History Main / GirlfriendInCanada

* ''WebVideo/DragonballZAbridged'' takes Zarbon's {{camp}}-ness from canon and ups it oh so much... and then he reveals he has a girlfriend and had no idea everyone thought he was gay. Though Zarbon is implied to have been telling the truth, said girlfriend is never seen, and Freeza is convinced she's named Chuck.

The idea is that since "she" lives in a different country, and presumably would have to get a passport and go through all that hassle in order to visit her "boyfriend", it's particularly tempting to make her Canadian as a way of discouraging others from asking too many questions. But if they do ask questions, it's almost ''de rigueur'' that any discussion of her living situation more detailed than "in Canada" will be comically inconsistent with any real Canadian geography or culture. It's also convenient for writers, who can make use of TheBeard without having to write an actual character or cast someone to play her.

** Gil's wife, "Deb" -- an [[TheBeard Army reservist]], [[RunningGag owner of her own auto repair shop]], and graduate of Sarah Lawrence. In one episode Gil mentions wanting to bring her to an office function. When the other characters express surprise at her existence, Gil complains he has often spoken about going home to her. The others, assuming he was gay, thought he was talking about his cat.

* Creator/LeslieCheung's character in ''TheChineseFeast'' hopes to get enough money to visit his girlfriend in Canada.

** Subverted in the Treehouse of Horror XI segment "Scary Tales Can Come True" which parodies the story of Hansel and Gretel. Captured in the witch's gingerbread cottage, Lisa mocks her for not having a social life. The witch claims to have a boyfriend named George Cauldron (a riff on ''The Brady Bunch'' episode mentioned above) but Lisa and Bart are less than convinced. At the end of the segment, after Homer cooks the witch in her own oven, a handsome and real George Cauldron arrives and asks for her.

* ''Theatre/AvenueQ'': Possibly the most famous example, [[TransparentCloset Rod]] sings "My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada", which provides the page quote.
** And the song ends with an incredibly unexpected and exaggerated shout of [[spoiler:[[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday "AND I CAN'T WAIT TO EAT HER PUSSY AGAIN!!!!!"]]]]
** A slightly bowdlerized version of the show used "boink her beaver", which adds another CanadaEh joke.

** ''ComicBook/{{Champions|2016}}'': Parodied in issue #16, where the others make fun of ComicBook/MilesMorales for claiming that he has [[Comicbook/SpiderGwen a girlfriend in an alternate universe]].

* In one of ''Series/MADtv'''s "Man Up" sketches, Ty and Carl engage in one of their hex-breaking rituals after the effeminate wedding officiant makes a series of gestures which they deem to be "gay armsies," "gayer armsies," and "gayest armsies." The unamused officiant replies to this by saying, "I'll have you both know that I have a girlfriend who lives in Toronto."

* In episode 4 of ''Shelfdust Presents: The War Effort'', when they're discussing the high levels of flirtation and romance in ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'', Al Kennedy suggests that maybe the whole big fight could have been avoided [[YouNeedToGetLaid if Doctor Doom had met someone]], but Kirsten Howard replies that he'd just be all "I ''have'' a girlfriend, she's in Hell, you wouldn't know her..."

* In ''WebVideo/Dimension20'' Riz makes up a significant other from the Baronies named Baron. He later encounters a creepy mannequin in a [[MirrorMonster mirror]] who claims to be Baron from the Baronies, his "romance partner", and which demands he make up additional details about their relationship.

* In [[Creator/NeilGaiman Neil Gaiman's]] ''Trigger Warning'' anthology short story "Literature/TheThingAboutCassandra", the fifteen-year-old British protagonist makes up the titular girlfriend, pretending to have met her on a skiing holiday. After three trips to London for imaginary dates (claiming he lost his virginity after the second one), he laments to his mother and friends that she "moved to Canada," which in his mind sounded more realistic than America. About twenty years later he is surprised to learn Cassandra has somehow contacted his childhood friend on Facebook, later appearing in the flesh and talking with his mum at the grocery store. As it turns out, [[spoiler: ''he'' was ''her'' imaginary ''boy''friend]].

