Close Reading

I stopped visiting Canada 40 years ago because of insane or corrupt border control policies. I traveled to Canada from California to record an album for a popular rock star. My crew number 4 people and we had reserves a month for basic tracking in a studio there. We bought our own reels of 3 inch wide recording tape because the studio wanted twice the rate as normal and since my studio was a distributor for the mastering tapes we brought from my own inventory. Each reel of tape was 3 lbs and brought 30 reels. We got to customs and they said we owed money for importing the tape. Normally a reel would have been $180, and customs wanted $38,000 x 20, and would not let us retrieve it to take it back to the US side of the border. How can a tape worth $180 suddenly have duty of $38,000?\nIt was explained to me as the Potential Value of the tape which meant AFTER a hit song was recording in it. Most recordings are total losses and the tape cant used on a new project even if properly bulk-erased. They expected me to pay on the spot $760,000 in duties. I gave up and left the tape with them. I called the artist and said we could not do the project in Canada and we went back to California. The artist came to us a few months later and the result was a minor hit, and probably barely made its production cost since the label only distributed it in Canada. I talked to an international trade lawyer about what happened and he said customs officials were wrong in Canada but they are given full latitude with no appeal so his advice was never take anything over the border that I did not mind being confiscated. Sometimes they would let it in because it was going back out in a month, but likely they sold it off and pocketed the money. The US is corrupt on a federal level but Canada is corrupt on the local level. I moved out of the US 24 years ago have a much higher quality of life than is even possible in the US, and live very cheaply. Total cost of living with a very active social and cultural life impossible to duplicate in the US which as some of the least options for culture. And my cost of living is $1500 a month, less than utilities alone for one house in California, and that is for 2 people. Last month for example I attended world class opera, ballet and symphonies 9 times, and went out to dinner, in jazz clubs or dance clubs, visited12 top museums, and it was still under $1500 for the month. A pair of tickets to the MET in NYC for lower grade performance, sets, orchestra ad theater, was $1800!! $600 for tickets to drama for 2. Here there 237 drama theaters within walking distance of my city center home, and can walk anywhere at any time of day and be safe due to VERY low crime rates. Free medical is good. I am not citizen but still I had an operation and 10 days in a vip single room for $5300 and despite my insurance I had been paying back in California $824.month, it was going to cost me out o pocket $500,000 and one day in a recovery 12 bed room, and require paid nursing attendant for 30 days. The results were great and was treated like king.\nCanadians have lost control of their government but Americas are screwed regardless, with lower than international standards for everything, with crime, corruption in Washington, extreme cost of living, no access to culture, few if any safe parks. My adopted city is not only far more beautiful than any US city, my GF can walk, alone, anywhere in a city of 7mil at any time of day through any of the 600 beautiful parks open 24/7..at 3am. There are no homeless, and 80% of those over 20yo own their home clear of debt. No college debt despite twice the % of people having degrees. The rest of the world caught up and has surpassed the US and Europe in quality of life. \n\nI have only been back to the US 5 times in 24 years and each time I am shocked by how much the entire society has declined while most of the world outside of Europe, Canada, US, UK or Australia have dramatically improved.\nEvery year since 2008 more Americans leave the US to live elsewhere than legal immigrants arrive.

A lot of these are rich country problems. Which is why we get such a huge number of immigrants from developing countries. Ans almost none from developing ones. Only about 10,000 a year from the USA compared to over 300,000 a year from developing ones. But while I returned to Canada before I retired to care for my elderly mother, I had been approved for a green card in the USA. I lived in LA for 10 years. But my very low out of pocket cost of medical care still makes Canada attractive to me. \n\nBut my kid who was 13 when I moved to the USA, stayed there when I returned to Canada. They have had a green card for 11 years and is soon to become a US citizen. They and their spouse would like to move to Canada but simply cannot make anything like a similar net income in Canada. \n\nBut the housing crisis here is very real for many people.

Nice content, loved your English. As an immigrant myself and being Asian living in Canada, I literally didn’t have any big dreams when I decided to move to Canada. But only expectation I had was people would be more friendly, educated and so on, and I didn’t noticed that much about(i won’t like to call it racism) but the way local see and behave the other different countries people but now after living here for couple of years I can so easily see how the local treat you, behave you. That’s my biggest disappointment. It might be just my prospective or the phase that im going through and so on. But just wanted to share. Again i know I’m not the first or only person who felt it. And yes I know the local very closely too and how and why they feel that. Some of the immigrants aren’t respecting the rules, tradition or so on here. Well i guess it is what it is. \nJust wanted to share my experience. \nAnd I myself been thinking about leaving Canada for good too and I totally agree with your points. \nHopefully at least housing and rent goes down.

the freezing of bank accounts is a bigger issue than just the Trucker rally freezing. To anyone who owns a business in Canada that has ever been through an Audit with the CRA, you know these kids have no idea what they are doing and and way too much power. In my case they actually said they wont accept half my receipts because of the format they were saved in. I had two formats, and they said I could only pick 1 format for them to work with- so immediately from the start the AUDIT would be incorrect, I called it out and refused to pay the fake amount and they froze my bank account--with employees not getting paid. It is clearly irresponsible to operate a business in Canada under that kind of behaviour. Keeping a business in Canada is dangerous. I left. Dont even get me started on what my Doctor said about not treating my low functioning kidneys until they fail!

It’s been 5 years for me here and I honestly can say I have achieved nothing in my life yet. It scares me when I think I can’t return whatever my parents had invested in me. The fact is you’ll never have a good paying job in Canada being an immigrant. When I say this trust me I mean it. Most you’ll get is a minimum wage job which can make you survive the life here. Taxes are high definitely and what I feel is you’re working to make someone else’s life easier. \n(P.S: people who’ve stayed in Canada will understand who I’m implying to)\nNo one wants to be your freind, scope of socializing is zero coz mostly it’s cold round the year so everyone hardly come out, especially in Northern provinces like Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba.\nHealthcare is a joke. If you feel sick and not well and you wanna see a doctor be prepared to wait for hours and hours. I once had stomach infection and I had to wait 5 hours till someone could see me. I asked for painkiller at-least so I could bear the pain but they refused that as well. You might well see someone you love dearly and with whole heart die in-front of you and you could do nothing. (I’ve experienced it myself hence saying)\nYou’re a lone survivor who’ll always keep fighting. \nThe only person who can make money here is businesses and high paid jobs which are reserved to Canadians. That’s how Canada’s job market is. Canadians’ first and if there’s something left they’ll look at you. By the amount of money people invest here they can establish a nice business back in their country itself and earn accordingly on own terms. \nMost importantly you’ll cut yourself from all emotional supports like family, freinds etc.\nI was social person back in India who liked making new freinds and memories but it’s nothing like that here. \nAnd it’s the same life, no different.\nYou wake up, dress, eat, go to work, come back, eat, sleep. No different.\nNo fun and nothing. You actually don’t live in present, you live in an expectation of a better tommorow.\nYou’ll always have a smile when you greet someone but I guarantee you no one’s gonna check on you to if you don’t start a conversation even with a simple “Hi”. Mostly Canadians are nice but again some will systematically judge you and say nothing but you’ll see in their actions, the way they’ll talk in a twisted way etc.\nYes I’m not saying that Canada’s bad or it’s no good but trust me it will take forever to build a life here especially with the number of people moving here from round the world. \nIf you’re well off financially from back home Canada’s a paradise for you. Indeed it’s a beautiful country with lots of beauty and lots to explore but remember everything comes with a cost here. Everything comes with a cost. People need to stop believing in this fake illusion and come only if they got a purpose here. The only reason why they’ll let you in the country is for money and once you’re in you’ll have to keep spending, doesn’t matter if you’re broke or whatever you have to.\nOnce I earn I’ll happily give up my PR status and go back to India as i very well know what the situation is how it’s gonna be in future.\nSo just one piece of advise to every middle class person like me, guys please invest and spend your money wisely coz we know how hard it is to earn and it’s high time Canadians start appreciating what immigrants like us do for them by burning ourselves day and night and start realizing that their past generation once came from some other part of the world as well and settled here. Being white doesn’t make you a nice Canadian, you’re actions defines you more than your words. \n90% of this country is built by immigrants and that’s how it’s gonna develop in future, so if they keep treating us the same way good luck to them ?.\nAlso a plus note to anyone thinking that Asians are stealing your jobs, go get outside and have the balls to face them and take it away from them. Staying home and ranting and abusing us that we’re taking your opportunities and blah blah isn’t gonna work. We are so successful round the world because we are hardworking, honest and respectful to everyone. Even if we’re earning minimum and barely surviving here we always make sure we’re not burden on the government or anyone else and won’t keep crying.\n\nA big shoutout to all you guys who came here in the hope of a better future but are still struggling.\nKeep hustling and you’ll reach there, if not step down and go back and start your life again on your home soil. There’s no shame in experimenting continuously rather than sitting ideally and crying about future. \n\nAll the very best my people and lots of love to you ❣️

I always wondered why I had to be here when the snow tilted between 45 and 60 degrees in winter and hit my face at 30-40 km/h.\nquality of food, transportation, service from employees, speed of processing time, etc there were many things that made me really unsatisfied being living in Toronto.\nsame, at the first time I came Toronto, everything looks great. but not anymore \nI'm korean and I feel really unsafe when I go and live abroad. Korea, Japan, Singapore mainly all Asian countries are top 5 in safety all over the world I think. \nAsia especially Korean and Japan have great service, quality of food with reasonable price. I think I don't need to move foreign country. \nmy background is in South Korea but I can say living in Toronto Canada was horrible and harsh for Korean. Because of multiple reasons but the harsh weather is the biggest for me. Feels like winter in Toronto is 7~8 months long if I compare it to winter in Korea. Fall and Spring?? No, they don't have fall and spring and it's all winter. they have snow in early September late April or May. It was horribly hard because the cold air from the arctic and really powerful wind came all together. even though the weather and temperature look a little bit off from Korea, Canada has a much more harsh location with weather. not only harsh weather but they do provide really embarrassing experience such as expensive payment for everything, a lot of factors disturb me from leaking money. I don't think Canada is a good country. my view of this country totally has been changed 3 years ago.

