Before the political rhetoric started to make plentiful use of erasure, the middle class was defined as people who need to work for a living and did work not related to manual labour. Not infrequently, the middle class was broken out into upper middle class, middle and lower-middle classes. These three groups had considerable differences in lifestyles and aspirations. This is very visible in Canada. I am not so sure it is as much in the USA.
I think that part of the reason for that is that personal life in Canada doesn't tend to get overridden by grand political and social themes. There isn't any “Make Canada Great Again”, or Canada, the superpower policeman of the world, or Canada, the centre of world popular culture. Although being middle class means that you likely are following the news, and are capable of forming an educated opinion, you don't get too excited about it. If I could generalize, the “theme” of Canada, is, OK, here is your democratic, First World Country, fairly orderly and peaceful and not internally too disputatious, so go, live your life, accept your responsibilities, work, manage your budget, manage your personal, emotional and familial life, use our no-charge medical system to get preventative care, don't disrupt others, and trust that, as long as people behave reasonably, Canada has the expertise to keep things running on an even keel.
Not So Many Choices
Maybe middle-class life is a little less complex in Canada because Canada, economically, climatically and socially, doesn't offer as many choices about how to live. Income tax rates are relatively high, and they are relatively progressive. Particularly for the middle and upper-middle classes, taxes mean your net income is much below your gross. You aren't quite so likely to look for high-end shopping (And, Canadian retail prices are no bargain.) The decision about how you are going to pay for your medical care has already been made for you. Most universities in Canada are provincially supported by public institutions. The educational standards are rather uniform, with no really inferior universities, but none that, overall, are superb or overwhelmingly prestigious. So, if you are a middle-class parent, you are unlikely to sweat about getting your kid into a really good university. The provincial governments have set the system up so that most communities of over 100,000 in population, or even a bit less, have a good quality liberal arts, undergraduate university locally. The tuition fees are somewhat subsidized by provincial governments.
Canadians are significantly less likely to migrate than Americans. Wanderlust isn't particularly a theme and there aren't very many places to wander to. The middle class, white-collar jobs tend to be concentrated in a small number of bigger cities. However, this has to be understood in context. For example, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is the province's biggest city, although it only has somewhat over 300,000 people. Nevertheless, it is the biggest city by hundreds of miles and there are a substantial number of comfortable middle-class jobs there. Once you are an established middle-class person in Saskatoon, you would have to ask yourself whether there would be any utility in moving anywhere else, for the rest of your life. Unless you want to live on the rainy West Coast, and can somehow afford middle-class life in British Columbia's two major cities, Vancouver and Victoria, you can't escape winter. There is no Sun Belt life to consider.
No Naked Cities In Canada
Canada's cities tend to be newer and smaller than many in the USA, and generally, have very tight land zoning. It is not uncommon for middle-class Canadians to have all their equity in their home. The consciousness and concern that some new type of land use might reduce the market value of your home, is very high. Middle-class Canadians who are, otherwise, typically reserved and courteous, will fight viciously against much, if any, changes in their own neighbourhoods. In other words, the cry of the NIMBY is heard loudly in the land.
It is an oddity of Canadian middle-class life, especially in English-speaking Canada. Middle-class Canadians tend to see themselves as liberal, tolerant and excepting of diversity, but prefer to have the diversity happen somewhere else, not right around their personal residences. This tends to work better thank one might think, because Canadian cities are generally, rather sprawled and spacious. Except maybe for affluent, upper middle-class Canadians without kids, the suburb is still the norm. This is perfect for not getting involved with people you really don't much like. So, you ethnics, you gay folks, you can have your own, nice neighbourhood, over there, not too close to me. I welcome you, but not in my face.
There isn't generally, among middle-class Canadians, an attitude that it is my property, and I will do with it whatever I please with it. Canada's Constitution is quite different from the American one. When it is social order versus individual rights, individual rights tend to lose. You will not find a middle-class Canadian asserting that they need to own a handgun, in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. Middle-class environments in Canada tend to be quite low in crime. There isn't much feeling of threat. There aren't very angry, armed, aggressive “ghetto” populations to fear.
Of course, regular Canadians do not generally possess and or want handguns. The gun laws here are quite stringent. I would, however, like to correct a misunderstanding that we sometimes see from Americans in Quora. The possession of long-barrelled guns is quite common in Canada. There is a lot of forests and not so great a population. Hunting opportunities can be excellent. You could say that some middle-class Canadians live in rural areas. Much of rural Canada is full of varmints, foxes, wolves, coyotes and bears. You quite legitimately may need a rifle or shotgun to drive them off.
