So many people compare Canada & the United States. But most of these comparisons miss the real differences between the two, including how much gets built and bought, even invested, in each country.
Sadly, the majority of people never notice these numbers until they go looking for them. What they reveal is that Canada is losing out compared to America. Here are ten ways that Canada is falling behind the U.S., supported by real facts. None of these are opinions or forecasts. Which of these ways surprised you the most?
Higher household debt
Data from the IMF financial stability studies indicates that Canada has some of the highest household debt levels of many advanced countries. In fact, the household debt-to-income ratio actually rose to 174.8% in 2025.
The same figure was about 100% to 120% for the U.S. in the same year. With such a high amount of debt, plus shorter mortgage renewal periods, more Canadians are exposed to rate changes & renewal risks than our neighbours down south.
Producing less per hour worked
There’s quite a noticeable gap in terms of output by the hour between the two countries. OECD data puts Canada at about $74.70 USD for every hour worked, but the rate is a lot higher in the United States at $97.00.
It’s a difference that has existed for quite a few years. As such, it appears that the difference in production is a long-term issue in Canada, rather than something that could be resolved within a few months.
Fewer MRI machines per million people
The medical sphere is another area where Canada is falling behind America, especially in terms of medical equipment. Canada has roughly 10.8 MRI units for every million people. Meanwhile, America has around 40.4 units.
These figures place Canada near the bottom of OECD rankings for MRI availability.
Poor prescription drug coverage
Another aspect of this includes prescription coverage, something that Canada suffers with outside of hospitals. These are not covered in the universal public system. In fact, Canada is the only high-income country that has universal health coverage but lacks universal drug coverage.
Americans surprisingly do better here. Medicare Part D includes a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap that essentially works as a national prescription drug benefit, although with a few limits. Coverage is also portable across states, rather than being provincial like in Canada.
Slower fixed broadband speeds
Many Americans complain about their broadband speeds, but they don’t realize how much better they have it than Canadians.
Data from Speedtest found that the average fixed broadband speeds in the United States are around 302.68 Mbps. But in Canada, the average speed is only 256.49 Mbps. Those numbers can make quite a difference when you’re trying to connect.
Smaller housing-start total
According to data from the CMHC, there were around 259,028 housing starts across all of Canada in 2025, which works out to be around 6.4 starts per 1,000 people. That’s far beneath the figures in America. Data from the U.S. Census shows that monthly housing starts are above 1.2 million, or around 10 starts for every 1,000 people.
There’s clearly quite a big difference in the way that each nation approaches the issue of creating housing. Canada has a lot to catch up on.
Smaller public EV charging network
While the number of people using electric vehicles (EVs) seems to be increasing, the charging network isn’t catching up. Data shows that Canada has only around 6,300 DC fast chargers for a population of 39 million. That’s around 0.16 DC fast chargers for every 1,000 people.
However, the U.S. has over 65,000 fast charging ports nationwide, or around 0.19 DC fast chargers per 1,000 people. That might not seem like a big difference. But the truth is, Canadians have to deal with longer gaps and struggle more with long-distance travel, since they don’t have as much access to fast charging ports.
Expensive domestic flights
High airfares are a huge issue in Canada, mostly due to limited competition & difficult entry conditions for new carriers. There are also the numerous fees and charges that are part of the ticket cost. For example, in Canada, passengers may be charged around CAD$32.20 each in fees like “airport improvement fees.” But the rate is capped at under CAD$7 for Americans.
Generally, the cost of flying in Canada is a lot higher than in America, and it’s a real problem for consumers because it hasn’t been resolved yet. They’re stuck paying much higher costs.
Higher food inflation
Canada has routinely had the highest food inflation rates in the G7, far higher than that of the United States. Grocery prices have been rising much more quickly over a multi-year stretch at around 6.2% year-on year, which is almost double that of America. The U.S. food inflation rate was only around 3.1% over the same period. It’s not hard to see why that might be a problem.
Higher food prices for longer mean that Canadian households are feeling the pinch every week, particularly with produce & meat, along with packaged basics.
Higher domestic break-ins
On the positive side, the number of domestic break-ins has been decreasing in both countries. But the decline has been much faster in the United States. They had 729 break-ins per 100,000 people in 2000 & Canada had 956 in the same year, with the U.S.’s rate falling to 249 in 2023.
Yet Canada’s rates only reduced to 328. America seems to be doing a lot better than Canada in dealing with the problems of domestic break-ins.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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