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Born in Canada, lived there 27 years, been in the US for 15, I would never consider moving back to Canada, no opportunity, bad business climate, taxes are too high, heath care is appalling (if you have a decent job, health care in the US is 10 times better). Glad I don't pay for all those welfare and EI bums any more. There is also way less petty crime in the US than in Canada, I feel much safer here. Canadians impressions of the US are usually from what they see on TV.
What's with this ignorance that "Canada is too cold".... 90% of the canadian population (31 million people) live within 2 hours or less from the US border. Quit the stupid stereotypes that Canadians live in igloos and it's -40C all year round. Today in Toronto it's even warmer than LA.
Take a CLOSE look at the population density of Canada. Do most people imagine people living in the far nothern arctic due to their ignorance?
The largest urban area in Canada (GTA and Southern ontario) live more south geographically than about 10% of the American population.
...and that means that the largest urban area in Canada live more north than 90% of the American population.
Nobody thinks that most Canadians live in igloos, but they think the winters in most of Canada except for Vancouver/Victoria are too harsh. These are obviously the people who wouldn't want to live in New England or the upper midwest in the US for weather reasons too.
I doubt these people are going to think that LA is too cold just because it doesn't get as hot as Toronto in the summer either.
It's not that they think that Canada is -40 C year round, it's that, they don't like it when it's 0 C at any time of the year. Whether O C is too cold for someone is obviously a personal preference. (I'll admit, it is too cold for me too.) There are plenty of metros in the US where it rarely, if ever gets below freezing.
Wow, I'm interested to hear the Canadian response to this site. Honestly, everything I saw and heard on there happens just as much here in the States. Racism, language barriers, competition for jobs. To be even more honest, the guy doing the interviews has a Michael Moore-ish air about him........which isn't neccissarily a good thing.
There's the primary difference between Canada and the US right there.
Canada cares what people think, and take it seriously when some disaffected group of whiners think bad things.
US, do you think for an instant that some fringe website would get a full feature on 60 minutes or 20/20? Even if they did, would you get the Secretary for Homeland Security to sit down and discuss it? Not a chance in heck. Don't like it, great go back to wherever you came from.
I think it's a toss up. I love living in Canada and yet I feel drawn to the US. But I am yet to travel to the far reaches of both countries, and so until then I am staying put right here in Ontario.
To be honest I think that it would pretty much level out in terms of quality of life. At least in my situation that is. If I wasn't in College getting a degree that will put me into a good paying line of work that is in demand, I would be much more inclined to stay in Canada. However I believe in working hard for what you get, and that seems to be a more US way of thinking about things. I know a lot of people here who are eager to take money from the government whenever they can, and of course it's the exact same in the US. But the US doesn't tax you guys like mad. California is considered to be among the most heavily taxed states, and yet it's comparable to what we pay in Ontario. Some provinces are even higher. It's frustrating when nearly half of your wages go to social programs and healthcare that is paying for other people to leech off of the system, when I myself am not even touching it nor will I be at any point in the foreseeable future.
I am healthy, I am hard working and I am educated and working towards establishing a career. When I finally finish school and land a good paying job, I don't want half of that hard work and toil to be taken from me and dumped back into the community that I know abuses it. At my local supermarket several years ago I heard people talking about how they just cashed their welfare cheques, and then her kid walks by with a Game Boy that she had just bought him (which at the time was brand new). And just tonight, some lady was complaining about her order of groceries because she thought it was a different date and therefore her cheque hadn't come in yet, and thus she couldn't pay for the groceries. Then she goes on about the "stupid Government, blah blah".
It's really annoying to think that a portion of my effort went into paying for these people to gripe and moan, while many do nothing to improve their situations.
At least in the US you have lower sales tax, less or no state taxes, and a comparable federal tax. Not only that, but wages are often the same, if not higher there then they are here, even with our imbalanced currencies. For instance, a $42,000 a year job here is roughly $45,000 on average in the US from the research that I was doing on possible careers, yet our dollar fluctuates from like $0.70 to $0.80 USD.
