Close Reading

I’m a Canadian nurse and I lived in the US for 10 years during my career. I did it when I was young to gain work experience and travel with friends. It gave me a lot of insight in how it feels to live in both countries. I’ve been a nurse and patient in both counties so I also know how it feels to work, live and be a resident in both. \n\nI cannot articulate enough how it has confirmed to me how fortunate I am to be Canadian. The perks to living in the US were very superficial and frivolous things that matter very little in the broad scheme of things,….which I see as more restaurant chains, cheaper restaurant food, more shopping options, etc. As a young person when I lived there,…those things seemed amazing but matter far less as I get older. \n\nWhen I lived there, I paid a fraction of the income taxes that I paid in Canada but it’s only short term gain for long term pain. The cost of health care, the amounts of gov funded benefits (disability, EI, pension, etc) in the US makes it well worth paying taxes to offset these things as in Canada. I have had cancer 3 times in 5 years and I’ve not paid a cent for treatment, scans, surgery, etc in Canada. My employer held my job for 2 years and I received long term disability of 70% of my yearly wages and my employer paid my full pension and benefits as I was off of work. After 2 years, my cancer returned and was deemed incurable so I will continue to receive this pay and benefits until I’m 65 and can retire as I can no longer work. I have no financial worries as I battle cancer. \n\nTo contrast,…my US employer was a world reknowned hospital that had excellent pay and benefits. Had I been working there when I was diagnosed with cancer, I would only have gotten full pay for 6 weeks until my sick time and vacation time was used up. Then I was eligible for a fraction of my income for 3 months, which would not be enough to live on. I would not have had my pension paid. After that, I’d receive no more pay and my employer would hold my job without pay for 6 months and then I’d be let go. My cancer required nearly 2 years off of work so after 5 months of this minimal pay, I’d have no income, no job and no benefits with a new pre existing condition to ensure that I’d have a snowballs chance in hell of getting future coverage. Meanwhile during that 5 months of some pay, I’d still need to pay huge costs of treatment despite having insurance but that would disappear after I was let go from my job. I’d have to return to work during my treatment just to afford to continue it. I have many US friends that had a similar cancer that worked throughout to cover basic cancer care while I was able to recuperate without working or fearing being unable to pay. There is nothing comparable to this when you are sick. It is everything!\n\nSadly, many of my American friends are very ill informed on how health care works in other countries and don’t see the shortcomings in their own. Ironically though, they are willing to argue it without proper information so I often find that bizarre. While lived there I felt as though I was in a bubble where the only news that I saw was US news. I saw no info or minimal about Canada in my whole time there,…aside from falsehoods about health care to scare people away from seeking change. “Canadians are all dying while waiting”, “they are all coming to the US for care”, “they pay 80% income tax” etc. All propaganda,…some from politicians or those that should know better. It was truthfully mind boggling to me how educated people could know so little about the world. It almost felt as though they heard so much propaganda about how terrible other places were while only having knowledge of the US, that it ensured that things would stay the same without anyone wanting beneficial changes to dysfunctional policies (like health care, cost of meds, lack of gun regulations, etc). It’s very bizarre.

Canada is the corporate playground so many American politicians wish they had.\n\nDespite their scary reputation as a hotbed of socialism because of a mid single payer healthcare system, Canadians have been under the boot of corporations - first British, then American - since their founding. To be honest, The Hudson's Bay Company and CP Rail are essential to Canada's history. The True North has always been strong (I LOVE Canadians and their culture), but they could be a lot more free.\n\nCanadians deserve better. Like Americans, they deserve a non-corporate government. But as long as there is the danger that people in the US can look across the border and see happy white people with real opportunities it will never happen. The US ruling class must keep Canada down as well or risk citizens of the imperial core getting dangerous ideas.

The real question is Canada vs Florida because the U.S. consists of many mini countries that have agreed on a common constitutional document and basic laws but otherwise are different countries. With that said Canada loses on every metric that matters to Florida. From economics to taxes to business to self defense and personal property Florida wins. The U.S. is secular but politicians of all nations will bring it up to some degree thinking this is somehow unique to the U.S. means you don’t understand the U.S. When it comes to political and religious diversity the U.S. has a larger population consisting of the entire world its by definition diverse. Canada doesn’t have sensible gun laws it just leaves those who can’t defend themselves at great risk.\n\nCrime is high in cities that have laws & culture closer to Canada than they do the U.S. Which have the strictest gun laws in the country. It’s bad politics & culture which are most similar to Canada that has resulted in higher crime rates. \n\nGun laws in the U.S. are for Americans to have the option to fight against a tyrannical government like we have scene in Canada with the truckers and mass freezing of bank accounts. That is what the right to bear arms was for first and foremost not just self defense. Canada ignores this entirely and instead has the perspective of give the government all the power and expect government to be “good” and act in good faith to the people which it has continually failed to do so. Canada has to bribe Quebec just to keep its country together something that has been an issue since the founding of Canada is parts of it breaking off due to tyrannical federal government power abuse.\n\nFreedom comes with risks but it’s always better to be free.\n\nPeople who leave the U.S. for Canada are doing so for political reasons otherwise they can leave their blue progressive crime filled cities for free cheap safe red states.\n\nI encourage all Canadians to search moving from Canada to Florida and you will find many Canadians that realized the American Dream. Which is still alive and well in states like Florida.

The Arab league could band together and send in a “peace keeping force”,\nKnowing that Israel (together with their backers) has contravened international (UN & other) laws against humanity especially in Gaza and the West Bank!,\n\nIsrael should get a warning prior, that a force is coming in and that any aggression towards it (and including against the inhabitants) will be met with “lethal force” and stopped.\n\nThey need to also enforce a\n1. No Fly zone over Gaza & the West Bank\n2. Sea exclusion zone for military Navy vessel’s on Israeli & American, British, German and French vessels.\n3. The peace keeping force to control “all boarder’s to ensure No military or Israeli settlers interventions, with any breaches to be met with lethal force!.\n4. The Arab League to set up a Sea Port & Harbour in Gaza in order for Palestinians to receive (without restrictions) humanitarian aid & free trade arrangements with countries willing to help rebuild the damaged infrastructure, this would include in part setting up a water desalination plant in order for Palestinians to have their own independent water supply.\n(With fuel and power plant to immediately follow, to enhance the life of all remaining inhabitants)\n\nAnd this would be the bare minimum’s to start with, on the road to recovery for the inhabitants.\n\nA new independent government body to be established to govern the Palestinian State with full autonomy and independence!.