I lived in the US for 30 years. I hated every year, except for having my sons there. My American husband is a staunch NRA supporter. At the 30 year mark, when I gave him an ultimatum. I gave him 30 years down there, and the time had come where he needed to do 30 years in Canada. We've been in Canada for 6 years, and he doesn't ever want to go back.\nI feel for the new mothers, who only get 6 weeks maternity leave (8 weeks for C-Section).\nCanadian Mums get a full year. Nurturing your new baby is necessary for a well-balanced child. You can't bond in 6 weeks. \nYour health insurance is nuts. We paid $1500/mo. just for our family. Then you have a $5k deductible first! Just walking into the ER is $500 and THEN add on labs, x-rays, meds, etc. My son was in mental health treatment and our insurance capped mental health at $25k for life. \nThe biggest slap up my head, was when I found out I CAN'T collect my SSI. I paid a lot of taxes, since we made 6 figures/year. So, now I'm screwed, since they won't pay a former Permanent Resident. Had I been a citizen, I could get it. My husband is a PR in Canada, waiting to take his citizenship test. If he applies for SSI, he needs to go down to the States for 30 days and nights, annually. \nI'm from Toronto, born and raised and I am so happy to have my feet back in my own country. My boys are still there, as well as my grandchildren. Thankfully, they fly up twice a year. You couldn't pay me to move back.

My husband and I lived in Columbus, Ohio for 12 years. During that time we had two babies, but we had insurance so the price tag wasn't too bad, overall. We made good friends there, all different political views but we got along well and it was great. We lived in Ohio both pre and post 9-11. I definitely noticed a difference in the growing patriotism around us. Even pre-9-11 there was a higher level of overt patriotism than I was used to in Canada. For instance, more people had flags in their yards or America-themed bumper stickers than I was used to in Canada. But post 9-11 patriotism grew immensely, and we started to feel like political views were starting to have an effect on friendships. Also, Ohio passed a conceal carry law (firearms), and I found my awareness that anyone around me might have a concealed weapon unsettling. In Canada the only guns anyone I knew owned were hunting rifles, locked up. But suddenly I had to worry about if there were guns in the houses that my children were visiting. As a Canadian, I just wasn't used to the idea of everyone having guns around. Anyway, we overall enjoyed living in Ohio. The cost of living there was reasonable, the people were friendly, and we only moved when the real estate bubble burst and my husband lost his job. We went back to Canada and, honestly, I've been relieved to be back as I watch the news and see how divided the American people have become. Even some of the friends that I had in Ohio have changed and become a lot less accepting of different opinions. It makes me scared for the future of the US, and the effect it all will have on the rest of the world.

My Canadian brother and his wife left Canada and moved to the U.S. when they were in their early 40's. They prospered and grew their careers for 15 years before deciding to return to Canada. In Canada they would have been considered politically Conservative and religiously as far-right Evangelical Christians, but they found their American neighbors to be off the charts in both categories. They remained in Canada for only 3 years before packing; up and moving back to the U.S. Their main reason was monetary. My brother's wife, who is a doctor, paid $27 thousand dollars less, per year in income tax in the U.S.A. Their 6,000 square foot luxury home in the U.S. cost them about $700K dollars and the equivalent in Canada was $2.4 Million dollars. Since his wife is a doctor, the U.S. healthcare system was not an issue for them, because as a doctor, she had the ultimate American healthcare insurance paid by her employer. They admitted that they had healthcare that was superior to that held by 98% of other Americans. I suspect they will remain in the U.S. for the future. Over the years they have adopted the unique American language and accent, so they now live unnoticed and unrecognizable as Canadians. lol

Been in Canada for approximately 25 years. I can say that the effect that Canada has on a legal immigrant is neither here nor there. If you can make lemonade out of any lemon you’re dealt, you will thrive in Canada (and anywhere else where your efforts are not overwhelmingly quashed by corruption, blatant racism or other forms of segregation). \n \nLynn, I was a lecturer in Kenya, went back to school here in Canada after wallowing in culture shock the first year, then circled back to teaching in college again after an arduous journey in school, but this time in a different field. \n \nAfter becoming a single mother of four kids, I had to also hustle on the side to build a small business empire along my life’s ladder. Partnership with God, goal clarity, the get-up-and-go, and relentlessness truly work. It isn’t the size of the dog but the fight in the dog that does it, regardless of where you live. \n \nThe starting point for a new immigrant can be very low due to the weather, unpreparedness and culture shock, but if you know that the only way is up, and are self-motivated, those challenges are soon behind you as the tests become testimonies. \n \nBy comparison people have more human rights here regardless of their status. The wheels of justice grind slow but they do grind fine. Women and children have equal rights with men. Politicians are mostly there to serve not necessarily to exploit. \n \nOpportunities for self-development galore - including being trained to become employable and going to school at any age (sometimes for free while you are still at the bottom of the ladder). There are food banks so you never go hungry if it came to that. The disabled are better treated with dignity. \n \nThere are prolonged parental leaves for both moms and dads for up to 18 months. Commensurate with earnings, parents under certain thresholds are given Canada child tax benefits and other supplements for each child under 18 years of age. \n \nDepending on the number of kids and their ages, the money can add up handsomely. Not to mention that there’s no tuition to pay for primary and high school students. Tuition fees start at post-secondary level. \n \nTo see a doctor is free as it is paid for by taxes. It the meds that you and/or your insurance pays for. Some medical equipments may be paid for by either or both the individual/insurance and the government depending on eligibility. \n \nBy and large, there’s cleanliness of common spaces. There’s also safety and relative peace. At least wherever I have lived, I can’t tell you how many times I forgot to lock my door with impunity. \n \nThere’s a lot more stressful work here in my opinion, but like you said Lynn, systems work a lot more efficiently and effectively. \n \nThe elephant in the room is the extra hard work that those living abroad must put in to fulfil expectations back home. Also known as black tax, the overwhelming financial dependency of relatives on their diasporan loved ones places undue stress on many here, especially because there are no short cuts to getting money here. \n \nAnyway, Lynn, thanks for such a great topical issue you’ve shared. I have to stop here as I have written a lot. Hope this helps someone on this forum. \n \nAnd last but not least, you’ll be proud to hear that even though Canada has been good to me, my face may now be turning towards home to see how I can be of use to mama Africa. Super excited!

1. I'm a ??can who moved to Europe 22yrs ago through recruitment agency - the employer paid for my professional REGISTRATION with the nursing board, for my work authorisation permit before I even left, sent me a written 2 yr work contract, the flight(return), a taxi pick up from airport & accommodation for 2 the 1st weeks bnb.\n2. I had worked in ?? for 15yrs, 3 diplomas and a post grad degree, I and had bought myself a small property 4yrs into my career on a 60% government subsidy.\n3. I was in a management position for over 7yrs. \n4. Looking back now, the people I went to college with got millions of Rands at age 60 for their retirement pension. \n5. I am waiting to be 65 for a mere €32 000 retirement lump sum and a weekly income of about €400 plus. \n6. I bought myself a small property after renting for 9yrs here, it was not easy to raise funds while paying rent which is HALF YOUR SALARY, but it was worth it. I still have a balance on my bond which my pension lump sum wont even shift\n6. The regrets I have is that:\ni) I missed out on family, friends and christianity quality life, \nii) I spent too much money flying home every yr and sometimes 2 X a yr to keep my sanity and to bond with my family - adult kids and siblings & now grandkids\niii) I could have had a fair and equal opportunities to improve have more accademic and work status in my own country than in a foreign land & my experienced would have been not only recognised when it suits the employer, but it could have been openly VALUED and NURTURED if I was serving in my own country\niv) I could have retired 3 yrs ago and had a paid up bond and a nice retirement car\nThe POSITIVE side is that: \ni) I have a property in a good area that I can rent out for extra income \nii) I have enjoyed travelling around the world and living in A relatively SAFE COUNTRY for over a decade.\niii) I have come to realise that - \na) There's no place like home - we often take for granted, the standards of practice and quality of education and customer service and the advancement in technology both in both education, work and BANKING in our countries untill we travel and live abroad\nb) it is easy to bring your expertise & work ethics abroad and work like and educated slave for a small price\nc) I have come to realise that, Half the time, most of Our stories as a nation are told by someone else, and the world keeps the narrative going.

