Moving to Canada

My wife and I are thinking about moving to Canada in a few years.I was wondering about some of the pros and cons of Canada as compared to the states. The biggest problem I can see is the cold winters, other than that, how is the job markets in the different areas, what are the people like? What is the cost of living? I am used to being poor, but I need to be able to provide a good life for my son. Any info would be helpful in our descision making.

 

It all depends on where you decide to settle. In Canada, the government is decentralized... meaning that the nation has given a lot of power to make decissions over to the provincial government. So, because of that there are different drinking ages, speed limits and other things province to province.

Drawbacks? Taxes are higher. Canadians pay more in taxes than Americans. It goes towards education, highways and most importantly Medicare!!

The job market? It depends on where you live. In Saskatchewan, if you are willing to work and aren't picky about what you do, you will have no problem finding a job. If you have a special skill set, that will help, but even if you don't, there shouldn't be a problem... at least in the cities. In the really small towns there are only "X" amount of jobs.

Cost of living in SK is low. Slightly higher in the cites, but I had a 2 bedroom apartment in a good area of the city for roughly $450, power and water included.

Good luck! Once you know where you want to go, people will be able to give you a better idea of the specifics!

 

where are you living now?

our winters are not that much colder than many of the northern states.

 

I am smack dab in the middle of the states

 

ya the winters really aren't that bad at all. we haven't had a really cold one in quite awhile where i live (B.C.). its been snowing less and less every year. there was only like 2 months work of rink time this year.

 

The winters suck in SK, but really aren't any different than the winters in NDakota

 

The advantages of living in Canada are that if you have little money things will be provided to you. The disadvantages are that the more the government does for you the more they can do to you. Catch-22 - wanna miss out on that lifesaving operation because your insurance won't pay for it, or because there's not enough "slots" in the public system (and there is no private system you can buy into...)

You can get INTO Canada fairly easily. It's not like the USA where it takes years. Just speak English and French fluently, have a good education and solid job experience and you can walk right in.

You'll find it a different business climate. Pay is less, taxes are higher, opportunities are fewer, people are more conservative, etc. Markets are smaller, as well. But the people are genuinely nice if not a little overbearing with how superior they are to you in every way because you weren't born in Canada. Of course you'll get RAPIDLY sick of the fact that all airwaves have to have 60-85% Canadian Content by law, so get used to a lot of Celtic fiddle music and Celine Dion.

RE: Drawbacks? Taxes are higher. Canadians pay more in taxes than Americans. It goes towards education, highways and most importantly Medicare!!

Actually the money goes in brown envelopes to influential Liberal supporters. Medicare is constantly being gutted as is education, but they can find money to build fountains in rivers and billions on distributing flags, and of course, the gun registry, which has actually resulted in deaths rather than saving lives. You'll also find you're living in a one-party corrupt state in which embezzlement is simply laughed under the table.

BUT you can feel good about giving half of your income and up to the Feds if it makes you feel better to think it's for Medicare. That's what the gubmint shills anyway.

Leave your stuff, all of it, in the USA. Do not bother trying to import your car. You'll owe duty, GST (a 8% tax on goods and services) and you'll have to spend thousands to make your car meet CANADIAN standards e.g. replacing the airbags so that they have bilingual labels, and installing a dash which has kilometres on the outside and miles on the inner dial. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.

Did I mention the GST? Something that costs $100 will have two taxes applied - so in other words, when you go to the cash with a $100 item it will be assessed for GST $107 and then the provincial tax will be added on - but charged on $107 not $100..
So you'll pay 8% (in Ontario) tax on $107.

Get used to pockets full of change. The $1, $2 are coins. $5 to rapidly follow suit.

 

http://www.movingincanada.com/


This is the link to the Skilled Worker Self Assessment test:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/assess/

 

For what it's worth Canada wasn't for me but it's a great country.

 

ps, dont move to saskatchewan!! winter is 9 months long there...snow from sept to may!! ...unless, of course, you're a freak for winter and then it would be the perfect place for you to live.

http://relocatecanada.com/index.html

 

Canadians have the pro's of being neither American nor Eurotrash.

