Close Reading

That's crazy!! I lived in Montreal all my life and didn't know all these schemes happening lol. And QC has so many rules and laws to protect any kind of stuff.

This may have already been mentioned below: apart from healthcare (which nowadays is precarious in Canada), in Canada new parents have compensated parental leave (formerly was just 'maternity leave'). The duration and financial support has expanded over time, and there are some differences from province to province, but when I lived in the US the most shocking thing was women pushing out babies and then running back to work within a few weeks. They could technically take a brief period of unpaid leave, apparently, but that's it. Crazy.

As an American who now lives in Japan, Yes! to all of this. I don't think we realize how draining it is to live in that type of environment and the toll is takes over time. I lived in a studio apartment in Chicago that costed the same as a 2 bedroom here, maybe less. I had to work 2 full time jobs to pay rent and other utilizes. I rarely socialized with my friends or went out to do anything. And I thought that was NORMAL. That's crazy thinking back on it now. Also I'm a lot less paranoid in Japan then I was in the States due to safety reasons.