Canada used the U.S. and imperial systems of measurement until 1971 when the S.I. or metric system was declared the official measuring system for Canada, which is now in use in most of the world, with the United States being the major exception. However, “declaring” and “truly adopting” are not always the same.
Because of Canada’s strong ties to the United States, a lot of our food products come from across the border, and many Canadian producers also sell in the U.S. market. This is one of the main reasons Canadians need to know how to work in both systems. Most Canadian packages include both Canadian and U.S. or imperial measurements on the label, and many suppliers still quote prices in cost per pound instead of cost per kilogram.
The most commonly used units of measurement in the U.S. and imperial systems are shown in Table 6.
<em>liter</em>
<em>literThe liter (L) is the basic metric unit for measuring liquid volume. A milliliter (mL) is the metric unit to measure liquid in very small containers.</em>
<em>Pic </em><em>is </em><em>up!</em><em>!</em><em>!</em>