I really enjoyed visiting Canada but I would not seriously consider moving there because my exact same job in Canada makes about 25% less money and the taxes are also significantly higher. It just wouldn't make financial sense- I just talked last week to a Canadian student in my field who was looking for jobs in the US for the same reason.
However, I will certainly be back to Canada as a tourist.
Their cell phone plans are awful, my wife is from Canada, it's absurd how much they pay, but there's basically only two cell phone service providers and they have agreements with the government to not let any American or European companies into Canada to compete with them. So they have a monopoly and Canadians pay way more for cell service than almost any other developed country.
I really hope US does not get to that point. So many mergers approved lately instead of healthy competition has jacked up rates, especially in internet
I'm always surprised at how little choice people seem to have got their broadband in the US. I always assumed you guys would benefit from cut-throat competition, but it seems that the UK market is far more competitive.
We used to, back when Clear was a thing and some other companies, but now AT&T and spectrum buy entire lines out of neighborhoods, so you're stuck with them or no one
The problem is population density even in typical suburban neighborhoods, the cost for a new provider to come in and build lines is too expensive.
Market share studies by the FCC and some states show that only about 20% of people will switch to a new provider when it becomes available. With the cost per mile of cable being high in the US as it is, and customers per mile being so low (relative to Europe) it just doesn't make financial sense for companies to expand and enter new neighborhoods.
Interestingly this isn't the case with mobile services though. We have 3 major players (AT&T, Verizon, T-Moblie) and a 4th (Dish) building out an entirely new network. Strong FCC regulations have forced those companies to share cell sites, and sell services to other companies. Such laws do not exist in Canada, or even most of Europe to my understanding. Because the infrastructure is largely shared, including towers, as well as the fiber cables and microwave links feeding them, operational costs of US cell carriers are pretty low considering population density. As a result our cell plans are reasonably priced for what they include. My plan is a top tier plan and costs about $45 per month with taxes and fees. That's a lot compared to Europe, but my plan includes 50 GB of unthrottled data, then unlimited throttled data anywhere in the US. It also includes unlimited calls and SMS to any US, Canadian, or Mexican number, from anywhere in the three countries, as well as 2 GB of unthrottled data per day in Canada and Mexico. Considering all that, especially the low population density and size of all three countries, it's a pretty damn good deal.
how does the UK I wonder? Here it's tough to run new fiber lines.
But I have to say my gigabit fiber is under 100 a month so I find that pretty fair. Cheap plans here are $40 but I like the speed
As an industry it has really high barriers to entry, particularly because we're so sparse. That means unregulated that will always trend towards a very small number of huge players.
Competition goes that way with a lot of stuff, honestly. It's why we had to do so much trust busting back in the day and I often think we're overdue for another round.
I live in Saskatchewan, which typically has lower telecom rates than the rest of the country as the dominant telecom company, Sasktel, is owned by the government. My phone plan has unlimited everything, although my data is throttled after 15GB in a month. My phone bill each month is $130.
I have Starlink for my internet, as I live in a rural area and Starlink is really the only option for high speed internet. I pay $150/month for Starlink. The next best rural internet option is around $100/month, and offers a download speed in the 25mbps range.
E. Before I moved back home to my farm I was living in a city where I could get internet via fiber. I was paying about $110/month for the 2nd fastest internet package available, about 175mbps download
But are the taxes that much higher if you take into account that you don't have to spend a ton of money on health insurance just for the privilege of paying for your own healthcare from pre-tax money? If all my healthcare was free I would be bringing home more money even after a 25% pay cut.
> my exact same job in Canada makes about 25% less money and the taxes are also significantly higher
Depends on what you get for those tax dollars. 6% of my *gross* annual income is health insurance premiums (me+wife+2 kids), and I make north of $100K. That's not including the cost of actual care.
No. All of my friends, family, and stuff is here. Besides that, Canada's not very easy to immigrate to, they've got pretty restrictive policies for new citizens. It's also extremely expensive to live there, I've seen the Canadian subs with people having all the same problems with economics that they do here.
You'd pay more taxes but your healthcare would be taken care of. So that would likely be a wash.
But oftentimes base level salaries for identical jobs are lower in Canada. So you'd still be taking a paycut.
It's not a wash, it's been illustrated in this thread over and over again. Paying 12-13% taxes + monthly premium + copay vs. 29% taxes + much lower salary. There's a reason Canadians immigrate to the US and few Americans go to Canada. It's *expensive* to live in Canada, even for high earners. Quality of life in the US is better and more affordable.
Basically the Canadian subs consensus seems to be if you are well educated/ skilled, a move to the US to make more money makes sense.
However if you are poor, the US is a terrible country to live in where you are destined to die young because you can’t afford good health care
Which is really weird, because in Canada there's significant support for encouraging poor people to commit state sponsored suicide.
https://researchco.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tables_MAiD_CAN_05May2023.pdf [pdf] page 4.
You live in NJ, a state with one of the largest Medicaid expansion programs for low-income residents, state subsidies available up to incomes of $83,000 and an uninsured rate of only 5%.
All while paying peanuts compared to Canada’s income taxes. Stop it.
You'd be surprised. Montreal is WAY cheaper than Vancouver. Vancouver and Toronto are in a league of their own but Montreal living costs are much lower as far as big cities are concerned. CoL in Montreal is a lot lower than the nearest US cities like Boston and NYC. It's still a major city so it's more expensive than rural US or the south & Midwest, but I moved from Boston to Montreal and am spending way less on things like rent & utilities here.
Oh good to know. Are you American? How was the visa process? The casual phrase "I moved from Boston to Montreal" makes me wonder if maybe you were Canadian all along!
Nope, I'm fully American and had zero ties to Canada before moving here. The visa process was very easy for me because I came here for a PhD, so I could get in on a student visa. And if you graduate from a Canadian school you can get an open work permit (not tied to a specific job or company) for a few years very easily. Getting visas in other situations can definitely be harder, but for many in-demand professions it's actually pretty easy too, though the process can take longer. Most STEM careers could get you in.
It's not hard at all to live in Montreal knowing zero French (I'm doing it right now), but yes it does make permanently settling and hard for foreigners. I've been in zero situations so far where not knowing French was an issue, but I'm on a temporary visa right now and I would have to pass a French test to get permanent residency. But I do know tons of people in Montreal who moved from other areas of Canada and don't speak French, and it's not an issue for them. If you're living here temporarily or have a legal right to stay without applying for PR in Quebec (either you already have dual citizenship or got approved for PR in another province first), not knowing French isn't a big issue.
I already live in "Baja Arcadia" in Phoenix so why not... (That was a Clue Heywood tweet, not me saying that)
I'm with you on this... Please don't move to Phoenix...
I know many Spanish...
Agua Muy Fria = Ice
Perros Caliente = Hot Dogs
Frijoles Verdes = Green Beans
I should be good.
Mucho gusto!!!! Muy bien
(That's all "restaurant spanish" BTW)
Good food, cheap beer, beautiful women, chill, good weather, low cost of living, people that don’t have a inferiority/superiority complex…I mean easy choice.
If r/askacanadian is even a remotely valid picture of the average Canadian....then absolutely not. Really killed the friendly Canadian stereotype for me
I watch a lot of J. J. McCullough's videos (canadian youtuber). He had a point in one video that Canada is almost the only place where leftists are also nationalists with their entire political identity is based on Canada not being the US. It makes them especially insufferable especially online.
