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If people supported the freedom convoy instead of complying with government policies, Canada and major cities wouldn't be as bad. Governments exasperate these issues and citizens have the power to make sure they don't get worse, but living in bubbles don't enact change from municipal to federal levels. This is a fall off from policies that have impacted employment, job security, small business, social programs, mental well being, immigration, food scarcity, etc.

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.

I immigrated to Canada in 2010, and here are my experiences inside and outside Canada. I am grateful for a good education; having a Canadian passport opened up many opportunities in other countries to build a higher-level career. However, if I had known the amount of stress, health, and financial damage that I had to endure, I wouldn't have chosen to come to Canada. I would have remained in the US or EU countries where I could achieve even more without suffering to the level I did here. \n\nMisleading immigration promotion: The government-sponsored Canadian immigration program oversells what Canada can offer. It withholds information on the cost of living, chicken-and-egg problems like Canadian work experience is required to get a job at the same level as you are in, Canadian credit history is required to rent a proper apartment, Canadian education is required to secure a high-level job, etc. \n\nHiring process: I knew the Canadian system was not ideal for immigrants over a decade ago, but it got so bad now that even the born citizens are unable to survive. The Canadian government and employers lack a basic understanding that ambitious, high-achieving people immigrate to other countries for high-level positions using proper channels. It's ridiculous to see that Canada uses a point-based system to choose highly qualified personnel to enter their country yet expects them to pursue low-paying entry-level or labor jobs just because they have brown/black skin. At first, I thought having a Canadian degree and experience might help me get high-level jobs, and I didn't think how I spoke or looked would matter when I had high credentials to show off. So, I got my masters & Ph.D. from the Univesity of Toronto, which consistently ranks #1 in Canada. I have a bachelor's from a prestigious university in Asia and had a high-competitive, well-paid federal government job in another country. Still, none of that was recognized in Canada, and I had to volunteer for over 6 months, 10 to 12 hours/day, in a research lab that led to a funded PhD program. I worked even harder during my Ph.D. with many accomplishments, like 40+ research and leadership awards, internationally recognized scientific discoveries, and innovative technologies. I checked all the above and beyond in various domains (research, teaching, leadership, business, engineering consulting, collaborations, etc.). Yet, employers couldn't see past my race, gender, age, etc., and refused to give me the opportunity at the level of my qualifications. Luckily, I managed to secure short-term work in the UK & the US, and it changed even how I see myself. I was highly respected for my credentials, given higher positions than I applied for, and paid 3-4 times more salary and benefits. Of course, bias is an integral part of every society, but my race, gender, age, etc., were not as big of an issue to begin my career at the mid-career stage in these countries as opposed to Canada. \n\nHealthcare: Access to healthcare was another big challenge for me. When I moved to Canada in 2010, due to extremely low temperatures, I developed hives all over my body, my eyes got red, and I coughed for many months. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with me and refused to give me any medication. It took us years to get a family doctor, and we got one through my personal network. In 2015/2016, I developed an autoimmune disease, and my eyeballs popped out. As of today, I did not get to see an eye specialist as they have only 1 specialist in the area, and the waiting time is for years for the first consultation. Every time the family doctor told me that I had iron deficiency, even when I insisted that they should run additional tests and they cleared, they were flagged. The doctor never diagnosed my autoimmune condition. Luckily, during my short-term work in the UK, I saw competent interns who completed my care. NHS is poorer than the medical system in Canada... they are understaffed, don't have hospital beds after surgery, or don't have stock of paper gowns, yet the staff are highly competent and caring. Within 1-2 years, they did complete diagnosis by sending me to various specialists, completed eye surgery, and even found a lifelong condition that was preventing me from realizing my full potential. Following, in the US, the doctors confirmed the diagnosis of all the conditions within 1-2 months and put me on two small pills for life. It has dramatically changed my life, and I have even more admiration for the medical profession. While in Canada, I suffered for over a decade, and every time, I was treated as a hypochondriac and never given a single prescription. \n\nQuality of life: Big cities like Toronto are mainly affected by high crime rates, overpopulation, cost of living, low employment, low salaries, etc. A few months back, there was a huge auto theft, and one of my contacts lost their Lexus car within minutes of parking. Despite being a scientist, I have no faith in politicians or individuals fixing these problems. The salaries are not increasing, but the taxes and cost of living are on the exponential growth curve. The ridiculous part is that Canada expects you to pay taxes even when you are not employed or living in Canada! I lived in London and Boston, and they offer a much higher quality of life and pay. \n\nGrowth potential: No wonder Canada, being a G7 country, falls at the bottom of the list in innovation, equal opportunities, economic growth, etc. It has a decent education system but, due to its inherent bias in the hiring process and monopoly of certain businesses, loses talented immigrants and highly qualified Canadians to the US, the UK, and EU markets. Unless there is a dramatic shift in policies, Canadians, especially new immigrants, cannot expect any positive experience in Canada except for being discriminated against and losing valuable time and money by being there.

Immigration is simply too high at the moment. It's a small country in a big space. Our infrastructure did not keep up with growth for the last 20 years. This is obviously federal policy issues over the last few decades. I don't blame people for coming here, it's nice. That being said... Too many people have come here too quickly. Canada needs time to catch up.

There is an adverse selection in the cohort of immigrants leaving Canada. Immigrants with skill and money will likely leave Canada, sometimes after obtaining the easiest-to-get citizenship among G7 as insurance policies, for greener pasture or return to their home countries. Thus, leaving behind unskilled immigrants working min. pay menial jobs. Many 2-year colleges in Canada, like Langara, also exploits international students with bait-and-switch schemes and false promises. These int‘l students will not gain meaningful employment after graduation but continue to work min. pay menial jobs. Depend on their home countries, some will stay, but others from more advanced economies will likely leave Canada. Thus, leaving Canadian tax payers holding the bags. \nInflation and housing are also high in other countries, but there are more high pay jobs too. \nThat‘s why the federal govt decides to address this issue. It is too late, I think.\nYes, I will also be leaving Canada soon. I don‘t want to cough up over 50% marginal tax to subsidize drug addicts, criminals, etc.

