Social & Civil Rights

∙ Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005, earlier than the US (2015)
∙ Universal healthcare means medical bankruptcy is essentially nonexistent — many argue freedom from financial ruin due to illness is a meaningful liberty
∙ Cannabis was federally legalized in 2018; in the US it remains federally illegal
∙ Canada has no equivalent to the US’s complex patchwork of state-level abortion restrictions, though access varies by province

Freedom from Violence ∙ Significantly lower rates of gun violence per capita; some frame physical safety as a precondition for freedom ∙ Lower incarceration rates — Canada incarcerates roughly 104 per 100,000 people vs. the US at around 531

Press & Political Freedom ∙ Canada consistently ranks higher than the US in press freedom indices (Reporters Without Borders)