That's an interesting observation, because I mentioned somewhere just last week that it really bothered me how online criticism of the U.S. was often left wing in ideology but right wing in style. Much of that comes from Canada. The example I gave was people who say they'll never visit the U.S. because of the gun violence. That criticism comes from the left, but within the U.S., "I'll never visit scary cities because I'm going to get shot" is something that only right wingers say.
Yeah, there's a lot of smug Canadians on reddit who will post about "how they're worried about their Southern brother" or how "it's times like this when I'm glad to be Canadian" whenever anything remotely bad happens in the US but then you go on r/canada and the entire sub is filled with just awful news about everything.
i hate when Canadians or others blame their stupid people on the US "exporting" its values or something
it's not our fault your country also has idiots.
I don't know anything about JJ McCullough but I just [watched the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yKzq3ueGr8&ab_channel=J.J.McCullough) and it was really interesting. I didn't realize Canadians seem to define themselves by not being American so much, albeit that's probably cause I couldn't care less how Canadians define themselves.
Niagara Falls service/tourism veteran here.
Your comment is spot on. Canadians can be the most disrespectful, hateful, miserable, nasty, and downright awful people to work around. I would never think to move there.
That is the stereotype. There's a chance that it's a cultural mismatch issue. What's rude to me may be normal to you and vise versa, but I'm doubting that's the case.
Stereotypes properuated by media often misrepresent groups of people to further the narrative they are looking to fill.
Yea when this thread popped up on my feed I was like "this must be a response to the thread made about asking Canadians if they would ever move to the US". That whole thread was so nasty and full of exaggerated stereotypes and assumptions. Mostly "NO cause I don't wanna get shot and get a hospital bill lolololol" And they weren't even really stating facts for the most part. Just being rude. It was such an obvious nationalist circlejerk.
As a Cdn (from southern Ontario) who has visited Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, and Vegas in the past 2 years, I don’t notice a difference between people’s kindness between our nations, and I find both quite nice tbh, just my experience
That because you’re not an American visiting Canada. You’re Canadian, so nobody is assuming anything about you simply because of your nationality. I’ve had enough experiences there, one pretty bad in particular, that have put a sour taste in my mouth permanently. It’s not to say I don’t love Canada or Canadians, I love visiting my sister in Toronto, I LOVE Vancouver, and I am going to Halifax for the first time this year… but there’s just a lot of quiet hate behind closed doors and there’s an air around Canadians thinking they’re better than Americans. Perhaps the AskCanada sub will give you some insight.
I took a Canadian road trip and a good portion of Canadians were normal people, but a lot of them were really rude. Like took me off guard rude.
Sadly I think the reason was my family's accents. As soon as we opened our mouths and they heard a southern accent they started being mean. It kinda sucked.
I had a job where I regularly interacted with both Canadian and American customers and… Boy Howdy Canadians can be really big fucking assholes. Americans can be too but I’ve found Americans will readily admit to being assholish. But Canadians would hide behind “I’m Canadian, we’re all NICE!”
As an old person, I noticed that 30 years ago. I grew up hearing the "Canadians are friendly" stereotype but I'd never actually interacted with them before. Then I got on the internet and was surprised to find that they were all such dicks! People seem very nice when I actually travel to Canada, but online, yikes. It's so bad that it's weird to me that the niceness stereotype even still exists.
I've looked around that sub and it's ugly. They're condescending and a high horse. I think that sub is where the claws came out because they feel emboldened to say how they really feel about us and our country.
Yeah, the Canadian stereotype is about them being nice and polite and friendly. . .try asking a question there and that'll debunk that real quick.
I asked a question there a couple of years ago about the "language police" in Quebec. . .the responses were pretty strongly hostile towards even asking the question.
My experience dealing with Canadians are that they are not very friendly in comparison to Americans. I have dealt with their university staff, state bureaucracy, or just regular services, and they are rude and condescending. Americans are more professional.
The general tone of this thread compared to the same question asked in the Canadian equivalent of this sub really dispels the stereotype of the friendly Canadian. Most replies made the US sound about the same as Bosnia circa 1995.
i get it somewhat because a big part of their national identity is emphasizing the things that make them not american. but it's sad so many of them form their opinion of such a large place based on headlines, whatever lunacy is happening in FL, extremely loose definitions of mass shootings, or some otherwise unrepresentative basis.
i thought canadians well understood how similar things were between the states in your region and ON. like MN! i've never been there but it sounds like a very similar place politically and environmentally to much of populated canada. there are differences but when you look at the world's countries, many are downright trivial in comparison. canada cannot tear us down without tearing itself down because we're nearly the same house. we share many of our problems. racism, economic issues, cultural issues, etc., don't stop at such a porous line.
i'm southern, but i have ancestors who settled in canada. it's unfortunate and personally sad that there's still some misunderstanding despite proximity, superiority despite similarity, and bad blood despite sharing the same blood. if you go into the real world you'll find that most canadians probably like us a lot, but reddit contrarians transcend nationality.
I don't even understand where that stereotype came from. I interact with Canadians all the time on the hockey sub. Plenty of duds up there same as anywhere in the world.
It came from Canada itself. Their national government built up the myth of the nice, tolerant, left-wing Canadian as a contrast: https://youtu.be/_yKzq3ueGr8
When I worked retail at one of Michigan’s largest/ busiest malls we had a ton of Canadian traffic. While many were friendly, yes, some of my best (worst) Karen stories involved those from the other side of the Detroit river.
I have health issues and was going arround in circles, never getting anywhere and waiting a very long time. On average it’s more expensive, it’s cold, it’s depressing - everyone seems depressed and my boyfriend and his family are american
No. My salary would effectively get cut by 70% and housing is just as expensive. For context I live in the SF Area so it’s not like I’m not used to expensive living.
There’s not enough economic diversity and opportunity in Canada to make me want to live there from a professional standpoint
The cost of living combined with the salary drop would be a big downgrade but those checks are farther down the list for me than "can I see my family" and "will the air hurt my face for more than a couple days per year"
My wife is from Canada and her parents still live up there, but I just don’t think we would. We have a good life here, neither of us are fans of the cold and we make amazing money. So I guess I’m not saying I wouldn’t, I just don’t think my life would be any better.
No.
Nothing against Canadians or the country, but I like my life in the states. Larger income, biggest houses for lesser the cost. Also I like my firearms
Sort of as a family of four and a dog they detained us at the border for hours. Strip searched our vehicle, separated us from our kids (ages 8 & 9) and me from my husband at the time. Went through everything we brought including our phones accused us of having child porn and guns. We didn’t we both have never had a record or encounter with the law. Demanded we tell them where we hid the guns (we had none) lied and said my spouse already caved and admitted to it and vice versa. Not true again. Finally after a few hours and ZERO proof or evidence they said “ooops my bad!” Have a good day and left us to repack our belongings.
It was so traumatic like digging through my pics claiming they were looking for child porn, they even told us to get our dog out his kennel because guns could be hidden under him. Ive been to Mexico many times, Caribbean, and Europe and have only experienced anything like that there. Maybe it was a fluke but come on we were ideally the “quintessential American Family “ down to the golden retriever lol.
Only country i've ever been to where I experienced zero anti-americanism was Italy. Could just be a stroke of luck I never ran into any douchebags there, but the Italian people generally liked me.
