Michael On Vancouver Island, we noticed a surprising number of German tourist families wandering around. It's not quite as bad as in "Man spricht Deutsch", and the behavior of our compatriots there is not bad; they seem to be relatively well-educated couples in our somewhat more advanced age group, who speak English quite passably.
What brings the average Joe to the Canadian wilderness? Canada itself is nowhere near as interesting as the USA. Canadian cities are all ridiculous; a city tour through Munich-Laim offers more highlights. They look as if they were developed in the 60s under social state planning. Architectural extravagance or true multiculturalism is completely lacking, although many Canadians don't see it that way.
And Canada is insanely expensive; even we as American hipster metropolis yuppies had to add 30% on San Francisco prices. Who in Germany has that many euros to throw around? Probably German civil servant teachers, who not only have endless vacations but also earn crazy salaries. The owner of the log cabin we rented for a few days confirmed that about 65% of her guests came from Germany (East or West, we asked, but she didn't know), and all of them wanted to see the bears.
In Tofino, there are also plenty of beginner surfers in July, against whom your humble narrator still looks quite sporty. The water temperature is somewhat more pleasant than in San Francisco, where without a thick neoprene wetsuit, the cold would immediately stop your heart. The weather was drizzly but very mild, the waves rather moderate, but in October, there is supposed to be a decent "swell" (surfer jargon for thick, regular, well-surfable waves).