Close Reading

I’m South African Indian from Durban, and I spent three months in Vancouver for work. Honestly, I wouldn’t visit Canada again. The cold was unbearable for me, and I found the country dull and boring. Coming from Durban, where there’s warmth, energy, culture, and life everywhere, Canada just didn’t feel like my kind of place. Some people may enjoy the quiet and structure, but it’s not for everyone—and it definitely wasn’t for me. Three months was more than enough to know it’s not my vibe.

Lots of killed expats/migrants/international students to Canada, Australia and NZ leave in the long term because of housing, fake crime statistics, taxation, systemic/institutional discrimination and limited work opportunities. The US benefits from this because that’s where skilled Canadians, kiwis and Aussies go… nurses, technology specialists, structural engineers, biomedical technicians, researchers — all leave at some point barring a minority with family ties e.g., chronically sick parents. Interestingly enough, the US has country-specific skilled employment visas for Australia (E3) & Canada just for this purpose ? I’m an Indian-South African-Aussie citizen who earns excellent cash in Australia and just got PR (green card) in the US — happily moving to the States with my partner in a few weeks!