Are you, perhaps, confusing Toronto or Vancouver with Canada? I can see how $30K wouldn't get you far there. Where I live, in a rural part of the country, I don't know how I, without dependents, would even manage to spend $30K in a year if I tried. The large majority of Canadians do not live in those cities.
For what it is worth, the median income in Canada is also ~$30K[1].
[1] http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/f...