An American in Canada

GA,
Have you seen the very funny videos of a Canadian (wearing a bulky brown sweater), building a block wall on the border between Canada and the USA.?

And yes, he says while Canadians welcome the flood of immigrants, they are going to come to us. A rescue, and all of Canada will be running for president of the U.S.

So polite, so funny. I did check their immigration laws a bit, and a person must be self-supporting to become a citizen.

So, when are we all going to Canada?

Tothill,

Love hearing all of your info on your area. So interesting to hear about places around the globe.

I would love to visit Canada. I couldn’t move there because I simply couldn’t handle the cold weather. What are the warmest months to visit? Or best time in general to visit?

Just for fun, I looked up the best places in the world with the best climate. Number one place was Canary Islands.

Tothill, I get what you are saying. To be honest I've gone for Chinese food in Richmond. Wasn't impressed. The Dhawali festival is a joke in my opinion. I guess it's fun if watching a bunch of grim faced East Indian people in a parade is fun to you. I'm married to an East Indian man so this isn't a racist comment. Just a personal observation. He doesn't even enjoy Dhawali. Chinatown is okay I guess but so close to the downtown Eastside you should be careful. The summer fireworks? Been there, done that.

Sorry, this is my city and I like it but not impressed with it's culture.

Gershun,

Locals get used to the various cultures in the Lower Mainland.

Metro Vancouver has the largest Chinatown in North America x2. The original Chinatown downtown and Richmond. The food in Richmond is considered to be the best Chinese food outside of China.

The Indo Canadian communities in Richmond and Surrey bring incredible diversity to the region. Diwali is an incredible festival.

Commercial Drive and Hastings in Burnaby for Italian.

Vancouver has one of the largest Pride Festivals in Canada.

The Festival of Lights in English Bay.

There is lots to do if you look.

Oh I should add, at least in BC the smoking of cigarettes is frowned upon, but the smoking of Marijuana is far more acceptable. Both are legal in Canada.

Here in BC Immigrants are eligible for MSP (Medical Services Plan) coverage after 3 months. I believe there is an monthly fee for immigrants for a period of time. At least there is for International Students. It can be hard to find a GP (General Practitioner), they are the gate keeper for accessing healthcare.

We do not have Medicare/Medicaid. Here in BC it costs a minimum of $1500 per month for a publicly funded bed in a nursing home. We do have long wait lists to get into the existing nursing homes. The minimum is based on the federal pensions available to lower income Canadians. Unless you work in Canada, you will not have access to these pensions, at then you would only have a very small CPP.

Taxes will be an issue, you will need to file in both Canada and the US. This does not mean you will be taxed twice. It will get more expensive and you will need to have a Tax Accountant prepare your taxes and they can cost upwards of $300.

Housing costs are incredibly high in some regions and very reasonable in other areas. If you are thinking of buying check out realtor.ca. You can search by area and price. If you know what area you are interested in you can google local rental vacancies too. Check out local FB Neighbourhood watch pages to get an idea of local crime rates and areas to avoid.

Electricity costs in Ontario are higher than here in BC, as people are charged for both usage and transmission. I pay $81 per month. I have an oil furnace and I do not keep my house warm, only 65 degrees and I put on a sweater. I pay between $2000 - 3000 per year for furnace oil depending on how cold the winter has been.

In BC AC is rare except in newer houses with heat pumps, or houses where the furnace has been replaced with a heat pump. Up until recently it has rarely been needed.

Groceries will cost more. You can google grocery flyers in the communities you are interested in to get an idea of sale prices. Milk, cheese and meat are all more expensive.

Car insurance rates may well be higher here. In BC you have to convert your driver's license to a BC one within 90 days of arriving in the province. If you do not, you have to go through the graduated licensing program.

Will you be welcome? It is unlikely you would wear a MAGA hat here, that would not be welcome at all. Canadians are quietly patriotic, we do not hang flags at our homes, businesses, vehicles etc. We do not wear our flag, except on Canada Day, July 1st. As long as you do not try to tell us that X, Y or Zed is better in the states you will fit in fine. Yes, I said Zed, not Zee.

