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Old 12-11-2019, 10:37 AM
 
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Both share many parallels that neither share with the US or even the UK.

I've been to both many times and have my own thoughts but curious what others think- Which offers more? Depends on city, but country in general for this.
Are they considered head to head?

- Quality of life
- Job options/ Cost of living
- Educational options
- Variety of cities/ landscapes
- Travel options
- Diversity of people/ personality types
- Shopping/ Variety of Consumer Goods
- Food selection/ restaurant variety
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Old 12-11-2019, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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- Quality of life: Roughly equivalent, though for some people may be dependent upon how much climate (and which types thereof) is important to them; Australia sounds like a tropical paradise on the surface but most parts of it can get oppressively and dangerously hot at times, with of course associated problems like fires, droughts, etc. And of course has its winters that need no further explanation.


- Job options/ Cost of living: I'd say this is relatively even, especially relative to how much money the average person makes in either country. Both have lots of opportunities career-wise.


- Educational options: fairly equal as well I'd say; university I believe is quite a bit more affordable in Australia than it is in Canada, though in Canada tuition fees vary greatly depending on the province you're in; a province like Quebec likely compares favourably to Australian fees, whereas Ontario probably does not.


- Variety of cities/ landscapes: I think Canada wins this one. Australia has diversity as well but Canada has almost every type of landscape except for tropical beaches. Canada's cities are also more diverse-looking with some being Old French, Old English, Old Scottish, etc. style. Or mixtures of all three.


- Travel options: Canada wins this one as well. The entire U.S. of A right next door and Mexico and the Caribbean not that far away either. Also Europe is closer to Canada than the major Asian countries are to Australia.


- Diversity of people/ personality types: Anglo-Canada and Australia are fairly equal in this respect, though Canada has a large French-speaking area more or less right in the middle of it, that makes up about 1/4 of the country; and it's not "French" like the Barossa Valley is "German".


- Shopping/ Variety of Consumer Goods: Canada on its own is probably equivalent to Australia, but most Canadians have the advantage of being able to hop across the border for the weekend and take advantage of the widest range of consumer goods in the world in the U.S., generally at lower prices.


- Food selection/ restaurant variety: Due to good transport systems southern Canada does not really suffer from the fact that no agriculture takes place in winter here; I can buy fresh pineapple, strawberries and bananas in the next 5 minutes, even if the ground is covered in snow; restaurant variety is probably fairly similar, and goes along with each city's size and character; basically though you'd fare about as well in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, etc. as you would in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, etc.
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Old 12-11-2019, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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A few other intangibles:


Australians tend to be more rambunctious and gregarious than (Anglo-)Canadians who are more reserved and polite. (I'll leave French Canada mostly out of this as someone who is choosing between Australia and Canada probably doesn't have Quebec in mind.)


Aside from that people are fairly similar in terms of overall friendliness, with Australians probably slightly more outgoing, but also more likely to make "off-colour" remarks.


I would also say that Australia is probably more interesting from a cultural point of view than (Anglo-)Canada is, and definitely more like its own place as opposed to a kind of eccentric offshoot of the behemoth next door.
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Old 12-11-2019, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Australia
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Years ago our friend decided to leave South Africa and he was actually offered jobs in both Canada and Australia. He visited them both and decided on Australia, entirely because the climate was more as he was used to.

I do not think the shopping is an issue these days as we can buy almost anything from the US online. I can get books from the UK faster than from Melbourne.

The only thing I really do not like about Canada is the prevalence of the American tipping culture. And the lack of what we call decent coffee. Though I did find a good flat white in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. Which reminds me we were shocked about the homeless problem in Vancouver. Seems a lot more visible than ours.
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Old 12-11-2019, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaMay View Post
The only thing I really do not like about Canada is the prevalence of the American tipping culture. And .
Can't disagree about tipping - I hate that aspect of the "culture" here.


I also love the "all-in" pricing for everything in places like Australia.
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Old 12-11-2019, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaMay View Post
Island. Which reminds me we were shocked about the homeless problem in Vancouver. Seems a lot more visible than ours.
One thing I found is that while there are differences between Australian cities and states, things are more even-keeled there than in Canada in terms of the level of development and even crime and social problems. (Though both countries often have significant social problems in their indigenous communities.)


Even though the political systems are fairly similar with a division of powers and such, there are IMO more striking disparities within Canada I find. (Even though they're not as pronounced as they used to be.)


Overall, Australia has a lower crime rate than Canada, though some parts of Canada are as low-crime as Australia is. Or even lower.
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Old 12-11-2019, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Australia
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Canada has the benefit of having Quebec, which gives some more cultural variation. We just loved travelling in Quebec, had a couple of weeks there and we found the people really friendly to us. Even when I asked stupid questions such as do you have outside dining in the winter!!