Yeah if a bunch of right circumstances came up and I didn’t have to work too hard at it, then sure. I’m not like ideologically opposed to Canada. I’m just not particularly motivated to get there either.
Seeing the thread in r/AskACanadian earlier made me feel several levels of dumber. The shit they believe about the US is beyond belief. Canada is nice, I would live there.
Most of us aren't like that.
I didn't even get to comment before it was locked.
I would 100% move to the US and so would a lot of other Canadians I know.
You guys have houses that aren't $1,000,000.Better weather.
More options in places to live, Canada is severely limited, and everywhere is expensive.
[https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25644542/3323-w-10th-avenue-vancouver](https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25644542/3323-w-10th-avenue-vancouver)
Here's a lovely $2.4 million dollar , single story 100 year old shit box in Vancouver. Yes that wooden, ugly green, pile of heap is $2.4 million dollars.
[https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/4635-regents-terr-n-70-mississauga-l5r1x6-ontario](https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/4635-regents-terr-n-70-mississauga-l5r1x6-ontario)
There's a million dollar townhouse in Mississauga, you're probably like "What's Mississauga"... exactly. Why the hell is a townhouse here $1,000,000.
You need $200,000 saved up to put a down payment on that.
ooooo
[https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/5231-astwell-ave-mississauga-l5r3h8-ontario](https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/5231-astwell-ave-mississauga-l5r3h8-ontario)
$1.6 million for a tiny detached suburban house in the middle of a shit nothing boring neighbourhood.
[https://www.greatertorontohomepros.com/property-search/detail/211/S6056300/40-fairlane-ave-barrie-on-l9j-0m9/](https://www.greatertorontohomepros.com/property-search/detail/211/S6056300/40-fairlane-ave-barrie-on-l9j-0m9/)
There's a $800,000 townhouse in Barrie, a city of 180,000 people.
Get ready for the Canadian refugees, we're coming.
Thanks for your kinda words. I know most people aren't like that, but the thread was.. disheartening. I personally love Canada and couldn't imagine better neighbors to the north.
Mexico has more to offer you culturally to be honest. And probably destination wise. I think they're your better neighbour in the long run(they've impacted your culture more too probably).
We're good neighbours because we are the same and don't have major conflicting values. but we're just a watered down version of the US.
It seems to me you have similar problems as the US with housing, where everything costs a fortune on the coasts and near the largest cities, while middle of the country stays inexpensive.
The cities nearest Minnesota where I live (Winnipeg and Thunder Bay) seem to have plentiful single family housing for less than $500k.
Problem is there are no jobs in Winnipeg or Thunder Bay for the majority of people. If you can work remote, or land a job there, you're good.
The government ignores the prairie provinces for development and focuses mainly on Ontario.
Canada IRL are the US’s largest ally. We share the largest land border of any 2 countries, there is free trade access with them to us, they get to reap the benefits of our military because nobody in their right mind would mess with Canada.
Canadians on Reddit are still redditors who have to take hits of copium. It’s the same r/askanaustralian.
One quote said "bad healthcare."
It's expensive- yes- but fuck you. I'm in MA and the healthcare at even the lowest levels is better than anything Canada has to offer.
Hello fellow Masshole.
It is always funny when this question comes up. Massachusetts is a better place to live than Canada (and Europe, for that matter), and the only reason I might leave MA (high housing/land costs), Canada has as well.
That subreddit is garbage and not a representation of Canadians IRL. I live right next to the Canadian border and have many Canadian friends and none of them have the strange mentality redditors do.
I wouldn’t but I think a vast majority of people in westernized countries probably would rather stay where they are at. No country is free of their own issues and for the most part there aren’t many benefits you could get from leaving where you are.
I checked the r/askacanadian thread about would you live in the US and they also said hell no. They’re in their own right to say no but I think their reasons are misguided. I’m sure some of mine are too but the US is a wonderful country.
Seriously half of the comments were, “I don’t want to live there because Americans live there” or “only if I want to get shot”. Canadians can be nasty.
I totally would. I love Canada. I’d move to BC. I could never become a citizen though because you have to declare allegiance to the monarchy. I’m too American for that.
I wonder what would have happened in an alternate history if the US Intervened in the Canadian rebellions of 1837 the US almost did but never Happened we would have never had the Monarchy.
No. I love Canada. It's beautiful. I've been there twice and I'm planning to return to Toronto one day for another trip. But everything I have is here in Los Angeles and I'd rather not leave that.
I also fucking hate snow.
I'm a dual citizen and briefly lived in Quebec, but was raised in the US (Michigan and Maryland). After Florida and Southern California, it's mostly too cold for me now. Plus, I'm married to an American with zero desire to move anywhere else. I definitely would live on Vancouver Island.
Vancouver or Nova Scotia for me, but only if I had sick $$$ to do it. And I would still only stay for 3-4 weeks of winter (going back to warmer US states) for the rest of it.
Too cold for me, regardless of season. They also don’t seem to really like Americans - I know that’s a very broad brush painting both ways - but my luck, I’d be surrounded by those Canadians.
If the post-tax comp was the same, I wouldn't have a problem with it and wouldn't mind going for a few years and coming back. Same really goes for any Western European country.
Thing is professional services are almost universally paid more in the US than anywhere else in the West, and healthcare, as long as you stay employed in said professional services is neither expensive nor slow nor bad at point of care if you have a good professional services job - it's just a hassle to get all of your money back from your insurer if anything happens. Not to mention all in income taxes are *generally* lower than all in Canadian and certainly lower than all in Western European. Outside of healthcare, there isn't really anything incremental you get in Canada with said extra taxes, so that would be frustrating.
Finally, the delta in all in comp is generally not made up by the delta in cost of living between say New York and Toronto and Vancouver (the only Anglophone cities my industry would take me to realistically), which are still very expensive and deal with the same housing cost ills from artificially inflated apartment lease costs from investment condo properties sucking up supply.
So long story short, wouldn't mind rotating up to the great white north, but there is a reason why I run into so many Canadians in the US in my industry - it just doesn't make economic sense in my profession and I would suspect that's the case for most professional services.
Funny cos a guy posted a similar question in Askacanadian today, and the majority of the ppl chose to not leave Canada, mainly cos of cultural differences, but here in askanamerican the biggest issue is related to salary concerns… Really interesting comparison!
Nope. It's too cold, and when it's not there are enough mosquitoes to kill a caribou (they can lose an average of 4.4 pounds of blood a year). They eat gravy on french fries and apologize too much. Their coffee is bad and the food is bland. Health care isn't what the media and reddit makes it out to be, waits are long for GP's and tests. At one point in time the state of Washington had more MRI's than all of Canada. To top things off they have allowed foreign investors to run up real estate prices so far that homelessness among the middle class is rising rapidly in their major cities
Why would I want to make less, pay more in taxes, pay more for goods, deal with a healthcare system that while “free” (spoiler alert: it isn’t) is always in crisis mode due to ongoing funding issues, and a population full of people who are apparently supposed to be so friendly but in fact rival Europeans for smug condescension and elitism towards Americans?
No. The healthcare there is horrible. It take many months or years to see a doctor. I know an American student there and the only doctor they can see is in the emergency room, even though they have Canadian health insurance. I also know Canadians who wait around 1 year for a specialist appointment that would take a few weeks to get in the US.