I have been their in europe …few countries …i felt the completely opposite behaviour with what with this guy …I have been aggressive sometimes with people …once I was in paris …I threw a chair on the mirror in the place I was staying …the hotel staff was still polite …and big lad nigga gatekeeper …put me out …and gave me a cigarette …police once has some security boundation ..not letting anybody go even the native people ..they let me …once in a club native people were being rejected ..but let me in … i must say people being ,even police being extra nice even more than native people , common people ,everrybody , wherever I have been , I had special treatment like I am from another world …their …in amsterdam also …girls coming to me ..saying I want to talk to u ..one was very elegant American girl she was very cute …I was drunk …concurrently few more…I saw her next day ..i said hi …she was sitting outside ..long story …I loved such treatment …but I know things are not same for everybody …such incidents should be addressed appropriately but same time not be spreaded …because that draws a line between the communities , which is not good and which made a wrong perception about communities ,not all are such fools ..i see such foolish behaviour of the people of same communities..here in india or anywhere in the word ..labelling it a act of racism..i think it would do more wrong than good to the purpose ..i don’t believe racism exist to me …if someone call me black ..I will say you are white …thats it …we see white people or black people or people native from same place fighting each other …I think it is just a act of foolish guy try to humiliating another guy …which has to be addressed properly but not to be labelled as racism ..that further draws the line and create wrong perception…racism exists because of inferiority complex.. if somebody calls someone black or something like that … if that person has inferiority complex he will feel humiliated…. that inferiority complex has to be eradicated ..so all feel equal …so if someone call black … reply should be u r white ..i think so …

To add to my last comment, for those opposes to immigrants purely for bigotry reason! Without those new blood, your country economy will go down the toilet even further! Of course you pefer higher quality immigrants come here, but are they willing to? North America is not what it used to be as in American dream advertised, only destitute pople will flock here as the rest of the world catch up economically! Really is a rock and a hard place!?

Canada should bring emigrants from the American continent. They are more alike to the culture and they will stay without complaining. But I don't know why it will be a good country for Asians and africans, a total miscalculated emigration policy by the Canadian government.

I've ALWAYS supported people coming here for a better life, but this isn't cool at all. They could stop this too, but they want it to happen. Not enough bodies for the military meat grinder. Cop recruitment is low too. Not to mention these people will be used as another tool AGAINST the american people. This is all the plan.

In Canada you can make $300,000 in a couple of months. It depends what you’re into what you can do if it’s legal or not legal but legally you can make $300,000 $400,000 up to 1 million a year if you know what you’re doing and you have the opportunity to do it as a bottom of the food chain your rent is $1000 for one bedroom that you will be sharing with with complete strangers you have winter that it’s six months long it’s like you’re living in North India in the Himalayas mountains and then you have Ray schism all different type of race schism from all over Europe that came to this North American country. They don’t want you to take their job. and take their sister or their wives or anything like that. These people in this country cannot reproduce they’re not reproducing or doing anything they’re into the pronouns they’re not into normal normality otherwise than that the summers are great. They are some decent white people here we have lotta Caribbean people lotta Russians here it’s up to you to come and endure this country. It’s brutal winters there’s a chinook and the Chinook gives you headaches throughout the winter. It’s something different that if you’re from a tropical country. There are no fresh fruits in the winter time, here and fresh. Anything everything is a couple weeks old. The women over here are horrible. The longer you stay in this country, the lighter, your skin complexion becomes. If you were dark skin, you became light skin if you came here light skin you now you became white skin The food at the grocery stores are all GMO’s all these fat fast food joints G emoji they have chemicals in them that cause birth defects every single thing illegal in the real world. This place is a commercialize worksite.

Problem is Americans have gone to soft go back in time and nothing going on today would be going on without the American people gathering together and putting a stop to it now all we can do is fuss about who's fault it is and try to make new laws for things we already have laws in place for try forcing your way into the countries these people come from and i can promise you that you will either find yourself in some horrible jail cell or dead or both

I am happy for Canada. I think this is a ploy for publicity, but if you leave, I think I will be happy for CANADA. (P.S. I am a proud American originally from Azerbaijan. I found home here, apparently, you did not find it there.) Also, why are you showing the MPDC vehicle? It is a cop cruiser here, in Washington, D.C. If you wanted to highlight crime in Canada, why show a police vehicle from another country? (Minute 7). Also, since you hate winter, as you say, why not leave NOW? It is warm nowadays in the Middle East, and, apparently you seem to think it is cleaner there. So why hesitate?

As an American I am pleased that you've made this decision. Islamic values are TOTALLY incompatible with the West and I'm sure you'll be happy in any Muslim country. Muslims always had assimilation issues with the west and will continue to have, no matter how much a muslim tries to adjust to western values (which muslims actually don’t try anyways). We all can understand your plight Muslims. Your support for Palestine tells it all. I've heard the azaan go off in Dubia on the same street as a Discotheque, meaning they are adjacent to each other. I'm sure this isn’t hypocrisy.

The question was intended to embarrass him as an Arab but he embarrassed the reporter by explaining to her that Palestine belongs to the Palestinian people and they do not want to leave it. Instead we will support them in their actions and ask the illegal oppression of Israel and American forces to be lifted from them.

Idk how everyone seems to be confused why we have so much homelessness. Israels national investment firm called black rock has been buying up American housing for years. They were very outspoken about their plans to buy everything, and hold onto it indefinitely while renting it out for very high rates. Every politician has bought 50 or more homes to do this with as well. Tucker carlson has a load of them, as well as every other tv personality. People from other countries stay 10 people per home, and collectively can afford much higher rates than americans living 1 family to a home, again driving rates ever higher. Government is soley responsible for the dollar becoming worthless so quickly. Wages will never keep up. The government makes more money by cramming as many people as possible into the country, directly at the expense of quality of life for the citizens. Nobody is protecting the interests of American citizens. We are all getting robbed blind by predators while we all appear to be blind deaf and dumb. Nothing happening is an accident. Every loser creates a winner somewhere.