* Proving this trope OlderThanFeudalism, one record claims that Creator/{{Sappho}} (yes, that one) had a husband named Kerkylas of Andros. Most people are pretty sure that this was Sappho (or a later poet) either joking or telling a very inept lie, given that "Kerkylas" is derived from "kerkos", meaning "penis," and "Andros" means "man." Website/TheOtherWiki, in a truly wonderful sentence, notes that this is comparable to claiming you're married to Dick Allcock from the Island of Man.

It's a very American trope by nature, not only because [[EaglelandOsmosis America makes so much pop culture]] but also because Canada's relationship with the U.S. means it can only ''really'' work there. Canada and the U.S. are separated by a border but are close by and share a common language; anything farther away would raise questions as to the girlfriend's exotic nationality and linguistic capacity. You won't see this in {{anime}}, for instance, because for a Japanese guy to pretend to have a foreign girlfriend would raise questions as to which of them is bilingual. In Britain, a "girlfriend in Ireland" doesn't need a passport to visit the UK, and a "girlfriend on the Continent" would probably speak a different language (although [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench certain]] [[SexyScandinavian places]] in Continental Europe would make the prospect ''quite'' tempting for the hapless guy). A "Girlfriend in Australia" is a possibility, and it adds the wrinkle of time zones to the equation. Australia and New Zealand can theoretically do this with each other as they have similar relationships like U.S./Canada, though whether it shows up in actual writings is another matter. If the show is set ''in'' Canada, you can do a "Girlfriend in the States", but for safety's sake better put her far from the border ''and'' far from states that tend to have a lot of Canadian visitors like Arizona or Florida.

It's a very American trope by nature, not only because [[EaglelandOsmosis America makes so much pop culture]] but also because Canada's relationship with the U.S. means it can only ''really'' work there. Canada and the U.S. are separated by a border but are close by and share a common language; anything farther away would raise questions as to the girlfriend's exotic nationality and linguistic capacity. You won't see this in {{anime}}, for instance, because for a Japanese guy to pretend to have a foreign girlfriend would raise questions as to which of them is bilingual. In Britain, a "girlfriend in Ireland" doesn't need a passport to visit the UK (though this might change back thanks to Brexit), and a "girlfriend on the Continent" would probably speak a different language (although [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench certain]] [[SexyScandinavian places]] in Continental Europe would make the prospect ''quite'' tempting for the hapless guy). A "Girlfriend in Australia" is a possibility, and it adds the wrinkle of time zones to the equation. Australia and New Zealand can theoretically do this with each other as they have similar relationships like U.S./Canada, though whether it shows up in actual writings is another matter. If the show is set ''in'' Canada, you can do a "Girlfriend in the States", but for safety's sake better put her far from the border ''and'' far from states that tend to have a lot of Canadian visitors like Arizona or Florida.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "Cupid's Errant Arrow", Mariner thinks Boimler's girlfriend Barbara is this, but she turns out to be real. For bonus points, she serves on a ship called the ''Vancouver''.

* Proving this trope OlderThanFeudalism, one record claims that Creator/{{Sappho}} (yes, that one) had a husband named Kerkylas of Andros. Most people are pretty sure that this was Sappho (or a later poet) either joking or telling a very inept lie, given that "Kerkylas" is derived from "kerkos", meaning "penis," and "Andros" means "man." Wiki/TheOtherWiki, in a truly wonderful sentence, notes that this is comparable to claiming you're married to Dick Allcock from the Island of Man.

* On ''Series/{{Chef}}'', after Savannah develops a crush on Gareth, she invents an imaginary boyfriend who is constantly buying her flowers in the hope of [[OperationJealousy making Gareth jealous of the competition]]. It doesn't work.

** Bob once claimed to have been caught in a ''FatalAttraction'' situation with a co-worker at the Harness & Hoe Insurance company. Dave found this claim hilarious.

