Gay dating in Canada: our members’ stories
They joined in Montreal, in Dieppe, in Blainville, each wanting something different. Here’s what stuck with them from meeting men on GayMaple.
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The story we hear most often
I teach high school. Never in a million years did I think I’d fall for a city bus driver, but here we are. We wrote to each other for a week, then did a video call, then coffee on Rue Saint-Jean. Now we’re hunting for an apartment halfway between our two jobs.
Their reviews, city by city
Some wanted a boyfriend, some wanted to take it easy, some wanted something a lot less wholesome. Each man’s badge is shown under his name.
After my breakup it took me a while to sign up anywhere again. I picked “Something serious” so I wouldn’t waste my time, and that’s pretty much how it went: fewer messages, but real ones. I’ve been seeing a guy from the Mile End for two months now. We’ll see.
I work in Ottawa and live in Gatineau, so I cross the river twice a day. Being able to write in French or English depending on the guy honestly made life easier. And people answer politely here, which isn’t always the case elsewhere.
I tried a fair few sites before this one. What kept me here is that I actually run into men my own age, not just twenty-year-olds. I’ve been seeing Thierry since the spring. He’s in Saint-Jérôme, I’m in Blainville. Twenty minutes on the highway, that’s nothing.
I’m not looking to settle down right now and I’m fine saying so. My badge says it for me, so nobody ends up disappointed. In Moncton you keep running into the same faces, and the private album means not everyone gets to see my photos.
In a small town you don’t meet many people going out on a Saturday. Searching by distance showed me there were guys right here in Dieppe. I’d never have guessed. These days I want something stable, and my profile says so.
Sherbrooke is full of students. At 38 I wanted to sort through things a bit. Speedflirt saved me a ton of time: I like someone, if it’s mutual we chat, if not, no harm done.
Franco-Ontarian, six years in Toronto. On the apps it’s English all the way. Here I can flirt in my own language when I feel like it. And the 24-hour Snaps are perfect for showing my night out without it hanging around on my profile.
I got transferred to Halifax for work and didn’t know a soul. I’m not much of a bar guy either, so for the first few months the site was my social life. I met my boyfriend in November. We’d been writing for three weeks before we met.
Names changed.
Reading reviews before you pick a gay dating site
Every gay dating site in Canada will tell you it has thousands of members. Fine. What you really want to know is whether any of them live near you, log in this week, and want what you want. Member stories answer that a lot better than a number on a homepage.
When our members write to us, from Quebec to the Maritimes and out to Alberta, three things come up again and again. The intention badge, because it saves everyone from awkward misunderstandings. The private album, because in a small town discretion matters. And being able to write in English or French without anyone blinking. Past that, every story moves at its own speed, and that’s how it should be.
The next story could be yours
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