(I hope you read this)\nOkay i have a few suggestions, having lived my whole childhood in Oman i can confirm it’s a beautiful place but Arab country's higher education(college wise) is not that great therefore ,my family moved to India(our roots are Indian) because this being a reason. (Like a lot of families move from gulf countries to their south asian countries for college,having personally experienced as well as my cousins who lived in Jeddah and loads of other relatives)\n1. So pls look for muslim countries that offer good education otherwise you will have to send them again to UK USA Canada for good college.\n2. Abu Dhabi can be a option as well\n3. Saudi Arabia\n4.Qatar\n5. Turkey\n6. Schooling works differently in gulf countries, for example you have Indian schools that run on the CBSE pattern of India, Pakistani schools, Sri Lankan schools, International School with a British curriculum, International schools with American style curriculum, proper Native schools of that country that teach in Arabic.( Again this my experience in Oman, my cousins in Jeddah went to Indian school of Jeddah, so pls wisely choose the school that you want your children to attend)\n\n(this comment is just an opinion, hope it helps. May Allah make it easy for you )

The key is humanitarian aide. It's all a game to allow america to do exactly what they have been doing intentionally. Which is drain american money so far that it will not be recoverable. And usa will be weak enough for an easy takeover. Period.

One way or another, in EU or North America you will have better life than 90 % of world. But worse than locals. I am white European and I hardly achieve life standards of locals in neighboring country. Do not have a victim mindset. Accept how things are. In North America there is more growth, but it is a way harder to raise up family. You might need a 20 years to achieve something. Or maybe next generations will. Look Italian Americans. They have been considered dirt poor for decades by other Americans. What is source of wealth ? All around world is the same - mortgage loan. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan says 85 % of American middle family wealth originates in mortgage loan. Loan is always eaten by inflation. Is a gift by government for hard working people. Study mortgage loan - debt - bond markets. Banks business condition. Study which skills are in drastic need in your country of living. Get skills, get salary, get loan and buy cheap. These days the hardest is to buy cheap. So be hungry and look around like tiger in the Jungle

1) Toronto is poor value. Getting housing of any kind (buying or renting) is stupidly expensive. And the quality you get for the price is lousy. Especially the newer builds, which are just thrown up as quickly as possible and sold to investors. Policy measures generally all seem to serve to just inflate the price of housing further. The occasional lip service given to affordability is amusing, but ultimately sad. There are lots of people who really do not want the housing bubble to pop. They will fight against it with all they have.\n\n2) It has become kind of boring. There is lots to do if you have money, but it’s harder to find entertainment on a budget. Even the free stuff like parks are filling up. Stuff like sporting events, eating out, going out is very costly across the board. Even the “cheaper” stuff is expensive. It seems like a lot of local culture is disappearing. Even the cool neighbourhoods are filling up with the same chains. I think the high commercial rent and bureaucracy is deflating a lot of would-be entrepreneurs. Most landowners seem to just be banking on cashing out their land for condos.\n\n3) Canada overall has a high cost of living compared to salaries. In the US you can find lower cost of living areas that still give you a real city experience. And in Europe you can be poor but still live a decent, if no frills, life. In Canada the basic necessities are all expensive. Phone bills, grocery bills, rent, insurance are through the roof. Domestic travel is expensive. And the dollar sucks if you want to travel abroad. Health care is free but good luck finding a family doctor or waiting 8 hours in the ER these days. It’s expensive to be poor, or even middle class.\n\n4) Most of the Greater Toronto Area, outside the core, is soulless suburbs with awful transit - very “American” except with worse traffic congestion. You will need a car, which is another huge cost. Row upon row of old cookie cutter suburbs with the same crappy houses. Good luck walking anywhere, and if you do you will need to walk down boring, treeless arterial roads with cars zooming past right beside you, and cross giant eight lane intersections that were never built for humans on foot. In a rainstorm or on a fall evening you have to be really careful not to be run over by aggressive drivers.\n\n5) It is hard to raise a family in an apartment here. You can do it but it’s not very easy, and also you are still kind of judged for it. Lots of young people are feeling stuck and are deferring or avoiding starting a family. Buying any type of house, even a basic townhouse, requires pledging your soul to a bank by taking a massive mortgage with eye watering debt in a volatile market. But few apartment buildings have the kind of sensible gentle density, the family unit sizes and the common amenities, like little courtyards with jungle gyms, that you might find in Europe. No one ever contemplated that anyone would ever desire to raise kids in an apartment. It’s just a cultural thing that has worked its way into how things are planned and designed.\n\n6) The transit system is ok by North American standards but awful by international standards. There are only two real subway lines, one stub line, one line that is permanently out of service after a derailment, and another line that was supposed to open a couple years ago but still has no date for opening. The subways go out of service frequently, sometimes for the dumbest reasons, and then it is a zoo of shuttle buses. The streetcars are nice but so slow. The buses are fine if you find yourself dreaming about riding a daily herky jerky rolling tin of sardines. They are building a lot of transit but it will take decades to get done.\n\n7) There is still a lot of cool multiculturalism and opportunities to experience different foods and cultures - one of the best things about Toronto. Increasingly though it seems to be losing the fun vibe of the 90s, when everyone celebrated each other’s backgrounds and was chill. It seems the immigration is not as broad based anymore and also people are importing a lot of their “old country” grievances here. The immigration system also kind of preys on people abroad by selling them a false fairy tale, so they end up dejected when they arrive and see how things really are.\n\n8) This one might be controversial but it’s kind of an ugly city. There’s nothing particularly of historical meaning or value. Some of the older neighbourhoods are kind of nice, but the last 25 years they have only built giant glass skyboxes, one after another. There aren’t the cool “missing middle” walkups like in NY, Chicago or Montreal (or even LA). There are very few buildings with much architectural character. Some of the buildings they deem “heritage” here are an embarrassment.\n\n9) For safety, honestly on this score I think Toronto is not bad. There are not too many real “ghettos” and it’s night and day compared to much of the US. With that said, there is more vagrancy and social issues these days, with tents and such. It’s very sad but the shelters are full, lots of homeless go into the libraries, parks and transit system. It does make it harder to enjoy these public amenities safely. It is nowhere close to Europe where you might let your kids run free around town. Canadian parents still helicopter their kids and the place again is not designed to really be safe for kids, in the same way as Europe.\n\n10) Finally, a bit of a double edged sword. Toronto had a lot of youthful energy - people coming here from all over. It is definitely not as sleepy as many parts of the world. With that said, it is becoming a bit of a transient place (minus the world class experiences like London or NY). If you are from elsewhere you might find it hard making and keeping friends. I’ve seen lots of people struggle because it’s is hard to build a strong social network. We have a very “shallow” culture here - people are extremely polite but not overly warm and hospitable. We treat one another kind of like neighbours - meaning we’d like to have a cordial, drama-free coexistence and otherwise kind of stick to ourselves.

