miles and kilometres
Created Thursday 02 October 2025
Remember: 60 miles → 100 km
In Canada, road distances are measured in kilometres and metres. Signs near the border will tell you this. After that, there may not be any further indications of units.
Speed limits
- Highways: usually 100 km/h
- City roads: usually 50 km/h
The Fibonacci trick
This is a mental math trick that you can use to impress friends. You probably won't need to use it.
By coincidence, the conversion ratio between miles and kilometres is close to the golden ratio, so the Fibonacci sequence can be a rough reference for conversions.
In the Fibonacci sequence, each number is the sum of the previous two:
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89
To convert:
- miles → km is a step up
- km → miles is a step down
Examples
Convert 80 mph to km/h
- start at 8 on the Fibonacci sequence (representing miles)
- step up to 13 (representing kilometres)
- therefore 80 mph ≈ 130 km/h
Convert 60 km/h to mph
- start at 55 (60 is a bit higher)
- step down to 34 (the true miles would be a bit higher as well)
- therefore 60 km/h ≈ slightly more than 34 mph