It's not just what you earn but where in Canada you live has a lot to do with your standard of living.

For example, my family have a upper middle class standard of living (modest 1200sq foot owned home in a Toronto suburb, 3 kids, 2 used cars, yearly vacations pre covid, but frugal spending on the necessities ie I don't shop often and when I do it's mostly second hand/on steep sale) , but we are in the top 5% of Canadian earners.

Compare that to my friend in Atlanta GA who lives in a mansion that costs 1/3 of our home, travels constantly etc etc.

Yes, kids are expensive and it was our choice to have them so please withhold the breeder bashing comments as they are unproductive.

We are definitely blessed and have much more than many, but my no means have extra money to burn. Doesn't help that childcare costs are astronomical here.