Report: Comparing the Standard of Living in America and Canada

This report provides a comprehensive comparison of the standard of living in America and Canada, analyzing various factors that influence the cost of living and overall well-being. It delves into aspects such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), disposable income, food costs, housing expenses, healthcare services, infrastructure, education systems, job opportunities, political stability, crime rates, competitiveness, utility costs, and rights to live. The analysis reveals that while America boasts a higher GDP, Canada offers advantages in healthcare, education, and housing affordability, ultimately impacting the quality of life for its residents. The report concludes with recommendations based on these findings, suggesting that Canada provides a more suitable environment for living considering the balance between cost and quality of life.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 1
COMPARISON OF LIFE IN AMERICA AND CANADA
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Life Comparison Between America And Canada 2
Table of Contents
Summary..........................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................3
2.0 Factors Affecting the Standard of Living.............................................................................4
2.1 Gross Domestic Product.........................................................................................................4
2.3. Food......................................................................................................................................7
2.4. Housing.................................................................................................................................8
2.5. Health Services.....................................................................................................................9
2.6. Infrastructure.......................................................................................................................10
2.7. Education............................................................................................................................11
2.8. Job Opportunities................................................................................................................12
2.9. Country Political stability and Crime rate Accident Rate...................................................14
2.9.1. Competitiveness...........................................................................................................15
2.9.2 Utility cost.........................................................................................................................15
2.9.3 Rights to live.....................................................................................................................16
3.0. Conclusion and Recommendations.........................................................................................16
4.0. List of References...................................................................................................................18

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 3
Summary
The cost of living is the total amount of money used to sustain an individual, and always
differs in accordance to the region. The major factor affecting the cost of living is the prices of
goods and services that are also determined by various factors such as the demand and supply of
the products and services, the Gross deistic product, and many others. America is considered as
the most prestigious country and therefore, most people dream to live in America than other parts
of the world. It is the human nature to compare their well-being to others, in relation to the
quality of services and products received and that extends to the country level. Richer countries
are always more happier than poor counties since the availability of the superior feeling among
the residents. However, when the factors are broken down, the cost of living in America is much
different and higher than other countries such as Canada that offers better service and suitable
environment for living. Factors such as cheaper education system, healthcare sea services, and
peace of mind make it the most suitable country in America.
1.0 Introduction
The wellbeing of an individual is determined by the cost of living in a particular area that is total
amount of money that an individual needs to sustain the living standard. It concerns the basic
needs such as food, housing, clothing, healthcare and many others (Atalla, Bigerna, Bollino, &
Fuentes 2017, p. 116). Different cities have different cost of living and are affected by various
factors such as the country’s economic, social, and environmental factors (Tan 2016, p. 23). The
paper explores, the various factors that determine the cost of living in both Canada and America,
and the come up with a conclusive recommendation to determine the best city to hail in.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 4
Canada is located on the northern side of the North America content covering an area of about
9.98 million square kilometers, thereby making the country to the second largest in the world and
most of the areas are covered by forest, rocky mountains and tundra. The Canada has ten
provinces and is sparsely populated with approximately 35,151,728 people ranking the country at
number 38 as the most populated in the world. Canada is a major supplier of the agricultural
products and leading energy exporter. Canada ranks as the fifteenth in the nominal per capita
income global rating and tenth in the human development index ranking. These factors are
attributed to the low level of corruption, civil liberties, high level, of education, economic
freedom and many others that eventually affect the quality and cost of living (Bricker, Dettling,
Henriques, Hsu, , Jacobs, Moore, Pack, Sabelhaus, Thompson, & Windle 2017, p. 89). America
also known as the United States of America is situated in the Northern American continent too,
and covers about 3,805,927 square miles with a population of about 320,061,700. America is the
third largest country, with a mixed economy (Koth & Debeaumont 2017).
2.0 Factors Affecting the Standard of Living
The two countries appear remarkably similar as both display impressive infrastructure system,
high socioeconomic profile, diverse ethnicity, and sprawl. However, when the factors are further
broken down into smaller traits and analyzed, they show big contrast that brings a difference in
the level of living standard and well being of an individual.
2.1 Gross Domestic Product