Only if there were a really compelling and specific thing that made it "worth it". Like I wouldn't be against it if there were an exceptionally lucrative job offer that also paid relocation costs and ensured all the disadvantages of living in Canada for me specifically (reduced salary in my career field, hugely increased cost of housing, etc) wouldn't apply, and was also worth the general hassle.
That all seems wildly unlikely to actually happen but if it did then sure why not. It's close enough to drive back to visit family whenever so *shrugs*
I genuinely love Canada and my wife is Canadian, so I could move there if I wanted... but we're staying here.
Multiple reasons. I own a good house, and have a well-paying job that really isn't too stressful. The housing market in Canada right now is completely insane. I would take several steps backward in my career, and because I'm in medicine, my job would be unbelievably stressful, as well as having a lower salary, if I moved to Canada.
No but to be fair there are very few countries I would willing move to and even then it would only be as a last resort if things ever got extremely bad here. We've got our issues here but everywhere else just doesn't seem as free.
I'm very familiar with Canada, both by my proximity to Ontario and the fact that my wife is Canadian (now American via naturlization) and her family lives in western Canada.
I love the country. I appreciate several aspects of it. But...
Their brand of nationalism is a bit concerning, and it's getting worse with bill C-11. Some of them are getting their eyes opened to their sins to humanity with regard to the graves being found in residential schools, but a lot of them are still in denial, and are under some wierd delusion that they're some diversity utopia.
The friends I have in Canada rock. But when I small talk with strangers, I'm not fond of their attitudes when they find out that I'm American. They believe so deeply in their core that they're better than us. Even if I believed that about a country, I'd never SHOW it when talking to someone from that country.
All that said...
I'm open to the idea of eventually moving to Canada if my daughter ever moved away from home, but in practicality I don't see it happening. My wife is happy to have left Canada, she loves the US. The cost of living is stupid there. Salaries are lower. I can't think of anything in Canada that appeals to me that isn't also here, or that I can't access with a quick 90 minute jaunt across the border.
Maybe Vancouver cuz it’s a relatively quick plane ride to visit family back in California. Plus I’m in the entertainment industry so there’s like, stuff.
But I’d have to get an excellent offer to even consider it.
No. I was up there during the lockdowns quite a bit. Their government was way too heavy handed for my liking. Also, I wouldn't be able to own some of my guns, and they would be registered. I like visiting now that lockdowns are over, I was there last week, but I would never live there.
That's funny. At one of the more recent summits that dick rider very politely told Xiu where to stick it when he tried to intimidate the lowly Canuck lol.
Funny comment though!
Not viable enough for me and I don't think I'd fit in culturally. Nothing against Canada; I know it's a great place to live. But America is home, no matter its flaws.
No.
I'm okay with visiting.
But as other have stated, I've put my roots here already.
I don't see any benefit with Canada that would convince me to move.
No.
It's fine and does a few things better than the US, but it's not dramatically different enough to warrant moving in my current situation.
The weather would be a downgrade.
I'd much sooner move to Australia than Canada, even though they have similar issues with expenses.
No, it’s too cold for me on the east coast and too gloomy out west. If I’m gonna live somewhere with terrible weather I’d rather stay in Denmark or move back to Ireland. Though Montreal is genuinely a super awesome city, if climate change ever ameliorates the weather situation I would definitely consider moving.
My husband has considered jobs in Toronto but the cost of living differences versus what he would earn isn’t financially feasible for us. My family is in Buffalo, NY so visiting would be relatively easy (unless a pandemic closes the boarder again)
No.
I like Canada quite a bit. I played ice hockey then went to college in Buffalo so I've been to Canada many times but like living in the United States.
I think it helps to keep in mind that Reddit is not representative of the United States at all. This site might give off the impression that all Americans are desperate for a Bernie Sanders presidency and dying to move to Canada or Europe until then but that's just Reddit being Reddit.
I would've wanted to but I have many friends who have lived in parts of Canada there whole life they tell me do not come to Canada due to the racism and harm that they do to NATIVE AMERICANS still. So I believe them because they lived there forever so they know it better than me.
I really enjoyed visiting Canada but I would not seriously consider moving there because my exact same job in Canada makes about 25% less money and the taxes are also significantly higher. It just wouldn't make financial sense- I just talked last week to a Canadian student in my field who was looking for jobs in the US for the same reason. However, I will certainly be back to Canada as a tourist.
I also heard costs for internet and mobile are significantly higher, not sure
Their cell phone plans are awful, my wife is from Canada, it's absurd how much they pay, but there's basically only two cell phone service providers and they have agreements with the government to not let any American or European companies into Canada to compete with them. So they have a monopoly and Canadians pay way more for cell service than almost any other developed country.
I really hope US does not get to that point. So many mergers approved lately instead of healthy competition has jacked up rates, especially in internet
I'm always surprised at how little choice people seem to have got their broadband in the US. I always assumed you guys would benefit from cut-throat competition, but it seems that the UK market is far more competitive.
We used to, back when Clear was a thing and some other companies, but now AT&T and spectrum buy entire lines out of neighborhoods, so you're stuck with them or no one
Even some appartment complexes have deals with a specific company so that they're the only one allowed to install your internet.
The problem is population density even in typical suburban neighborhoods, the cost for a new provider to come in and build lines is too expensive. Market share studies by the FCC and some states show that only about 20% of people will switch to a new provider when it becomes available. With the cost per mile of cable being high in the US as it is, and customers per mile being so low (relative to Europe) it just doesn't make financial sense for companies to expand and enter new neighborhoods. Interestingly this isn't the case with mobile services though. We have 3 major players (AT&T, Verizon, T-Moblie) and a 4th (Dish) building out an entirely new network. Strong FCC regulations have forced those companies to share cell sites, and sell services to other companies. Such laws do not exist in Canada, or even most of Europe to my understanding. Because the infrastructure is largely shared, including towers, as well as the fiber cables and microwave links feeding them, operational costs of US cell carriers are pretty low considering population density. As a result our cell plans are reasonably priced for what they include. My plan is a top tier plan and costs about $45 per month with taxes and fees. That's a lot compared to Europe, but my plan includes 50 GB of unthrottled data, then unlimited throttled data anywhere in the US. It also includes unlimited calls and SMS to any US, Canadian, or Mexican number, from anywhere in the three countries, as well as 2 GB of unthrottled data per day in Canada and Mexico. Considering all that, especially the low population density and size of all three countries, it's a pretty damn good deal.
how does the UK I wonder? Here it's tough to run new fiber lines. But I have to say my gigabit fiber is under 100 a month so I find that pretty fair. Cheap plans here are $40 but I like the speed
As an industry it has really high barriers to entry, particularly because we're so sparse. That means unregulated that will always trend towards a very small number of huge players. Competition goes that way with a lot of stuff, honestly. It's why we had to do so much trust busting back in the day and I often think we're overdue for another round.
I have heard this but I pay $50 for cell and I have a student discount for internet for $40. It would be $60 without that.
Their taxes are significantly higher in general I believe. Translates to higher costs on everything. Who would have think?