I want to live in Kenya. I have lived in Canada for 30 years. Canada is a lonely country, not easy to make friends at all. I was born in Europe and came to Canada. I had the same opportunities were I came from. I have always been interested in buying land. However, to buy land in Canada, it will never actually be yours. In Africa, if you were not born in any of the 54 countries, you can only lease the land. There is a big difference knowing that you can pass land on to your family , creating generational wealth. There are pros and cons in many things in life. Had I known then , what I know now, I would have stayed in Europe.

I've lived in Toronto for almost 20 years, and I can't wait to get out. The plan is to move somewhere else in the spring, just figuring out where. Toronto now breaks my heart-- you see people seriously struggling everywhere, and it's hard to see it in contrast with the opulent wealth that much of the city has. We're lucky to be in a rent-controlled apartment and we've been here for over a decade, and there's no way we'd find anything even remotely similar here now (the apartment we live in would go up at least $1000 if we leave). The safety is also an issue- I live in a fairly busy area that used to be extremely safe (I used to walk home alone at midnight in high school) and now I rarely leave my apartment after dark. There's very angry, erratic people, many on substances, and I've had some rough encounters already. And don't get me started on public transport.... My sister saw someone almost get randomly pushed into the subway tracks yesterday, and obviously that doesn't get reported. It's worse than people think, and it's only gonna get more horrible once winter hits.

Most of the issues mentioned in the video are common in cities the size of Toronto elsewhere in the western world; I have family/friends all over and they have similar gripes about cities like London, Berlin and NYC. The precipitous decline in the last few years is indeed due to the fall out from COVID, both economy-wise and mental health-wise, and most countries in the world are still recovering from it. It's tough everywhere you look, but I do hope it's a temporary situation that will blow over sooner rather than later. Having said that, one thing that's probably worse in Toronto (and Vancouver) than most cities their size (I know that Toronto is much bigger, but Vancouver is a big city in its own right) is the housing situation, which had already been a problem before COVID in those two cities and it has only gotten worse since so it's now a real crisis that needs the municipal, provincial and federal governments to work together to address ASAP.

I guess because Toronto is so huge and because I stayed in the main touristy areas I only noticed a few homeless people during my trip. They were more noticeable to me in Calgary in the spring. But the worst I've seen is Portland, Oregon and Seattle, WA and in 2021 Washington DC was pretty bad off...though the encampments I saw then had been cleared out by DC when I returned in 2023.\n\nI really really enjoyed my stay in Toronto over Labor Day weekend, my first time ever to visit. But just looking around me I got the same sense I did in NYC...it's a beautiful place to visit but living here would be ungodly expensive. The luxury apartments across the street from my hotel seemed to have rather low occupancy, from what I could see from my hotel room window at night. A lot of rental real-estate are speculative investments and any thought of addressing housing needs, keeping occupancy rates high, etc. are purely secondary concerns...zombie buildings with unaffordable rents that remain sparsely occupied while the need(s) are so dire is morally offensive and government should step in with rent controls and occupancy requirements and tax those owners more heavily who have occupancy below a minimum threshold. The increase in crime is a completely expected outcome of economic desperation. The US answer is usually more police & harsher penalties but I hope Canada is more rational and humane in addressing these societal ills.

I am a resident of Toronto for the past 11 years now. I moved here from Calgary because back then I had a better opportunity. I was an aspiring pastry chef. I landed in pretty stable and well paid job. I've already noticed the changes in city a few years before the pandemic. The drug addiction and mental health problem were already quite evident as injection sites were popping up around the cities including public parks. Then the pademic happened, it exposes the cracks in our society, some people are becoming selfish and intolerant. I lost my job due to the pandemic, it was very traumatic, I developed severe anxiety/depression. Luckily, i had some savings when it all happened. Fastforward, I've been working in the last 2 years now but I can no longer find the same job and pay I used to have. Most companies are now more ruthless. They let go employees any minute as soon as they felt the business is slow. There's no more job security. The only reason why I am surviving is because I am living in the same apartment since i moved here. However, my new neighbours who just moved in are paying twice as much. I've been attempting to leave the city but that would mean that i would be paying at least twice of my current rent and there aren't much opportunities elesewhere. I honestly felt trapped in my current situation but I am still grateful that I am still better off than many people who are already living on the edge. Sadly, the situation is only getting worst according to many analysts. I think the country is at a breaking point in many aspects.

I am an immigrant from South Africa here in Edmonton since June of 2023. What the brother is saying is true. Canadians make no room for the human element in the workplace/environment. Everything is based on productivity at the expense of your humanity. They also treat workers as very expendable and disposable. The fact that they import so many foreign workers to do certain jobs is perhaps a reason why born Canadians no longer want to put up with the exploitation (I don't know if this is the true reason though).\n\nCanada is very convenient, and public services and infrastructure are amazing compared with South Africa. But the rest of the culture is very sterile. Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and Ice Hockey are considered cultural identities. Maybe the older generations had a distinctive culture, but most Canadians of today's are only interested in consumerism and the car lifestyle. If you are looking for people with warmth and depth, you will most likely find it with fellow immigrants (and maybe the poor and marginalized communities of Canada).\n\nCanada is a very safe country, and South Africa may not be worth it for me to return to. But the strongest element I thought for coming to Canada was that people here appreciated life and each other. This is not true. Canada is 'stable and happy' because the people are intoxicated by the comfort that material wealth provides the individual (despite all their complaints and problems, most Canadians still lead very comfortable and easy lives). Take away their comfort and materialism, and they won't know who they are. They won't know how to stand together either since they have been so strongly conditioned to live for themselves as individuals.\n\nCanadians are known for their politeness and friendliness, and this is true. But there is a big difference between politeness and kindness (and being genuine). Canadians are not kind.\n\nMy opinion is obviously limited and biased. I am sure there are wonderful and pleasant exceptions. But I will still limit these as exceptions. \n\nThink hard before choosing Canada (and perhaps also the USA). Unless you have a strong community to support you here, it will be a lonely and alienating experience.

Wow, I finally hear someone saying that Vancouver is ugly. I thought I was the only one. I’m from Europe so it was super obvious to me that there is no comparison with European cities and I always cringe when I hear that Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities. It’s literally just the surrounding that is beautiful, not the city. Having said that, I disagree that this is common with all North American cities. Even with my European eyes, I adore the older North American architecture. I think architecture in Chicago is great. San Francisco is beautiful (without the homeless), so to me Vancouver is ugly even in the context of North America. Most of downtown Vancouver has either new boring glass condos or the older ones that look like buildings from communist era in Eastern Europe. And I became really upset about that because this beautiful spot on the west coast deserved beautiful city, it should have been Canadian San Francisco. Original in its own way, but beautiful. But it’s really not. I’m sure it was way more interesting city 50 years ago. I saw old photos and it had some character.

Our son (22 yo) was in a traffic accident 3 years ago. Heavy multi-trauma that necessitated 18 surgeries, the latest was 2 months ago. He still has complications that forces him into long hospital stays. If we were living in the US, not only the whole family would have been bankrupt, but he most certainly would have died from lack of fund to pay for his care. Being Canadians living in Quebec, we didn't pay a dime, and his medical care wasn't even entirely paid for by the universal national healthcare. Most of it was paid by the Société d'Assurance Automobile du Québec (provincially funded, single payer automotive insurance).\n\nEverything, including renovations to the house to make it suitable for a wheelchair user and so much other things he now needs has been paid for. All in all the cost of all the medical care, prothesis, equipments, surgeons (6 of them, diffrent specialies), multiple MRIs, scans, stress-tests, ect. is most certainly in the 7-figure by now. The single payer automotive insurance granted him a pension for life, calculated on the base of the salary he would have made in his future job, had the accident not cut short his university education.\n\nJust typing this to show a very valid reason why it makes absolutely no sense for a Canadian to move to the US, makes me tear up for families down south going through a similar situation, knowing that unless they are millionaires, they're probably going through hell. Each time we hear about the health care system in the US, we have feelings I can't even describe.\n\nEdited to add: Our son is covered by his father's complementary health insurance he has at his job. We didn't have to claim anything there yet.

