A: It's always nice to hear from my friends in Canada!

You have a classic hot water flow issue, where the hot water needs time to get through your plumbing system and to your fixture. The slower the flow, the longer it will take hot water to reach a fixture.

Shower valves are usually fed with 1/2" pipes, and with the addition of a shower head, you may get a flow of about 2.5 gallons per minute. Contrast that with a standard tub filler valve that is usually fed with 3/4" water lines and terminates at the tub with a non-restricting spout. Simply put, your tub water is flowing at a much faster rate than your shower -- and because of that, the hot water should get to your tub in about half the time.

Many people with your type of setup will open the tub's hot water valve first to clear the lines to the bathroom, then when the water is hot, turn on the shower valve. The professional choice is to have a hot water recirculating system installed in the house, but that can be a little costly. You can decide what will work best for you, and I do understand that when you live in Canada, it's important to get your hot water as fast as you can!