Mildly Interesting: Canada & Australia use different paper sizes

Posted by on December 6, 2013

Canadian paper is 216 mm x 279 mm, Australian paper is 210 mm x 297 mmPaper Sizes in Australia & Canada

Now, I’m reasonably laid-back, flexible, and adaptable, but I’m also one of those people that likes stapled paper to be ligned up, hole-punched paper to be evenly aligned, and papers in folders to be stacked neatly. I don’t stay after school re-stapling student’s shoddily stapled papers, but I might get them to restaple if their submission looks a week-old newspaper in a dental office with a scrap of metal in the middle holding it together.

I do strive for stapling excellence in my own work and a recurring challenge with our teacher exchange is dealing with mixtures of Canadian and Australian documents. Canadian paper is 216 mm x 279 mm while Australian paper is 210 mm x 297 mm. This leaves a vertical overhang on the narrow documents and a horizontal overhang on the wider documents. It causes me a very fleeting twinge of minor irritation followed by a smile because it reminds me we’re going to be living in Australia for a year!

My solution is to stack the left side first, then the top end in order for things to staple neatly in the top left corner.

Problem solved, but I’m thinking it’s time for a universal standard on paper sizes 🙂

2 Responses to Mildly Interesting: Canada & Australia use different paper sizes

  1. cteachr

    When I arrived at my school there, they handed me a box of plastic sleeves. They figured these were invaluable, I had no idea why I would use such a thing. It became clear to me when I asked for a 3 hole punch and found they didn’t put holes in paper but rather put the sheets in the sleeves and inserted the sleeves in the binders. So much tidier and civilized. Who knew?

  2. ruraloutlier

    A little OCD Miles! 😉

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