I'm a big fan of Canada's public healthcare system. I don't think I would have started a business if we hadn't had it.
"For people diving into starting a business having a safety net like healthcare is a huge advantage. As a parent, it would be harder to roll the dice on business when you know even a small medical emergency could wipe out your financial well-being." – Derrick Grigg
While building businesses, I knew my family's healthcare would be taken care of. Need an ambulance? Not a worry. Delivering our babies in the hospital? Paid for. Migraine testing and care? All taken care of.
Generally, Canadians pay reasonable taxes and get relatively good healthcare for the cost (especially compared to the USA).
Whenever I talk to my founder friends in the USA, healthcare coverage is one of their biggest stressors.
"Imagine how many more people in the US would start their own business or freelance full-time if healthcare and taxes weren’t an issue—if you were incentivized to go out on your own." – Jonnie Hallman
My friend Brian Casel recently echoed this on the Open Threads podcast:
"It's easier for our friends in the UK and Canada to get into entrepreneurship than for an American today. This is mainly because, in America, healthcare is tied to your employer and costs a ton of money. It's a huge blocker to entrepreneurship."
John Deerie, President of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, said it best:
"Universal healthcare is not socialism -- it is utterly supportive of capitalism by allowing would-be entrepreneurs with great new ideas to leave their corporate jobs to launch a new business without putting their or their family's health coverage in jeopardy. It is pro-dynamism."
This isn't to say that Canada's healthcare system is perfect (it's not). But for entrepreneurs, the peace of mind that comes from not having to get private health insurance is massive.
Cheers,
Justin Jackson