I was also surprised to see that a lot of the people in Michigan seem genuinely happier than the people here. They aren't just polite like they are here, they seemed energetic and happy, some were even borderline eccentric haha. It's a nice change to see. I'm sure that once you get out into average people for a few days that aren't treating you like a customer then it's the same as here, but still. There is a noticeable change.
Downsides with the US is greater crime and violence, though with a good job it's not as much of a worry because you have the option of not living in these areas. I've been through a lot of what are supposed to be rough and tough areas of Toronto at night and it really wasn't bad. And we were walking around a bit too. I've never been in a situation here where I don't feel comfortable being where I am. Cross the border into Michigan and that changes instantly. I was only a few kilometres across the border when I see a cop standing in the median of the road between both lanes of traffic with his hand on his pistol grips just watching the traffic. It's a strange thing to see. I merge across into the lane beside me, signalling well in advance and leaving a comfortable amount of room for the lady behind me, and next thing I know she is beside me in the lane that I was just in giving me the finger. (To be honest though, I kind of love that about Americans hahaha. The reckless extremes that many exhibit are awesome and a nice change of pace).
I wouldn't say the healthcare is better or worse in either direction. Even if the healthcare in the US is superior to ours here in Canada, I don't like the idea of a single operation costing tens of thousands of dollars when it is free here. But since we pay a lot more taxes, it evens out.
The cost of living in Canada is comparable to some of the most expensive parts of the US like San Francisco.
It really equals out and I like both. The cultures are quite close in many areas. I can watch people from LA, NYC, Miami, Seattle, etc. and not see much of a difference.
Yes I have. have posted on it as well. If you look its mostly immigrants who expect things handed to them or have had no luck finding work and are blaming the Canadian government. Many are sticking it out to get Canadian citizenship as a back door to getting a NAFTA visa to work in.. the US. Does the US want whiners coming across the border to take US jobs?
If you post something positive about Canada everyone jumps on your case for liking Canada.. not very objective.
They represent a very small minority of immigrants to Canada and one should read what you see in that any any web site with a grain of salt.
The cost of living in Canada is comparable to some of the most expensive parts of the US like San Francisco.
Not the entire country. Vancouver is the most expensive city but its still lower than San Francisco. The next most expensive city is either Calgary or Toronto and even that is cheaper than San Francisco (my 1,000 CAD apartment in Toronto would have cost me at least 1,900 USD in SF). Hamilton, Regina, etc. etc. are all much cheaper. So obviously you can't really say an entire country is as expensive as a city like San Francisco.[/quote]
Last edited by minibrings; 07-31-2009 at 06:49 PM..
1) Jobs are definitely more in The US than Canada
2) Taxes are much less in the US than in Canada
3) US has much much wider range of climates, from very cold states such
as Alaska and Main to very warm states, such as Mississippi and Florida
to very Mild states such as California to very rainy states such as
Washington. Canada has definitely nice areas with good weather,
however it does not match the climate diversity of the US. and
generally Cold
4) Canada can be very very expensive! Buying a house in Vancouver
(which is a nice city BTW) can cost you as much as buying a house in
San Diego, California, which, needless to say, has a great climate with
mild temperatures close to the Beach to swim, 2 hours drive to ski, 2
hours drive to Desert! and it's a pretty safe city.
5) US is more Business Friendly
1) Even in this tight economy the US is better for jobs?
2) US taxes (federal plus state) are pretty close or on par with Canadian.
4). Vancouver yes expensive. Other places not so. Same as the US. New York expensive. St Louis, not so. SD is still more expensive for buying a house than Van.
5) I read that Canadian corporate taxes are actually lower than the US (as reported in the Globe and Mail newspaper; the gouvernment has been steadily lowering corporate taxes. Tim Horton's just moved their HQ back to Canada to take advantage of this.
And with the high US deficit (30,000 plus per citizen) those who thinks taxes in the US will not go up.. are dreaming!
Last edited by minibrings; 07-31-2009 at 06:52 PM..
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