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 5
The standard of living in a nation is mostly determined by the GDP. GDP is the monetary value
of all the finished products and services within a country’s border at a specific time frame and
helps in determining the economic activity of a nation (Chien & Mistry 2013, p. 9). GDP
includes the consumption, government expenditure, investment, and export fewer imports (James
Ming 2015, p. 20). The mode for measuring GDP is uniform, making possible for economics to
determine and compare the cost of living of various nations. The GDP is calculated using based
on two approaches that are production and income based. The production approach determines
the value of a finished product regarding the cost of the material and services involved, while the
income approach determines the GDP about the amount of the coins spent to acquire a product or
a service. However, some countries have invested in the international market; their economic
health is the best measure of Gross National Income that covers both the domestic and foreign
investments (James 2015). The prices of goods differ in countries, and this is always determined
using the real GDP by comparing the prices of a product or service between current and base
year.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the formula for real GDP per capita is
real GDP/population. The inflation of a country always fluctuates in different parts of the year
and therefore, if the GDP stays in the negative then the county’s economy tends to recess, and if
the time continues, the country goes into depression, then prices of goods and services tend to
inflate (James 2015). The GDP tends to impact directly on the personal finance, investment and
the availability of employment. This in return affects the cost of living.
The table 1 shows Canadian GDP from 2012 to 2018, projecting to 2022. In 2017 the gross
domestic product per capita in Canada was about 43,611.26 U.S dollars. In 2014 Canada had one
of the largest GDP per capita values in the world. It shows steady growth from 2010 to 2013

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 6
with a difference of about 1.2% and then dropped up to 2017. On the other hand, table 2 shows
America GDP, that tends to advance annually too from 2010 with about 1.8 % till 2014 that it
dropped, ringing the value to negative (Tan 2016, p. 7). From 2016 the GDP the started
increasing again and is projected to increase steadily by 2.5% up to 2020. From the statistic it is
notable that the GDP of an American is higher than that of a Canadian, this high percentage
cannot translate to the well being of the most of the Americans since the per capita GDP is much
higher. The high GDP makes the standard of living to go higher while obtaining key elements
such as water, food shelter, and health service.
Figure 1: Shows GDP of Canada

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 7
Figure 2: Shows GDP of America
2.2. Disposable Income
The cost of living in an area at an individual level is most appropriately determined by the
amount of salary received since money determines the amount and quality of services and
products received (Smith 2012, p.5). When an individual has low disposable income, the quality
of services received is also low, and when the deposable incomes are more, the quality and
amount of the products increases. Several studies shows that rich people tend to have higher
well-being compared to individuals who are poor, therefore the latter are always less happy (Eksi
& Kaya 2017). The difference in the amount of disposable income varies per job specifications,
country, and employer. The average salary for both Canadian and an American are perceived to
be most of the same amount (George & Rhodes 2017, p. 7). After taxation, a Canadian averagely
receives $2,773.50 while an America gets $ 3,258.85 per month ranking them number 24 and 12
respectively in the whole world.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 8
2.3. Food
Food is the basic need of a human being as it’s the source of energy. Unavailability of adequate
and good quality food, results into poor feeding styles that eventually translate into diseases such
as kwashiorkor, cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease and many others (Eksi & Kaya 2017,
p.34). Food and drinks cost are always priced about the item and the area and are relatively the
same in both united states and Canada. However, the average value of the food is cheaper in
Canada than in America (Korth & DeBeaumont 2017, p. 51). Agriculture production being one
of the major economies in Canada makes more agricultural products such as fruits to be less
expensive in the country than in America, and on the other hand, America is a mixed economy
with various processing companies experience cheaper processed food items than in Canadians.
From the average of the randomly picked food items below, it is observed that the total cost of
those food items is less in Canada with a small margin.
Canada ($) America ($)
Milk(1l) 1.67 0.85
Loaf of bread(500g) 2.77 3.30
Chicken breast (1kg) 9.05 8.50
Rice(1kg) 2.97 3.95
Total cost 16.46 16.6
Table 1: Shows Comparison of essential food items between America and Canada
2.4. Housing

