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I'm pretty much exactly where that lady in the car is at. Enough to make rent, pay my monthly cell phone bill, and internet, but the rest? Not enough for food, no emergency funds if something breaks or needs replacing, etc. Can't even save and put money away. I sat down and balanced my budget, looking at what I could keep or toss. Figured out what to do for cheapening food costs as much as I could (without doing food bank), and the most I can afford for rent is $700 a month. That's basically a room in someone's house. That's it. As an Adult, I'm disgusted it's come to this. But what angers me MOST of all, is the Landlord's I gotta argue with. Surrey, BC used to be the cheap end of Vancouver. The welfare type housing, and low-income area. Then we had this huge book of Middle Eastern people come flying in at top speed, steam roll the community and make it theirs. They bought up all the cheap housing, ripped it down even though it was not that bad of a house, then built these custom 5-6 room mini mansions. The standards for the area skyrocketed, and the cost of their mortgage is likely also sky high because of what they built... So what do they do? Rent the rooms, force people 2 to a room with no privacy, and if you WANT a private room? Nearly $1000. Oh... And let's not forget the discrimination issues. If you're not going to temple or Gudwara, forget it. If you aren't pure vegetarian, forget it. And because all the other renters are "brown" and under 30yrs old, Adults are considered unwelcome. If you have a disability and don't work, you're automatically labelled a drug user (which isn't always truth). Even if you offer proof of income, and resources or phone numbers to call, they won't bother. Too much work. This sh*t needs to stop. I look in other cities near by, and it's happening in ALL OF THEM. I cant even relocate to get away from this crap. I'm done. I have no car to live out of, so that's not an option. I'm not a drug user, never will be but and all the shelters are now "low barrier". Screw that. So now what? Go back to work with a broken lower back?? Desk job search when I should be recovering and resting? Like, the suggestions are welcome, but be realistic. I'm in constant pain on heavy duty drugs to get by right now. No spouce. No parents or friends to leech off of. I feel utterly abandoned by our government.

TFW here, east Asian, a couple of things:\nI am paid the provincial minimum wage, and work in the dairy industry, medium sized farm.\nI started working straight out of high school\n\nFrom what I can see and hear from across the province and largely in the western Canadian provinces, older generation farmers are at the retirement age, but the younger generation is generally very reluctant to take over. \nNot all industries, but definitely in livestock, people sometimes don't realize that, there is literally no breaks, ever! You work every day, holidays, Christmas, and if you do chose to take a few days off, your co-workers, i.e. other family members or workers, have to take up the extra workload. You barely have time for your family, you are often tired around your kids. Farmers have some of the highest suicide rates among all occupations, as well as a difficulty to find partners due to the nature of their jobs.\nThe work is hard, days long, especially during harvests, and if the ever more expensive tractors, equipment fail...\nThere used to be a lot of family owned farms, over the last few decades most have sold their generational farm and left the industry, most because of the cost to operate and because the next generation's unwillingness to take over.\nYong people my age have not been seen applying for my position in a few years now, despite ongoing hiring effort at significantly higher than minimum wage, and I have repeatedly stated that I, although love my job, am ready to step aside at any point so a Canadian PR or citizen can take my position, as required by worker rules. There were a few inquiries from neighboring areas, mostly made by parents, but their children in the end all refused to work, even part time, or seasonal.\n\nOn the other hand, there is the issue of prices: equipment costs have largely more than doubled since the pandemic, grain prices rose... and all that on top of the constant uncertainty of the weather every planting and harvesting season. Most farms don't ever make a profit after the yearly operating cost is deducted from earnings, and the little profit that on occasion appear, goes right back into paying debt or reinvesting in renewing long overdue old equipment.\n\nMy position, and all those similar to mine in agriculture, are in all fairness, very low skilled, with minimum training, and therefore is only worth minimum wage, in my opinion. I was actually offered a higher amount but in the end turned it down because on the job, I discovered the only thing I bring to the table is manual labor (I know that's not really the right way to go about wages, but I do believe that wages should be based on the irreplaceableness of one's skills, and as it stands, although no replacements were ever found, I am very much easily replaceable, skill wise). That, compared to a slightly better paid Starbucks position, with benefits (most farm workers and owners don't have benefits or pension, yes owners too), air conditioning, regular work hours. I mean, if it wasn't for my particular interest for agriculture I'd pick Starbucks any day too!\n\nI think a couple issues are at hand, \n1. Most of agriculture's profit ends up in the corporate processing and supermarkets, that needs to change, workers could benefit, as well as consumers, from distributing that profit between farmers and shoppers.\n2. Agriculture in today's context no longer fit the modern life, although I strongly think that A LOT of people can benefit from getting their hands dirty once in a while and sweating a bit, improve physical and mental health, have better discipline all that jazz. So foreign workers are the temporary solution, if well regulated so that Canadian PR and citizens are ALWAYS prioritized for hire and at a fair wage. This cannot happen unless farmers can turn a profit, stated in point 1.\n3. A new generation of farmers are needed to take over, and they need to be somehow convinced that it is worth the toil, because as it stands, it is not, financially, life style wise. Automation is one solution, although therein lies the huge, foreseeable risk of corporate takeover.\n4. On a specific note, TFW does mandate that workers are provided up to standard housing (not always followed), which puts local workers at a huge disadvantage if they are commuting to work and paying rent, although that rarely happens, and the majority of farms do offer housing to all.\n\n\nI am aware that me being treated up to regulation is not the norm among my TFW peers, which is quite sad and unacceptable. But in my opinion, even if given a leveled playing field, wages , conditions, housing, etc. Canadian citizens and PRs largely will be unable to meet the demand for these jobs, from unwillingness to work really hard physically, unwillingness to live the lifestyle, wanting a career with better prospects... these are harsh words, but I believe to be true, and they also come from a lot of older generation farmers talking about their children and grandchildren. \n\nThis is just in the agri industry, and from what I hear from farmers from all over western Canada : )