The way they are desperately trying to get in is just sad. As a immigrant who has been a citizen for over a decade, I can only imagine the fear and stress they are having. Most of these people are coming with families, and it’s dangerous what they are doing here. I don’t know why they think it’s ok for them to barge in and not expect force, because at the end of the day it’s not safe for them, and for us. But I also don’t think they had much of a choice

I have travelled to the US often for work for close to 25 years, visiting client sites. While I live in Canada, I had witnessed so many experiences and differences that it became impossible to consider a move there. There are obvious tax advantages (most states, though not all, combined with fed taxes have a lower tax rate, as well as write off benefits of owning a house). Racism is a problem here too, towards black people (among others) and including violence and systemic racism towards our indigenous population (e.g. police and healthcare), but the level of systemic and societal racism in the US towards black people is difficult to comprehend.\n\nIn my work experience in the US over the years, my team was in Utah at the time of a mass shooting in the mall that we'd typically go for dinner. An employee at the company shot and killed his wife in the church parking lot. I've been at a conference in Nashville that had to be locked down because there was a shooting in the mall next door (to the Grand Ole Opry), which was across the highway from the restaurant were there was the shooting where a black man took down the shooter earlier that year. As an employer our company couldn't believe the costs the company had to pay. California was ridiculously high, but so even was Texas.\n\nWith Obamacare the US is making huge strides in healthcare. It's not just about the health insurance coverage, but the fact that the legislation is forcing insurance and healthcare providers to standardize their systems, and make the data flow much better. This will allow for more innovation, faster handling of transactions, and transparency of costs (an example is people not knowing their cost until AFTER going through the procedure). I believe the US will outstrip Canada (which is only in the middle of the pack of developed countries) in service for cost in about 10 years.

This Canadian lived in Orange County CA for 10 years. I took my the 12 year old with me. I had been offered my dream job and was paid enough to have a good standard of living. However, I lived in an immigrant community to save money as I found many of the high schools were horrid compared to Canada. I had not realized the school to school inequality to be so extreme and my kid changed to independent study at home. So with a Canadian elememtary education, they graduated high school a year only while skipping no courses..\n\nMy kid had medical issues and even with good HMO insurance, we could never get a decent diagnosis until it had gotten so bad that their digestive system was so wrecked. I finally sent them back to Canada for the surgery that we could not get in the USA. It seemed the insurance companies kept getting in the way. And in one case a doctor went all religious on us. After 6 years of almost continuous pain they finally got relief for a decade until the prior damage came back to haunt them However, after a year of university ib Canada my kid went to a private university in the eastern USA. They have decided to remain in the USA and now in their mid 30s, they make really good money anf have top line medical insurance which pays for the ongoing care they need because of the damage caused by delays when a teenager. \n\nI found life in the suburbs of Orange County nice but the OC is not a good place to meet people. When after 10 years there, in 2010 I returned to Vancouver to care for my elderly mother. I had been living alone for 6 years by then and was offered the first job in Vancouver anything close to me dream job there. and I returned to Canada at age 59. I had been approved for a green card in 2008 but there was a 6 year wait for it to come through. But I noticed the racism in the USA start breaking out all over the place when Obama got elected. And it has gotten worse and worse every year. Especially with 45 enabling it so much. \n\nMy circle of friends in Southern California are mainly good people and not at all like what we call MAGA-hats now. Except one who thinks 45 was the greatest. Politically, the USA is on the path that Germany was on in 1933 and I fear for the US Democracy if the Orange One gets in again. Even my kid and their spouse have bug out plans to head to Canada just in case. This is why my kid, while having a green card has never taken US citizenship. Besides, being a Canadian has not affected things the two times they got security clearances \n\nWhile most Americans are good people, it seems that about 25% have gone just plain loco and care nothing about democracy. And appear to prefer the USA to be a totalitarian theocracy \n\nI was there long enough, paying the maximum FICA taxes for 10 years to get a small pension from Social Security and I have Medicare Part A. I can afford to buy parts B and D but I see no reason. I have even better coverage in Canada for way less cost. The USA has a nice warm climate in many places and I just loved that. But otherwise y'all have too many people who want to turn the place into an intolerant police state and to return the country to 1950s levels of intolerance, So in my retirement, I will stay here in Canada. Even though I could go and move in with my kid in the USA and get onto US Medicare.

I’ve been through this - I studied in the US, went through a nightmare-ish immigration process in the US and moved to Canada. I wish I had chosen Canada sooner; the only reason I didn’t is that I didn’t know enough about it. Canada is awesome and its immigration system is incredibly welcoming and efficient. And if you’re entrepreneurial like many immigrants you can make good money and live well.

I have a different perspective… as I’ve lived in Canada since I was 2 years old (same with my wife). I’m in my early 40s and my wife is in her late 30s… the other thing is… we are of Sri Lankan decent… Tamils… BTW, I didn’t understand a thing from this interview… I’m going by what is said in the comment section.\nBut, hear me out… before you say… “Oh no… this guy has nothing in common…”\nJust so you know… I was born in Germany in 1980… my wife was born in Sri Lanka in 1985.\nWhat I noticed is all my uncles, grandparents would rave about the fact that if the war in Sri Lanka was over they would go back and live there… well… truth be told it’s been over for a while… and they go visit… but they built a new life here in Canada… and they’ve come accustomed to the luxury lifestyle here. They go back and realize that it’s not the same as it was when they were growing up… things changed… people don’t recognize them or pretend to recognize them only to take advantage of them because they know they are from Canada.\nThere is also the factor of advancement… both Sri Lanka and India is really catching up especially from the time the internet and the smartphone came along… nobody would believe… but the difference between Canada and Sri Lanka or even India in the early 90s… jeez… night and day… now it’s more equal especially in the major cities… but before… malls and escalators… people would literally ask what is that??? Elevators didn’t even have doors we had to manually close it lol…\nAnyway… that’s my point of view…\nAlso… way safer in Canada than India… how many rape cases do you hear about in Canada vs India???

The thing about the job health insurance that a lot of Americans don't really think of as a business case: If a person has their insurance tied to their job, they will almost never be able to move to another one if they develop a life-threatening condition. Even with diminished bars of entry due to pre-existing conditions, your health insurance can be denied if you transition to another company. If you are denied, your best healthcare options are then tied to your income, and that means you basically have to be unemployed and living on social entitlements. \n\nThe thing is, this locks you into your position, and you are literally at the mercy of the company which means you're only going to be doing the minimum amount of work necessary to not get fired. If you have a socialized/universal single-payer healthcare plan, your job is no longer a limiting factor, you can switch employers basically at-will. The boon for businesses is that people will be more able to move rather than have to get you to do a dance with your insurance company. \n\nThe other thing for me is that having been in the US, I felt less safe in blue states than I did in Canada, and I felt worse in red states. The USA is a beautiful country, but it's a STRANGE society. One thing I can say is the USA tends to get bright fast once they catch on to how big a problem actually is, so here's to hoping that happens soon because brother, you have a mess of problems on your plate. \n\nThis isn't the only thing, but FWIW, I have had multiple opportunities to move to the US for work, and I work in a field where I can command a very good salary, but I choose to not live there. I'd move to Belize, or a Nordic EU country instead.

I mean the reasons listed are already reason enough, but additional reasons:\n\n- our labour laws tend to be superior to the majority of states (seriously, Wisconsin has no workers rights, maternity leave is barely a thing in most states let alone parental leave)\n-social security net in the event of losing a job (during the start of the pandemic, even though we did have to suddenly change the system, the fact that we already had a safety net to begin with was a huge relief to many)\n- the racism, while still obviously present, is significantly lower (experienced more racism in Edmonton than I do in a tiny town in rural Quebec). This before even beginning to consider how the police forces in the USA would be more likely to target someone like me whether I am guilty or not (have personally had nothing but good experiences with the police anywhere I have lived personally).\n\nThe only things that have ever tempted me in particular have been the lower housing costs, but… that’s clearly only the immediate monetary cost, and for me has never even come close to making up for the other significantly more important things that I would have to deal with / be concerned over.

Sorry Tyler, but as a US immigrant born and raised in America who lived there until I was 69 and who happens to also be a minority in several ways, I can agree with the Canadian who lived in the states for 6 years and found it intolerable and for the same reasons only I was often on the receiving end of the craziness. Before anyone comes at me I lived in Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans and Houston and visited several other cities, so I had a pretty broad experience of US society. And I would have left the states much earlier, but I didn’t have the money as family responsibilities drained all my resources. I’ve been living in Latin America mostly Mexico and have more peace of mind, feeling of safety, lack of discrimination and affordable life then I ever did in the states. I will not be moving back if I can help it ever. Peace!