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 9
Housing or shelter is one of the fundamental needs of a human being and is also a determinant
used to measure the well being of an individual and the whole country. Unavailability of shelter
poses an individual to various threats such burglary and diseases such as pneumonia. When the
number of houses in a country is less than the total population, then the cost of housing tends to
go up. This eventually translates to a high living standard in a country.
Type of the house Value of renting a
house in Canada
($)
Value of renting a
house in America($ )
Furnished one-bedroom house in the city 930.31 1200.99
furnished one-bedroom house outside of a city 742.32 942.42
Furnished three-bedroom house in the city 1,498.83 1933.65
furnished-three bedroom outside of a city 1,203.00 1,501.72
Table 2: Shows comparison accommodation rate in Canada and America
From the table, it is evident that the prices of houses in Canada are much lower than in America,
a factor that was contributed by the huge mortgage in America in the past years. All the houses
that were privately owned in America were taken by the government entities such Federal
Housing Administration and the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs that all regulate the system
of housing making it too complicated, encouraging homeownership (Whaples 2011, p. 34).
While in Canada, housing policy promotes the access to the house through a variety of tenure:
whereby it does not explicitly encourage homeownership.
In Canada, the conventional mortgages are the five-year fixed rate closed mortgage unlike in the
U.S the 30-year fixed-rate open mortgage has been the most common(Dupras 2017, p. 6). The
type of mortgage in the U.S, therefore, makes many residents own their own homes, making it

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 10
difficult for the non-residents to get a house. The few houses in America left for renting
eventually becomes more expensive since the demand is very high.
2.5. Health Services
Health services entail the availability of affordable health services to a person. The quality and
quantity of health services determine the life expectancy of an individual. America and Canadian
contains some of the well-known health services in the world, however, according to the 2012
OECD Health data study, America ranks as number one the most expensive healthcare services
with a per capita of $ 8,233, and Canada with health care per capita of $ 4,300 is cheaper than
America. According to the U.S National Research Council, the Canadians tends to live longer
than the Americans, an indication that latter are less healthy. The report further estimates that a
Canadian born in 2007 is expected to live to about 79.3 for men and 82.3 years for girls, much
more compared to 75.6 and 80.1 respectively in America (Whaples 2011, p. 90).
The difference in life expectancy is brought about by the common smoking habit of Americans
and availability of fat and fatty foods that causes cardiovascular disease and obesity ranking it to
number 26 and Canada as number 10 in the whole world according to OECD. The smoking habit
eventually affects the infant life expectancy in America. Most of the infants record low birth
weight and tend to have a high mortality rate. However much the mortality rate Is high, and the
life expectancy is low, amerce commands the best doctors that are capable of treating so many
chronic diseases such as cancer, making a large number of patients to travel to America in search
of the services. As it is human nature, the habit is more likely to be adopted by an immigrant or a
newcomer that will eventually die before the right time. Finally, Americans tend to pay more

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 11
money from their Gross domestic product towards health care by about 17% than the Canadians
that pay about 11%.
Canada America
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
male
female
Figure 3: Shows the Life Expectancy of America and Canada
2.6. Infrastructure
Infrastructure is very essential as it allows the movement of people, products, and services from
one place to another. In a situation of inadequate infrastructure system, the movement tends to be
difficult and expensive. United States infrastructure is one of the most intricate transportation
networks in the world (Morris 2016). The country has over 4million highways that extend to
thousand, miles, numerous airports and railways lines that are capable of getting more people
and goods to more various places than any country in the world. The Interstate Highway System
dictates over one percent of the America transportation networks