Canada is not perfect. If it was the case, the population will be booming. Cost of living is cheap compare to NYC or California but is still high compared to other countries. If you think that you can make a new life within 5 years, it really depends on your skillset and capacity. If you are from France, England or any western world it will be easier as your degree will be probably recognized, there will be no language and cultural barriers. Otherwise, you will need to start from bottom. You will notice that immigrants like to show off their success in the community or back in their countries, and this make false idea of the North American dream is easy. Absolutely not.

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.

First lets mention what I like about the United States. Americans are easy to make friends with. They have no problem making friends with complete strangers. Americans can be very inviting to compared to many places I have traveled to. The only place that compares in Canada is Newfoundland. In Canada you generally need an invite to a group to make friends.\n\nI liked how varied each state is. Changing states can sometimes feel crossing into a new world of sorts. This change can be both good and bad (i.e. Georgia very educated, Tennessee quite backwater). \n\nWhat I don't like is how Americans are overly patriotic, they can be borderline nationalistic and it is creepy (i.e. school children pledging allegiance before they even know what that means). In Canada if I don't want to stand during the playing of the national anthem no problem I don't have to. If you do that in the United States someone will address you and not in a favorable way. I also find their patriotism blinds many Americans to the truth about their country (i.e. many American truly have no idea how they compare to the rest of the world in many areas).\n\nLastly their infrastructure is terrible. Their infrastructure is first class if you are a driving a car, but in many places you aren't getting anywhere without that car. Is that such an added expense to have to own a car. This is the same problem in Canada, but from having lived in Europe and Asia I miss good transit systems.

I'm Canadian. I was born here, raised here, and have lived here all my life. However, my parents are American (they came during the Vietnam war), and I have full dual citizenship. I could cross the border into the U.S., get a job, start working and live there for the rest of my life if I ever chose to do so.\n\nHowever, I will never live in the U.S. Why? The cost of healthcare insurance and healthcare in general is definitely a part of that, but another huge factor is the socio-political atmosphere down there that is very unappealing to me. Everything from politics, the gun issue, much higher violence than we have in Canada, more racism issues, the media, and from what I have observed from decades of visits to the U.S.: there just seems to be a lot more people that are on edge and hostile than I am used to compared to Canada as well. For me, the general culture and mindset is just not something I want to live amongst.\n\nThere are some things I enjoy in the U.S., and there ARE wonderful people there too. I have several friends in the U.S. (born and raised), not to mention my entire extended family is American. But for me, the U.S. is a nice enough place to visit, but it's not somewhere I'd ever want to live.\n\nNo matter what kind of trip I take to the U.S., whenever I get back home to Canada it's always like a deep sigh of relief. I feel safer. I feel more relaxed. I feel at home. No matter how good my trip was, when I set foot back on Canadian soil again I always get a feeling of humble gratitude that I live here. For me, other than the warmer weather and some of the sights the U.S. has to offer, I'm much, much happier in Canada. I feel very fortunate to live here.\n\nAs a side note, I have never found our public healthcare system here in Canada to be lacking whatsoever. Any healthcare I, or anyone else I know that has received any, has always been prompt, of excellent quality, and reassuringly delivered in a professional manner.\n\nAs an example, in 1994, my father had a seizure and it was discovered that he had a benign brain tumour that had to be removed. Not even a week later, he was booked for his surgery and he had his procedure. He was operated on by one of the top two neurosurgeons in North America at the time, he spent three weeks in recovery at the hospital, and he had months of rehab afterward. About 2 weeks later, he had another seizure (the last one he ever had), he stayed in another hospital for an additional two weeks.\n\nHowever, all of what I just mentioned, and I mean ALL of it, was paid for by our public healthcare system. All he had to do was show his healthcare card and sign a release form for his surgery, and that was it. Nothing more. There were literally ZERO bills, no insurance companies, no paperwork, no phone calls, and ZERO hassle. Nothing.\n\nAnd no, our family was NOT rich or privileged either. Just an average middle class family. However, my dad's neurosurgeon told us his surgery and all the months of care he received afterward would have cost $180,000 (in 1994!), and our family would have been out on the street if it wasn't for our healthcare system. My dad also had a very minor heart attack in 2007 which didn't require surgery, and he didn't have to pay a dime or do anything else other than show his healthcare card for that either. Since those two events, my father has lived a healthy, normal life thanks to our public healthcare.\n\nIn Canada, EVERYONE receives that kind of care, regardless of if they are a billionaire or they are homeless. Because that's the moral and ethical thing to do, and is just one of the many reasons why I plan on staying here.

I am Canadian, my husband is American. I moved to the USA 11 years ago. I live in a liberal state (by American standards) with little violence (by American standards). I like where we live and enjoy most of the people that I interact with. I would move back to Canada in a heartbeat. I must confess that I felt like I stepped back in time 20 years when I moved here - labor standards in the US are so behind the rest of the world (maternity leave, paid time off, job protections, etc). To a Canadian, US culture feels accepting of racism, violence, us vs them mentalities, gun culture, religious and political fanaticism. I still can’t get over how “normal” Americans think their healthcare system is…. most other countries think it is absolutely nuts! I have good insurance, but if I ever develop a serious illness….I will move back to Canada where I can attempt to keep my health AND still have a house to live in. On the surface, Americans and Canadians look alike - but I still feel the cultural differences every day. I’m sure that America feels safe and wonderful to Americans who grew up here - but it can be difficult for people who grew up with different values to agree that these things make America “great”.