I ‘ve met so many Americans on trips and through living in San Francisco for 3 months for a course. They were very kind, thoughtful and knowledgeable people. I also love many beautiful places in the States. I find though, that the media ignores Canada to a great degree only reporting negative issues . I don’t care for the super nationalism of the government, the gun laws, the many wars they’ve been involved in, nor do I like the racism and the present divisiveness of the country given that a person like Trump could be voted in and have so much power! That is frightening! I could never have afforded my two hip and knee replacements as well as other surgeries and the birth of four children had I lived there consequently, I would make friends with Americans who move here withthe same principles, but no to moving to the United States OF America.I was happy to return to beautiful Vancouver Island, (which was voted one of the top Islands in the world by CNN, Time magazine and Conde Nast, )

I've been to 15 countries and out of all the hotels and stuff I've stayed in I've left things laying around like some money, wedding ring and never had a problem even in very poor countries.\n\n Except in one country where I left my wedding ring laying on the nightstand by the bed like I always do all over the world, and guess which country I had my wedding ring stolen out of all of them? It was in Canada where a maid came in and stole my fucking wedding ring. So now I don't have my wedding ring that I' had for 10 years because I made the mistake of going to Canada to see the Niagara falls.\n\n This was not in a fleabag hotel either it was the Hilton which was a very nice but overpriced place with no parking. I have no desire to ever go back to Canada again. If you do go to Canada hide your jewelry because the maids there will steal your stuff. Seriously I've been in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica and they respected my property and didn't steal it. Canada they will steal your jewelry. \n\nThe only good thing about Canada is the weed stores. That's it I found nothing else, no other redeeming qualities of that godforsaken place. Edit, actually either of these girls would probably be worth going to Canada for...

America is a beautiful country to look at, and I'm sure there are lots of beautiful people, but the arrogance of some of them is mind blowing. I recently watched the news footage of 911, I cried all the way through that, first out of compassion and next out of frustration. When people were jumping out of those towers, George Dubya was making a statement that terrorism would not stand in America. What did he think was standing in his face. The terrorists won that day. Then when they got Bin Laden He stands up and says we got him . Big deal you got one person , when there are dozens to take his place. No mention of other countries that helped them. , they have taken full credit for every war that ever happened. They wonder why the rest of the world hates that country. The sad thing is that 911 didn't teach them a thing. They brag about how they lost 3000 people and other countries only lost a few to terrorism. How sad that they think that way. You had a great president in Obama, but you have that 2 term rule and have been going downhill ever since. And our Canada's Prime minister is certainly nothing to be proud of. Politically he's no threat to anybody, but his own country. Mostly he is an immoral threat to his own country. But that's another vent for another day. I still pray every day for the world and that includes America, but I can't imagine what it will take to break them of that arrogance.

I checked out of curiosity and there are only 6 states that have NOT had a mass shooting in 2023. There have been 383 mass. shooting. Maine, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. It's a big enough issue that there is an interactive map showing mass shooting. \n\nThat is enough of a reason to not move there. Plus you have Trump and I'd like to not even be on the same continent as that guy. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in north america. Maybe we should build a wall ? just kidding.

I'm in Mobile Alabama and half the population lives in trailer Parks while they build whole neighborhoods every year that go unpurchased and they keep hiring more police to chase the ever growing homeless population around the city pretending they're doing the lords work.\n\nSome of you think these Mexicans are going to take your jobs, but I ask you: what jobs? The rich have already taken everything from you, the only thing these Mexicans can do is make shit cheaper, but the rich wont let that price drop because investors want to see infinite growth, even if they have to tear it out of our corpses like a starving vulture.\n\nBut capitalism is what made this country great, right? Not unions fighting for a 40 hour week, the minimum wage jump from 40¢ to 75¢ in 1950, then over $1 by '56, effectively doubling wages that made America the most prosperous it had ever been. Not the Dwight D Eisenhower interstate system before auto lobbies rallied against the development of a national commuter rail system, giving the rails to 4 big companies that refuse to allow passenger cars on their rails without massive fees because freight has a higher profit margin. And certainly not pension funds before they were dissolved in favor of the 401k, and the social security politicians are constantly working to cut while ever increasing the retirement age past what most people will never live to now that 45% of our water is tainted with PFOAs that will have everyone born today die of liver cancer before the age of 65.\n\nIt was CAPITALISM that made this country! The same capitalism that claws back every penny it can from working class people. America was great DESPITE capitalism. UNDERSTAND THAT.

Such a slap in the face to homeless people who were born, worked in, and lived in America all their life. Where is their “free ticket” to housing and resources? America makes it hard for their own; especially Blacks, to survive. Always some kind of impossible agreement they want you to agree with to obtain help. As a Black American, homeless and disabled; worked low wage jobs here in America over 30 years; was blocked from receiving my full lump sum disability because they knew it would have been enough to buy myself a home; Have been homeless over a year now and can’t agree to America’s rules for fair housing because their rules aren’t fair for Black Americans altogether. America have set Blacks against Blacks; put them in positions to turn other Blacks away from houses and resources; but all they care about is their job. They know their job requires the impossible for many Blacks to agree to, but they easily and intentionally overlook it. How can I agree to volunteer or work if I’m disabled? I applied for disability because I can no longer work. And…It took forever for me to get that. My long, steady work history will prove that I’m not lazy which is used as their excuse for not helping Blacks. America will bend over backwards to help foreigners while we sleep on the streets. That’s the reason why they went out on a limb to employ people from different countries. They called it diversity when they clearly knew it was racism. They had rather employed foreigners to keep Blacks from progressing. America is reaping its seeds right now. Say good bye to America because it’s about to become a new foreign country to all Americans. You reap the seeds you sow. You must be fair to your own first, but you disclaim your own. ❤ And by the way;…..Reparations to Black Americans may be a good start in the eyesight of God who have watched how you treated us for so very long. Nobody in America should be homeless regardless. When God says enough; wickedness and injustices must stop. Not tomorrow but right now! In the name of Jesus; Blacks shall receive reparations so they may live safe and peaceful lives in measures of ours and our ancestors works. Father I pray a special blessing for these people that’s crossing over. Only you know their situation as you know ours. All we want to do is to live in peace on Earth as you intended for all. Amen. ❤

In 2009 I questioned if I could ever own a home but I was still working hard at my career and had some hope if I met the right women to marry. Then along came Justin Trudeau. Within 2 years of his goverment that dream faded fast. Everything I saved and my individual salary still wasn't enough. Property taxes and carbon taxes make it absolutely impossible here in southern Ontario even far a small home not without trying. I always get out bid on the 316 homes I tried to purchase. I can't pay 30%-70% above market value on a single income. Turning in my pensions isn't even an option. I'm not gambling away my retirement with current crrupt Liberal goverment that continues to raise taxes. To give some an idea just how single parents are crushed on taxes. I pay 53% of my income on taxes and get almost nothing back when filing my taxes cause I work hard and excel in my career. I get punished for being a hard work and risking my life to do so. Living in Canada has gotten gradually worse and worse the last 8 years. The socialist way of life isn't good. Now the writing is on the wall that it's becoming a communist country. I'm now searching for employment opportunities south of the border to give my child the best chance to making her dreams a reality. Canada isn't giving me any other options. If everything works out in the US I will surrender my Canadian citizenship at the earliest availability. It breaks my heart but I just can't allow them to enslave me and my child as she becomes an adult. Slavery is the only way I can describe the last 8 years. Also to top it all off 6 if the last 8 year's basic goverment services have been extremely unstable making doing business with Canada very frustrating. Getting a passport during this time has been delay after delay. Finding a family doctor that is stable almost impossible. \n\nCanada's economy status looks good from a far but its really far from good. Our goverment is literally paying 10s of billions in tax dollars to draw auto makers here and to even keep them here. Just further proof the economic future is very unstable. Probably even more so then the housing market. \n\nOur PM isn't even hiding his goverments level of corruption anymore. He actually brags about it at home and on the world stage. \n\n\nI worry about my future more then planing for it. Hopelessness has definitely set in. Now I'm in damage control by no fault of my own to make sure no possible debt are passed on to my daughter in the next 25 years when I'm gone. Even that is looking to be unachievable in my particular situation. It's my worst nightmare to leave my kid with any owing debts.

The last time my landlord came to collect rent, I invited him to come up to my apartment to show him I was taking good care of the place (and to hopefully discourage him from renovicting me at some point in the future). He said he didn't have time, as he had to go collect rent from 11 or 12 of his other properties around the city. He also mentioned that he had never seen the inside of my apartment before (despite the fact that he owns it). He has only been in the country for a few years, but apparently he already owned a lot of land here before immigrating. He's a very nice guy, but I can't help but feel that there's something seriously wrong with this picture. We can't base our entire national economy on selling our land and resources to rich foreigners while we produce nothing of actual value.

Reality. Really. Maga right. Let's see unemployment numbers down nation wide since Trump took office. Foreclosures another all time low. Employment is up. Programs that Trump and his republican mates took away to help now not only back in firm place but helping Americans who weren't wealthy and paying for it are now successfully employed, own their homes and contribute fairly with appropriate taxes. People can't find housing??? Programs are out there for those who had foreclosure on them because of Trump's unyielding to constantly tax those not making six digits. Also our country lost over one million innocent men,women, children and infants because Trump REFUSED to acknowledge COVID. Care to speculate how many of them were republicans thinking how could I of believed him??? One father stated after burying his wife who died from it said this. We believed him then my wife of fifty years contracted it and died quickly and our kids who like us who believed him were told had this been taken seriously in the beginning it would of never become this severe. They became democrats.