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 12
On the same note, Canada’s infrastructure is one of the best-developed in the world since it
meets the standard needed for high-tech business and international trade. These are about 36,114
kilometers of railways, 901,902 kilometers of roads that access all the major cities of Canada the
developed highways and rails allow approximately 400 million tons of goods into and out of the
country enabling good business. The excellent infrastructure favors the bus travelers who are
always charged for about 1.75 CAD/km. However, the total miles of the road stretch is only
about 648,000 that is far less to that of America.
2.7. Education
Apart from the basic needs of human being, the secondary requirements such as the cost of
educations determine the level of living standards of a country. A well-educated individual is
perceived to have a better lifestyle than an educated individual. The cost of tuition varies from
country to country and also depends on the level and quality of education offered by the service
provider. A large number of students tend to cross across borders in search of better academic
services. The cost of these educational services tends to vary by the country and the level of
education perceived.
A large number of students are always in big debts resulting from the search of education in
America that is higher than other countries. In America, it cost averagely about $ 37,600 in
average public college and above $ 160, 000 in prestigious schools such as Harvard (Tan 2016).
In the other hand, the average cost for a degree level starts at $ 8,000 to about $ 28,000, with
about $ 50,000 in the most prestigious colleges, which is approximately one-third of a degree
pursued in Harvard University. Moreover, Canada provides free public education to all citizens

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 13
and permanent residents all way from the kindergarten to secondary school. This makes Canada
cheaper than America in education provision, hence making it a destination for many students
across the world that cannot afford to go America.
2.8. Job Opportunities
A large percentage of immigrants always cross borders in search of better employment
opportunities. Securing a job ensures that an individual is capable of sustaining the needs such
as food, clothing, and shelter. The rate of employment differs in various countries and are
determined by various factors (Morris 2016).Canada currently tends to have strong employment
market than the United States of America; that is experiencing the worst spell of unemployment
for almost the past 20 years and continues to grow even into other parts of Europeans nations.
The employment rate measures the number of working people per the available population. In
Canada is averagely at 65.30 percent that has remained unchanged since 1976, only coming low
in 2008 up to 56%. The American average employment rate is at 55.1 that have been dropping.
Fortunately, the catastrophe of unemployment that is widespread in other Europeans countries
does not affect Canada that offers a good environment for experts who are in search of job
opportunity.
Unemployment rate 5.90
Employed persons 18557.10
Unemployed persons 1153.40
Table 3: Shows the rate of employment between America and Canada

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 14
The immigration policies of a country determine the opportunity an individual can have to move
to that particular country. Unite states being the superpower with good infrastructure, education,
health services, the stable economy made a large number of immigrants to move to America. The
massive inflow of people created differences in the American attitude towards the immigrants:
while some perceive the newcomers as beneficial to the country, a large number of Americans
see and feel it as a threat to their life. The fear is brought about by frequents terrorist threats and
attacks on the American soil. In addition to the terrorist scare, the population of American is
very high, and therefore, allowing more other people from other countries tend to affect the
sustainability (Koth & Debeaumont 2017). These fears and doubts have made the American
government under the leadership of Donald Trump have strengthened the immigration policies,
making it difficult even to the genuine people who are in search of healthcare services to gain
entry.
Among the changed policies include the “catch and release” that allowed people found crossing
into the American soil illegally released into the American while their asylum request was being
processed since the government had nowhere to hold the detainees. The government has changed
the policy and has embarked on expanding the detainees’ facilities. Another policy that has been
modified is the Privacy Act that bared sharing of information of undocumented persons gained
by government agencies such as Internal Revenue Service’s to Immigration Services. The policy
aimed at allowing the undocumented people who have stayed in America for quite a long time to
gain American citizenship. However, the situation is different in Canada that is sparsely
populated, have more job opportunities, and have less restrictions in gaining into the country
and the Canadian citizenship.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 15
2.9. Country Political stability and Crime rate Accident Rate
The political stability of a country is influenced by various factors that are both internal and
external (Beaumont 2017). It is defined as the resilience to adapt to the external factors and
resume to the normal position by a country and determines the number of people traveling in and
out of the state. When the country’s government unstable, the availability of business leaders and
entrepreneurs from other countries tends to be affected. The United States and other British
Commonwealth countries have enjoyed political balance for quite an extended period making
them the most appropriate countries for investors(Eksi & Kaya 2017). However, the ranking by
the Global Peace Index place Canada was ranked eight as the most peaceful country in the world
with the United States appearing at number 100. The index measured factors such the number of
jailed citizens, political participation, and freedom to press, militarization, and other factors that
identified the trend of peace over a given period.
Notably, the number of prison-sentences in Canada was approximately 38,700 people,
translating to 114 for every 100,000 citizens unlike in the United States that averagely 716
people from every 100,000 citizens are locked up every year. According to the survey political
violence, gun-related violence, terrorism, and overseas conflicts were high than their wealthy
comparisons such as Europe, Asian, and Canada. The American political instability is majorly
caused by the involvement of the government with other countries such as Iraq, Syria and South
Korea. Other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL), the indigenous Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front (DHKP/C), and TAK also
increased attacks in American soil. The government tends to spend a lot of money in the

