A Sucker Punch From Your Neighbour/Friend? (US/Canada Trade War)

[Murray20c8]

In broad terms, the U.S. has higher disposable income than Canada relative to earnings, but Canada is closer than raw salary figures suggest because taxes and transfers narrow the gap. On OECD-style measures, U.S. disposable income per person is about USD 67,468 versus Canada’s USD 47,737, while average wages are also higher in the U.S.
What that means
If you compare disposable income to earnings, the U.S. still comes out ahead in absolute terms, but Canada’s gap is smaller than its wage gap because Canada’s tax-and-transfer system reduces inequality more. A Bank of Canada paper notes that Canadian incomes are lower on average across much of the distribution, but the difference is not uniform, and lower-income Canadian households can be better off than comparable U.S. households.
Rough ratio view
Using the OECD-style figures, the U.S. disposable-income-to-wage relationship is a bit stronger than Canada’s, because both earnings and disposable income are higher in the U.S., but earnings rise by a larger margin. In practical terms, that means Americans tend to keep more after taxes in dollar terms, while Canadians often retain a somewhat larger share of public-services-backed value from taxes.

How does that equate to the price of things? Like wage vs grocery comparison between us and them?

 

[1st Vette]

How does that equate to the price of things? Like wage vs grocery comparison between us and them?

Disposable income is money that can be spent on things like a C8 for example. It's what's left over after paying for food , shelter and debt and other recurring financial obligations. . As opposed I suppose to living " paycheck to paycheck " and having nothing extra the end of a pay period. So given that in general Americans have higher disposable income especially in higher tax brackets it's interesting that the sales of C8's are similar there and here per capita . And of course sales of high ticket items like a C8 would be greater in those higher tax brackets. And the cost of the vehicle once FX is taken into consideration is very similar.

 

[Murray20c8]

Disposable income is money that can be spent on things like a C8 for example. It's what's left over after paying for food , shelter and debt and other recurring financial obligations. . As opposed I suppose to living " paycheck to paycheck " and having nothing extra the end of a pay period. So given that in general Americans have higher disposable income especially in higher tax brackets it's interesting that the sales of C8's are similar there and here per capita . And of course sales of high ticket items like a C8 would be greater in those higher tax brackets. And the cost of the vehicle once FX is taken into consideration is very similar.

Gotcha. Thanks

 

[cdnz]

Canada is not alot worse off than USA despite alot think it is?
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[1st Vette]

I was just making a generalizing that Canada is not alot worse off as some think we are as compared to the US.
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I believe the figures for the US are total debt of the Federal government not counting State and Municipal debt . Add provincial debt to the Federal debt the numbers would be different. For example , Ontario’s provincial debt is about $459.4 billion in the 2025–26 fiscal year . Almost half a Trillion. That's one province although the largest economy wise . At the end of the day it's a ton no matter how the government's present the numbers. But apparently in Canada it depends on how you phrase it .

Yes—if someone says Canadian total government debt in the broad public-finance sense, it usually includes provincial debt as well as federal debt, and often territorial and local government debt too .
The narrower term “national debt” is sometimes used to mean only federal debt, so the answer depends on the definition being used . Statistics Canada’s “Canadian general government” figures explicitly combine federal and provincial/territorial/local governments .
For example, Statistics Canada reported 2024 gross debt for the Canadian general government at $3,385.2 billion, with $159.1 billion of growth from the federal government and $90.3 billion from provincial, territorial, and local governments . So our current Canadian general government debt is 3.385 TRILLION dollars. Wow ....... so if you divide that by 42,000,000 Canadians you get approximately $86,500 per head .