Cities Kind of Bland
Canada doesn't have very large retail market populations compared to the USA, and the population is scattered. A relatively small number of retail chains account for much of the shopping and fast food in the country. Up until the 1950's, there were only a couple of cities that could be considered even medium-sized. Then, starting in the 1950s, and carrying on even to this day, there was a formidable suburban expansion boom. Some of the old city centres were partially bulldozed (Even the centre of Ottawa, Canada's national capital.) to make room for parking lots and brutalist-type office buildings.
The result is, that, much of middle-class life in Canada consists of living in a commuter suburb, maybe working in a rather bland city core, and shopping in the same retail chains as in any suburb anywhere else in the country. There are several retail chains that are nationwide, and look utterly the same no matter where they are. These are companies like Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe's, the Bay, Costco, Ikea, Canadian Tire, Tim Horton's chain of coffee shops, Esso, Shell, Rona, and some others. Because the markets are small, they tend to be “category killers”. You go there whether you live in Saint John, New Brunswick, Hamilton, Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saskatoon, Calgary or Kelowna, British Columbia.
Don't Give Me That Old Time Religion
Together with a number of other countries in the developed world, Canada lost a lot of its formal religiosity sometime after the 1950s. The type of religious fervour you seem among apparently large numbers of middle-class Americans doesn't happen here much at all. Generally, it isn't considered appropriate to have religious discussions in public. It would be interesting to see statistics about religiosity among the working class, but they don't seem to exist. Much of the working class is immigrant, and from countries with higher levels of religious belief.
Investing Isn't The Same
Even if you are not committed to putting every last Canadian dime in your house, the middle class in Canada has different investment conditions from their counterparts in the USA. Five, nationwide, bricks and mortar banks, do 80% or more of all retail banking in Canada. They all operate investment arms, do stockbroking, and provide wealth-management advice. They are Canada's principal mortgage suppliers. Middle-Class Canadians tend to rather risk avoidant in a lot of things, including investment. It can feel very comfortable to place your investments through a bank that is too big to fail. There is only one major stock exchange in Canada, the Toronto one, the TSX. Unlike stock exchanges in the USA, it is heavily weighted towards resource stocks. They tend to be volatile so your investment broker has to manoeuvre around that. An issue that, you essentially need an investment counsellor to walk you through, is whether or how much stock and bond investing you ought to do with non-Canadian sources. Because Canada's economy is relatively small, there is a distinct limit to really good, domestic, investment opportunities. You can be looking for safe ways to invest outside of the country.
We All Freeze
If you own a home in Canada, you need to heat it. That can cost a lot. If you own a car, you are likely to need snow tires, or at least all-season radials, and maybe a block heater, battery blanket, or trickle charger. You could need a snowthrower. You will need boots, parkas, gloves, heavy sweaters and hats. It all costs. These are “carve-out” essentials that can lessen what is left of your net income.
Long Live The Dominican Republic
The other, big issue, for the middle class, is the winter holiday. February roles around, and you may need it really bad. Middle-class Canadians will often try to sequester a part of their income for it. Once they are retired, maybe even more. In fact, because internal domestic airfares are very high, it isn't at all uncommon for middle-class Canadians to do more out of country travel than travel within.
Not Much Big League, But Maybe A Nice Cottage
Canada can be a very good country for middle-class people, and you can expect to stay that way. In a small economy, it is pretty hard to win big. Chances strongly are, that you will never get rich.
This doesn't mean that working members of the Canadian middle class don't have drive or ambition. But, maybe it is for somewhat different things from what their American counterparts want. Say, by the age of forty, you know that the big income breakthrough is never going to happen. Your taxes are high, but you are never going to face a problem with medical bills, and there isn't much need to live in any particular neighbourhood to reduce risks to your personal safety. One university is pretty much the same as another, so there is no need to bankrupt yourself in order to put your kid in an exclusive one.
Your main drive may be to look for ways to wrap your working life up and reach a reasonably early retirement with an adequate pension and investment income. (A Canadian bank put it this way, “Freedom 55.”) You might be driving yourself towards a comfortable environment, a cottage beside one of Canada's many beautiful lakes, enough money for a winter getaway, a cozy living room, tranquillity and peace of mind. Doubtless, there are some middle-class Americans who might like it, but largely, it is a rather different type of middle-class life, with different priorities, and often, a very different mindset.
Martin Levine
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