Sorry, but I'm not sure this is entirely accurate, as a Canadian.

> Translation: Canada is wealthy including most Canadians I know. That’s why things are expensive.

Most Canadians are not wealthy; the median salary, adjusted for taxes and transfers (so including healthcare spending and social welfare) is lower than almost any US state. There are very many Canadians, who live in places like Trois-Rivieres, Kelowna, or Kingston, that are very poor and are almost destitute. There are also very many people who can barely afford rent—average rent in Toronto is about ~2K CAD per month. That is almost the median salary for Canada as a whole.

> Canada has better healthcare than the US (#5 in the world according to US News and World Report, ahead of Switzerland).

I agree, but its getting worse. Doctors (thanks Ford, Legault, and Smith) are underfunded and leaving, a good portion of Canadian cannot find a primary care physician, and haven't been to the doctor in months.

> I straight up don’t believe you that there aren’t decent jobs in those cities. They’re like the NYC and LA of Canada.

There are decent jobs, but open to those who have university degrees due to the rampant credential inflation in Canada. If 60% of Canadians have tertiary education, what good jobs are available to the 40% who don't, due to family circumstance, money, or time? What jobs are available to the 500,000 immigrants per year?

> People want big McMansions to store their consumerist junk because of our HGTV culture but you can live a good life in much less. Your kids can share a bedroom, they’ll even likely be happy with it.

People also want to spend less than $2K a month for a 1 bedroom apartment in a suburb. Canada's problem isn't that there aren't enough McMansions going around, but that there aren't enough *houses* going around. Again, the average Canadian pays something like 40% of our income in rent and/or mortgage, with little option to downsize to pay less.

dangus 1 hour ago | parent | context | flag | on: Families earning $100k in Toronto eligible for Hab...

“It’s so expensive, nobody wants to be there”

Kind of like “nobody drives, there’s too much traffic.”

> Most Canadians I know have multi generational wealth so they are going to be fine

Translation: Canada is wealthy including most Canadians I know. That’s why things are expensive.

Canadian cities rank highly for livability, including expensive ones Toronto and Vancouver. No US cities were on the list that I found.

Canada ranks higher than the US on the human development index.

Canada has better healthcare than the US (#5 in the world according to US News and World Report, ahead of Switzerland).

I straight up don’t believe you that there aren’t decent jobs in those cities. They’re like the NYC and LA of Canada.

My hot take is that living in a small rented apartment isn’t some kind of catastrophe. For one thing, North American housing is already considered large by the standards of many countries.

More importantly, the size of your dwelling is only one aspect of quality of life, and it’s a factor that’s less important than most people give it credit for. Are Dutch people unhappy because their apartments are small?

People want big McMansions to store their consumerist junk because of our HGTV culture but you can live a good life in much less. Your kids can share a bedroom, they’ll even likely be happy with it.

Just as a cherry picked example, I’d rather live in a tiny apartment in Vancouver than live in a big house in places like New Orleans, where I have to worry about higher crime and gun deaths, worse education, worse and more expensive healthcare, worse city services and infrastructure, weather and climate flooding my house away, and worse job opportunities.

> Obviously, Canada needs better housing and immigration policy, but I’d call those pretty minor and resolvable problems for a country that is doing so well.

I'm sorry, but this is really out of touch. Canada needs better housing policy, but its not a minor and resolvable problem. It's something we've known about since ~2000, but haven't fixed yet due to entrenched interests. Many Canadians—especially those with high-paying, senior dev roles as you would find on HN—are doing well, but there is a significant underclass of people—including those who came here for a better life—who are struggling. Please do not diminish their struggles.