Toronto is a beautiful city but if you don't make a lot of money you can either live in studio apartments and hardly buy food to eat or end up homeless. Toronto is much more expensive than most american cities, it might be as expensive as New York City or a bit more. Canada is a truly gorgeous country but it is too expensive. The US is getting so expensive even in Texas,you feel like moving to another country too,in my case my country Panama. Makes you think when will the inflation stop and be controlled in Canada and in the US. We don't want all poor and middle class people to have no money and be left with nothing and end up homeless. Right now it is not a good idea to move to the U.S. or to Canada, just to visit for some months but living in those countries is crippling people's lives.?

Hi Lynn, this is a very interesting conversation. I moved to Canada in 2003 went to college and became a nurse. First of all it was not easy paying for college I was lucky that husband was supporting with the bills as I went to school. So I would say that I have skills that are very marketable. Our combined family income was over $100,000 CAN. We mortgaged our first home which was very basic for a LOT of money. We had our kids and we had to struggle with childcare as most young families do. By North American standard, we were doing good. We each had a good car ( loaned), we made trips to Kenya every so often but in 2016 we decided we wanted to move back home and we sold our home and we did. I HAVE NO REGRETS. There were several things that made us reach our decision. First, I truly believe that for the Canadian system to work as it does, it has to entrap its residents. Even after 10 years of work we did not have money in the bank. Everything we owned really belonged to the bank. The light bulb moment for me came when I evaluated my net worth. A primary school teacher in Kenya after 10 years of work with good financial management will own a plot, a simple house and will start to invest for retirement. After 10 years of work, there wasn't much in the account, our house would need 25 years to finish paying mortgage and to be honest there wasn't much to show for those years of work. Quality of life really sucks the amount of stress will definitely send you to the grave sooner. This is the case for most first generation immigrants. You might say you are sacrificing and building a future for your children but, my observation was since our diaspora children have not grown in Kenya to see the need for money and what life really looks like without the comforts they are used to, they do not have the same drive as the parents so they often do not excel they are just ordinary. There is also the struggle of growing up as a minority group. A lot of our children because they are seeking acceptance will struggle with self esteem, will have depression or will join the LGBTQ community where they get sense of belonging regardless of their colour. The morals are also different from their parents and they are shaped by the society they grow up in. When I looked at what my life would look like if we kept living there, lets say we eventually pay off our mortgage, when we are old and requiring care, our children will not be able to support themselves and support us because they have to work to sustain themselves so we would to move to assisted living or nursing homes. The cost of senior care is not covered by the government unless you have no money. so we have to sell out home which would be old and outdated but still very expensive and we would have to pay $5000-$10000 per month depending on the type of care we need. so as you can see if we ended in a nursing home for 5 years we will have depleted all the money we made from the sale of our home. So by the time we die, we would not have money to leave for our children. So we worked really hard, supported the economy, and die leaving not much at all for our children, we sacrificed our quality of life, and ended up with children who don't think much of themselves or have very distorted morals. I still remember in my mind as we drove to the airport on our way back to Kenya, I thought of the story of Lot. He was pretty successful in Sodom but I'm very sure on his death bed he had lots of regrets why he ever went there. I know its tough being in Kenya but if you have a job or any way to make ends meet, be like Abraham. God will bless you regardless of whether you are in the dessert.

Lol it's because of the banksters period ppl wake up they been defrauding us for years, stealing and amassing the wealth and resources.\nThis was written in US Bankers Magazine, Aug. 25, 1924.\n“Capital must protect itself in every possible manner by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, bonds and mortgages must be foreclosed as rapidly as possible.\n\nWhen, through a process of law, the common people lose their homes they will become more docile and more easily governed through the influence of the strong arm of government, applied by a central power of wealth under control of leading financiers.\n\nThis truth is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of Capital to govern the world. By dividing the voters through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance.\n\nThus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves what has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished.”\n\nTell me that above quote isn't true. Here's another from Thomas Jefferson and ots dead on true they stole it all, the government's and institutions are filled with there bought and paid for minions the corps are owned with there paid for ceos wake up man.\n“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”\nThomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

As a Canadian now living in Arizona who is a retiree I simply love the weather and I have some wonderful friends. I prefer to be here and enjoy the snow free areas and amazing weather. That said I had an appendicitis operation on easter weekend. Even with medicare and a supplemental insurance I will be paying about 2600.00 U.S. I still have a totally Canadian worldview for the most part and simply have to keep quiet most of the time when it comes to discussions about things going on here. ie. Red vs Blue. I recognize that I am in a foreign culture and for example the passion for guns is a odd odd concept for me. Growing up hunting and owning guns makes me even more puzzled. ie. guns are for harvesting game. period. As long as I remember that American culture has some really odd things about it. (I draw the comparison to some nation abroad that believes in female circumcision or something) then I am fine. I tend to be easy going about it all and I survive fine here.

I am an American currently traveling in Canada. This is my second summer here. If it wasnt for the freezing cold up here, i would start my paperwork to move here permanently. Most likely, I will continue to be here as long as I dont freeze ?every year. I am so over the US and how sick it has become. When I go back to the States, I worry constantly about my safety. Here I never have.

