Apex Legends
  • Pokémon Sword and Shield
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

what things cost in 2019

What things cost in 2019
Average annual incomeapprox. $77,000 (household)
Gasapprox. $1.18/L
Minimum wage (Ontario)$14.00/hr (frozen)
Movie ticketapprox. $9.34
Stamp$0.90 (booklet) / $1.05 (single)

trending this year

Disney+ launches in Canada
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disney%2B_logo.svg · Public domain
Disney+ launches in Canada
Cannabis 2.0
Photo by Elsa Olofsson (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cannabis_Vape_Pen.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Cannabis 2.0
Raptors championship merch
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Raptors_victory_parade_on_We_The_North_Day_-_2019_(48086025892).jpg · CC0
Raptors championship merch
Climate strike movement
Photo by Hodnett Canoe (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Climate_Strike_Ottawa_2019_01.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Climate strike movement
Disney+ launches
espensorvik, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Disney+ launches

the gadgets you just got

AirPods Pro
Trent Huss, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
AirPods Pro
Nintendo Switch Lite
Evan-Amos, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Nintendo Switch Lite
Disney+ app
Photo by Anthony Quintano (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disney%2B_Booth_And_Signage_D23_Expo_2019.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Disney+ app
Foldable phones
Photo by KKPCW (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galaxy_Fold_-_1.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Foldable phones
Apex Legends
Photo by Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apex_Legends_logo.svg · Public domain
Apex Legends

what everyone is snacking on

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
Coffee Crisp
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coffee-Crisp-Split.jpg · Public domain
Coffee Crisp
Caramilk
AI-generated illustration
Caramilk
Poutine
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poutine_from_Windsor,_ON.jpg · CC0
Poutine
Hickory Sticks
AI-generated illustration
Hickory Sticks

what everyone is drinking

Tim Hortons Iced Capp
Photo by Glenn Samonte - Own Work (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_Hortons_Large_Iced_Capp_Canada_(54688656929).jpg · CC BY 4.0
Tim Hortons Iced Capp
A&W Root Beer
Photo by Chris Woodrich (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A%26W_Root_Beer,_Caffeine_and_Sugar_Free,_Canada_(obverse),_2026-03-27.jpg · Public domain
A&W Root Beer
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
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
Clamato Caesar
Photo by AirIntake at English Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caesar_Cocktail.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0
Clamato Caesar

what made the news in 2019

  • Raptors win the NBA Finals, downtown Toronto erupts
  • Federal election returns a Trudeau minority government
  • Cannabis 2.0 takes effect October 17; legal edibles and vapes reach shelves by mid-December
  • Climate strikes draw record crowds across Canada
  • Old Town Road breaks the record for weeks at #1
The Toronto Raptors win the NBA championship, the first for a Canadian team - 'We The North', June 13, 2019.
Photo by Andrew Scheer (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Raptors_victory_parade_on_We_The_North_Day_-_2019_(48086025892).jpg · CC0
The Toronto Raptors win the NBA championship, the first for a Canadian team - 'We The North', June 13, 2019.
Justin Trudeau's Liberals are re-elected with a minority government, October 21, 2019.
Photo by Andrea Hanks / The White House (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Justin_Trudeau_2019_(3x4_cropped).jpg · Public domain
Justin Trudeau's Liberals are re-elected with a minority government, October 21, 2019.
The SNC-Lavalin affair rocks Ottawa and costs two cabinet ministers their jobs, February-March 2019.
Photo by Erich Saide (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jody_Wilson-Raybould_(cropped).jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
The SNC-Lavalin affair rocks Ottawa and costs two cabinet ministers their jobs, February-March 2019.
Greta Thunberg leads a climate strike march of roughly half a million people through Montreal, September 27, 2019.
Photo by Lea-Kim Chateauneuf (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marche_pour_le_climat_27-09-2019_(Montr%C3%A9al)_14_(3to2).jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Greta Thunberg leads a climate strike march of roughly half a million people through Montreal, September 27, 2019.
Notre-Dame Cathedral burns in Paris, watched live around the world, April 15, 2019.
Photo by LEVRIER Guillaume (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fl%C3%A8che_en_feu_-_Spire_on_Fire.jpeg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Notre-Dame Cathedral burns in Paris, watched live around the world, April 15, 2019.

what everyone is saying

  • "We The North"the Raptors' rallying cry, plastered across the whole country by June
  • "extra"over-the-top, doing the most
  • "lit"exciting, amazing, peak teen slang that year
  • "no cap"no lie, for real — just catching on with Canadian teens
  • "Timmies"the nickname for Tim Hortons, said without thinking

the summer of 2019.

you think you've got all the time in the world.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2019 goes.

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