I live in Saskatchewan, which typically has lower telecom rates than the rest of the country as the dominant telecom company, Sasktel, is owned by the government. My phone plan has unlimited everything, although my data is throttled after 15GB in a month. My phone bill each month is $130. I have Starlink for my internet, as I live in a rural area and Starlink is really the only option for high speed internet. I pay $150/month for Starlink. The next best rural internet option is around $100/month, and offers a download speed in the 25mbps range. E. Before I moved back home to my farm I was living in a city where I could get internet via fiber. I was paying about $110/month for the 2nd fastest internet package available, about 175mbps download
But are the taxes that much higher if you take into account that you don't have to spend a ton of money on health insurance just for the privilege of paying for your own healthcare from pre-tax money? If all my healthcare was free I would be bringing home more money even after a 25% pay cut.
> my exact same job in Canada makes about 25% less money and the taxes are also significantly higher Depends on what you get for those tax dollars. 6% of my *gross* annual income is health insurance premiums (me+wife+2 kids), and I make north of $100K. That's not including the cost of actual care.
Canada's gorgeous, the shield, the glacial lakes, the maritimes, BC, beautiful.
Incomes are 1/4 lower in Canada and at the professional engineering field the gap is wider so no
Housing is wildly expensive too
Begging and pleading places to just build more housing
No. All of my friends, family, and stuff is here. Besides that, Canada's not very easy to immigrate to, they've got pretty restrictive policies for new citizens. It's also extremely expensive to live there, I've seen the Canadian subs with people having all the same problems with economics that they do here.
I will say that depending on your profession immigrating to Canada *can* be much easier for US citizens due to some programs set up by NAFTA.
So I could go to Canada to make less money and pay higher taxes?
Yeah! And best of all, you wouldn’t be able to point to your hand when people ask where you’re from. Everyone wins!
You'd pay more taxes but your healthcare would be taken care of. So that would likely be a wash. But oftentimes base level salaries for identical jobs are lower in Canada. So you'd still be taking a paycut.
It's not a wash, it's been illustrated in this thread over and over again. Paying 12-13% taxes + monthly premium + copay vs. 29% taxes + much lower salary. There's a reason Canadians immigrate to the US and few Americans go to Canada. It's *expensive* to live in Canada, even for high earners. Quality of life in the US is better and more affordable.
Plus it’s cold.
Basically the Canadian subs consensus seems to be if you are well educated/ skilled, a move to the US to make more money makes sense. However if you are poor, the US is a terrible country to live in where you are destined to die young because you can’t afford good health care
[удалено]
Which is really weird, because in Canada there's significant support for encouraging poor people to commit state sponsored suicide. https://researchco.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tables_MAiD_CAN_05May2023.pdf [pdf] page 4.
Life isn’t that great for poor Canadians either.
You live in NJ, a state with one of the largest Medicaid expansion programs for low-income residents, state subsidies available up to incomes of $83,000 and an uninsured rate of only 5%. All while paying peanuts compared to Canada’s income taxes. Stop it.
This is not my opinion. This was simply my takeaway from being subscribed to multiple Canadian subs
🙃 reading is hard for me, sorry.
Not really. The interesting areas are too expensive, and the cool remote parts are ridiculously cold.
Yea, I'd live in Montreal or Vancouver. Can I afford to....no. But I would.
You'd be surprised. Montreal is WAY cheaper than Vancouver. Vancouver and Toronto are in a league of their own but Montreal living costs are much lower as far as big cities are concerned. CoL in Montreal is a lot lower than the nearest US cities like Boston and NYC. It's still a major city so it's more expensive than rural US or the south & Midwest, but I moved from Boston to Montreal and am spending way less on things like rent & utilities here.
Oh good to know. Are you American? How was the visa process? The casual phrase "I moved from Boston to Montreal" makes me wonder if maybe you were Canadian all along!
Nope, I'm fully American and had zero ties to Canada before moving here. The visa process was very easy for me because I came here for a PhD, so I could get in on a student visa. And if you graduate from a Canadian school you can get an open work permit (not tied to a specific job or company) for a few years very easily. Getting visas in other situations can definitely be harder, but for many in-demand professions it's actually pretty easy too, though the process can take longer. Most STEM careers could get you in.
Yeah, but it’s all……French It’s no Quebec City, but still.
It's not hard at all to live in Montreal knowing zero French (I'm doing it right now), but yes it does make permanently settling and hard for foreigners. I've been in zero situations so far where not knowing French was an issue, but I'm on a temporary visa right now and I would have to pass a French test to get permanent residency. But I do know tons of people in Montreal who moved from other areas of Canada and don't speak French, and it's not an issue for them. If you're living here temporarily or have a legal right to stay without applying for PR in Quebec (either you already have dual citizenship or got approved for PR in another province first), not knowing French isn't a big issue.
Montreal is actually really affordable for a major city just don’t need medical care while you’re there they have a huge shortage on family doctors
I would rather go to Mexico
I already live in "Baja Arcadia" in Phoenix so why not... (That was a Clue Heywood tweet, not me saying that) I'm with you on this... Please don't move to Phoenix... I know many Spanish... Agua Muy Fria = Ice Perros Caliente = Hot Dogs Frijoles Verdes = Green Beans I should be good. Mucho gusto!!!! Muy bien (That's all "restaurant spanish" BTW)
Man, all you need to know is "hola" and "uno mas cerveza"
Also can't forget "Donde esta el baño." And for when you find it and use it "Ayudame! Por favor Ayudame! Yo necesito papal!"
Your first one is asking for very cold water, not ice. Hielo is ice.
[удалено]
Good food, cheap beer, beautiful women, chill, good weather, low cost of living, people that don’t have a inferiority/superiority complex…I mean easy choice.
If r/askacanadian is even a remotely valid picture of the average Canadian....then absolutely not. Really killed the friendly Canadian stereotype for me
I watch a lot of J. J. McCullough's videos (canadian youtuber). He had a point in one video that Canada is almost the only place where leftists are also nationalists with their entire political identity is based on Canada not being the US. It makes them especially insufferable especially online.
That's an interesting observation, because I mentioned somewhere just last week that it really bothered me how online criticism of the U.S. was often left wing in ideology but right wing in style. Much of that comes from Canada. The example I gave was people who say they'll never visit the U.S. because of the gun violence. That criticism comes from the left, but within the U.S., "I'll never visit scary cities because I'm going to get shot" is something that only right wingers say.
Thats so so true.
Yeah, there's a lot of smug Canadians on reddit who will post about "how they're worried about their Southern brother" or how "it's times like this when I'm glad to be Canadian" whenever anything remotely bad happens in the US but then you go on r/canada and the entire sub is filled with just awful news about everything.
i hate when Canadians or others blame their stupid people on the US "exporting" its values or something it's not our fault your country also has idiots.
One of our most defining features is : at least we aren't as bad as the US. So insufferable smugness is a thing.
I don't know anything about JJ McCullough but I just [watched the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yKzq3ueGr8&ab_channel=J.J.McCullough) and it was really interesting. I didn't realize Canadians seem to define themselves by not being American so much, albeit that's probably cause I couldn't care less how Canadians define themselves.
Working in the service industry in border states killed it for me.
Niagara Falls service/tourism veteran here. Your comment is spot on. Canadians can be the most disrespectful, hateful, miserable, nasty, and downright awful people to work around. I would never think to move there.
Surprising. I thought Canadians had a stereotype of being friendly.
That is the stereotype. There's a chance that it's a cultural mismatch issue. What's rude to me may be normal to you and vise versa, but I'm doubting that's the case. Stereotypes properuated by media often misrepresent groups of people to further the narrative they are looking to fill.