I will say I have been lucky in Calgary (moved to Alberta in 2011; became perm res in 2018) with my healthcare. I have a great liver specialist and family doctor as well as a backup. I just fell and cut the back of my head Monday (2 staples but nicely done; I do not feel any pain). I know that is not common for people. I think some of it is timing based on the comments. It will only get better if we quit USing it (i.e. politicizing it). As an ex-pat watching that dumpster fire, moving to Canada in 2010 (first year in YVR) was the right step for me (however, that said, being that I am plain white looking male, I know that made it so easy at least until I applied for Perm Res. Then, being a white american worked against me). Luckily, I had been involved with a Canadian citizen several years whom sponsored me for Perm Res. I really enjoy seeing your POV in your videos. Thanks for posting them.

Canadian here, and this video is right on the money for some of the most frustrating things about Canada! \n\nOur proudest achievement is our healthcare system, but up until recently, the government has been choking it little by little. Making it so difficult for any Doctor/Nurse to even consider finding work here (and making it impossible to afford getting a medical degree) because you are literally doing it for the love of the game at this point. \n\nEven if you become a specialist in a specific field (which pays really well compared to most careers here) it is unlikely any hospital will hire you. Our hospitals are only interested in making profits by pushing painkillers on Canadians, rather than hiring medical professionals to help fix them. If you become a family Doctor, it is a bit better, because you can open your own practice. But kiss your social life goodbye if you do! The most annoying part of this problem is some people blame all this on the fact that we have healthcare and assume a private American system would be better. Where the real problem is we need more workers and funding into our healthcare to make it better. Not making lives harder for poorer Canadians!\n\nWeirdly enough our Tax system issue didn't stand out as a problem to me until I left Canada and see how taxes are marked elsewhere! It blew my mind that I didn't have to do math when I visited another country and the way we advertise wages is purposely deceptive! In Ontario, we succeeded in getting a $14 hour minimum wage (only in Ontario and maybe one other province). Which sounded amazing until you realize that's $14 without tax... To compare, I was incredibly lucky in Toronto where I found a place for 750 a month and was earning $16 an hour. Sounded like more than enough for the cost of living, but after taxes I was pretty much putting more than half my monthly income in rent. On top of that I had to pay for student loans and other bills. \n\nBottom line, if you are wanting to move to Canada for our beautifully scenic environments, free healthcare, and a stable job? \n\nMove to Finland.

Yes and if these people truly believed in God and Jesus they wouldn't run from their countries but actually stay on the ground and stand strong in their faith that God and Jesus are going to help them persevere through all this. As a fully disabled American citizen with a child that doesn't even get $1,000 a month and there's no available housing at all where I live no waiting list to go on people on SSI disability don't get any extra housing help we're not offered separate housing are put on separate lists and low-income Able Body people or the migrants jumping the Border but I was born and raised here paid taxes and worked until my body literally couldn't anymore but I don't hear anybody bitching and screaming and crying about the fact that my son and I would be on the streets if it hadn't been for one of my family members stepping up and giving his housing after a lifetime restraining order issued during my pregnancy on my son's biological do do with domestic abuse situation. I'm also US citizen that spent time in the Wards in Houston and projects and other cities and if you don't think that we don't have the same gun violence drug trafficking human trafficking gangs take it over cartels taking over neighborhoods and communities than you're freaking lying to yourself and everybody else. The same s*** that's taken over these countries is taking over the inner cities have been for decades and these are the same communities that most of these people will end up in. No it's not about not being good Christians part of being a good Christian is reminding people to stand their ground and have faith in Jesus and God and their own home territory and not to give it up to the crime people in the bad politicians. You can't say you believe in God and Jesus Christ and then he's got your back while you're running and that's the truth in the reality that nobody wants to hear the more people run from these countries the more the bad people are able to take over and then we get complaints here in the states about the cost attacks is rightfully so. For those people screaming and shouting that everybody should go out pick up in my grant and bring them home to their house and feed them and take them and I challenge you to do the same thing for homeless before you even do the migrant do homeless American citizens go out and really educate yourself because I'm totally tired of hearing from Americans that the only people that live on the streets are people with mental health problems that need mental health treatment or people that are stoned out and that's where they want to be you guys are so f****** wrong and this is coming from someone that met homeless people spent time around homeless people and understand we have a society that wants to paints a very different picture than what's truly going on because then it allows for hey it's not our problem they want to be there. I will say there's two I'm sure a lot of people are attracted to come into the United States I mean it's kind of turned into the Devil's Playground don't you think I mean look at how ostentatiously people live the projects on the backs of taxpayers selling dope holding down dead-end jobs to make it look like they're working all while going out and getting their hair did and their nails done and their eyelashes done and pimping out their cars and all that b******* and buying all this you know high-end tennis shoes and f****** clothing and Handbags and s*** and then we have the part of the United States that justified of themselves all the time or it's okay to have this huge palatial house or have multiple houses I'll we have United States veterans living on the streets or people that truly have disabilities that have been a waiting list for 2 and 3 years for housing. I remind people all the time and they hate hearing this s*** Jesus never had a house as a matter of fact Jesus basically live like a homeless person after he was an adult particularly and God made sure he was provided for. I mean did you all forget the night they came to take them away they were asleep in an Open Garden it wasn't like they popped up tents or glamper camper sites had some little Adobe type cabins they were sleeping in. As a matter of fact if you pay attention to most of the stories about Jesus and talking about him sleeping he does a lot of sleeping Outdoors. Remember God is a father that's how he's been represented and talked about in the Bible and Jesus was a man without a doubt no biological transgender question ability there. People need to remember that part of being a fair and loving. Is also teaching and discipline and these children following rules. I don't believe hearing God and Jesus telling all these people run from your countries and not have faith that I'm actually going to fix things for you and go run to somebody else actually go run to the United States where all those stuff is traveling through. I never understood the logic of that it's like rats run from the country where they're making the drugs to the country that supplying the globe with it and we're all of these bad people have thousands of people in planted everywhere with guns and hookups. I don't know why people don't understand that we have dirty lawn forcement in dirty politicians that are in bed with the dirty drug cartels that's as much as they are in the country. You don't think that there's not decisions made in the United States based on drugs and I'm not talking about how to put it into them but how to keep them flowing. I have Fred still in Florida and we were all making jokes about how quickly Sanibel Island all the way up to st. Pete got Mainland access so quickly after the last major hurricane that took everything down and we all know what it's from is because that portion of Florida is used to bring a lot of drugs in from South America, Central America. So for all of you that want to post your personal assumptions about homeless people because that's all it is unless you've actually been homeless or spent time around homeless you really have no clue what's going on in the homeless population except what you've been told by the same political talking head media bulshit that's been lying to everybody about a bunch of other stuff too. Don't you get it the politicians don't want people knowing that a lot of the people that are homeless on the street are people that are disabled and aren't disabled because they have mental health problems I know that's the narrative they've been trying to stuff down people's throats.

What the heck is going on? In the last few days there's been news of migrants leaving Canada to come to the US, and now the opposite. I'm willing to bet this is economy related. Migrants, I suggest you just go home or whereever the nearest land is that actually fits your traditions and values. As the economy gets closer to collapse, you're going to wish you had anyways. Once it fully crashes, you're going to discover that all that philanthropy is going to drop and each country is only going to be able to look after it's own citizens. If even that.

Quebec (montreal): Medical care, any public services rude, irresponsive and bureaucracy sucks n complicated (example: people wait for uncertainty just to renew their driving license), THE CRUELEST THING IN QUEBEC INCLUDING MONTREAL IS MEDICAL SERVICES (my god reminds me of third world countries i have ever been in), they will just ignore you heartlessly even if you have RAMQ (quebec heath care coverage), u have to have family doctor n u have to sign up to get one IN UNCERTAIN TIME, some they get family doctor within 3 years, others 5,7 years so on so forth so uncertain, so if u dont have family doctor u wont get treated, and if u have family doctor u will hve to stick to where your family doctor works at only, and to get appointment at some clinic they will put you on wait for some days or even weeks if u get the availability slots for u, if u got emergency u will wait 8,10,12 or 14 hours in pain. I feel bad for montreal citizen i swear, they r so patient with all of this while the tax is one of highest in canada. \n\nNow for rental (apartment in general), the check is crazy long it takes around 2 weeks just to rent, if u r lucky u will get taken if u r not then the landlord will take others, the 1 year lease means 1 year, so far to my experience in alberta like for example, 1 year lease but minimum period u have to stay usually around 3-6 months n after that u can leave with notice to the landlord to vacate the unit. \n\nBut in montreal, u have to find other person to transfer the lease, n if u found the person like i told u earlier, the landlord will check the person n the approval/ disapproval is by the landlord. I had to stay for one year living like hell cause the neighbors freaking so loud n partying every week end night till dawn. Couldn’t even have good sleep for work, so I called 911 two times, the police couldn’t do anything, yet the landlord n the building management kept on saying that they gave warning etc to that tenant, but they didn’t take any further action toward that, n i know they dont care, they care only for money. When i started to file complaint to the TAL(quebec rental board, they r irresponsive, complicated procedures, n in the end they dont solve any problem, on their site said that renter or landlord has to retain lawyer, the hell they r there for then? \n\nThe apartment building is tiny, tight old, the wall is thin, u can hear everything from your neighbour upstair, downstair n on your side too.. \n\nMONTREAL IS ALSO SO DENSED AND TIGHT, the main road so tight with cars parked on both sides of the road to ways only one lane on each way, cos mostly apartment building they dont provide parking spot, so they have to park on the road side, i feel bad for the bus driver i swear, with snow mounting on both side of the road makes driving bus is just so stressful, almost every neighbourhood looks dirty, trashes, people littering every where. Im Not complaining but that’s what it is, im living in montreal currently for more than one year but im just gonna move out of here lol

