I grew up in Ontario - our highschool cafeteria had french fries, gravy and a burger every day. The burger was just a plain patty on a bun and brown gravy was spooned over the fries and the bun. If that's what he's missing, all you really need to do is pour a beef gravy over fries. In a pinch I make oven fries and a package of McCormicks Brown Gravy - brings back all the memories.
As others have said, poutine involves cheese curds added to those items.