I certainly felt the Canadian social safety net made it easier to start my business. First, my health care was covered. So I didn't have to worry about that do

I certainly felt the Canadian social safety net made it easier to start my business. First, my health care was covered. So I didn't have to worry about that downside risk. In fact I even had a major health problem two years in when money was tight. My medical care was a non issue financially. I had some extended health insurance through my parents in the early years. Covered wisdom tooth extraction, and rehab to fix an arm injury. (I needed this to type). Not government safety net, but similar effect. Some countries would cover this sort of thing. Tuition is lower in Canada. Low student debt. And repayment is very lenient for entrepreneurs and low income people. Never had to make payments or interest while starting up. There are tax credits for low income earners. I received about $1000 a year in cash payments for sales tax credits. Tuition credits prevented my paying income tax starting out. I would have gone bankrupt several times over without the above. Or maybe not even started. Instead, this year I'll be sending the government a large amount of income and sales tax payments, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to do it. On the other hand, there was almost no red tape for starting up. This was crucial. I didn't have to ask permission, I didn't need to pass a capital threshold, I could easily open accounts for my business and I didn't even need to register my company. And I didn't have to bother with sales tax until I passed a revenue threshold. Keeping that sort of bureaucratic regulation low is also crucial for encouraging business creation.