Listen to these baby’s crying over how long it takes for processing, that they’ve been waiting 3 to 6 months ? I had aunts and uncles wait YEARS to finally get in LEGALLY. \n\nFirst they force their way in to Mexico, Mexico does nothing about it and now they want to force their way to ?? United States…. Oh and they want us to feel sorry for them. \n\nAlso complaining about conditions in Mexico, complaining about food they’re given by good people in Mexico. Absolutely pathetic and this is only making them look worse.

I am an American. I am looking to relocate to Canada because of the bad experiences I have had as a California Licensed Structural Engineer with 25+ years of experience. This US license is really difficult to obtain because the exam has a 25% pass rate. In California, it is much tougher because of the earthquakes the state experiences.\n\nInstead of being treated with respect for having this Structural Engineer License, I have been treated badly by structural engineering firms in the US. In the US, you can be fired for no reason at all. They use Performance Improvement Plans to lay me off because I am much smarter than the people I work with. Licensed Structural Engineers do not have job security - so expect to work only a few months.\n\nIn the US, you will have a job for 4 months because your boss has decided to hire someone cheaper and give himself a raise. This happened to me at the City and County of Denver.\n\nLicensed Structural Engineers do not have job security at all because employers do not care about their employees. With workplaces like that, the US is not the place to be. American is not the greatest nation when you have morons like Harry Dunn and Lloyd Christmas from the movie Dumb and Dumber running things! Americans are downright stupid! That is why I am considering relocating to Canada.\n\nI started taking structural engineering courses at the University of British Columbia so I could better myself and get some Canadian experience. In the US, this cannot happen because Americans do not believe in bettering your professional career opportunities. In American companies, you can get fired for getting more education. It is really interesting doing these courses because I am learned alot of different engineering skills that they do not teach in the US. Plus I will be getting an award from Canada.

First off Canada is not a systemically racist country I’m white I’m also poor and I’ve lived here all my life nearly everyone excluding the native population in a immigrant or a descendant of a immigrant my mom is Portuguese and I also have black family members we are no more racist than anyone else in any other country. Every country has a few homeless people and that number has grown immensely due to poor Liberal government policy when I was young there were maybe one or 2 homeless people in my home town and they were severely mentally Ill homelessness has greatly increased since pm Justin Trudeau has been in power and that’s something I can say I have observed first hand living here in Ontario Canada for 30 years - my entire life. Canadian tax payers don’t want to pay for drug addicts to get more drugs the Liberal Canadian government have set up “safe injection sites” and “ methadone clinics” that basically give these addicts more drugs that are payed for with our tax dollars again these clinics and safe injection sites didn’t exist when I was a kid and since then the number home homelessness has increased as well as the number in population addicted to drugs. Also you’re getting your statistics on hate crimes motivated based on race or ethnicity from CTV new a media outlet on the pay role of the Liberal government most people with any sense don’t pay attention to mainstream media here in Canada because it’s no longer journalism when you parrot a narrative that the government that is constantly attacking the fundamental values of Canada no controls I live in a complex that consists mostly of Arabic in Syrian people most racist comments I’ve heard has been between other families that have recently immigrated to Canada and it doesn’t happen often it’s usually just from unruly kids that are too ignorant to understand the implications of the words they utter at one another RBC is one bank in Canada if all the people working there happen to be white it doesn’t make a difference and is likely purely because they’’ve been working that same job for many years now we don’t give people jobs in Canada based on their skin colour people get jobs based on their performance and wether they meet the necessary SKILL requirements for that job there are lots of other banks in Canada that have different cultural diversities so far I honestly just feel like your just shitting on my county and that’s extremely rude of you eh. It is hard to find a family doctor these days a lot of doctors were fired for refusing to take the Covid shots I also refused to take the Covid shot and I haven’t had Covid through out this entire plandemic not once I hardly even wore a mask because I know when I’m being lied too I know how to spot when someone is experiencing duper’s delight when they think they’re getting away with doing something wrong Justin Trudeau and Christia Freeland frequently express duper’s delight when they refuse to answer questions or deflect questions your voice sounds like your from either Sweden or Switzerland how close am I I’m not surprised that’s also where the WEF “word economic forum” is from yes? It really seems like you’re just trying to demonize Canada as a whole and quite frankly it’s insulting I love my county and all the people in it where ever they come from again accept for the natives we all started out as immigrants here and I find the stuff that you’re saying is extremely divisive the only people that really leave either do so because they want a good job and a life else where for their own personal experience and life fulfillment or have been deported for what ever reason we have strict immigration laws so there are many ways to get sent back to ones original country.

I moved from the U.S. to Canada. Some observations:\n1. It's unbelievably safe in Canada. The most dangerous places in Canada are still very safe compared to much of the U.S.\n2. Outside of DC and New York and I guess Chicago and L.A. in the U.S. and Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, you need a car. I disagree that city planning is that much better in Canada.\n3. The maternity leave in Canada is great \n4. The unemployment insurance in Canada is great too\n5. I prefer the Canadian health care system. I never experienced any long wait times. My wife had literal brain surgery and it was free whereas it would've been hundreds of thousands of dollars in the U.S.\n6. Canada is further to the left and is much more woke than the U.S. Everything here is about equity, diversity and inclusion. Even many Canadian conservatives would be moderates in the U.S. but most people know this already.\n7. There is a better work life balance in Canada. I worked a lot more when living in the U.S.\n8. Most Canadians live by the U.S. border  so the weather is not that different than most northern American states. But once you go to northern Canada, it is as cold as they say it is.\n9. The U.S. is better for making money.\n10. It is much more racially segregated in the U.S. \n11. Outside cities like Montreal and Toronto, Canada is very white.\n12. Things are much more spread out in Canada. When I lived in the U.S. driving for 1 hour to go somewhere was a long drive. In Canada, that is normal.\n13. Canada is pretty great if you like the outdoors. There's only 36 million people here and outside the major cities, you find small towns and the wilderness. \n14. Canadians are quite friendly. I know my neighbors in the country. I never knew my neighbors in the U.S.\n15. Canadian politics is boring and I like this. However, in the rural areas, it seems that people really hate Justin Trudeau.\n16. Since Canada is so similar to the U.S. it is very easy to adjust to life here.\n17. Outside of Quebec, you really don't need to speak French. \n18. The nationalism of the Quebecois is very surprising. There is no group in the U.S. this nationalistic.

I’ve been to Canada (Toronto, Scarborough to be exact) at least 2-3 times when I was married to a Canadian and I can say that I had very good experiences except for dealing with some of the French. Definitely a culture shock in some aspects. The diversity is very strong which is a plus. Only downsides are the gun laws and the unavailability of sweet tea (yeah I’m southern). But overall Canada is very nice.\n\nBut one thing you’re not lying about is the WATER. Different locations in the states have different tasting water. If you want water that smell like eggs then Florida is your spot. If you want fresh water, buy a water well. \n\n\nYour experiences may vary.

