Americans who move to Canada will regret it (crime rate, schools)

[CosmicWizard]

I had the extreme good fortune to live 5 of my 59 years in the great country of Canada. Those 5 years were by far, the highest quality of life that I have experienced. Leaving Canada and giving up my landed immigrant status has been the biggest mistake of my life. In my mind there is no comparison. Canada allows for a better quality of life than one can find in the USA.

[FaeryWoman]

I was disapointed to hear about Canada in this light. I did recieve an email on websites welcoming me to CA, it said 8000 or so Americans move up there every year. If McCain wins, my family does want out. It is only that America is moving into something we don't agree with. I lived in Germany for many years and loved the system, used their doctors and all. Not that we can just pick up now and go there, but Canada or England or somewhere!
It is not that I want to run away from problems, but I fear for my son's saftey as the Republicans are practicily asking for a Revolution! IN the past 8 years I have not seen so much split as during the Civil War. Like many Romans citizens did before Rome fell, I feel many Americans want to escape as well, we just don't agree with corrupt policies and have no where to turn if we are outvoted.

In other words, I would believe that any American who does relocate this reason would be respectful and peaceful in your country, or whereever we go.

[ZX14TJ]

Originally Posted by FaeryWoman

I did recieve an email on websites welcoming me to CA, it said 8000 or so Americans move up there every year.

While there are many Americans moving to Canada each year, there are many MORE Canadians moving to the US. In fact, there are exponentially more people, per capita, moving from Canada to the US as opposed to migration from the US to Canada.

Originally Posted by FaeryWoman

Not that we can just pick up now and go there, but Canada or England or somewhere!

It should be noted that unless you have citizenship or PR, you can't just "pick up now" and go to Canada or England either.

Originally Posted by FaeryWoman

IN the past 8 years I have not seen so much split as during the Civil War.

This is a pretty dramatic comment. In what civil war did you see this type of split?

[Kathleenh54]

Originally Posted by Galloway

Yes but in canada, all of these "services" are directed to the poor and to the illegal immigrants. Leaving the rich and the middle class having to pay for everyone else.

My father loses 40 grand a year in taxes paying for people's welfare, the so called "free" healthcare, homeless shelters, people in jail, subsidised housing, people that are being treated in hospitals, and other services that he does not need or use.....

In the USA, those same taxes would be going towards the military. I'd rather pay for social services than anti-ballistic missiles to sit and collect dust.

[NW2NOVA]

Take it from a Canadian who finally got out. Thank God! There is NOTHING appealing about the country. You can find snowy mountains in Colorado, left-wingers in San Francisco and over priced goods in New York. You don't need to leave the US. Believe me, you will regret it.

Final note - do you think there's life outside of Toronto and Montreal? The Western part of the country is more beautiful and has more down to earth people. But the whole country is beyond left-wing, homogenous and un-appealing.

[76m880]

Originally Posted by ajau

I find the the new kind of immigrants who are coming to this country come here with lots of money. If fact the stereotype of a recent immigrant in Western Canada is of someone with lots of cash who likes to show off and who's business isn't really on the straight and narrow. Not saying I believe it, but that's the stereotype...

What I would love to know though is how that cash was earned back in the old country. I think a mandatory and transparent disclosure of that would do a lot to avoid people importing problems here.

how I got all my money was driving long haul trucking and saving

[michelle38]

Well, I didn't fact check but it's what my boyfriend, a Canadian property owner told me. I trust him, but may have misquoted him.

[michelle38]

Originally Posted by ajau

Please don't refer to your experiences in Vancouver as pertaining to all of Canada. Makes you sound like an Ontarian or something...

In Alberta for instance, food costs are much higher than the US (even apples can't be grown here on a commercial scale for instance), power costs are a lot higher than BC (no gov't subsidized hydro, almost no hydroelectricity at all in Alberta), and in Calgary we don't even have curbside recycling yet...

As for the housing market, lets wait a year or so before making judgement, prices here are dropping daily....

I am only speaking of BC. The rest of Canada is too bloody cold in the winter, and too sticky humid in the summer. But that's just what the peeps in Vancouver tell me.

[michelle38]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

Huh?

People default on mortgages in Canada all the time, leaving finacial institutions to try and recoup the outstanding balance through the sale of the property.

In the states, you can mail your keys to the bank, and they will take over the mortgage, perhaps selling at a loss. In Canada, you can't mail your keys to the bank. You're responsible for the mortgage and have to see it through. As told to me by my business man property owning Canadian boyfriend. If you know more, please share.

[ZX14TJ]

Originally Posted by michelle38

In the states, you can mail your keys to the bank, and they will take over the mortgage, perhaps selling at a loss. In Canada, you can't mail your keys to the bank. You're responsible for the mortgage and have to see it through. As told to me by my business man property owning Canadian boyfriend. If you know more, please share.

The cosequences of foreclosure are similar in both countries. Anyone, in either country, can mail keys in to a mortgage company. However, most people forget about the possibility of a deficiency balance. In both the US and Canada, the home owner is still responsible for the difference between the balance owed and the amount the mortgage company is able to recoup through a sale. In many cases, mortgage companies do not aggressively pursue defficiency balances because it is an expensive process with no guarantee of collection.