Missing out on sleep is associated with obesity, heart problems, cardiac disease, depression and may even cause cognitive decline such as an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The lack of housing supply also needs to be addressed at the municipal level. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and it’s on the rise. A third issue is that patients stop medication without telling their doctor. Purchasing sex, marijuana or hard drugs is not legal, though attitudes may be shifting in a more permissive direction. Provinces like British Columbia has restricted home building on a large amount of land it has protected for agriculture (The ALR – Agricultural Land Reserve) around Vancouver. Canada now has the most prosperous middle class in the world, but the growing gap between rich and poor has never been as wide until recent years.

It comes within one point of the top spot on a 100-point scale according to the United Nations. However, Canada is not immune from having its social problems that need addressing. Though pet ownership (cats and dogs, mostly) is common in Canada, it’s not a right, and pet owners are often discriminated against in law. What can federal policymakers do about it? For example, if you have diabetes or previously had abnormal test results. It should be noted that in all these cases gambling services are government-run; it remains illegal in Canada to run a private casino or betting house. Owing in part to the pressures of the country’s large Catholic population, abortions in Canada were banned entirely until 1969, and then only permitted under narrow conditions when the mother’s health could be proven to be in danger. In a 2014 survey by Statistics Canada, 20.2 percent of Canadians aged 18 and older self-reported heights and weights that classified them as obese. Even today, issues such as proper housing, illness, and poverty are still considerable issues in First Nations reserves and communities that need more attention. Canada is indeed one of the best places in the world to live. Private health insurance cannot — by law — pay for services covered by a provincial, public health plan, however. Canada’s ghettos are more likely to be wealthy immigrant enclaves rather than crime-ridden social projects. Government continues to act on gas price transparency, Jobs numbers show B.C. The most commonly owned guns in Canada are rifles and shotguns. Beginning in the 1960s, Canada’s provincial governments began introducing government health insurance (sometimes known as medicare), to pay for hospital visits, operations, and other essential medical services. Canada has a fairly robust set of legal protections designed to prevent Canadians from being discriminated against on the basis of things they can’t control, such as race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. “Not to mention the life or death of texting while driving,” he says. After Australia, Canada is considered the most favorable place to live. “Immunizations are an important way to protect you and your family from disease,” says Dr. Brown. With the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and mumps, public health agencies are calling for Canadians to ensure their immunizations are up to date.