Canadians are cool.

Always have been. We just need other people to tell us.

There’s a new wave of Canada-Love that’s out there, some of it from inside this country and A LOT of it from south of border.

In January, Vanity Fair’s Comedy issue was packed full of articles lovin’ the Canadian invasion of funnymen including one feature article which asks the big question, "why Canada". CLICK HERE  to read it.

There was this week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother which featured everybody from Alex Trebek to Luke Robitaille to Geddy Lee  and the soon to be famous Timmy’s donut “The Priestly” (CLICK HERE to see it on the KK blog) . It doesn’t hurt that one of the key writers AND one of the show’s stars are Canadian.

TheChive, one of our favourite humour sites based in Cali, can’t keep up with the demand for the Canadian edition of their “Chive On” t-shirts. I never took their Chive-Everywhere posts seriously until I started seeing Chive swag in my own neighborhood.

Chicago, the city that gave us the deep dish pizza, is savouring an invastion of our poutine. This week in The Chicago Tribune, an editorial is calling our country a “rising star” among nations, that “the tail is wagging the dog in North America” in economic activity.

Here are the top reasons that Chicago loves Canada.

•Canada’s banks are regulated and stable.

•Canada’s housing market never collapsed like it did in the U.S.

•Canada’s health-care system is the envy of the U.S.

•Canada is experiencing a gold-rush energy boom.

•The loonie trades at an equal value to the U.S. dollar.

•Canadian PM Stephen Harper is expected to ink a free-trade agreement with the European Union that will put pressure on the U.S. to do the same.

•While Chicago roots for its Blackhawks, half the team hails from Canada.

•Low rates of gun crime.

And finally, here is a beer commercial from the good folks that created the “I Am Canadian” tv spot years ago. It's great because it doesn't roll out all the usual Canadian clichés. Don’t get me wrong, I love hockey and my double-doubles but we’re much more than that. This says "we are cool".