I married my spouse and moved to the United States from Canada. Before, I didn't give the US much thought and merely loved travelling to a few of the locations. Having said that, even after spending five years there, I have never witnessed a country and a population as divided as the US. You proudly display your flag, yet you're so racist, illiterate, and a bible-thumper that it disgusts me. The United States is not the most free country in the world, despite what the public believes and thinks. In reality, it is also depressing to observe how the healthcare system handles people. The social safety net is completely missing, and by that I mean that most jobs don't pay for maternity leaves or vacations unless you work at a senior level or for a high-end company. The political system is so rigged that it is understandable why people are tired of voting every two years, and perhaps even every year. Most certainly, especially since your elections begin almost exactly when the previous one finished. I suppose I could go on forever, but I'll stop here. Although Canada is not perfect, is not free from controversy or problems, and is not the best at everything, we are able to concede defeat, acknowledge that someone was wrong or that we might have done better, work together with one another, and express that we are SORRY. Yes, it is a word that is never used in the US, and that is also the issue. I'm pleased to be back in Canada, where I belong, and I regret ever leaving. Yes, returning to Canada feels peaceful and inviting compared to travelling to the US, where every trip involves an interrogation to ensure that you don't remain too long. There is no need to worry because I won't be returning to stay, only visit, as previously.

Well, as a Canadian, I guess i'll pitch in.\nWould I move to the US? The short answer is no. But I will explain more in detail.\n\nFirst, I do not see any advantages to the US compared to Canada. Americams often tout their country as the beacon of freedom and the land of opportunities, but I don't feel that Canada is so different there. We're actually higher on the world freedom index, and its not like our economy was in shambles and everyone dirt poor... We pay more taxes, fine, but we also get more services in return, and that last part has the advantage to remove a big layer of worry. Like, for healthcare, I don't have to worry if i'm covered by insurance or not, or if the insurance carrier will drop me on some technicality. I'm a citizen. All the basic needs are covered; no questions asked (and the healthcare quality is not half bad. We just prioritize urgent cases over non-urgent; so if you go to the hospital for something non-urgent, you will wait, and more urgent cases will pass before you. Annoying when it happens, but I understand and agree with that in the end)\n\nSecond, I do see a lot of disadvantages. All the points raised in the video are valid, from the private-sector healthcare system, the gun control laws (or lack thereof), the social policies and legislation in some states; they don't agree with me.\n\nI think it comes down to some specific social and cultural ideas that are prevalent or at least present in a substantial manner in the american society. Bear in mind that I am generalizing here, not every american believes these points, but many do. I'm talking about ego, nationalism/patriotism, secularism etc.\nI feel that the US often has a really overinflated vision of itself. Like, the idea that America is the best. At everything. Wich is factually not true, but this idea also poisons the debate on many issues, and tends to limit social introspection that could lead to real advances.\n\nI've also noticed that the american basic school system is strongly patriotic. Everyone in the US is taught a lot about the US themselves in school, but not much about the rest of the world. Not great for open mindedness and introspection when you have little comparison points.\n\nAndlets not delve into the religious aspect. I've seen a poll somewhere where 48% of americans were AGAINST the separation of church and state. For me thats not only insane, its dangerous. It fits the individualistic mentality where people can more easily start thinking that their way is THE way. It creates a very polarized society much more prone to high volatility.\n\nSo, yeah, no, I wouldn't live in the US. I'd much rather stay in Canada where i don't have to worry if I get sick or hurt, if some agressive drunk idiot in a bar is armed, or if some fundamentalists from some religious congregation is gonna be able to try to politically force their point of view.

I agree, I was born and raised here, unless you speak the language, have a good education, its puts you behind the 8 ball if you want to stay here. Why? Because the cost of living is too high, Why? Because our gov. let foreign powers come into out country and flip our real estate to make fast profits and that drives up the rents and costs of housing to the point that you cannot afford to live here, period. The only way that you can do it is to team up with other families and all live in the same place and slowly build up your education, job skills and income to a point where you can afford to live and get a place of your own, thats the way they did it in my parents time and it seemed to work, but when you have a gov. that all they can think about is their climate control BS and to raise the carbon taxes, interest rates causing inflation, causing prices to go up on everything it becomes a losing battle. So unless you are prepared to work two or three jobs, don't even think about it, because now its next to impossible to do unless you have someone supporting you on your climb to the top. In Canada we need health care workers and that could be nurses, doctors, health care aids, psw's, dsw's and physiotherapists, in some provinces they give free courses to get these jobs and you end up getting good wages like min. 25.00 per hour to start and all the hours you can handle, that means if you work 60 hours a week, you make 1500 a week, now that you can survive on, I know this for a fact because a friend of mine just went through the course and now she is set for life, that was a PSW course, its all up to you, if you want it bad enough, you can have it all. Welcome to Canada.