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 16
militarization, breaking the economic stability too. Consequently, the country is also on the verge
of being attacked by terrorist anytime making any newcomer fear for their lives.
2.9.1. Competitiveness
Competitiveness is the set of institutions, policies, and factors that influence the level of
productivity of a country. According to World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive report,
(2015-2016)America is ranked the seventh – a most economically competitive country in the
globe. The country has a Global Competitive Index of 18 out of 144. The excellent universities,
the flexible labor market, innovativeness, and quality of the infrastructure affect the rating. On
the other hand, Canada is ranked on number 11, a position affected by the availability of quality
electricity supply. Canada has Global Competitive Index of 14 out of 144. The rating shows that
it is more competitive in America than in Canada. Therefore, a business person will opt to
venture into Canada where there is a high probability of succeeding due to less competition.
The major factor affecting the cost of living is the prices of goods and services that are also
determined by various factors such as the demand and supply of the products and services, the
Gross deistic product, and many others. America is considered as the most prestigious country
and therefore, most people dream to live in America than other parts of the world. It is the human
nature to compare their well-being to others, in relation to the quality of services and products
received and that extends to the country level. Richer countries are always more happier than
poor counties since the availability of the superior feeling among the residents.
2.9.2 Utility cost

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 17
Utility cost entails the expenses incurred on the items such as water and electricity. These items
are essential since their unavailability make life difficult is such towns. The costs vary according
to the region and the service provider. In America, the average monthly cost of the utilities are
much higher than in Canada, a factor favored by the availability of mountains and water bodies
in Canada. The energy is also cheap because Canada is a major producer of energy that is also
exported to other countries. These utility costs tend to be higher in America than in Canada
making the same people with equal disposable income in these respective counties to spend quite
much in America than in Canada.
Canada($) America($)
Basic utilities (electricity,
water)
108.38 147.71
Internet (unlimited data) 54.01 58.79
Table 4: Shows the comparison of Utilities in America and Canada
2.9.3 Rights to live
Every country has its constitution that entails different rights such right of freedom, right to live,
right to move and many others (Arthur 2013). These rights vary and differ, for example in
Canada the right to live were strengthened when the government abolished the capital
punishment in 1976, unlike in the United States that still practices and charge inmate with death
sentences. Being on the wrong side of the government is that every person should evade, but at
times when one accidentally falls into a mistake then the ultimate judgment should not be death.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 18
3.0. Conclusion and Recommendations
To most people, income is always the determinant of well being, a notion that is not true. Well,
being is determined by many factors that have been discussed above, and each varies by the
region, city, and service provider. To anybody who might be having difficulty in choosing which
country between America and Canada is most suitable then I will recommend Canada. As much
the healthcare services of the two countries are of good quality, I prefer living in Canada where
the life expectancy at birth is much higher than in America. The life expectancy factor in Canada
will allow anyone who is thinking of starting a family and putting them all through to education
system, and then Canada is the best shot. Canada offers peaceful mind than America that has a
high rate of gun violence and high probability of terrorist attack, due to the increased interaction
of America and other countries that hood terrorist. It is quite easier to acquire entry into Canada
than in America for those in search of job opportunities, that is quite unavailable in America. To
an investor, Canada is the best shot, as much as it has lower Global Competitive Index than
America, probability of a business thriving is very high than in America, since there is no stiff
competition and the favorable work environment.

Life Comparison Between America And Canada 19
4.0. List of References
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Happiness Studies, 18, 1, pp. 199-228, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 2
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Life Comparison Between America And Canada 21
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