Canada is taking over the American Dream

The American dream has been an aspiration for immigrants and citizens alike for decades. The idea that anyone -- regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic background -- could advance and have a better life is one of the hallmarks of living in America. 

Or at least it used to be.

Recent reports indicate that the American dream may be moving north of the border. Put it another way, the American dream no longer exists, but the Canadian dream does.

"No matter how you cut the American dream or no matter how you describe the American dream, whether it's life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or a car, a job and a degree, it's now become easier in Canada," Scott Gilmore told CNN. Gilmore is a former Canadian diplomat who has written about Canadian mobility.

A major element of the American dream is social mobility. A  published at Washington Center for Equitable Growth in 2016 said that a person in America only had a 6 percent chance of reaching the top third wage earners in the next 15 years if they were in the bottom 10 percent, in 1993, making this rags-to-riches . 

U.S. News and World Report recently came out with its  and placed  at No. 2, while the  lagged behind at No. 7. In this study the countries were ranked in the following , adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life.

Gilmore, whose recent essay " ," was published in Macleans, a weekly current affairs magazine in Canada, delved deeply into the topic, said factors such as health care costs and access to cheaper education help Canada flourish in areas ahead of its neighbor to the south.

"Where do you go now for 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?' Canadians live 2.5 years longer than Americans. They are six times less likely to be incarcerated. And the World Economic Forum ranks Canadians as the 6th happiest people in the world, while Americans lag behind at 13th," Gilmore wrote.

While Canadians have highlighted their superiority for years, the country garnered more attention in the weeks and months leading up to Election Day in the U.S. Many Americans took to Twitter announcing their plans to move to the neighboring country depending on the results. The Canadian immigration website crashed on Election Day, and many have wondered how easy it would be to move to Canada now that Donald Trump is president.

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