You will have to check with an immigration lawyer about the legalities of moving here.

Gershun,

Thanks for the info. It’s always interesting to speak to others about their residence.

Hahaha, cowboys? Not exactly my cup of tea...no offense to the cowboys

We were fortunate to have a stop in Vancouver while on an Alaskan Cruise and I thought it was a beautiful city! I would love to go there for a vacation. And what really sticks out in my mind is that the street people there blended in with everyone else. Here in California and the US in general, most don’t blend in. So while we were walking down a busy street with lots of shopping, I was noticing some people sitting down with dogs or walking by with dogs and at one point we are walking along and my husband starts talking to a woman walking by with her dog. I thought he must have been asking about her dog or something.....but no....she was begging for money! LOL. I never would have guessed because she was clean and didn’t have the rough appearance of an addict. Anyway he had some Canadian coins we wouldn’t be using so he gave them to her. The part of Vancouver we were in, it was really similar to Monterey, same casual vibe but the street folks were cleaner and friendlier. Actually on that entire trip, everyone in Alaska and Canada was so friendly. Really made me realize what assholes we Americans are :P

Needhelp, I've never lived in another place. I was born in Toronto but we moved here when I was four so I have no recollection of it.

Vancouver is scenically beautiful and people are nice. Very laid back vibe but not a lot of culture to be honest whereas what I've heard about Montreal is they have a lot of culture. The Quebecois party has been wanting to separate from Canada for many years but they will never have a majority government in my opinion so it probably will never happen.

Alberta has a lot of cowboys if you like that sort of thing.🤔

Gershun,

Too funny! Many people feel that way! Hey, thanks for the laugh.

So, is Vancouver your favorite spot? What about Montreal as GA mentioned?

Yes, GardenArtist, CWillie is correct. Vancouver is very expensive. I live in a suburb of Vancouver. We paid almost half a mil for a very small condo that isn't even in the heart of the city. Rental properties are getting extremely hard to come by here. Also as Willie said, finding a good family doctor is difficult as well.

Having said all that I'd still rather live here than live anywhere that had the big yellow haired dufous as a President. Plus you would be very welcomed here Garden.😁

GA,

Wherever you decide to live for whatever reasons that you have, I hope it all works out and that you are happy with your choice. Let us know what you decide.

I can understand having your heart set on France. France would be lovely. Finances does influence where we live though.

Looks like you know the general area in Canada that you would like to be and have to figure out the details. Best of luck to you.

I would like to think this would be one of the few refuges we have from politics. Can we not keep politics out of this discussion?

GA,

Unfortunately, what you described has become typical in politics. I am sick of it too. I wouldn’t mind leaving either.

CWillie, thanks for the information.   It's much more adaptable than I thought; I was thinking in terms of years, if one could qualify at all.

NeedHelp, I couldn't tolerate the debate.  I've reached and surpassed my quota for old white chauvinist men, rich men, empty platitudes and promises w/o any substantive detail, yelling and hollering, and all that friction, not to mention what comes from the other side.

That's why I'm considering leaving if certain events happen in November.

I've always wanted to retire in France, but couldn't afford it now (couldn't even afford the transportation!) but Montreal is enticing as well, and I'd still be on the same continent and could speak English until my French is tolerable.

In general landed immigrants are eligible for healthcare but there may be a waiting period, in my province (Ontario) it is 3 months. You also have to actually live in your province for half the year to maintain eligibility, that's why snowbirds fly home in the summer.
Doctor shortages continue to be a problem, finding a doctor that is accepting new patients can be difficult in some communities.
I don't think there is any noticeable anti American bias.
Although at first glance we are culturally very similar to our American cousins don't make the mistake of thinking there aren't fundamental differences between us.
Remember our population is 1/10 of America's, there is much less density and there are only a dozen cities in the entire country with populations over 500,000.
Cost of Living - just like in the USA that varies, affordable housing can be difficult to find in urban centres, especially Toronto and Vancouver.

Great question! I have often wondered about this too. Did you see on the debate last night that Denmark is considered to be the ‘happiest’ place to live because of their quality of life?