Sorry, but Canada is super overrated (taxes, to live in, move to)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm sure Canada would not want you to continue to live in the country being so unhappy so you should go ahead and find a new country.
Not every area is going to be liked by every human and apparantly you chose the wrong country to move to and every country is promoted to be something it is not. It's usually referred to as "Marketing Tourism" which is directly tied to consumer spending which is more money for the country.
Bottom line, your choice to continue to live there and complain or find somewhere else to live.
Here is a thought for the OP, maybe he should return to France. The OP immigrated to the US and did not like it, became disgusted with its politics and moved to Canada. Once he got to Canada he obviously did not like that either, and now we have this rant. The OP did not like the US or Canada so what more is there to say. I bet he has the right to return to Europe, maybe that is his best bet. How lucky he was to have the opportunity to live in both the US and Canada when he was a French citizen. Millions would give their right arm to live in just one of those countries, he got to live in them both.
Yes I said it. Canada has to be the most overrated country out there. I have lived in Canada for over 6 years now and regret it more each year. I have read enough threads to know that I will be recieved with many posts saying things like *then leave*. But I can't. I fell into the Canada trap as some of my friends say. I am originally from France and moved to the US with my mother at a relatively young age. There I was working towards citizenship and had a good job. Generally speaking I loved it but became unhappy with the Bush Years and gave up my work to go to Canada. I was told constantly about Canada being freindly and a wonderful place by Canadians but I feel like I was misled. By the time I realized the extent of my mistake I had already given up my progress in the US and was stuck with Canada. It isnt that Canada is the worst place in the world. It is that it is routinely promoted as being something its not. Let me make some points:
a)Sorry you arent bilingual. I fell for this one. No it is an English speaking country with one area that is French speaking. At least half of Canadians have a problem with the French speakers and it doesnt help that I am sometimes mistaken for one (Quebecois). Canadians like to say things like *we speak English AND French*. Then they proceed to butcher the most basic French. In Canada *bilingual* means that the French speakers learn English and adapt to their culture. I have met very few non-Quebecois Canadians who can really speak French above the level of a toddler. For those who learn to do this I have great respect. To the rest I say STOP SAYING YOU ARE BILINGUAL!
b)Polite and friendly? Nice? Who came up with this idea? Before ditching the USA (and potential citizenship) I was sure that I was going to a place where people were nicer and well mannered. It was hard to see much of a difference on my trips. But once I moved I realized what *friendly* means in Canada. When a Canadian person tells you they are friendly it really means that they say what is expected. No surprises. Not much in the way of humor or closeness. If you go to the US south people are truly friendly. They will talk your ears off. In Canada *friendly* means *hello how are you, goodbye* and thats all. People are a super serious bunch. As a culture the average person becomes mad very easily and is unable to take light criticisms. As a whole Canadians avoid talking about real problems because of this. They also like to talk about themselves. In the USA it is always *lets improve we can do better* and in Canada it is a self affirmation *we are popular* or something like that. Canadians believe that they are friendly when they are really a very cold and serious people. PLEASE STOP TELLING ME HOW NICE YOU ARE! YOU ARENT! But none of this is as annoying as the nonstop competition with Americans. Its funny because Americans dont care AT ALL about Canada. It is just Wisconsin to them. But in Canada there is a obsession with what the USA is doing and what Americans think of Canada. I would even say that the defining attribute of Canadian *culture* is an insecurity when it comes to Americans. Canadians talk to each about how the world loves them but Canada get no more attention than Slovenia. Canada is like the short guy in school who needs to tell everyone what a big man he is and tries to put down the start athlete (USA). WHY? Why not just be happy how you are? Why always trying to *one up* the USA? Who cares??
