What These 20 Canadian Websites Looked Like in 1999
There are no goggles like nostalgia goggles, so we’re taking a look at what Canadian websites looked like back in 1999, courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Note: some of these may be from a wee bit earlier or later, depending on what the site captured.
The Montreal Canadiens
Fun fact: websites for Canadian hockey teams used to just sort of do what they wanted and weren’t standardized at all.
Tim Hortons
Sadly, Tim’s was still baking their content in 1999.
Toronto Stock Exchange
Slick, but dated.
Loblaws
At what point did grocery store websites become useful? Certainly not in 1999.
Leafnet
Do you want megabytes of information on the Leafs? You’ve come to the right place!
Canadian Tire
A store locator was cutting-edge content in 1999.
Canadian Airlines
So, who remembers Canadian Airlines?
The Edmonton Oilers
Note that the Oilers logo at the bottom right was a spinning GIF.
Government of Canada Primary Internet Site (Canada Site)
Yes, that’s seriously what the government called their site. Also, you could for real, seriously, we’re not kidding, look up the phone number of nearly any federal public servant back then. What a world.
Eaton’s
Remember when websites had silly gimmicks for how you’d “enter” their site?
The Ottawa Senators
Do you see that? It’s time to browse!
West Edmonton Mall
Don’t laugh, this website won an award for being a top site on the web!
RBC
Even back in 1999, you could use online banking.
Maclean’s
You couldn’t read much of their content online, but you could get the cover story.
Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, the Vancouver Canucks Website
Daddy, who are the Vancouver Grizzlies?
University of Toronto
It’s pretty no-frills, but your average Canadian university website had a ton of useful information.
The Tragically Hip
The Hip joined the World Wide Web in ’97, ahead of many artists.
Canada’s Wonderland
Hey, you could order season passes online!
The Calgary Flames
They actually linked directly to Ticketmaster, which is the sanest part of any old hockey website we’ve seen.
YTV
Just in case you couldn’t watch TV but could view the internet, YTV’s website could tell you what you were missing.