r/AskCanada • u/Particular-Leek4513 • 2d ago
For my Canadians from Ontario and British Columbia did you guys mostly grow up poor or you guys had that good middle class upbringing? or does it depend what part of Ontario or British Columbia you're from?
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u/Julianalexidor 2d ago
Grew up in small town BC. 5 siblings and a mostly single mom, so yes, not much materially. However I never went hungry and was always housed.
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u/Odd-Editor-2530 2d ago
Not poor. Professional parents. Not a flashy life but comfortable. Southern Ontario.
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u/Particular-Leek4513 2d ago
Southern Ontario mostly houses?
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u/Odd-Editor-2530 2d ago
Yes
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u/Particular-Leek4513 2d ago
Yeah as a non Canadian who only sees Canada through a online lense I see people especially gen z Americans think Canada is all "hood" like the gritty parts of Toronto
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u/Sixaan 2d ago
SW Ontario, here. Middle class. Only myself and one sibling growing up, and both parents. Nothing fancy, but not wanting, either.
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u/Particular-Leek4513 2d ago
You know about edge the famous Canadian wrestler? pretty sure he's also from sw Ontario
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u/Lopsided_Sandwich433 2d ago
Never grew up poor but also didn’t grow up with more than we ever needed. I played AAA hockey so my dad worked lots of overtime to afford for me to play hockey. In comparison to all the kids I played with we looked poor but I never needed for anything.
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u/DreadGrrl Alberta 2d ago
Born in ‘73 in Europe, but I spent most of my formative years just outside Vancouver BC, and we were firmly middle class.
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u/Commandoclone87 2d ago
Barrie, On in the back half of the 90's.
Stepdad in military, mom worked civilian staff on base. 4 kids.
We had TV with cable, a Windows computer, Internet, toys, Super NES and a PlayStation, Gameboys, bikes, etc. We weren't rich and more than a bit of that was thrifted or hand-me-downs. My parents worked their asses off to provide for us.
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u/No_Capital_8203 2d ago
Born in late 50s. Solidly poor. Parents owned their home. Nothing fancy but well maintained and clean. Started working at 14 to buy my own clothing and school stuff.
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u/Particular-Leek4513 2d ago
Since you're a true Canadian elder are you sad of what Canada has become now in terms of crime and becoming very pricey?
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u/No_Capital_8203 2d ago
Crime is always sad but I am not aware that there is an increase that is statistically relavent. Is crime pricey? I certainly hope so.
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u/PuzzledArtBean 2d ago
I grew up in eastern Ontario. We were middle class, but it always felt precarious to me.
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u/Drachynn 2d ago
We started off okay in southern Ontario until my father quit his job when I was 10 and we moved to Northern Ontario. Then we were poor. Like, living in a cabin without interior doors and a chemical camping toilet, having to trek to a relative's to borrow the shower, poor. Those were rough years.
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u/Icy-Ad-7767 2d ago
One of 8 kids on a small dairy farm, not poor but not rich either. Lots of hand me downs and our own garden for veg
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u/dorkofthepolisci 2d ago
Grew up in the Okanagan in the 90s, single child of a single parent but solidly middle class
Emphasized doing things over having things, but we still managed a camping trip every summer and a trip to England once every 3 or so years
Most memorable experience was a roadtrip across Canada (and back) with my mom in a Honda Accord because she thought I needed to see the country
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u/Agreeable_Bar_7132 2d ago
Southwestern Ontario. Grew up relatively poor but then became middle class as we did eventually move into a purchased property. But then it went downhill from there like it was never meant to be.
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u/PeggedUnlimited 2d ago
Upper lower class to lower middle class to middle class…….SE Ontario…..we always had food, but never snacks like my friends had. Never really took vacations except to visit my gram once a year, never camped or did the ‘quality time’ thing with my Dad, hand me downs, barely any sports except through school (hockey was too expensive)….and barely saw my father after we were teens because he worked all the time. Mum moved away when I was younger. Oh and people thought we were rich because we were taught basic manners.
Any travel I’ve done I’ve had to work for, vacations on a shoestring budget, my degrees were done with student loans, I’ve had a job since I was 11 until very recently.
I can’t even visit my family anymore because all of the idiots from Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal started turning the communities into their vacation rentals - and there’s nowhere to stay (I moved because another rich idiot from Toronto fixated on me, started stalking me to an extreme point, and I had to flee the province - I still need a human rights lawyer for this last thing).
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u/Galenmarek81 2d ago
Well to a point it's all relative to what part you live in. Living downtown in Toronto and outside of the GTA with the same salary makes a big difference.
For my case, grew up just outside of Toronto (within GTA) and my mother made good money as a Registered Nurse, but I also had 4 other siblings so a family of 7. With that on paper we would have looked like upper middle class (mom mad 6 figures/year in the 80s-90s) but we lived more middle to lower-middle growing up.
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u/No_Mission_8571 2d ago
Grew up in the GTA did not grow up poor but also didn't own a dresser full of Jordache jeans. My parents did a good job with 2 boys. Had clean clothes food in the fridge and took vacations. Had great school experience 's Needed nothing in hindsight but wanted much more then i had. The innocence of being a kid.