Unfortunately, the “Canadian Dream” is for some reason getting a government pension instead of building a business that pays you a pension.
This is not how it should be.
Let’s fall in love with capitalism again because it’s the private sector that pays for everything. Over 65 percent of all taxes in Canada are paid by the top 20 percent of earners.
If you love this country and want this country to thrive with all the social benefits and safety nets, the best thing you can do is build wealth and income in the private sector.
The private sector finances public sector salaries and pensions, hospitals and schools. The private sector funds food programs, social justice programs, rebates, seniors programs, government-supported scholarships, subsidized housing and all the endless programs that Canadians use every day. Every hospital bed, every teacher’s paycheck, every pension check. It is the private sector that pays the bill through innovation and the jobs that actually create economic value that the system rewards with financial benefits.
In any economic system (especially one like ours) real, lasting value comes from producing goods and services that people voluntarily pay for, from innovative solutions to problems, from taking risks to build something that generates income and employs people.
That’s where wealth (and taxes) originate.
The public sector is essential for redistribution, infrastructure, safety nets and collective goods, but it does not create net new wealth for the provinces or the country at large.
Capitalism rewards the creation of value with profit, which incentivizes more of it. When we praise secure government jobs and defined-benefit pensions as the ultimate goal, we subtly discourage the very risk-taking and innovation that keeps the entire system funded and growing.
Canada actually punches above its weight in early-stage entrepreneurial activity compared to most G7 peers (often ranking at or near the top in recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reports), yet many still see the “safe” path as the aspirational one.
We need more builders. More creative. More innovators. More entrepreneurs. If we want to keep good things like universal health care, strong social programs, and a high quality of life, then we need to continue to celebrate and empower the people who create the value that pays for it all.
Ross Simmonds is the founder and CEO of Foundation, a B2B growth marketing firm based in Nova Scotia.
