According to THIS WEBSITE Canada is 120V 60Hz.

luci

Thanks,

Looks like I will have to give the mobiles and camera batteries a good charge before we go and hope they last!

You can buy adapters in the UK before you go. I would think they'd cost no more than 5 to 10 pounds.

Looks like any adaptor must contain a transformer to turn the 120V into 220/230V

You'll certainly need a plug adaptor.
Some UK electrical items will work with the low power - but at a reduced level. So your battery chargers may just take longer, your hair dryer not get dso hot etc. However, some electrical items (eg my shaver & laptop) detect the voltage supplied ansd switch betwwen 240/120 volts automatically. Have a close look at what is written on the chargers you want to take.

Hi All

We are going to Canada in June for about 10days. Flying to Montreal, visiting Quebec, Ottawa & Niagara before flying back from Toronto. I have a problem regarding electrical adaptors and chargers.
We will need to plug in hair curlers (not mine, I haven't got any hair), probably my camera battery charger and also charge mobile phones. I know that the supply in Canada is 110/120 volts and we have flat pin adaptors that I hoped would be Ok but, on a North American website, I saw a different configuration of socket, two flat pins & an earth pin, a bit like ours. If we encounter sockets like these I don't think our adaptors will fit, but I have not seen any like that over here.
Our mobile phone chargers are marked 110-230v so I am assuming/hoping these should be ok. My camera battery charger is marked 230v so it may charge but take a long time to do so. But, obviously, the most important item is the curlers (so I am told by my wife). I would be obliged if anyone has any experience of hotels in Canada &, if they have encountered difficulties, how did they solve them. I know it all seems a bit confusing, but I have tried to get it all down as I thought of it. Any advice would be appreciated. (I am posting in the America/Canada & the General forums. I hope this is Ok)

Derek

US (and, presumably, Canadian) electrical outlets DO indeed have an earth socket. However, most appliances don't use it, which is why when you see an American plug, typically you only see the two-prong variety. All the electrical outlets with earth sockets can take both the two and three pin plugs (but some outlets can only take the two-pin plugs, without the earth pin). Only high wattage appliances like vacuum cleaners, microwaves, etc. tend to use the earth outlet. If an appliance doesn't need it, then the pin isn't even on the plug.

FYI The earth pin is rounded. The other two pins are, as you said, flatter with one slightly larger than the other.

Your adapter is probably fine. Your cell phone charger and camera battery will not require an earth connection. Your hair dryer MIGHT do but it should work fine even if your adapter doesn't have a US earth pin. Just be aware that, if it does work, it might not get as hot as usual, could take longer to heat up, or might not blow as hard as usual. This is because of the voltage difference. To be honest, you're almost better off waiting until you get here and buying a cheap hair dryer.

Hi greyejectbutton

Thanks for the info. The socket plug I saw on a North American website is just like you describe so it would seem that my adaptor will fit. It looks like all should be ok except perhaps the curling tongs. I will pass your suggestion to the boss & see what she says.

Thanks again

Derek