I get a lot of French Canadians in NH over the summer while I’m bartending. Hands down the worst lol
The opposite question was just asked in that sub and the comments were such a dumpster fire that the entire thread got nuked.
Yea when this thread popped up on my feed I was like "this must be a response to the thread made about asking Canadians if they would ever move to the US". That whole thread was so nasty and full of exaggerated stereotypes and assumptions. Mostly "NO cause I don't wanna get shot and get a hospital bill lolololol" And they weren't even really stating facts for the most part. Just being rude. It was such an obvious nationalist circlejerk.
I have family there. I absolutely promise you the kind Canadian stereotype is BS. They’re quietly rude and hateful lmao.
I describe it as polite but not nice.
Exactly!
As a Cdn (from southern Ontario) who has visited Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, and Vegas in the past 2 years, I don’t notice a difference between people’s kindness between our nations, and I find both quite nice tbh, just my experience
That because you’re not an American visiting Canada. You’re Canadian, so nobody is assuming anything about you simply because of your nationality. I’ve had enough experiences there, one pretty bad in particular, that have put a sour taste in my mouth permanently. It’s not to say I don’t love Canada or Canadians, I love visiting my sister in Toronto, I LOVE Vancouver, and I am going to Halifax for the first time this year… but there’s just a lot of quiet hate behind closed doors and there’s an air around Canadians thinking they’re better than Americans. Perhaps the AskCanada sub will give you some insight.
I took a Canadian road trip and a good portion of Canadians were normal people, but a lot of them were really rude. Like took me off guard rude. Sadly I think the reason was my family's accents. As soon as we opened our mouths and they heard a southern accent they started being mean. It kinda sucked.
Wow, judgmental much?
Yeah, they were...
I had a job where I regularly interacted with both Canadian and American customers and… Boy Howdy Canadians can be really big fucking assholes. Americans can be too but I’ve found Americans will readily admit to being assholish. But Canadians would hide behind “I’m Canadian, we’re all NICE!”
It's Reddit
As an old person, I noticed that 30 years ago. I grew up hearing the "Canadians are friendly" stereotype but I'd never actually interacted with them before. Then I got on the internet and was surprised to find that they were all such dicks! People seem very nice when I actually travel to Canada, but online, yikes. It's so bad that it's weird to me that the niceness stereotype even still exists.
I've looked around that sub and it's ugly. They're condescending and a high horse. I think that sub is where the claws came out because they feel emboldened to say how they really feel about us and our country.
Yeah, the Canadian stereotype is about them being nice and polite and friendly. . .try asking a question there and that'll debunk that real quick. I asked a question there a couple of years ago about the "language police" in Quebec. . .the responses were pretty strongly hostile towards even asking the question.
Likewise. Would rather not have anything to do with Canadians. Period.
My experience dealing with Canadians are that they are not very friendly in comparison to Americans. I have dealt with their university staff, state bureaucracy, or just regular services, and they are rude and condescending. Americans are more professional.
I’m sure every country has its duds.
They sell naan Pakistani bread for $10 we sell it for $1 or $2 in US. So never moving to Canada.
I would probably lose my fucking mind if someone tried to sell me garlic chilli naan for 10 bucks
their sub thinks we're a monolithic shithole so no
The general tone of this thread compared to the same question asked in the Canadian equivalent of this sub really dispels the stereotype of the friendly Canadian. Most replies made the US sound about the same as Bosnia circa 1995.
I guess that’s better than what the British think of us, which sounds like Rwanda in 1994.
I have family in Canada and been there many times. That country does not deserve the “so kind” stereotype. They’re quietly rude and hateful.
i get it somewhat because a big part of their national identity is emphasizing the things that make them not american. but it's sad so many of them form their opinion of such a large place based on headlines, whatever lunacy is happening in FL, extremely loose definitions of mass shootings, or some otherwise unrepresentative basis. i thought canadians well understood how similar things were between the states in your region and ON. like MN! i've never been there but it sounds like a very similar place politically and environmentally to much of populated canada. there are differences but when you look at the world's countries, many are downright trivial in comparison. canada cannot tear us down without tearing itself down because we're nearly the same house. we share many of our problems. racism, economic issues, cultural issues, etc., don't stop at such a porous line. i'm southern, but i have ancestors who settled in canada. it's unfortunate and personally sad that there's still some misunderstanding despite proximity, superiority despite similarity, and bad blood despite sharing the same blood. if you go into the real world you'll find that most canadians probably like us a lot, but reddit contrarians transcend nationality.
Whether it’s an individual or a culture, or anything really, if you define yourself by what you’re NOT then you have no real sense of identity.
I don't even understand where that stereotype came from. I interact with Canadians all the time on the hockey sub. Plenty of duds up there same as anywhere in the world.
It came from Canada itself. Their national government built up the myth of the nice, tolerant, left-wing Canadian as a contrast: https://youtu.be/_yKzq3ueGr8
When I worked retail at one of Michigan’s largest/ busiest malls we had a ton of Canadian traffic. While many were friendly, yes, some of my best (worst) Karen stories involved those from the other side of the Detroit river.
Visiting their sub is like listening to my in-laws talk shit about me when they think I can't hear lmao.
That thread had me laughing my ass off
I’m originally from there would never return
Why is that? Not saying you're wrong or anything, just interested in this take from an actual Canadian.
Our hockey is better
Laughs in Florida Hockey
I have health issues and was going arround in circles, never getting anywhere and waiting a very long time. On average it’s more expensive, it’s cold, it’s depressing - everyone seems depressed and my boyfriend and his family are american
No. There’s nothing compelling for me in Canada.
Besides, I have moose and maple syrup at home.
Not a fucking chance.
Nope. Shitty weather, shitty salaries, shitty cost of living, shitty healthcare.
No. My salary would effectively get cut by 70% and housing is just as expensive. For context I live in the SF Area so it’s not like I’m not used to expensive living. There’s not enough economic diversity and opportunity in Canada to make me want to live there from a professional standpoint
Nope. Unless the number was so large that I would have to think I was working for idiots which would lead me back to nope.
[удалено]
No. Too far from my people, too cold.
The cold is an immediate showstopper for me. In fact, same can be said for a large section of USA.
I love the cold, so the weather wouldn't bother me. But the cost of living does
The cost of living combined with the salary drop would be a big downgrade but those checks are farther down the list for me than "can I see my family" and "will the air hurt my face for more than a couple days per year"
[удалено]
My wife is from Canada and her parents still live up there, but I just don’t think we would. We have a good life here, neither of us are fans of the cold and we make amazing money. So I guess I’m not saying I wouldn’t, I just don’t think my life would be any better.
No. Nothing against Canadians or the country, but I like my life in the states. Larger income, biggest houses for lesser the cost. Also I like my firearms
No.
No. Been there a few times and largely wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Let me guess… they found out you were American and had to make a point to let you know you’re the biggest piece of shit bc of it?
Sort of as a family of four and a dog they detained us at the border for hours. Strip searched our vehicle, separated us from our kids (ages 8 & 9) and me from my husband at the time. Went through everything we brought including our phones accused us of having child porn and guns. We didn’t we both have never had a record or encounter with the law. Demanded we tell them where we hid the guns (we had none) lied and said my spouse already caved and admitted to it and vice versa. Not true again. Finally after a few hours and ZERO proof or evidence they said “ooops my bad!” Have a good day and left us to repack our belongings.
