One's perception of where one stands in the pecking order depends on where one lives, one's social circle, spending habits, and a variety of factors. But I'm sorry, in no way is a family making an income of $250-400K "middle class" in Canada. The most recent StatsCan data that I could quickly find was
from 2023, but in that year, the top decile (i.e. top 10%) started at $289K on average across the country. In AB, $315K; in ON, $312K; in BC, $310K.
One can still feel pinched on any of level of income, and many people at higher levels of income/wealth feel like they're in a lower stratum of society than they actually are, often because they compare themselves to people they know who are even wealthier. But let's be realistic here. A family making $250-400K is firmly in the upper echelons of our society.
I don't dispute that people with high incomes and/or high levels of wealth can still be frugal when it comes to travel - I have seen the scion of a wealthy Calgary family who was worth hundreds of millions himself, if not billions, walk back to AC Y with his wife and kids. And the largest investor (at the time) of a company I used to work for, despite having a net worth rumoured to be around $4 billion, didn't own a jet (although he did fly J).