First let me say that every country and I do mean every single one has their pluses and minuses Canada's major plus is the fact that crime is almost nonexistent as opposed to the United States where there is a mass murder every single day and a mass murder defined as four or more people killed in One Time by one person this does not even count where there is just two or three people killed at one time they're not included in the statistics the United States is out of control with violence guns you name it and I've lived here for 40 years I spent the first 20 years in Canada in my life was so perfect that I can't even dream of a better life the problem with most people is they move to the larger cities Vancouver Toronto I grew up 40 miles outside of Montreal on the great Majestic St Lawrence River one of the truly great rivers in this world my parents had a summer home on the river and every summer it was water skiing fishing boating golfing swimming you name it growing up 40 miles outside of Montreal if you wanted The Nightlife of Montreal one of the great International cities in this world then you could just drive there in less than an hour and enjoy the great nightlife that is Montreal as someone who is French and Italian I loved the winters because ice hockey was my favorite sport and I played all the sports nothing even comes close to the speed skill and excitement of ice hockey it is like soccer on steroids they're only two cold months during the winter January and February and even then it's really enjoyable as long as the temperature stayed below 32° I was happy because that meant that they could make outdoor ice rinks and I could enjoy my favorite sport of ice hockey all winter long Outdoors as someone who's lived all over the United States over the last 40 years I wouldn't trade Canada for any place else the United States is full of scammers I've been in all kinds of businesses working for different companies and there's rarely a company that I didn't get cheated by and had to take to the labor board for justice and compensation I trust nobody the main thing here is stay away from the major cities of Vancouver and Toronto and you will be able to have a great life with affordable housing and if you're into the outdoors Sports Canada is the greatest and best secondly Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world and so there are a lot of Natural Resources that Canada has that is wealth for the country that will filter down to the average person what people don't realize is it when you live I've lived in Southern United States and most places the summers are unbelievably excruciatingly suffocatingly miserably hot hot hot at least in the Colder Weather you just put on some great looking ski wear and you can be outdoors and not be bothered by the cold because you eventually a climatize yourself to it Canada is the second largest country in the world by land area and has only a 35 million population there is a lot of room for growth and opportunity and in a safe safe environment to raise a family and at the end of the day that's what it's all about I wish I could say the same for the United States being safe but no it is not and Mexico is they have six out of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world and Tijuana is the most dangerous city in the world with almost 2000 murders and the year is not over don't believe me just Google it the reality is that the drug cartels control everything in Mexico and the police and politicians are afraid because the cartels are so ruthless there is way too much money to be made in selling drugs and the cartels will stop at nothing to make sure they get their money by the way most of my family still lives in Canada and are doing extremely well for themselves and I am the only fool that moved to the US

You are wrong about Canada protecting and caring about homeless and in-need people. The reality is that even though you don't see all the homeless people, there are tens of thousands of them in each city, more so in the warmer climates. The UN has already been on Canada's back for the abuse of homeless people and the cruelty towards them and those with mental health problems. Canada is a fraud and has been deceiving immigrants and visitors for over a hundred years. Many of the homeless people in Canada, especially in the past 20 years and from the start of the pandemic, continuing to this day, are now including people with good educations and many years of high-level job experiences, as well as whole families. These people became homeless because of massive job layoffs and lost everything. Contrary to the popular Canadian ideology, homeless people are not lazy slobs who don't bother to work and need to get their acts together. Many of the homeless shelters are filled with dangerous people, bed bugs, and diseases. Many homeless people choose to find alternatives to sleep safely. Many homeless women experience terrible sexual assaults that rarely are reported and rarely ever taken seriously by the police. Most alternatives to shelters are limited and there are so many restrictions that qualifying doesn't always happen. Many have had their ID stolen, so they are unable to get jobs, rent homes, or even have a day to shower and clean their clothes. Most donations of clothes, blankets, and sleeping bags are disregarded because most homeless people don't have the means to carry things. Their nutrition is terrible, through no fault of their own. Many food banks will not give food to those without a home. Many soup kitchens will only help periodically and not for every meal. Canada's treatment of homeless people and mentally people is not just disgraceful, but criminal. The general attitude of many Canadians, as taught to them by deliberate government propaganda, is that if you are poor or were abused or a victim of crime, is that they did something to deserve it. Rents across Canada are beyond the reach of the majority of Canadians, yet, Canada refuses to set up a council house system like the UK. There are no emergency homes and no emergency assistance even close to what the UK and other countries across the world provide. Canada's continued abuse, ill-treatment, crimes against humanity, and genocide of the First Nations peoples is not a past history, but an ongoing history that is not about reconciliation. It is about shutting them up so that they cannot speak and get true justice, instead of just a federal government settlement of a meager amount that has only increased the addictions of victims, who have no one to help them or a place to turn. Canada lies about trauma help and treatment for people for having been victims, or have developed PTSD (this is a brain injury and only a mental health problem if the person becomes suicidal or is unable to do the basics of essential living), and worse, Canada lies about this in relation to kids. Alberta has a place that they claim is for treating trauma in kids. However, this place is nothing more than a low-level counseling center to reunite kids with their parents, who have been removed by law. Any child requiring help has to deal with just basic counselors, who are not trained in helping traumatized and PTSD kids. In relation to the First Nations peoples, if the teens have mental health issues, and if they have to be temporarily hospitalized by their parents, social workers and doctors will force joint custody with the parents, to treat the kids or remove them so they can carry on the government's crimes against the First Nations peoples. The crimes continue. In these past few months, a baby was left to die in a basket at a nurse's station in the Misericordia Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta. The mother was allegedly treated like garbage and her child was allegedly called a specimen. But this is not the only case of such abuse of First Nations pregnant mothers and their children. A case over a decade ago allegedly also took place, and the number of these cases in this hospital alone may possibly be much higher, and other hospitals may also be hiding such crimes. An infant, who was the victim of attempted murder by one or the other parent, was put in the care of relatives by social workers, who were totally unaware of the crime, but the one parent, who was put in the hospital's mental health unit, mentioned a version of what had happened, and when the relatives found out, they were allegedly reassured by the hospital that they would deal with the matter. The relatives believed, understandably, that the hospital would report the crime, but it never did. Allegedly the hospital covered up yet another crime. The police in the city, allegedly informed at some point, one of the relatives that no charges could be laid even if the child remembered as the Canadian health services do not believe that children below the age of 4 can remember anything. It was when I heard about this that I realized that the reason Canada has gotten away with the crimes against the 1st Nations, immigrants, Canadians, and who knows how many other victims, through the mandated alleged use of forced assimilation and the alleged Soviet-style education system, is because of this fake claim that children and even infants cannot remember things. This deliberate lie to those relatives allegedly by the police, shows clearly that Canada is following the dangerous path in a more stealthy fashion than the Nazis did to the Jews and others they rounded up, arrested, tortured, and/or eventually murdered. Your perceptions are limited by your obvious lack of real knowledge and real experience. Please, if you are going to make such a video, live in Canada, all over Canada for at least 30 years, then comment, please!

I’m not being rude however I’ve never understood why immigrants say they come to the US for a better lifestyle when essentially majority of immigrants hold a prestigious skill in their country only to relocate to the US & become a janitor cook are something beneath what they were doing living a comfortable life just to live like a homeless person coming to America ?? are Canada ?? are anywhere. It has never made sense to me unless u live in a poor underdeveloped country. I knew someone who married a US citizen just for citizenship she has been struggling with her kids for the last 7-8 years she’s been here & still struggling but had a great life in her own country. I live in the US & it’s overrated to a certain extent stay in your country you’ll be a happier person.

I was born and raised in Canada. My family immigrated in the 70s. Growing up I was proud to be Canadian but after living in other parts of the world I can tell you, Canada isn't it! \n\nFirstly our Prime Minister is a puppet he works for the Commonwealth and whatever they say goes, they profit off all of your hard work. \nThey keep you sick so you rely on the health care system. Medicate you instead of solving the problem. Doctors are exhausted, rude and over worked, emergency rooms are a disaster and if you book an appointment to see your doctor...be sure you're waiting at least a week. If you go to a walk in clinic you risk getting a doctor that seems like they paid for a fake degree.\n\nYou know when you go to a mall in one town and then hear about a mall in another town that has really cool different things??? Ya, not here! Everything is monopolized! Same stores everywhere you go. there's a mall in Toronto called Vaughn Mills mall, when I was in Calgary they have an exact replica just a different name. Small businesses are hard to keep because everything is so expensive. There needs to be more indoor things for people to do in the winter. \n\nWhoever said Canadians are polite, has never been to Alberta!!!! I've never experienced racism in my life like I did out west, not just Alberta but also Northwest Territories and Manitoba. \n\nOn top of that they want everyone to be gay and not believe in God, they push the agenda so hard in the schools, they institutionalize and confuse your kids. If you believe anything different they literally hate you. The children are hypersexualized...teenage girls looking like they're 30 year old drag queens. They bully kids so badly in school, especially boys. Parents have no time to get involved because they're busying working multiple jobs to pay for their 4000 dollar mortgage, husband and wife barely see each other. And because they're not involved the children have no respect for their elders or teachers. the teachers don't care to get involved like they used to because everything's a liability...a problem. We had a 13 year old girl call a male teacher a pedophile for pushing a little girl on the swing. He quit on the spot, because now he's worried for his career. Kids have no shame anymore. \n\nIF YOU WANT QUALITY OVER QUANTITY (WHICH YOU MIGHT NEVER GET), DON'T COME HERE! or, Come here and send all your money home but don't educate your kids here unless you have enough money to put them in private schools and there are good private schools. If the only thing you want out of your life is freedom, freedom to just be left alone and no one hounding you...you like being alone. Then, that you can have here. \n\nIf you are from a colonized country we are all slaves to the system!