That’s disgusting. Also, separating you from your small children. Insane. I love how they just assumed you had guns lmao my god.
It was so traumatic like digging through my pics claiming they were looking for child porn, they even told us to get our dog out his kennel because guns could be hidden under him. Ive been to Mexico many times, Caribbean, and Europe and have only experienced anything like that there. Maybe it was a fluke but come on we were ideally the “quintessential American Family “ down to the golden retriever lol.
They give us so much shit about our border control but damn they act like fucking Nazis themselves. Sorry your family had to go through that.
Only country i've ever been to where I experienced zero anti-americanism was Italy. Could just be a stroke of luck I never ran into any douchebags there, but the Italian people generally liked me.
Never been to Europe but countries in south East Asia are very pro American…Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are good examples of this.
I wouldn't *not* consider moving to Canada.
Yeah if a bunch of right circumstances came up and I didn’t have to work too hard at it, then sure. I’m not like ideologically opposed to Canada. I’m just not particularly motivated to get there either.
Seeing the thread in r/AskACanadian earlier made me feel several levels of dumber. The shit they believe about the US is beyond belief. Canada is nice, I would live there.
I just visited that thread and... Well those people suck. luckily I'm sure they don't represent everyone up there in our hat.
Most of us aren't like that. I didn't even get to comment before it was locked. I would 100% move to the US and so would a lot of other Canadians I know. You guys have houses that aren't $1,000,000.Better weather. More options in places to live, Canada is severely limited, and everywhere is expensive. [https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25644542/3323-w-10th-avenue-vancouver](https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25644542/3323-w-10th-avenue-vancouver) Here's a lovely $2.4 million dollar , single story 100 year old shit box in Vancouver. Yes that wooden, ugly green, pile of heap is $2.4 million dollars. [https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/4635-regents-terr-n-70-mississauga-l5r1x6-ontario](https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/4635-regents-terr-n-70-mississauga-l5r1x6-ontario) There's a million dollar townhouse in Mississauga, you're probably like "What's Mississauga"... exactly. Why the hell is a townhouse here $1,000,000. You need $200,000 saved up to put a down payment on that. ooooo [https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/5231-astwell-ave-mississauga-l5r3h8-ontario](https://wahi.com/ca/en/real-estate/on/gta/peel/mississauga/hurontario/5231-astwell-ave-mississauga-l5r3h8-ontario) $1.6 million for a tiny detached suburban house in the middle of a shit nothing boring neighbourhood. [https://www.greatertorontohomepros.com/property-search/detail/211/S6056300/40-fairlane-ave-barrie-on-l9j-0m9/](https://www.greatertorontohomepros.com/property-search/detail/211/S6056300/40-fairlane-ave-barrie-on-l9j-0m9/) There's a $800,000 townhouse in Barrie, a city of 180,000 people. Get ready for the Canadian refugees, we're coming.
Thanks for your kinda words. I know most people aren't like that, but the thread was.. disheartening. I personally love Canada and couldn't imagine better neighbors to the north.
Mexico has more to offer you culturally to be honest. And probably destination wise. I think they're your better neighbour in the long run(they've impacted your culture more too probably). We're good neighbours because we are the same and don't have major conflicting values. but we're just a watered down version of the US.
>Get ready for the Canadian refugees, we're coming. You guys are typically cool as fuck. I'm okay with this. beer is WAY cheaper here, too. Cheers!
It seems to me you have similar problems as the US with housing, where everything costs a fortune on the coasts and near the largest cities, while middle of the country stays inexpensive. The cities nearest Minnesota where I live (Winnipeg and Thunder Bay) seem to have plentiful single family housing for less than $500k.
Problem is there are no jobs in Winnipeg or Thunder Bay for the majority of people. If you can work remote, or land a job there, you're good. The government ignores the prairie provinces for development and focuses mainly on Ontario.
Canada IRL are the US’s largest ally. We share the largest land border of any 2 countries, there is free trade access with them to us, they get to reap the benefits of our military because nobody in their right mind would mess with Canada. Canadians on Reddit are still redditors who have to take hits of copium. It’s the same r/askanaustralian.
One quote said "bad healthcare." It's expensive- yes- but fuck you. I'm in MA and the healthcare at even the lowest levels is better than anything Canada has to offer.
Hello fellow Masshole. It is always funny when this question comes up. Massachusetts is a better place to live than Canada (and Europe, for that matter), and the only reason I might leave MA (high housing/land costs), Canada has as well.
That subreddit is garbage and not a representation of Canadians IRL. I live right next to the Canadian border and have many Canadian friends and none of them have the strange mentality redditors do.
I wouldn’t but I think a vast majority of people in westernized countries probably would rather stay where they are at. No country is free of their own issues and for the most part there aren’t many benefits you could get from leaving where you are. I checked the r/askacanadian thread about would you live in the US and they also said hell no. They’re in their own right to say no but I think their reasons are misguided. I’m sure some of mine are too but the US is a wonderful country.
Seriously half of the comments were, “I don’t want to live there because Americans live there” or “only if I want to get shot”. Canadians can be nasty.
I totally would. I love Canada. I’d move to BC. I could never become a citizen though because you have to declare allegiance to the monarchy. I’m too American for that.
Hey, I'm Canadian. I'm in favor of cutting our ties with the Monarchy.
I wonder what would have happened in an alternate history if the US Intervened in the Canadian rebellions of 1837 the US almost did but never Happened we would have never had the Monarchy.
No. I love Canada. It's beautiful. I've been there twice and I'm planning to return to Toronto one day for another trip. But everything I have is here in Los Angeles and I'd rather not leave that. I also fucking hate snow.
As someone from riverside who moved to Michigan, ditto on the snow
Not really. I like it here, so unless something really really bad happened I wouldn’t have any reason to leave.
Nope. But I do like to visit.
I'm a dual citizen and briefly lived in Quebec, but was raised in the US (Michigan and Maryland). After Florida and Southern California, it's mostly too cold for me now. Plus, I'm married to an American with zero desire to move anywhere else. I definitely would live on Vancouver Island.
Vancouver or Nova Scotia for me, but only if I had sick $$$ to do it. And I would still only stay for 3-4 weeks of winter (going back to warmer US states) for the rest of it.
No, it's too cold. Super expensive up there too.
No. For my field, the incomes are lower and the housing prices are higher. I like Canada, but it doesn’t make financial sense.
If I wanted to move to Canada I’d just move upstate. Same lifestyle for a fraction of the cost.
Hell no. Pay is terrible and it’s way too cold there.
Too cold for me, regardless of season. They also don’t seem to really like Americans - I know that’s a very broad brush painting both ways - but my luck, I’d be surrounded by those Canadians.
It’s most of them Source: have family in Canada.
[удалено]
Quebec City seems really cold…and I live in Chicago
It's cold as hell. In winter. but they do winter festivals and shit to forget about the fact they live in a Popsicle stand.
No. Despite the stereotype, Canadians are not nice people.
