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I picked up 2 prescriptions yesterday from Walgreens and the total was 88 cents. It all depends on your health insurance, how much you pay and how good your employer is.
Exactly. It's great for you, but what about those who don't have a great employer plan, who can't afford to pay as much, who work for an employer not even offering insurance, etc etc etc? What about if you get fired/laid off? What then?
I'm just not convinced by the portion sizes argument. It may make a bit of difference. If everyone in both countries ate all their meals in diners, then sure. But we all know that's not the case.
I'll probably be hated on like crazy for this comment, but it occurs to me that one reason the US has a higher obesity rate than Canada is the racial makeup of the two countries. A far higher proportion of the US population consists of people from races or ethnic groups that tend to greater obesity--Hispanic and black. And a much higher proportion of the Canadian population is Asian, a group that tends towards noticeably less obesity.
This alone could possibly account for the difference in obesity rates between the two countries. The US rate is 33% and that is not good. But Canada's rate is 28%. The UK and Australia are also at 28%. Are any of them doing stunningly well in this regard?
It may be racial makeup or a combination of a variety of factors and quite frankly, I've seen a lot of obese people who are lily white too so I dunno if I buy the whole racial argument It looks as though the obesity rate in Canada has gone up though. I was using a lower percentage based on older data. I'll accept your source however and the difference isn't huge but significant enough.
I think portion sizes do matter - especially if you buy stuff on the go. It is easy to pack in extra calories. It would be easy to overlook and just eat more.
Something you may find interesting about portion sizes and obesity over time. It is in the U.S but I think applies to Canada as well.
Of course it's being framed as a negative by people - you just did!
Omg fine you win lol. I'll clarify in that I think portion sizes have gotten a bit out of control and I would surmise that this has been a factor in rising obesity rates. Mabye more pronounced in the U.S but Canada has no reason to be snarky about this either - our obesity rates are nothing to be proud of imo..
I was just looking around the Seattle section of CD and they were talking hydro rates in their area. Some in eastern Washington said they were paying .23 per kWh! Looking at others comments about what their monthly bill was for an apartment around my size, they still quoted paying over double what I pay here in Vancouver.
So perhaps hydro is cheaper in Canada? I pay $0.0858 per kWh for first 1,350 kWh in an average two month billing period (22.1918 kWh per day) and $0.1287 per kWh over the 1,350 Step 1 threshold..
I did a quick look at Ontario's rates..they seem higher than BC's if you don't have a smart meter, and with a smart meter they have time of day charging...which makes it complicated to guess what their bill might be.
I pay in winter with electric heat about $25 dollars per month in total.
I was just looking around the Seattle section of CD and they were talking hydro rates in their area. Some in eastern Washington said they were paying .23 per kWh! Looking at others comments about what their monthly bill was for an apartment around my size, they still quoted paying over double what I pay here in Vancouver.
So perhaps hydro is cheaper in Canada? I pay $0.0858 per kWh for first 1,350 kWh in an average two month billing period (22.1918 kWh per day) and $0.1287 per kWh over the 1,350 Step 1 threshold..
I did a quick look at Ontario's rates..they seem higher than BC's if you don't have a smart meter, and with a smart meter they have time of day charging...which makes it complicated to guess what their bill might be.
I pay in winter with electric heat about $25 dollars per month in total.
Some of us in Ontario are fortunate to live in buildings that are rent controlled and where utilities are already built into the cost of rent. I'm also lucky because when we moved into the apartment, rent was a lot cheaper at that time. Even with the meagre yearly increases that the landlord is allowed to raise rent by, i'm still paying about 200 bucks less per month for my unit than someone moving in now. Plus hydro Is not included in their rent only water. Not sure if you guys have that in B.C?
