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It’s absolutely a term of endearment, and it’s not thrown around exactly, but it’s just a thing you get used to. It’s not demeaning, it’s not sexist. It’s just friendly, but using words that I’d bristle at in the U.S.

Canadian will leverage “buddy” in those cases. There are also tones to listen for when we say it to tell you if you are in trouble of not. “Hey buddy…” with a pause means look out.

I had a whole conversation with a Brazilian man who lived with us for a few months & was learning English. He got a job waiting tables at a popular restaurant in the tourist area here in Porto & I cautioned him that terms of endearment like that might not go over well with American women diners.

I'm hindsight, I maybe should have let it slide. Perhaps American travelers aren't served by being coddled by locals lol. I was trying to be helpful, but it was not an easy discussion!