WELCOME TO CATHOLIC CHARITIES. THIS INVASIVE INVASION IS DO TO THE RAMPANT DRUG POLLUTION POLICY OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. THIS IS ITS ANSWER TO FLOOD THE WORK FORCE WITH IMMIGRATION FROM 3rd WORLD CATHOLIC COUNTRIES. IF YOU SUPPORT THIS YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO YOUR CHILDREN AND THIS COUNTRY! !!!

I was born in Canada, and lived to see the change from traditional values to this mess...\n\n1 - homelessness\nthe rents and other things went up, and welfare does nt match it. even minimum wage does nt cover it in some cases, \nit s a given that you will finish on the sidewalk, and that does that many will turn to drinking and drugs.\nit will not last long however, as winter comes and there are nt enough shelters, so they conveniently die.\nyou could invest billions, it will not help if you have bad management, you have to dig deeper...\n\n2 - racism\nit s a bit of a backward country in that sense, many rural areas were very late in receiving immigrants,\nso they re not used to see diversity, unlike the US lets say, so there are parts of the country where acceptation\nwill be low, they will discriminate and gossip for sure, but it s more backward as it is racism.\nin time, when they get to know you, it goes away, and they realise how dumb they were.\nI live in Quebec, and you can blame feminism for that, they see Muslims as a symbol of patriarchy and feel threatened.\n\n3 - medical\nit s been like that since about the 90s, again, bad management made the system crash for some reason.\nI admit that I m not sure of what happened exactly there, not enough doctors for sure.\nmaybe it has to do with income, as they can get more revenue in the US or elsewhere.\nI suspect that hospitals s management - administration is too slow and crowded, but I m no expert.\n\n4 - technology\nyeah, well, it s expensive here, cell contracts, internet, probably because of distance, but I suspect\nthat we re being cheated a little too, and since again, we re a bit backward, we re used to the old methods.\nwe re not fast to adopt new trends or fashion either, it s very traditional here mostly.\n\n5 - taxes\nwe have federal and provincial taxes, plus purchase taxes, so yeah, we pay a lot of them.\nexactly, it can vary from 30 - 60% for sure, overtime does nt pay that much, 2 nd jobs can build you a big bill.\nyou re better to save on expenses than trying to earn more, you have to be cheap.\n\n6 - Canadian experience\nI m born here, but I heard of many stories about immigrants s credentials not fitting the local standards.\nin some cases, it sounds ridiculous, and closed minded, not accepting outside concepts and ideas.\nI did nt know about speaking English, but I sure know about French in Quebec...\nhere, it s very insecure about the language, almost paranoid, without speaking French, you will have many troubles.\nagain, it s mostly about bad management, and rules and mentality that self sabotage.\n\n7 - housing\nlike mentioned before, the real estate in general has jumped tremendously.\nI m no financier expert, but an overview of economy tells me that banks compete between countries,\nand they will recourse on artificially inflating the value of real estate, and that plainly kills people.\nthis is the main reason of the homelessness you see on the streets.\nyeah, the soundproofing is quite poor, and some very old buildings can cost a lot in heating.\n\n8 - well, crime is on the rise, and citizens supporting the law and public safety is not very encouraged by the system in place.\nin some way, you re better to shut up than supporting the police... this has to change!\n\n9 - the social services are biased, and impose their vision if you want help.\n\n10 - the mental health policy is too wide, and makes you ill instead of helping.\n\n11 - the pharmaceutical companies are too influencing, and make people sick instead of helping.\n\n12 - the food regulation is lacking, it is not strict enough, allowing chemicals, gmo, and radiation.\n\n13 - feminism is almost radical, especially in Quebec, they segregate genders, and dividing us, it makes the country weak.\n\notherwise, you pretty much covered it well.\n\ngood work sissses.

Did some simple maths.\n\nAround 40,000 student turned workers end up not receiving an ITA for PR before the expiration of their PGWP. Assuming most of these studies are 2 year or equivalent programs (which means the PGWP will be 3 years in length), you pay in around CAD 12,000 into the CPP. As a temporary resident, you are not eligible to claim the benefits you have paid into CPP until you have worked in Canada for a minimum of 10 years.(assuming you have not become a PR or citizen) That comes to CAD 480,000,000 in every turnaround.\n\nTo submit a CRS profile, you must have a language proficiency score. This is achieved upon completing an English language test either in the form of IELTS, TOFEL or CELPIP. The average cost of these tests can range from CAD 300-350. And they have a expiry date, usually around 2 years, because as we all know, speaking English is an acquired skill which you can abandon if you so wish, so they need to make sure you still speak English after 2 years or so. Funny enough, if you speak French, it is a completely different story, as a lot of provinces invite specifically people with strong French skill, and Quebéc has the right to make independent decisions of policies on immigration, as Quebéc is not a signatory on the Constitution Act of 1982, so they reserve the right to making their own policies independent from the federal government. (Did I mention the fact Canada is officially a bilingual country, but New Brunswick is the only official bilingual province?) This discrepancy in language preferences of candidates can be elaborated by the TR2PR pathway that was announced in April 2021. (Did I say math? Oops, a little politics won't hurt anyone) Getting back on maths, on this date there are 196,685 profiles in the CRS pool, which equates to around CAD 590,065,500 in ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING FEE alone. 2 years later it's gonna be another, and another, and another........you get the idea right?\n\nCanada welcomes you to spend some money, but there's no guarantees.