The Importance Of Growing Up In Canada

Canada is a country that is often undervalued, overlooked, and unappreciated when in fact, it is actually awesome. Growing up in Canada has molded me into who I am today –a peaceful, chill, and a fun loving individual. I am here to talk to you about how growing up in Canada has shaped who I am and why Canada is so awesome.

According to the Global Peace Index’s 2012 findings where countries most at peace are ranked, Canada ranks 4th while unfortunately the country we are standing in today is ranked 88th. The only things we’ll really get riled up about are hockey and the ice-cappuccino machines breaking down during the summer at Tim Hortons.

I have also found that Canadians have a much more slow-paced lifestyle. According to my cousins who are both from Canada but now are living and working in America, “Canadians tend to have a slower pace of life and have much more downtime.” This reflects itself in the countless long weekends we have, including ‘family day’ which is a Monday dedicated to strengthening the family unit.
If you are naturally a clumsy, accident-prone person, Canada is a great place to live.
Break your legs and arms as many times as you like, go to the emergency room for strange stomach cramps which google told you was cancer… as americans, you would all expect to get a huge bill, right? Not in Canada. According to the Public Health Care Agency of Canada, this is how it works: everyone gets a Care Card from birth, and each family pays a yearly premium based on their annual income. Post-high school, full-time students don’t pay anything at all, and seniors usually get cheaper prescriptions. Everyone else pays for prescriptions and dental although these are almost always covered by employee benefit
plans.

Looking back on my personal experience, growing up in Canada was probably the greatest thing I could have asked for. Drive half an hour in one direction, and I could be in thick bush surrounded by beautiful mountains and lakes. Drive half an hour in the other direction and I could be in the middle of a huge city with tall condo and business. Canada is also known to be one of the most diverse countries in culture. Canada has such a strong commitment to obtaining cultural diversity and this has taught me so much about accepting differences and understanding what else is out there.

Canada is peaceful, has public healthcare, and is extremely diverse, all proving that Canada is awesome. I truly love and am proud of where I am from, no matter how much people poke fun at Canada. I hope my words have given you an idea of how awesome Canada truly is, Eh.