I was just looking around the Seattle section of CD and they were talking hydro rates in their area. Some in eastern Washington said they were paying .23 per kWh! Looking at others comments about what their monthly bill was for an apartment around my size, they still quoted paying over double what I pay here in Vancouver. So perhaps hydro is cheaper in Canada? I pay $0.0858 per kWh for first 1,350 kWh in an average two month billing period (22.1918 kWh per day) and $0.1287 per kWh over the 1,350 Step 1 threshold..
I did a quick look at Ontario's rates..they seem higher than BC's if you don't have a smart meter, and with a smart meter they have time of day charging...which makes it complicated to guess what their bill might be.
I pay in winter with electric heat about $25 dollars per month in total.
Nat, I once read that hydro is more plentiful and cheaper in BC than other places in Canada because it's a naturally abundant BC resource, because we have so much more running water resources we can produce more hydro electricity which is cheaper to produce than other forms of electricity production (i.e. of coal and gas manufactured electricity like in Alberta). BC exports its excess hydro electricity to a few other provinces as well as to several American states. Seattle imports a lot of its electricity from BC but if it didn't/couldn't, Washingtonians would be paying even more for their own domestically produced electricity than they do now.
Some of us in Ontario are fortunate to live in buildings that are rent controlled and where utilities are already built into the cost of rent. I'm also lucky because when we moved into the apartment, rent was a lot cheaper at that time. Even with the meagre yearly increases that the landlord is allowed to raise rent by, i'm still paying about 200 bucks less per month for my unit than someone moving in now. Plus hydro Is not included in their rent only water. Not sure if you guys have that in B.C?
No, we don't have hydro included in rental buildings. An owner renting out a suite in a strata might include hydro, but generally hydro has been so cheap here, that it's not an issue for apartment sized units. We even had free hydro a few years back..I think it was for the year. Since Hydro was treated more like a crown corp back then.
I'm speaking about Vancouver only.
Water is included in our property taxes in Vancouver. That differs from town to town in BC. Some pay water rates...don't know if they just include that in the rent in other towns.
Seattles rates seem higher than BC's, but it seems there is no one power company for the whole state???
Nat, I once read that hydro is more plentiful and cheaper in BC than other places in Canada because it's a natural BC resource, because we have so much more running water resources we can produce more hydro electricity which is cheaper to produce than other forms of electricity production (i.e. coal and gas). BC exports it's excess hydro electricity to a few other provinces as well as to several American states. Seattle gets a lot of its electricity from BC but if it didn't/couldn't, Washingtonians would be paying even more for their own domestically produced electricity than they do now.
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When was it that we got free hydro?? Was it for a year?
No, we don't have hydro included in rental buildings. An owner renting out a suite in a strata might include hydro, but generally hydro has been so cheap here, that it's not an issue for apartment sized units. We even had free hydro a few years back..I think it was for the year. Since Hydro was treated more like a crown corp back then.
There are a lot of people in rent-controlled units in the GTA. This could actually raise the rates for those who actually have to pay on an individual basis. I'm not sure if the building gets some sort of preferential rate from the hydro companies due to economies of scale.
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Originally Posted by Natnasci
So comparison between the two countries might be very tricky.
Not just between countries but between States and Provinces and municipality to municipality. Heck it can vary in an apartment building as per my example. I feel weird that my neighbour who just moved in because he lives in the exact same unit, exact same dimensions but is paying quite a bit more.
Not just between countries but between States and Provinces and municipality to municipality. Heck it can very in an apartment building as per my example. I feel weird that my neighbour who just moved in because he lives in the exact same unit, exact same dimensions but is paying quite a bit more.
It's because of inflation - and because you have seniority of tenure. I have a neighbor that just moved into an identical apartment on the same floor as me but his rent is higher than mine in spite of me being here a few years now and having annual rent raises (not much, fortunately). But his rent will always be higher than mine now because I have seniority of tenure.
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It looks as though the obesity rate in Canada has gone up though. I was using a lower percentage based on older data. I'll accept your source however and the difference isn't huge but significant enough.
Did that actually happen? I must have been in lala land at the time. 