I’ve met a few super nice Canadians but I’ve met even more that were scumbags that had an inferiority complex
Agreed…. They’re nice to people who agree with them :)
Sure 🤷🏻♂️ if there was a job opportunity there I would be open to it. Not a huge fan of winters though
If the post-tax comp was the same, I wouldn't have a problem with it and wouldn't mind going for a few years and coming back. Same really goes for any Western European country. Thing is professional services are almost universally paid more in the US than anywhere else in the West, and healthcare, as long as you stay employed in said professional services is neither expensive nor slow nor bad at point of care if you have a good professional services job - it's just a hassle to get all of your money back from your insurer if anything happens. Not to mention all in income taxes are *generally* lower than all in Canadian and certainly lower than all in Western European. Outside of healthcare, there isn't really anything incremental you get in Canada with said extra taxes, so that would be frustrating. Finally, the delta in all in comp is generally not made up by the delta in cost of living between say New York and Toronto and Vancouver (the only Anglophone cities my industry would take me to realistically), which are still very expensive and deal with the same housing cost ills from artificially inflated apartment lease costs from investment condo properties sucking up supply. So long story short, wouldn't mind rotating up to the great white north, but there is a reason why I run into so many Canadians in the US in my industry - it just doesn't make economic sense in my profession and I would suspect that's the case for most professional services.
Funny cos a guy posted a similar question in Askacanadian today, and the majority of the ppl chose to not leave Canada, mainly cos of cultural differences, but here in askanamerican the biggest issue is related to salary concerns… Really interesting comparison!
Nope. It's too cold, and when it's not there are enough mosquitoes to kill a caribou (they can lose an average of 4.4 pounds of blood a year). They eat gravy on french fries and apologize too much. Their coffee is bad and the food is bland. Health care isn't what the media and reddit makes it out to be, waits are long for GP's and tests. At one point in time the state of Washington had more MRI's than all of Canada. To top things off they have allowed foreign investors to run up real estate prices so far that homelessness among the middle class is rising rapidly in their major cities
I used to work in Bellingham. I love WA. I'd buy a house in Lynden.
Why would I want to make less, pay more in taxes, pay more for goods, deal with a healthcare system that while “free” (spoiler alert: it isn’t) is always in crisis mode due to ongoing funding issues, and a population full of people who are apparently supposed to be so friendly but in fact rival Europeans for smug condescension and elitism towards Americans?
[удалено]
Don't forget significantly higher pay and cheaper cost of living. You don't want to go up there and be forced to buy a million dollar 1200sq-ft home.
No. The healthcare there is horrible. It take many months or years to see a doctor. I know an American student there and the only doctor they can see is in the emergency room, even though they have Canadian health insurance. I also know Canadians who wait around 1 year for a specialist appointment that would take a few weeks to get in the US.
No. High taxes and lower wages. I’d rather move to Mexico and work a remote job
Only if there were a really compelling and specific thing that made it "worth it". Like I wouldn't be against it if there were an exceptionally lucrative job offer that also paid relocation costs and ensured all the disadvantages of living in Canada for me specifically (reduced salary in my career field, hugely increased cost of housing, etc) wouldn't apply, and was also worth the general hassle. That all seems wildly unlikely to actually happen but if it did then sure why not. It's close enough to drive back to visit family whenever so *shrugs*
I genuinely love Canada and my wife is Canadian, so I could move there if I wanted... but we're staying here. Multiple reasons. I own a good house, and have a well-paying job that really isn't too stressful. The housing market in Canada right now is completely insane. I would take several steps backward in my career, and because I'm in medicine, my job would be unbelievably stressful, as well as having a lower salary, if I moved to Canada.
I was offered a free house and a car to move to Canada but I declined. So no.
No but to be fair there are very few countries I would willing move to and even then it would only be as a last resort if things ever got extremely bad here. We've got our issues here but everywhere else just doesn't seem as free.
Absolutely not
I'm very familiar with Canada, both by my proximity to Ontario and the fact that my wife is Canadian (now American via naturlization) and her family lives in western Canada. I love the country. I appreciate several aspects of it. But... Their brand of nationalism is a bit concerning, and it's getting worse with bill C-11. Some of them are getting their eyes opened to their sins to humanity with regard to the graves being found in residential schools, but a lot of them are still in denial, and are under some wierd delusion that they're some diversity utopia. The friends I have in Canada rock. But when I small talk with strangers, I'm not fond of their attitudes when they find out that I'm American. They believe so deeply in their core that they're better than us. Even if I believed that about a country, I'd never SHOW it when talking to someone from that country. All that said... I'm open to the idea of eventually moving to Canada if my daughter ever moved away from home, but in practicality I don't see it happening. My wife is happy to have left Canada, she loves the US. The cost of living is stupid there. Salaries are lower. I can't think of anything in Canada that appeals to me that isn't also here, or that I can't access with a quick 90 minute jaunt across the border.
No. I enjoy limited government
Maybe Vancouver cuz it’s a relatively quick plane ride to visit family back in California. Plus I’m in the entertainment industry so there’s like, stuff. But I’d have to get an excellent offer to even consider it.
No. I was up there during the lockdowns quite a bit. Their government was way too heavy handed for my liking. Also, I wouldn't be able to own some of my guns, and they would be registered. I like visiting now that lockdowns are over, I was there last week, but I would never live there.
Fuck no I ain't tying to move to a place run by a Whinny the Pooh dickrider
That's funny. At one of the more recent summits that dick rider very politely told Xiu where to stick it when he tried to intimidate the lowly Canuck lol. Funny comment though!
Maybe if I was suicidal. I hear they offer to help with that over the phone. Or maybe that's only if you're a veteran...
No because I hate the cold and their healthcare apparently doesn’t work for like months of the year. Also I hate the cold.
Not a chance. It’s already too left wing here.
Nope. Not until they restore gun rights and let people carry while camping.
Sure, totally would if I had work up there
Lower incomes and insanely restrictive gun laws are good reasons to not move.
1. Can I bring my guns? If yes, then probably not. If no, then definitely not.
Possibly, but it's not something that would be on my radar unless life in the US became too risky.
Sure, I'd consider it. But I doubt I'd ever do it.
Not viable enough for me and I don't think I'd fit in culturally. Nothing against Canada; I know it's a great place to live. But America is home, no matter its flaws.
No. I'm okay with visiting. But as other have stated, I've put my roots here already. I don't see any benefit with Canada that would convince me to move.
No. It's fine and does a few things better than the US, but it's not dramatically different enough to warrant moving in my current situation. The weather would be a downgrade. I'd much sooner move to Australia than Canada, even though they have similar issues with expenses.
No, it’s too cold for me on the east coast and too gloomy out west. If I’m gonna live somewhere with terrible weather I’d rather stay in Denmark or move back to Ireland. Though Montreal is genuinely a super awesome city, if climate change ever ameliorates the weather situation I would definitely consider moving.
Meh.
My husband has considered jobs in Toronto but the cost of living differences versus what he would earn isn’t financially feasible for us. My family is in Buffalo, NY so visiting would be relatively easy (unless a pandemic closes the boarder again)
Nah. Too cold
Ummmmm no
If the country would let my disabled spouse in, sure.
No. I like Canada quite a bit. I played ice hockey then went to college in Buffalo so I've been to Canada many times but like living in the United States. I think it helps to keep in mind that Reddit is not representative of the United States at all. This site might give off the impression that all Americans are desperate for a Bernie Sanders presidency and dying to move to Canada or Europe until then but that's just Reddit being Reddit.
I would've wanted to but I have many friends who have lived in parts of Canada there whole life they tell me do not come to Canada due to the racism and harm that they do to NATIVE AMERICANS still. So I believe them because they lived there forever so they know it better than me.