 

Alright, you're just being ridiculous now. Whether or not it's a required law to have bi-lingual tags and big letter kilometers on your own private property (and I've never heard of this) it's not like you would HAVE to do it. The rules can be bent so easily here. My friend just brought his American car up from the states. He didn't change any of that shit, and no police came knocking at his door. And if they pulled him over, they would never notice. The only bullshit was that they wouldn't accept his 9-month old Mass. driver's liscense.

If it's cold you hate, then Southern Ontario is a good place to be. The cost of living is pretty cheap in Hamilton, as compared to Toronto, but there are alot more opportunities in Toronto. The air quality is really bad here though, cause we're a steal town. But Anywhere near the great lakes is pretty polluted these days. Victoria in BC has really mild weather too. Hardly ever snows. It's a real friendly little town. Southern Quebec isn't too cold either, but they get a lot of snow. Which is cool if you're a skier or snowmobiler. Vancouver is pretty mild too, and just a hop and a jump away from the Rockies....very nice skiing. Everywhere else you go is cold. If it's a simple life you're looking for, then it wouldn't be hard to settle here. Yes there are legal systems, but they aren't that bad. We run things smoother than any country in the world, with the exception of only one or two.

 

Originally posted by IronGoth:


"Did I mention the GST? Something that costs $100 will have two taxes applied - so in other words, when you go to the cash with a $100 item it will be assessed for GST $107 and then the provincial tax will be added on - but charged on $107 not $100..
So you'll pay 8% (in Ontario) tax on $107.

Get used to pockets full of change. The $1, $2 are coins. $5 to rapidly follow suit."



In Ontario you do not pay provicial tax on top of GST. For a $100 item you pay $7 GST and $8 PST for a total of $115. If you move to Alberta there is no PST so all you pay is $7 GST for a total of $107.

As far as the coins go I like them better than when they were paper. Nothing worst then having to pull out your wallet and get a dollar or two out for something as inexpensive as a cup of coffee or a bottle of pop. Except when you go the states and forget about the dollar bills you get for change after you already put your wallet back, then you have to pull it back out to put 2 or 3 $1 bills into it. Plus try getting a vending machine to take a beat up bill sometimes, whereas no problem with coins.

 

i would also like to point out that there are still Loonies in circulation from the first year they were minted... how long to paper bills last in active circulation? not long!

 

Nobody try to convince him. The last fuckin' thing we need here is more yanks, with their lack of hockey knowledge and annoying accents.

 

Now I am going to move to vancouver, just to piss you off

 

i'm proud to say that i know absolutely nothing about hockey!

and

I

AM

CANADIAN!!

 

RE: Alright, you're just being ridiculous now. Whether or not it's a required law to have bi-lingual tags and big letter kilometers on your own private property (and I've never heard of this) it's not like you would HAVE to do it.

Actually, you might want to read up on vehicle importation rules. I was considering moving back, then I found out how much duty and how many modifications I'd have to make to the car. Including having all the airbags and the like removed and replaced. I thought the poster was kidding. He isn't.

Now you can certainly just drive your car over the border. But at some point the cops are going to want to know why your car is still plated in MA when you supposedly now live in Ontario--- ticket book in hand. You are legally required to change your DL and also change over the title on your vehicles. And in Canada this means you have to legally import the vehicle, which means inspection, which means things like GST, duty, bilingual dash and bilingual airbags. IronGoth is right.

And yeah, provincial tax is charged on top of GST. It is NOT $115 on a $100 item. Your final cost would be $115.56. Because as I understand it GST can be included in the price of an item as opposed to being charged on top of an item's price or somethin g like that.

 

Ive lived in Winnipeg and in Southern Alberta.

Southern Alberta - no PST, warmest winters in canada (chinooks), no mosquitos, no rain, tons of jobs. And a whole lot of redneck conservatives that i dont quite get along with. It's a great place if you don't want decent friends and if you want your son to grow up narrow minded.

Winnipeg is basically the opposite in every way.

 

Alberta is usually thought of as the most conservative province in Canada, but it's still more liberal than just about any State in the U.S.A. Canada is a Scandanavian-like liberal society with a North American culture -- how cool is that? Pretty cool i say.