As a second generation Nigerian immigrant (parents were born in Nigeria and I was born in the US). I 100% agree w/ his perspective. I’ve spent consider amount of time in Nigeria w/ my side of the family that’s doing well and the other side that aren’t. Aboard should only be for people who have no opportunity back home as in they have tried everything and nothing worked for them. If you are doing well in Nigeria, try and give birth to your kids in the US so they can retrieve citizenship. There is no reason a successful person back home should sell their things and move aboard even for kids as you can send them aboard to receive an education and help them gain citizenship and from their they can file for you. The amount of systemic racism, odd jobs you will have to work (God forbid you don’t have a degree and you move aboard for non degree purposes that’s when aboard will show you pepper), cost of surviving is expense here especially now as inflation is high. It’s just not benefiting especially if you were better off in Nigeria. However, this shouldn’t stop you from coming just know that the road isn’t easy and some places are worse than others. I’ve never been to Canada but have been to the UK and by far would advice anyone from back home to avoid UK at all cost. Not even sure how Nigerians are even making it there lol (it’s a never ending cycle of poverty plus citizenship is very difficult to gain and the discrimination in my opinion is much worse than the US. UK society has a class system and it only really empowers British people. The UK is so bad that they even discriminate against Eastern Europeans that should let you know a lot.) Also why do you think most Brits Nigerians come back to Naija hoping to secure job compared to American Nigerians and let me tell you it’s not because the UK is close to Nigeria, there is a true lack of opportunity. There are more opportunity in the US and possibly Canada compared to the Europe.

Then all those illegals will get free benefits free living free healthcare $2500 every month a 1million dollar house while the hard working Americans can’t even get that ? when people say love being American ? I hate being American cause it’s hard for us real Americans to get all that while illegals can get it right away they definitely gotta put us first before anyone else but don’t hate this country it must be burned to the grown can’t wait till we get nuked

I'm not saying all but most of these people also terrorize American people and American children. The lot of them once they've reached success here in America, start bragging about how cheaper it was in there country to live and all the so call good memories and start throwing dirt on American nationality. I've had a friend member get beating by a gange of them because one of there sisters liked him. They will give you a smile to your face or a sad face for one to feel them but when you turn your back there's a totally different expression. Don't be a victim to there fake ways or you will be doomed to there will.

If they make it through they will raise kids that would vote to change American policy to benefit illegals. We should remove the anchor baby law from our constitution. We should revoke citizenship from anybody whose parents are illegal and if they have not been any benefit to this country, they should be deported along with their parents. Period!

I'm Sorry to say in America We Are to free to let everyone over here especially the Mexican We All have Problem in our Country We faced Adversity hardships trial and tribulation Stay in your Country and face Y'all Situation Do many of you can't comes over here and get what we need to get Jobs,Cars and So much more y'all are taking from American People Sorry to say it true STAY IN MEXICO WE ALL HAVE PROBLEM FACE YOUR WE WILL BE PRAYING FOR YOUR COUNTRY TO BR RESTORED JESUS LOVES YOU AND DO DO WE ST.JOHN -3-16

Well, i'm Canadian, (Montreal / Quebec) but am also a transsexual woman, and for the LGBTQ community, practicly all of the States are in the red flag. I can't go in florida, or Texas, or a lot of the States, because my life will be in danger... Well, California is open, New York +/-, and a few States, but you have laws to break us, if we are not into your religious team, we are in danger, even if we are, i'm a transsexual woman, i am in danger, and with Trump, we are more in danger in the States... The United States of America is dangerous, everyone has a f...k gun in there pockets and are ready to use it, and effectivly, the health condition, well, it's bad, how many people can't pay for health care, a lot, and they died... It's not just that, it's also the mentality of the Americans, you thing everything it's yours, the world is yours, but it's not true, we are only passager on this planet... And the American dream, can i laugh, it's a nightmare, be rich or die, wow... I'm not rich and i prefer to stay in the Quebec province, it's the worst place for the tax in the world, we pay a lot of them, but, it is so much more open.

Disappointing you rushed over a respondent's feeling about the abortion issue in the US as it is completely on point. Health care costs are one thing (actually huge) but when you're forced to carry a fetus to term against your will (would any man?) that alone is why no woman would put her hand up to head to your neck of the woods - for her own sake and for that of her daughter's and any other female for that matter (Canadians tend to care about other people not just themselves). If you want to know why someone WOULD leave Canada for the US, it would likely be for family; or warmer weather...but at this point you guys are on fire and family can come visit us here. We are blessed here for so many reasons (fresh water, beautiful country, health care, freedom to choose, freedom to be gay or straight or whatever you are) and while my mom was American and I have cousins and even a nephew in Florida, and I used to love visiting my grandparents in Vermont and New Jersey as a kid, the whole landscape of the US has changed to one of in your face racism, hatred against women, the LGBTQ and everyone who is not caucasian, not to mention the whole gun business. You guys have lost any appeal whatsoever no matter how hard you crow about how great your country is. Everyone knows the truth about your history and the politically driven obsession to cover it up by attacking everything from books and what can be taught in schools. Just enough.

Hmm I wonder why difficult technical jobs are relatively low paying in Canada. Oh right because you're in competition with the entire world, not just other Canadian citizens born and raised in Canada. Canada is effective subsidized the whole world and artificially lowering their own employment standards. As sad as it sounds, there will always be someone talented from a developing nation willing to do your very difficult job which you studied years to be able to do, for barely above the cost of living, because this is still better than their career and life trajectory in their own nation. How many big tech firms in the US have fired thousands of US employees in austerity moves, only then to apply for H1B visa a week later. Why educate, train, employ, and pay fairly American workers, when you can find an immigrant willing to do it for half the price. I'm pro immigration and even pro high special immigration, but the cutoff for H1B visa salaries should be 50% higher than prevailing wages in similar roles. If this position is so specialized and in demand that there simply aren't enough native populations available to do it and schools simply aren't training it, then supply and demand homie, go pay for it. Oil, gas, and petroleum engineering is a great example of this - the US barely teaches this anymore despite there being demand, so we have to hire foreign nationals. Engineering and medicine are examples of oligarchs finding ways to extract the most capital by exploiting people as much as possible. Why pay a reasonable wage for really difficult jobs, when you can find a foreigner willing to do it for barely enough to cover groceries and rent.

