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If you upstater's want to think your area is similar to Toronto go ahead if it'll make you feel better but the OP was asking for experiences from those who have moved from Canada to the US and I actually have lived in both.
I said Ontario, not just Toronto. I wouldn't compare a vast section of a state to a metro area.
I'm not Canadian but have a cousin that married into a family from Quebec and they eventually moved to Connecticut. They seem happy in the States and have lived here for decades.
I would not sweat the accent thing. We still have people fighting the Civil War here in some areas of the country. Both North and South of the Mason Dixon Line you can still here people gripe about people from the other region or make fun of the accents.
You will find some similarities among cultures if you move to New England and into a community that is close to the Canadian border. Many people still have family on both sides of the border and commute daily back and forth between each country. Since 911 it has become more difficult because prior to that people could cross the border without the need to show their Passport. Or if they did, it was a quick in and out. Not anymore though. I don't see all that much similar between Ontario and NY State other than perhaps the climate and some of the flora and terrain in adjacent lands. People wise they are not much alike.
I moved from Canada to NY. Some things to note:
1) People are not as nice.
2) There is way more crime.
3) People will make fun of your accent so much it will be hard to pretend to find it amusing.
4) No free healthcare. What you get through an employer will not even be remotely similar. Plan on thousands a year for a family of 5.
I recently left NY for Colorado and wow what a difference I felt like I moved back to Canada. Nice people, little crime but they will still make fun of your accent. I love where I live now and wouldn't trade it for any other place because it has everything I'm looking for. I don't know what your reasons for moving to the US are and where in NJ you're moving to but it is different and does take getting used to.
OMG, here we go again. "No free healthcare". Really? Do you really believe that health care in Canada is free? Nonsense. Canadians pay for healthcare, boy do they pay, not only in higher taxes, but long waits for care in most cases.
Not to be rude but if you're from NJ and have family there don't you already know the differences?
CKH- upstate may be close geographically but I really don't see any other similarities. Anyone who has ever driven through Buffalo's East Side (even West Side) would not see anything similar in Toronto.
Well, I was fresh out of college when I left, and am quite a bit older with a different life and point of view now... as for family, I got their opinions, but am interested in hearing others too...
okay, I'm noticing that people are talking more about culture... guess I was more interested in the practical aspects as opposed to culture (probably didn't make myself clear)... how do people find healthcare? taxes? job (i.e. I'm pretty sure it's more laid back up here than in the US, at least in the northeast)? travel? vacations?
4) No free healthcare. What you get through an employer will not even be remotely similar. Plan on thousands a year for a family of 5.
Yeah. There's no such thing as "free" healthcare. If it's a government service, you are paying dearly for it. It's just a lot harder to put a specific dollar amount on it when it is taken within a large glob known as "taxes."
Ontario and upstate NY are sooo different. It is like the difference between northeastern and north-central Pennsylvania.
It depends on where you are in Upstate NY. I don't think people are saying that Albany is like parts of Ontario. I was thinking more of places closer to Ontario and even in the Syracuse area, you get quite a few people from Ontario and even Quebec down here. It's only an hour and a half to get to Ontario from here. Ottawa is only 3 hours or so from here too.
Yeah. There's no such thing as "free" healthcare. If it's a government service, you are paying dearly for it. It's just a lot harder to put a specific dollar amount on it when it is taken within a large glob known as "taxes."
Thank you. Also, the U.S. has superior medical care quality compared to the world.
btw, you can definitely get "free" healthcare in Canada - just stop working the problem is that if you do pay for it (i.e. pay taxes), you don't have a choice and a chance at better healthcare than someone who doesn't work and doesn't pay...
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the problem is that if you do pay for it (i.e. pay taxes), you don't have a choice and a chance at better healthcare than someone who doesn't work and doesn't pay...
