the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2020 in Canada

To be fifteen in Canada in 2020 was to have “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd everywhere, Sonic the Hedgehog on every screen, and Schitt's Creek (series finale) on after school. That year, gas cost approx. $1.03/L (pandemic dip) and Zoom school and work was the new thing. Born in 2005? You turned 15 in 2020 — a teenager from 2018 to 2024, 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 2020 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2020

Blinding Lights — The Weeknd

  1. Dance Monkey — Tones and IThe song that ruled the world right before it stopped, its whistle now oddly haunted by what came next.
  2. Don't Start Now — Dua LipaDua Lipa's disco was the kitchen-dance rebellion against a summer stuck entirely indoors, and it saved you.
  3. The Box — Roddy RicchRoddy Ricch's squeak-squeak ad-lib was the TikTok you scrolled through the loneliest spring in memory.
  4. Circles — Post MalonePost Malone's mellow guitar was the melancholy loop for a summer of screens and canceled everything.
  5. Aime-moi encore — Roxane BruneauRoxane Bruneau's Aime-moi encore steadied a scared francophone spring, a homegrown voice when the world felt upside down.

▶ Play your 2020 reel

why this one mattered

A Scarborough kid's neon, synth-drenched track became the unlikely soundtrack of a locked-down world - playing on every empty street, every solo drive, every quiet pandemic night that year.

the year-end #1 was Reached #1 on the Canadian Hot 100 for 7 weeks starting April 2020 (his fifth #1 at home) and finished #2 on the year-end chart, behind only 'Dance Monkey'.

what topped the Canadian box office in 2020

  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Bad Boys for Life
  • Trolls World Tour
  • Onward
  • Tenet

the tv shows you are binging in 2020

  • Schitt's Creek (series finale)
  • The Umbrella Academy
  • Trickster
  • Tiger King
  • Kim's Convenience

the games you are playing in 2020

  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • Among Us
  • Minecraft
  • Roblox
  • Call of Duty: Warzone
  • Valorant

what things cost in 2020

What things cost in 2020
Average annual incomeapprox. $80,000 (household, CERB-boosted)
Gasapprox. $1.03/L (pandemic dip)
Minimum wage (Ontario)$14.00/hr, rising to $14.25 in October
Movie ticketapprox. $9.53
Stamp$0.92 (booklet) / $1.07 (single)

trending this year

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Jon Sullivan · Public Domain
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
CERB direct deposits
AI-generated illustration
CERB direct deposits
Curbside pickup
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McDonaldsCurbsidePickupMarkhamTownSquare.jpg · CC0
Curbside pickup
Sourdough starters
Photo by Anon423 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_Griffith_sourdough_starter_stiff_13_hours_above.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sourdough starters
PlayStation 5
Osh33m, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
PlayStation 5

the gadgets you just got

Zoom
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zoom_Video_screenshot.png · Public domain
Zoom
Nintendo Switch (sold out everywhere)
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-Switch-Console-Docked-wJoyConRB.jpg · Public domain
Nintendo Switch (sold out everywhere)
Cloth masks
Photo by Doc James (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homemade_plaid_mask_from_British_Columbia.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloth masks
Peloton bike
Photo by SpartyZag (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peloton_Bike.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Peloton bike
AirPods Max
User:PJ (with User:Piko), via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
AirPods Max

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
Nanaimo bars
Photo by Alex Lozupone (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NanaimoS1370051.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nanaimo bars
Mr. Big
AI-generated illustration
Mr. Big
Kraft Dinner
Photo by Beosmrx (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kraft_dinner_preparation.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kraft Dinner
Hawkins Cheezies
Photo by Bondolo (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W._T._Hawkins_Cheezies.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hawkins Cheezies

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
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
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

what made the news in 2020

  • COVID-19 lockdowns begin across Canada, March
  • CERB payments support laid-off Canadians
  • Schitt's Creek's historic Emmy sweep, September
  • Black Lives Matter protests across the country, summer
  • Zoom calls replace classrooms and offices
The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic; Canada shuts schools and borders, March 2020.
Photo by Alissa Eckert & Dan Higgins (CDC) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SARS-CoV-2_without_background.png · Public domain
The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic; Canada shuts schools and borders, March 2020.
Schitt's Creek ends its run and then sweeps the comedy Emmys, a Canadian sitcom's storybook finish, September 2020.
Photo by Patrick.suechan / WikiPortraits (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dan_Levy_at_the_2025_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_02_(cropped).jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Schitt's Creek ends its run and then sweeps the comedy Emmys, a Canadian sitcom's storybook finish, September 2020.
George Floyd's death sparks anti-racism protests across Canadian cities, summer 2020.
Photo by VV Nincic (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Lives_Matter_protest_in_Toronto,_Canada_on_June_5,_2020.jpg · CC BY 2.0
George Floyd's death sparks anti-racism protests across Canadian cities, summer 2020.
The federal government rolls out CERB to support millions of Canadians through lockdown, spring 2020.
AI-generated illustration
The federal government rolls out CERB to support millions of Canadians through lockdown, spring 2020.
Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in the US presidential election, closely watched from Canada, November 2020.
Photo by Adam Schultz (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joe_Biden_2020_(cropped)_2.jpg · Public domain
Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in the US presidential election, closely watched from Canada, November 2020.

what everyone is saying

  • "bubble"your small circle of people you were allowed to see, pandemic-speak
  • "the new normal"the phrase for absolutely everything that changed that spring
  • "out for a rip"driving around aimlessly, one of the few things still allowed
  • "sus"suspicious, straight out of that year's Among Us obsession
  • "Molson muscle"an older-generation joke about a beer belly, revived during lockdown banter

the summer of 2020.

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

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2020 goes.

Turn 2020 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2020 reel with sound