* Proving this trope OlderThanFeudalism, one record claims that Sappho (yes, that one) had a husband named Kerkylas of Andros. Most people are pretty sure that this was Sappho (or a later poet) either joking or telling a very inept lie, given that "Kerkylas" is derived from "kerkos", meaning "penis," and "Andros" means "man." Wiki/TheOtherWiki, in a truly wonderful sentence, notes that this is comparable to claiming you're married to Dick Allcock from the Island of Man.

** Gil's wife, "Deb" -- an [[TheBeard Army reservist]], [[RunningGag owner of her own auto repair shop]], [[UpToEleven and graduate of Sarah Lawrence]]. In one episode Gil mentions wanting to bring her to an office function. When the other characters express surprise at her existence, Gil complains he has often spoken about going home to her. The others, assuming he was gay, thought he was talking about his cat.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Restaurant Wars", Steven comes up with a plan to stop the feud between Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza that involves Ronaldo and Kiki pretending to be dating. Ronaldo protests, claiming he has an actual girlfriend. Considering the [[{{Chuunibyou}} type of person he is]], no one believes him. [[SubvertedTrope He's not kidding, though]]. Not only that, but she also lives in town and shows up to return some anime DVDs while the plan is in motion. Ronaldo is MistakenForCheating and she breaks up with him, leaving him miserable for the rest of the episode.

* Played with and inverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'':

** Liz Lemon's man-bashing comedy book causes serious damage to her male friends' relationships, including Lutz, who complains that his girlfriend is very upset, in Canada. Lutz's girlfriend in Canada also has a website specifically dedicated to proving she exists.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "Restaurant Wars", Steven comes up with a plan to stop the feud between Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza that involves Kiki and Ronaldo pretending to be dating. Ronaldo protests, claiming he has an actual girlfriend. No one believes him. [[SubvertedTrope He's not kidding, though]]. She shows up at the wrong time, Ronaldo is MistakenForCheating and she breaks up with him, leaving him miserable for the rest of the episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Beth claim to have acquired a hot boyfriend outside of the game at the start of ''[[NewSeasonNewName Action]]'', and her constant prattling about him drives everyone crazy until they finally chew her out about it... [[SubvertedTrope then]] comes the finale aftershow after she's booted off[[note]]or the season winner, depending on the ending you're watching)[[/note]], where it turns out she really ''does'' have an incredibly hot and talented boyfriend, [[JawDrop to the utter shock of everyone else]].

* A non-gay version was done by undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone AKA Film/DonnieBrasco. Pistone was married but was posing as an unattached jewel thief, and so needed a plausible reason for the other mobsters why he didn't put the moves on other women or was away to see his real family. So he'd pretend to have an out-of-state girlfriend.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Beth claim to have acquired a hot boyfriend outside of the game at the start of ''[[NewSeasonNewName Action]]'', and her constant prattling about him drives everyone crazy until they finally chew her out about it... [[SubvertedTrope then]] comes the aftershow after she's booted off[[note]]or [[spoiler:the season winner, depending on the ending you're watching]])[[/note]], where it turns out she really ''does'' have an incredibly hot and talented boyfriend, [[JawDrop to the utter shock of everyone else]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Beth claim to have acquired a hot boyfriend outside of the game at the start of ''[[NewSeasonNewName Action]]'', and her constant prattling about him drives everyone crazy until they finally chew her out about it... [[SubvertedTrope then]] comes the aftershow after she's booted off[[note]]or [[spoiler:the season winner, depending on the ending you're watching]])[[note]], where it turns out she really ''does'' have an incredibly hot and talented boyfriend, [[JawDrop to the utter shock of everyone else]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has Beth claim to have acquired a hot boyfriend at the start of ''[[NewSeasonNewName Action]]'', and her constant prattling about him drives everyone crazy until they finally chew her out about it... then comes the aftershow after she's booted off, where it turns out she really ''does'' have an incredibly hot and talented boyfriend, [[JawDrop to the utter shock of everyone else]].