8:15 there’s a reason for this. It’s a melting pot in America. Bringing all these different cultures together… but if too many from one country show up, they’ll make a community too large that they don’t need to melt with the population. There are Chinatowns and Little Italys and whole Mexican communities, but ultimately everyone has to interact with everyone else. Allowing 300,000 Indians to get green cards every year and only 1,000 Norwegians would lead to the Norwegians merging well with the country, while the Indians would all move to one or two cities and make entire sections of the cities like small versions of their own country. Which is the last thing we want. Once an immigrant community gets enough power to be a voting block, things are scary, but once it has enough power that they start getting their own representatives and passing laws for the rest of us? Laws the look like laws they had back in their own countries… that led them to run from their countries in the first place? It’s a concern. We want people to adapt to the USA and not try to adapt the USA to them. Over time, the US does change due to the growing voting blocs. But that’s after generations of those immigrant populations getting larger, and their children being born and raised in the country they’ve adapted to. When I see a protest of Muslim immigrants burning pride flags, or Chinese and Spanish-speaking Hispanic immigrants who never bothered to learn English, I see problems with our immigration system. But the kids of the Arab immigrants will be more tolerant, and the Hispanic kids will have grown up in American schools. Most Chinese-American kids might speak some Chinese at home with their parents, but they’re worse at it, and their first language is English. It takes second Generation immigrants to really start meshing with America. But if entire school districts are all Indian, and every store, restaurant, and business in a whole town is Indian, then those kids won’t adapt to America. They won’t get bits of their home culture from their time at home and with their neighbors, while also getting bits of American culture from their classmates and other people around them. Nope. They’ll only be exposed to the first Generation who completely took over the area- IF, we allowed for unfettered immigration from the largest countries. It’s a fact that immigrant communities like to stick together. But if not enough people are in that community that you need to reach out to others around you, it helps expose you to the rest of America… Anyway! There are a ton of shows that indirectly show this phenomena. Fresh Off the Boat. The Sopranos. Even Brooklyn 99. We see as traditional and hard-to-adapt parents have to deal with kids in the next generation who are more American, don’t follow the same customs and traditions as their parents, and overall just left more of their old culture behind. No one is asking that immigrants abandon their cultural ties, but if you come to America, there are things that people need to change and accept if they’re going to live here.

This video is a joke with an agenda. If America let in people as easily as Canada did and in the same proportion to its population could it not end up having the same housing crisis? Besides that, the video pretends Canada is this amazingly superior place when it comes to immigration when the left wing government wants to bring people in in the hopes that they will mainly vote liberal. In America in the 2020 election which way certain states went (such as Pennsylvania) came down to immigration. People have done studies and found if they threw citizenship at certain people they'd be voting around 70% Democrat. Where the government sets these people up also determines election outcomes. I don't want to live in a country where the government values immigrants for voting purposes more than the native population. That is a subversion of democracy. Imagine being born in America and living there your entire life. There are politicians that feel no obligation to change your mind and win your vote. Instead they look at you and those like you as people that are to have to their votes negated/canceled out by forcing another amnesty of illegal immigrants. They would rather reward criminals for their crimes to win an election than actually make a case for electing them to law abiding American citizens.

This is something that could really help my industry if that 65,000 was raised. Everybody knows aviation is a tight industry, and with a massive labor shortage. The flight school I attend is half immigrants, mostly Japanese and Korean with a moderate minority of Europeans and Africans. The Asian students are for the most part wanting to stay in the US, despite not coming from poor nations. The opportunity for a pilot here is leagues above anywhere else bar Europe, but most will likely not even be able to maintain a work visa, let alone a green card. This also means (as pointed out) that leaving the country is hard, and they would only be allowed to fly domestic flights within the country (no flying to Canada). The issues that these highly qualified pilots could solve by being allowed to work in the US airline industry are inconceivable.\n\nIt took my mum (I was born British-American) took 9 years to become a US citizen, I was there for her first swearing in, and the UK is America’s closest ally. Imagine how difficult it is for immigrants not of such nationality.

Some things to factor in - 1). American immigrants become citizens. This isn't true for almost any of these other countries. 2). American immigrants are disproportionately low skill. This is true in plenty of these countries. 3). American immigrants disproportionately come from the same cultural sphere, which makes their size more intimidating. 4). A second generation immigrant is not considered an immigrant. These countries just began allowing mass immigration. Americans have been allowing mass immigration all of our history. Including second generation immigrants, you have an immigrant population closer to 35% of the US population, true or false? And more than half of them have the right to vote, to fundamentally alter our nation. \nThere's also no way Americans believe that more than half of the country are immigrants. Almost all immigrants in the US live in a few specific regions. Most Americans see very few immigrants throughout the year. Perhaps, it was offset by the number of Americans surveyed who do live in those specific regions. Surveys tend to prioritize diversity and weigh the opinions of particular groups differently. If they tended to call urban area codes more often, and weighed the votes in proportion to size of the population that each group makes up, then the people saying 50% in say New York or Washington state, which represent many different groups will offset the people saying 5% in Kansas, which are all getting grouped into the older, Whiter cohorts. Most Americans under 18 are non-White. \nOnly 15% of Americans under 18 should be non-White, if America were an ethnically stable nation. Thus, 38% of Americans are recent (post 1970s) immigrants.

I usually really like PolyMatter but this video is clearly biased and missing important details. \n\nWhat this video does not talk about is that we already have millions of H1B in this country competing for jobs with American citizens; go into any IT department of most banks, and you will find mostly H1B workers. Walking into any major university career fair, you will see the predatorial scene of hordes of foreign master students competing against American bachelors for the same new grad jobs; with many of the foreign students already having real career experience in their own country competing against inexperienced American young adults. \n\nThis video also does not mention the H1B lottery is not a single-try event. Everyone is given 3 tries and it refreshes if you get another American degree. \n\nLastly, this video does not mention the fact that people not on American soil could also apply for the H1B lottery which contributes further to the low rate. \n\nComparing pays between companies was ridiculous in this video's context. Google L3 in America should be compared with Google L3 in Canada, which are not very different in pay, after adjusting for the cost of living.\n\nIn terms of the country cap, just because some countries happen to have more people than other countries, it's not America's problem to solve; America has to do what is in the best interest of America. In this case, America simply decided to prioritize diversity in yearly admittees.

Running from home ain’t going to make it better ? Mexico and all these other South American countries need to build up there own country economically and politically , South America can truly be a global power , but it will never happen because instead of building your own country ,you leave to be third class citizens in the United States ?

