“Canadians don’t want to work” is an incomplete sentence.

 Written and researched by ChatGPT with my prompts.

When people say “Canadians don’t want to work,” they present it as a character flaw.

But it’s not a complete thought.

Canadians don’t want to work… for wages that no longer buy stability, rest, or a future.

Finish the sentence, and the accusation collapses.

This isn’t about work ethic. Canadians work. They show up. They grind.
What’s changed is the outcome.

In Canada, full-time work used to lead somewhere: rent covered, food on the table, a little left over, maybe even hope. Today, the same hours often lead to anxiety, debt, and exhaustion — with no visible path forward.

When rent consumes half (or more) of a paycheque, effort stops feeling meaningful. Motivation doesn’t vanish because people are lazy; it vanishes because work no longer produces relief.

That’s why the sentence feels true on the surface — but only because the most important part is left unsaid.

Canadians don’t want to work for nothing.
They don’t want to work for permanent scarcity.
They don’t want to work knowing the math doesn’t close.

That’s not a cultural failure.
That’s a broken contract.

Finish the sentence, and the blame lands where it belongs.