The Most Diverse City in North America is Not What You Think It Is
The most diverse city in North America is not what you think it is…. Wanna take a guess? Nope. Not New York. Not San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego or anywhere in Texas. Read more to find out!
I’m a rarity. I’m one of the few Americans that moved to Canada for a while. Living in the US, we have so many Canadian friends that have immigrated down here. The cultures are so similar that I was able to be completely incognito while living above the northern border. During my time in Canada, I learned a few misconceptions that American’s have about Canadians and Canadian life.
I moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2011 and lived there for two years. First, there’s so much confusion from Americans around the whole Toronto or Ontario thing. Toronto is the city, and Ontario is the province. Think of a province as a state, then it’ll all make sense.
Misconception number one… It’s always cold.
Well, I did see flurries on June 3rd one year, so this one is hard for me to argue, but it’s actually very untrue. Toronto has a Summer that’s very similar to any Northeastern major city like Chicago or New York. Cold and snowy, then hot and humid.
Misconception number two… Canada isn’t very populated.
90% of the population lives within 100 Kilometers (yes, kilometers) from the US border. No, it’s not that populated in comparison to the US, but Canada is the second largest country in the world by land mass and the cities are quite large. Toronto jumped from the third to fourth largest cities in North America when I lived there, and currently in 2020, Toronto is the third largest. Mexico City takes the number one spot and New York is right on its coat-tails. BTW, Mexico is part of North America. We also need to work on including them when we speak about North America y’all!
Canada also cares a lot about growing its population. The maternity leave program is government sponsored up to one year and every family receives a monthly stipend for all the children they have until each child is an adult. The fact that I could also get a visa attached to my then domestic partner (we weren’t legally married then) when I don’t have a Bachelor’s degree shows that Canada really just wants good people to come reside and grow their country. I’m sure things have changed in recent years considering the political climate in the US though. I lived in Toronto during the Obama years (ugg… what a waste of an international move).
Misconception number three… Canada is full of white folks.
Well, yes and no. The white folks are particularly white in pigment (lol), but Toronto is actually one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. Every major city I’ve lived in or visited has “little” villages like Little Italy and a Chinatown. Toronto has multiple chinatowns and a Little Italy, Little Portugal, Little India, Greektown, Roncesvalles Village (Little Poland) etc. I also noticed that there was a large Jamaican representation in Toronto. My partner and I even flew to Jamaica direct from Toronto very cheaply because there were so many flights.
As of two years ago, over 51% of locals were foreign born. 10% are Chinese and one in ten residents are Korean. It’s actually quite rare to have that prominent of an Asian population in cities outside of the West Coast in the US. New York is the only one that comes close to that.
Although I do think the food scene in the San Francisco Bay Area is by far better (I moved here immediately after Toronto) I do appreciate that Toronto has a great cultural offering when it comes to cuisine. I still haven’t found a Greek restaurant (not general Mediterranean, but Greek) that matches any of the places I loved in Toronto, and jerk chicken is much harder to find in the Bay Area.
Also, Toronto has a major tea scene. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s cold nine months of the year, or if it’s because it’s a commonwealth country, but there are tea shops everywhere. DAVIDs Tea got its start in Toronto. When I lived there in 2011-2013, DAVIDs Tea hadn’t made its way to the US yet, and I felt so flattered that DAVIDs Tea decided to move to California with me!
Misconception number four… All Canadians are Liberals.
Canadians are very similar to Americans in a lot of ways. There are the city folks and the country folks. The liberal folks and the conservative folks. They fly their flag proudly, love sports, drink beer, love their family and friends and love to eat good food. For real, very similar. Yes, friendlier…. But not far off from who Americans are at the core. Also, they sometimes don’t like when we don’t refer to them as Americans because they’re from North America too. Just want to share that as that surprised me when I learned it.
The reason I point this out is that conservative or liberal, I’ve never met a Canadian that thinks we have it all figured out with our healthcare system in the US and truly most of them would rather have their system over ours. I’ll write another piece on this someday. This brings me to…
Misconception number five… The Canadian healthcare system provides dirty offices and long wait times for medical treatment.
Ok, so I’ve never had cancer (knock on wood) but I’ve had a regular relationship with a primary care physician since I was 25 for a few conditions, and I’ve had asthma since I was a young child. My doctor’s office in Toronto in Liberty Village was the cleanest office with modern equipment in a nice building. I got in within 24 hours every time.
There are also walk-in clinics every few blocks in Toronto, way more than the US. You simply show your healthcare card which is called OHIP in Ontario, and you pay nothing. I needed ultrasounds… No wait. No cost. A friend needed to ride in an ambulance. He was billed $17. I’ve had to pay COBRA in the US when unemployed and my husband and I have paid upwards of $1,700 per month for health insurance. That’s not including the co-pays, deductibles, and all the other surprise fees the insurance companies gouge people with. FYI, my income-taxes were about the same in Canada and Ontario as they are with both Federal and State in California. So, you can add that as a misconception too. It doesn’t cost a lot more in taxes if things are done correctly.
A healthcare system like this doesn’t discriminate. Of course, there will still be doctors and healthcare professionals, and they’re human with flaws. No one will go into debt they can’t get out of because of healthcare concerns. Adopting a healthcare system like this could help with the systemic socio-economic problems we have in our country. Our current debt accumulating system prevents diverse communities from being able to elevate themselves. It also prevents people from seeking treatment when they need it.
Misconception number six… This is more of a misconception that a lot of the world has through biases. Cities with a lot of diversity can’t be low in crime, clean, and embrace multiculturalism.
That’s a complete misconception, and Toronto proves it. I think this goes to some of the police brutality points being made lately. When police stop having an assumption of guilt based on biases, maybe we end up with a place like Toronto. I’ve read there have been some #BLM concerns in Toronto, but not to the level in most US cities, especially since Toronto is larger than all US cities but one. When multiculturalism is embraced, the whole city falls into place. I want to emphasize that no place is perfect, but Toronto is clean, low in crime, and has more diversity than any other comparably sized or comparably dense city in the US. Maybe we can learn from them?
TIFF or the Toronto International Film Festival, is one of the most recognized film festivals now. I think this is for two reasons. One, a lot of filming happens in Toronto. Two, Toronto truly embraces the diversity and culture of its city, and that has come out in the form of art through film.
Torontonians will often complain about the TTC or the public transit system. In my opinion TTC was reliable, clean, covered a good portion of the city and for some reason, I didn’t have all the wild experiences I have on BART here in the Bay Area on TTC. I think it’s because Ontario takes more care of their homeless (not perfect, but better than the US).
My home in Toronto opened up to an alleyway that was behind restaurants… Besides the occasional mouse in the house from all the restaurant dumpsters being close, the alleyways were pretty clean. I’ve heard that all the movies that film in Toronto, pretending to be NYC… well, they need to add trash to the streets to make it look authentically New York. That’s how much nicer Toronto is in comparison to New York. I also never felt afraid to step out at night in the alley.
I had a hard time with the weather. It felt too long to wait for a few months of warmth. Canadians have no sympathy for complaining about a little snow by the way, especially from an American. Even with a little Seasonal Affective Disorder, I’ve contemplated moving back under our political climate. So, maybe they don’t have the best taste in Mayors, but at least they didn’t elect that guy to be President.
Canadians are like Americans, if we learned from our lessons, had a little more humility, and embraced the melting-pot we are and could be. Not a bad way to live if you ask me.
