"It was then I discovered about the tax system in Canada (I will explain in another blog entry)."
The price shown is without tax. For most items a 5% tax seems to be added. The man exception seems to be basic food. So milk is tax free but a coffee (from Tim Hortons - Canada's favourite coffee shop) is 5% tax. Some mass produced plastic items seem to get charged this 5% tax twice. Restaurants expect a 15% tip on top of the basic bill, this is not just the tip for the waitress but also the kitchen crew. So we are all learning our five times table inside out and upside down.