If anyone knows how we behave behind closed doors, it's Sue Johanson. The Canadian sex educator has been on the air since 1984, and over the years she's heard it all — questions ranging from "How do I have an orgasm?" to "My girlfriend is pregnant. If I have more sex with her, will the baby look like me?" But of all the questions she's asked, "How do I spice things up in the bedroom?" is the most common. "I'll say, 'Have you ever gotten dressed up as a prostitute?' " says Johanson, who's hosted sex-advice shows on both sides of the border. "Americans don't like the idea of dressing up. But Canadians just think that's wonderful." After more than 20 years of talking about sex, Johanson knows that the stereotype of the Canadian as frigid northerner — who prefers ice hockey to other, more steamy pursuits — is far from true. The numbers agree: compared to our American cousins, Canadians have more sex, with more partners, in more creative ways. But the numbers also tell us that we have fewer teen pregnancies and we're less likely to get sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In short, we have it made.

The 2007/2008 global Durex survey makes it clear that we're having more sex. It found that 59 per cent of Canadians do it at least once a week, compared to 53 per cent of Americans. We spend an average of 37 minutes on each session, it found, two minutes longer than couples in the States. (And we out-sex them 100 sessions to 85 each year.) Canadian men claim an average of 23 sex partners in a lifetime, almost double the number claimed by U.S. males, and Canadian women claim 10 partners, compared to nine for Americans (so okay, the men might be exaggerating a bit).

Not only do we have more sex, but we're more adventurous in the bedroom. We perform an average of 5.1 activities — from role-playing to wearing sexy underwear — while for Americans, it's 4.2. We're also more likely to frequent a sex shop, while Americans prefer to quietly buy online. (There is one activity, though, that's far more popular south of the border: having sex in the bathroom. A 2005 survey showed 70 per cent of Americans have done so, more than double the number of Canadians.) Oh, and we're more generous lovers, too. In the U.S., "reaching orgasm is the No. 1 concern," Johanson says. For Canadians, it's "how to be innovative." And we're never really, well, satisfied, that we're doing enough. A full 40 per cent of Canadians desire even more romance in their lives (compared to just 35 per cent of Americans), while 38 per cent want more time with their lovers (30 per cent of Americans do).

Yet, strangely, even though we have more sex, it's Americans who suffer more of the unpleasant consequences. In 2006, chlamydia rates among teenage American girls were more than double those in Canada. And roughly one-third of girls in the U.S. get pregnant before age 20. In fact, the teen pregnancy rate there is "the highest among Western developed nations," says David Landry, senior research associate for the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, which studies sex worldwide.

More sex, less disease and fewer teen pregnancies. How do Canadians do it? Johanson says it's because of the clearest difference between Canada and the U.S.: our approach to birth control. "Our females are much more assertive about condoms," she says. The studies agree: Canadian teenagers are more likely to use condoms than their U.S. counterparts (see "Canadians have more sex" on page 60). We're also more likely to believe that choosing contraception is a shared responsibility, according to a 2001 Guttmacher Institute report on Canada. Many say our teens are better protected because they're better informed. "They would never talk about anal sex or masturbation in a school in the States," Johanson says. "Whereas I can in a school in Toronto."

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