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Moved to Canada a year and a half ago. They made the process pretty smooth and easy all told. With that said, I haven't had a good time here and I regret moving. There's a lot of "grass is greener" rhetoric in the US right now, especially from the left. Be warned that a lot of that is misguided. I was underprepared for the host of unique issues that Canada itself has. Leaving the US will not fix all your political problems. It'll just reveal new ones that you aren't familiar with. But, after saying all of that, I certainly would never discourage anyone from trying to move. Seeing the world and opening your mind to new cultures are never bad things. For all my misery here, I have learned a lot about myself. Just make sure you go into it with open eyes. Have realistic expectations. Visit the places you want to move before you move to them.
Im interested to hear what new challenges you faced in Canada. I’ve heard their cost of living issues are a lot worse than the US, particularly with affordable housing. I’m not sure if that would be the main issue with moving there or not.
Housing has been one of the top issues for me. That mixed with comparitvely low incomes. I have a bachelors in a STEM field and I struggle to find places offering more than $60k/yr CAD. In US dollars that's like $40kish/yr. Whereas I'm looking at close to a million dollars CAD for a house in some parts of Ontario. It's absurd.
The other big thing has been the healthcare system. It was the big draw for me. But it's severely underfunded and bursting at the seams. My wife called 32 family doctor's offices the other day and couldn't find one that would take us as patients. ER waits are a nightmare and walk in clinics are crowded and overworked.
There are also issues with government corruption and poor candidate choices in the major parties. I went into that in another comment so I won't right here.
The best thing about Canada has been the lack of a police state and the lack of a gun culture.
Depends which province, but you will most likely have a corrupt, inept premier. Health care and education are neglected to a dangerous point. The federal government is a contest of who can be the biggest bozo and still get elected as prime minister.
The ideology in Canada is to pay as much money as possible for everything and try not to complain. Prices for goods and services are out of control. Housing is so unreasonably priced that there is no realistic way of affording to rent as an individual or to buy a house without inheritance.
Taxes are on everything and can be quite significant. Most people don't realize how much tax is included in the costs of most things we buy.
We are also bringing in so many new immigrants so there is a constant labour pool to churn through and wages only ever increase nominally.
If you're coming to Canada with a chunk of money, you'll probably be ok until it's taxed out of you. If you're hoping to move to Canada, get a job and rent or buy a place, then life will be tough.
I would disagree with a big part of this characterization. Specifically that prices are out of control beyond housing (which is completely fucked), but outside of that Canada has done better than most comparable countries when it comes to inflation over the last few years.
Taxes are not that crazy unless your only comparison is the US, which is a bad comparison.
As an Ontarian I also gotta say the bit about the premiers is also spot on.
I guess what I’m trying to do is find an area to settle in that ultimately has the goals of progress as their forefront policies. We’re over here “debating” wether children should have provided meals, at the place they are legally required to be at. The government is ran by children in suits, on both sides. I am just tired of being in the middle of it.
I hear you. I am hoping our issues are temporary up here. Honestly, our biggest issue is that housing is astronomically expensive and no one has tried to even fix it in earnest. Rising rates are having an impact. Houses are going up for sale and sitting there. At some point it will break and prices may drop.
I too hope your issues are temporary. I’d have that same hope for the US, but 20 years later and they’re just going full force to regression.
I fail to see how this is fundamentally different than the US, with the exception of minimum wages and the corresponding cost of living prices that they bring. Housing here in unreasonably priced and prices for goods and services are out of control.