Business Licensing and Permits USA vs. Canada

The United States and Canada have different rules, taxes, and cultural norms that can make starting a business harder. In general, the US economy is bigger and more varied, and there are more startups and venture capital investments there. Canada, on the other hand, has a strong social safety net and lower health care prices, which can be good for business owners. Canada also has a better immigration strategy for business owners, with programs like the Start-up Visa program. In the end, the differences between the two countries will rely on the business owner's industry and way of doing things.I've been around a lot since then, though. There are now places I've lived in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and California. About twenty states and all but one of the provinces have been my home. I've spent time in both cities and rural places.What do I think? Most of the changes are between states or regions.

There aren't two groups of people who are made of different materials

There are different kinds of people living in these two countries, and their governments treat those different kinds of people in different ways.From what I've seen, the US doesn't have many types of citizens that Canada doesn't. We only have more of some things and less of others. And it just so happens that Canada's voting system leans toward the wants of our left-leaning urban masses, while the U.S. system heavily favors the interior. In the end, Canada looks a lot more forward-thinking. It's more of a change in degree than kind, though, when you look in the engine.To show what I mean:In general, this is a better place for most blacks to go. But the way we treat native people is a national shame that won't go away any time soon. People on the left talk about it a lot, especially during election years, but nothing has been done for decades. Things are more tense than they've ever been in the plains.They used to be proud of how open their doors were. These days, large parts of the country no longer feel that way. Instead, they feel an ugly kind of stubborn nationalism. When a lot of people spoke out against the Syrian refugee program, this came to a head. Even though they lost, the alternative made their point clear: things will be different if they ever get elected.

All of Canada's laws allow people to get abortions, which makes most progressive people happy

But that's only because Parliament has put off dealing with the problem many times since a court decision in the 1980s overturned the rules that were in place. As things stand, a future Parliament could easily put in place new rules that are in line with the previous decision, which was vague and not clear-cut. Everyone is hurt by that uncertainty.Even though our gun rules are strict compared to those in the US, they were very much weakened by the Harper government. Even though the Trudeau government is now helping them out, this means that swings could happen again in the future. Plus, the way things are now isn't really anti-gun. There are a lot of owners. Also, we have a lot more gun deaths than the US but a lot less than the rest of the world (3 times more than France and Switzerland and 10 times more than Germany and Australia).Niceness has always been the one true Canadian trait. Niceness is usually thought of as a mix of politeness, respect, and the cute habit of holding doors open for people behind you, no matter how far behind you they are. But from what I've seen, these traits are just as likely to be found in the average Midwesterner as they are in the average Canadian. And on top of that, political unity is generally getting worse here. A lot of the people I know have recently learned the opposite of being nice.

Even though our safety net is pretty good, it hasn't completely stopped people from being poor

However, we still have failed neighborhoods and a kind of underclass. Just walk around Thompson, Lower Hamilton, EOA London, or any other rough part of Vancouver. It's a good thing that these places are pretty small and contained. But that gift needs an economy that works, and with the housing bubble looming, we'll soon see how strong that economy really is.
I'm glad to be Canadian in general. When I go hiking abroad, I like to wear a maple leaf. I'm glad it still seems important. But when you take off the blinders, our greatness is less planned and more fragile than our high-end branding would have you think. And we are now seeing this weakness put to the test in new ways.

With lightning speed, populism is spreading like a cancer. The person running for governor of our biggest province is a drug dealer who might have changed his ways. He is also the brother of the late-arriving crack-smoking mayor of Toronto. [ADDED: He won.] Before 2014–2015, when oil prices dropped, Republicans lost both the national and Albertan governments, and media like Breitbart came across the border, this was unimaginable. People who are aware of the situation would say that violence talk and anger politics have made their way into Canada in a way that makes them hard to put back in the box.

I love my country. But I'm not as proud about it now because I'm worried about it. Like our friends south of the line, we're going through a tough time where something new must come out. I hope that it keeps a lot of the old's beauty and charm. But it's a risky game to think that it will happen just because it always has.

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