Which pie is the most popular in Canada?

Pi Day, also known as Pie Day, is celebrated on March 14. When did 3/14 first become known as Pie Day?

The first recognized celebration was held in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. Physicist Larry Shaw had the idea to celebrate the day by marching around a circle and then eating both savoury and sweet pies. While marching around in a circle may not be everyone’s slice of pie, most can agree on how fun it is to eat one. The question is: Which pie is the most popular? 

In 2012, Tenderflake ran a national survey to determine Canada’s pie preferences:

10 per cent of Canadians favour blueberry pie, but in British Columbia, 14 per cent prefer that flavour.

8 per cent of Canadians are more likely to prefer cherry pie, and provincially, cherry is the most popular flavour in Alberta.

Nationally, 25 per cent of Canadians prefer a savoury pie to a sweet one, but Alberta has the highest percentage of chicken pot pie lovers, at 38 per cent.

76 per cent of Canadians prefer sweet pies, but the highest percentage goes to Quebec, where 83 per cent preferred a sweet pie. However, when it comes to tourtière, a whopping 50 per cent of Quebecers preferred it more than the rest of the nation. (Only 22 per cent of Canadians like the savoury meat pie.)

Quebecers are also the most likely to enjoy ice cream with their sweet pie. The survey observed Quebec at 59 per cent against 51 per cent nationally)

The survey also noted that Ontarians are the most likely to add hot sauce to their savoury pie. Of course, no survey would be complete without a look into North America’s most popular savoury pie: The pizza.

In 2013 business analyst Brian Roemmele  researched point-of-sale data from 604 pizza locations across the United States to determine the most popular toppings.

The most popular topping at the time was listed as pepperoni, at 36 per cent, second most popular was sausage by 14 per cent, and the third most popular topping were mushrooms at 11 per cent. It should be noted here, that the pineapple topping (AKA “Hawaiian Pizza”) was invented in Canada. 

Below are some examples of Canada’s specialty pies you should try from each of our provinces:

• Newfoundland: Seal Flipper Pie
• Prince Edward Island: Rhubarb pie
• Nova Scotia: Rappie pie
• Quebec: Tourtière
• Ontario: Butter Tarts
• Manitoba: Apple pie
• Saskatchewan: Cloudberry pie
• Alberta: Flapper pie
• British Columbia: Blueberry Pie
• Yukon: Pumpkin Pie
• Nunavut: Serviceberry pie