Our cities are very homogenous overall, as are our accents. I wonder if our federal government has wider powers overall than in Canada. For example, our health care systems are theoretically run by the states but Medicare is entirely federal. The education system is again, state regulated but a lot of funding is from the federal government especially for the very extensive private school system.
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Old 12-11-2019, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaMay View Post
Even when I asked stupid questions such as do you have outside dining in the winter!!

.

We do! Sometimes... Generally only during winter carnivals and festivals.
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Old 12-11-2019, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,786 posts, read 37,782,011 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaMay View Post

Our cities are very homogenous overall, as are our accents. I wonder if our federal government has wider powers overall than in Canada. For example, our health care systems are theoretically run by the states but Medicare is entirely federal. The education system is again, state regulated but a lot of funding is from the federal government especially for the very extensive private school system.
Those areas in Canada are generally under the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces.


In terms of health care there is a federal-level health care act that the provinces must abide by. It provides general guidelines that must be provided under the country's universal health care system, but the provinces have a lot of free reign in how their run things, and what is covered by the public system (or paid out of pocket by patients) can vary quite a bit from province to province, outside of the very basic stuff. For example, some provinces cover ambulance transport, some do not. Vaccination coverage can vary as well. Some provinces cover visioncare for kids, some do not.


The federal government has even less of a role in education. For example we don't even have a federal Minister of Education or a federal Education Department.


There are national standards for a lot of things but these tend to be worked out during meetings between the Education Ministers of the 10 provinces, who form a "council" that meets from time to time. Here again there are major differences between the provinces and even in the way the K-12 education system is set up. (In my province it's not even K-12, TBQH.)


Also post-secondary education fees are extremely variable, going from about 3000 dollars a year for a university bachelor's degree in some provinces to close to 10 000 dollars annually for the same degree program in the province next door. In some provinces it costs 800 dollars to become a plumber or an electrician whereas it others it costs 5000 dollars or even way more.
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Old 12-11-2019, 02:54 PM
 
Location: In transition
10,635 posts, read 16,631,404 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
- Quality of life: Roughly equivalent, though for some people may be dependent upon how much climate (and which types thereof) is important to them; Australia sounds like a tropical paradise on the surface but most parts of it can get oppressively and dangerously hot at times, with of course associated problems like fires, droughts, etc. And of course has its winters that need no further explanation.


- Job options/ Cost of living: I'd say this is relatively even, especially relative to how much money the average person makes in either country. Both have lots of opportunities career-wise.


- Educational options: fairly equal as well I'd say; university I believe is quite a bit more affordable in Australia than it is in Canada, though in Canada tuition fees vary greatly depending on the province you're in; a province like Quebec likely compares favourably to Australian fees, whereas Ontario probably does not.


- Variety of cities/ landscapes: I think Canada wins this one. Australia has diversity as well but Canada has almost every type of landscape except for tropical beaches. Canada's cities are also more diverse-looking with some being Old French, Old English, Old Scottish, etc. style. Or mixtures of all three.


- Travel options: Canada wins this one as well. The entire U.S. of A right next door and Mexico and the Caribbean not that far away either. Also Europe is closer to Canada than the major Asian countries are to Australia.


- Diversity of people/ personality types: Anglo-Canada and Australia are fairly equal in this respect, though Canada has a large French-speaking area more or less right in the middle of it, that makes up about 1/4 of the country; and it's not "French" like the Barossa Valley is "German".


- Shopping/ Variety of Consumer Goods: Canada on its own is probably equivalent to Australia, but most Canadians have the advantage of being able to hop across the border for the weekend and take advantage of the widest range of consumer goods in the world in the U.S., generally at lower prices.


- Food selection/ restaurant variety: Due to good transport systems southern Canada does not really suffer from the fact that no agriculture takes place in winter here; I can buy fresh pineapple, strawberries and bananas in the next 5 minutes, even if the ground is covered in snow; restaurant variety is probably fairly similar, and goes along with each city's size and character; basically though you'd fare about as well in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, etc. as you would in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
A few other intangibles:


Australians tend to be more rambunctious and gregarious than (Anglo-)Canadians who are more reserved and polite. (I'll leave French Canada mostly out of this as someone who is choosing between Australia and Canada probably doesn't have Quebec in mind.)


Aside from that people are fairly similar in terms of overall friendliness, with Australians probably slightly more outgoing, but also more likely to make "off-colour" remarks.


I would also say that Australia is probably more interesting from a cultural point of view than (Anglo-)Canada is, and definitely more like its own place as opposed to a kind of eccentric offshoot of the behemoth next door.
I think this assessment is pretty much spot on. For me personally, climate is quite important and I much prefer Australian climates to Canadian ones but as mentioned, they do have their own risks. I think both countries have very good living standards compared to most other places in the world and wouldn't go wrong in either.
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