Canada versus the United States – an age-old query when it comes to which country offers more superior living standards.
A study from Abacus Data this summer took a dive into this question by asking 1,500 Canadian respondents – all with different views on vaccination, politics and demographics with a focus in safety, quality of health care, quality of life and financial well-being.
Overall, 91 per cent said Canada is the better country to live in, versus nine per cent who voted for the neighbours to the south.
About 50 per cent of respondents who reported to be unvaccinated said they believe Canada offers more safety from violence, compared to 47 per cent who said it would be no different and three per cent who said it is worse. A majority of unvaccinated respondents ranked health care, quality of life and financial well-being as equal between the two countries.
However, Conservative voters said they believe Canada is superior more often than not – specifically 69 per cent believing Canada is safer and 60 per cent believing there is better health care.
The poll resulted deviated when looking at men under 45. While the majority agree that Canada is superior in safety and health care, the majority believe the U.S. would be a better choice for the enjoyment of life and financial well-being.
The study also looked at the American dream itself, with many Canadians saying they have been paying close attention to what’s been happening down south and have shown zero envy for it.
“Many Canadians have watched with growing concern developments in the US in recent years. While they are able to see lots of room for improvement in Canada – we see that in all of our surveys – they’ve also become more worried that the US is heading in a bad direction,” researchers Bruce Anderson and David Colletto said.
“Envy about the American Dream is not really in evidence, or at least envy of the American reality isn’t. It’s interesting that those who tend to think life in the US is better skew younger and male and the kind of conservatives who’ve been at the forefront of opposing vaccinations.”