Stop fighting it...roll over while getting steam rolled and eventually...this will be Venezuela. The government allowed it. Not Americans. You will see. They want the country give it to them. This isn't even a fair fight. If Americans won't break the law to protect the country that's exactly what will happen. They said they steamrolled us and took our country. I wouldn't pay another tax and I wouldn't work at all... To support a single one of them they've been taking our money, resources and extorting us and don't give a f*** what we say so don't support your own demise.... It is unAmerican to sit here and get extorted by your own government and illegals ....why would you participate in your own takeover.... let them f****** support the whole country... I wouldn't do it... All-American should just stop doing anything at all..... they are banking on the fact that we're going to keep working and paying our government..... defund the they are not working on behalf of Americans they are traitors.... And then you'll really see what type of people that you come in here.

They need to stop believing the lie that America is great. America will be a flooded, burned down, 3rd world country soon for judgement. They need to find somewhere else to go. shoot we were killing ourselves because we didn't want to come here but they're trying to get into a country that's killing them to keep them out. Not to mention the US politicians are SRA/sex trafficking (satanic ritual abuse) their kids, American kids, and other kids from other countries. I get it if they don't like Mexico but I wonder why they don't try to sneak into somewhere else. Shoot I'd want to go to Africa or Alaska or something.\n\nTheir must be Aliens eating ppl or something in Mexico. ppl inside want out and ppl outside want in☠️.

As Canadian citizen, hell no I will never move to US. A lot of Canadians would say same thing and I'm sure a lot of people in other democratic countries would say this too. US was a really good and great place to live in the past, but each year it becomes worst. Have you already heard about the decline of American Empire? That's happening now and it could be more dramatic at next elections!

Listened carefully to everything that was commented on and I too was a little surprised by what I heard. Being from southern Ontario actually near Buffalo and I am close to the USA but I am glad to be in Canada. Many of my friends go to Florida for the winter. They state that they will politely listen to the politics but never chime in with their opinion. The american political situation is very much like the religious situation with the Irish and the Northern Irish Catholics vs the Protestants. Your political separation borders on insanity. The current republicans lie through their teeth and keep repeating those lies. Listening to the Irish is equally exhausting. When I travel to the United States I am always glad to be home when the trip is over. While in America, I find most people are wonderful and we are always treated very well. If the Republicans snap out of it and the gun lobby loses their grip on the narrative that everyone needs a gun I think the attitude of Canadians might change. One thing for sure I am very happy that big brother is right next door and we will never have to deal with what the Ukrainian people are going through. In that instance I am glad that America keeps improving their weapon systems and their innovations and mass military production. \nI am sure there are many lovely places in the USA but the media focuses on the bad news of the day where violence and shootings and political insanity dominate news. Meanwhile most Americans are enjoying their lives in peace.

So I work for a us company. I have for 5 years. in my industry, tech, pay scale is a lot more positive in the states than Canada. I have been offered several times, to have my move paid for, visas and all that jazz, and I still haven't made the jump. \n\nMy salary is also comfortable enough to afford health care, and I still haven't moved. I don't think Americans realize how poor their insurance is. Also have health issues in general.\n\nI also participate in sports that cause injuries (notice I implied I will definitely get injured). I would not want to have American coverage, in fact how do Americans financially justify casual sport activity.\n\nI won't go into political differences. It's extremely nuanced and an extremely interesting conversation. I don't like the Dems very much and the repubs are even worse. \n\nAll of this said it's always on my mind. Its a consideration but seems unlikely. Arizona/Utah/Colorado are my jam. Would love to be there, if it was Canada.

Just found your channel and love it as a Canadian. I feel a little bit proud, but do not ask my son. He is never coming back and is living in Vietnam. And the only countries he would be in are Vietnam and Australia and US. Canada? He says he will never come back to, because it is very entrenched colonial nonegalitarian less than transparent country with no, or next to no opportunity to progress in career or ownership. Canadian american dream? forget about it.

I was never interested in moving to the States but I think my reasons are different then most.\n\nStarting in my teens, I couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly live somewhere you couldn’t wander in the wilderness without worrying about things like poisonous snakes and poisonous bugs. I couldn’t understand what was so great about swimming in the sea if you have to worry about what part of the beach and how far out you go. How can swimming be fun? Lakes and rivers are much better. \n \nWhen I got older, I couldn’t understand how anyone could enjoy summer when the sun goes down so early in the evening. I left Vancouver, BC partially because the summer days are shorter then home and the winters are too dark. Even on an overcast night in winter up here, the light reflects off the snow and makes the night brighter. Do I like -30C or colder when it happens? No. I can’t walk the dogs because their feet might freeze but they’re idiots and will wrestle in the house if I don’t.\n\nNow that I’m almost 60, I note that all of my American cousins who had duel citizenship have moved back to Canada upon retirement where the conversation rate makes their pensions worth more and after 3 months they qualify for BC medical.\n\nThe guns, healthcare, right wing “Christians”, loss of human rights and potential for violence are why I don’t want my daughter to ever move there.

Hey Tyler! As a Canadian who lived in the US (and all over the US) for over five years, I just wanted to comment on this video. \n\nIn your video, you seem to be shocked with Canadians reactions to school shootings and health care in the US. Much like Americans paint all of Canada with one brush, Canadians do the same. We watch American news channels more than Canadian news channels, and we read news from American sources more than Canadian sources. American news really is designed to scare people, and Canadians are easily scared! Not all of us consume only American news sources, but most of us do, and that’s just simply based on the fact that Google, Facebook, CNN, ABC, etc. are American companies. Yes of course there are safe communities and cities in the US, and yes of course if you have a good job you probably don’t have to worry much about health care.\n\nDuring my time in the US, I lived in Miami, Chicago and Seattle. I didn’t like Miami. It’s kind of another world down there. Seattle was ok. Chicago though… I absolutely loved living there. And if given the opportunity, that is where I would live for the rest of my life. People will say “Chicago! It’s so violent and problems blah blah”, but like you said, there are areas, even in big cities, that are super safe and fun to live in. \n\nI live in Toronto now, and I wouldn’t hesitate to move back to Chicago if given the opportunity. The food scene, the music scene, the sports scene, and the unbelievably friendly people. Such a great town.\n\nAnyway, love the videos. Keep it up!