c)A peaceful version of the USA? Think again. No this isn't the USA. The culture might be almost an exact copy of the far northern USA but the economy isnt. I fell for this one too thinking it was like the American economy. How naive I was. This is something that is always spouted but it isnt true. You have to pay more money for the same things. There is less of everything available. Worse customer service. Higher shipping to pay. Fewer jobs. Higher taxes but for what? For fuel pay 3 times more. Oh and you even have to pay for the healthcare. WHY DO YOU SAY ITS FREE WHEN YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT? There arent always deals like in the USA. Technology is probably 5-6 years behind and you still have to pay more. Remember earlier where I said Canadians are serious? Well they are serious AND worse with economics where Americans are more friendly/cool AND better with economics. It is better than France but I dont think France is advertised as being as rich as the USA. My problem is that it is a much worse economy than the USA but it is promoted as being USA without the problems. Not even close to true. For Americans Canadian economy might be comparable to Alaska or Hawaii and there is something very wrong with that.
d) WHY DO YOU TELL US THE WEATHER ISNT THAT BAD? The weather in the whole country is bad. It doesnt matter if you are in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver or Calgary. The weather is very bad. Actually the weather is so bad that everyone lives within 1 or 2 hours of the American border. So imagine if all Americans lived only in Florida and south Texas and San Diego. But no, all I hear is how the weather isnt that bad. When you hardly see the sun for a few months it gets very depressing. When going outside hurts your body it gets depressing. There is no way around this. But in Canada you have no option. It is quite a spectacle to watch these poor people be born and raised here. They dont know what it is like to live in the sun of Gascogne or some other tolerable climate. They just dont know any different. If they had the smallest clue what it is to live in a hospitable climate they would be gone and never return. But they dont know any different.
Yes Canada is super overrated. For you Canadians think about this. Have you ever noticed that Canada has a logo? The USA doesnt have a logo. France doesnt have a logo. Italy doesnt have a logo. What you dont know is that Canada is leading the world right now in what is called *nation branding*. It means selling a false image of your country to the world. The Canadian government spends billions promoting a false image around the world and because of this movements like *NOT CANADA* were started by disgruntled immigrants. Right now Canada is being promoted around the world as a land with an American economy, unbeatable friendliness, no racism, nice weather, and no violence. Utopia.glgl
If thats what you think of Canada in your brief stay here,its going to suck to be you for a long time.
Ever think of going back to your homeland of France?
NASTY BORDER CONTROL AUTHORITIES
I was horribly mistreated by the canadian immigration authorities... checked over and over and over again because I am colombian (they probably thought drugs), upon being allowed into the country I wasn't impressed, especially because they promote themselves in a way that just doesnt meet expectations once you are there.
TALK NON-STOP ABOUT THE USA:
One of the first things I noticed, canadians will talk your ears off about how much better canada is and how inferior evil dumb bad americans are.... americans however do not say anything about canada, they don't care, but canadians constantly talk about the USA!
IT IS NOT THAT OPEN MINDED:
yes its multicultural but its also very segregated.... whites with whites, blacks with blacks, indians with indians, asians with asians.
THE WEATHER IS TERRIBLE
cold dark a good part of the year
IMMIGRANTS ARE SCAMMED BY THE CANADIAN IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES
I met several doctors, IT guys, and so on working as taxi drivers, waiters.... they were told before entering canada that they qualified for great jobs in canada due to their education, only to find out upon migrating there and paying large amounts of cash that no one would hire them because they lacked canadian experience.... as a result they end up working in menial underpaid jobs no one else wants to do.... I remember my taxi driver, an indian doctor telling me that he was desperate to move to the US.
DIVERSITY FOR THE MOST = HAVING TONS OF CHINESE AND INDIANS
go around toronto, vancouver and you'll see HORDES UPON HORDES of asians and indians, nothing else... canadians will tell you however they are so so so diverse!!! as if having indians and chinese to the point of bursting out equaled having world diversity.
BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
but its not as fantastic, liberal, peaceful, amazing as canadians will tell you
There are far too many discrepancies in this story so I'm not buying it. I don't believe the OP lives in Canada or that s/he is from France.
And Irene - well Irene rarely has anything good to say but tons of criticism about all of the many, many, many countries that she claims to have visited or know about so I take everything Irene says with a pinch of salt at all times now.
A lot more would have fallen for the Canadian myth if films like The Canadian Pie were released!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
