Hey, I know a Canadian guy. He doesn't say 'aboot' tho. Is it a regional thing
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_English
"Canadian raising
Perhaps the most recognizable feature of CanE is Canadian raising. The diphthongs /a?/ and /a?/ are "raised" before voiceless consonants, namely /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, and /f/. In these environments, /a?/ becomes [??~??~??]. One of the few phonetic variables that divides Canadians regionally is the articulation of the raised allophone of /a?/: in Ontario, it tends to have a mid-central or even mid-front articulation, sometimes approaching [??], while in the West and Maritimes a more retracted sound is heard, closer to [??].[22] Among some speakers in the Prairies and in Nova Scotia, the retraction is strong enough to cause some tokens of raised /a?/ to merge with /o?/, so that couch and coach sound the same, and about sounds like a boat (though never like a boot, as in the American stereotype of Canadian raising). Canadian raising is found throughout western and central Canada, as well as in parts of the Atlantic Provinces.[3] It is the strongest in the inland region, and is receding in younger speakers in Lower Mainland British Columbia, as well as certain parts of Ontario."
