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Similar problems are faced by those who choose the 'Australian Dream' as well as the 'Canadian Dream'. The impacts of bad policies are also felt by those who are retired - the real value of their savings is dropping a huge rate, impacting their ability to buy essentials or live a happy retirement greatly. In reality $1,000,000 of savings last year is now worth only around $930,000 and falling. We get what we vote for!

Too bad 75% of Canadians aren't focused on the 1% real problem.

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.

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.

be prepared for 20 years of slavery REAL SLAVERY before we can re-sustain economy with robots..... hyper inflation economic great depression x5... its coming they are purposefully orchestrating it also.... this mass immigration is insanely bad for americans and canadians the fact still nothings being done about it shows..... they dont care... if they can short stocks betting will go down they will..... if they can cause housing crisis like never before to keep their housing market from collapsing the billionaires 1000 propertys then they will

As a Canadian I would moove to the States only to escape winter, probably somewhere in Florida, Texas or Cali. But honestly daily mass shooting occurances scare me away. Not even talking about this orange bad manered criminal that you voted president and still you consider worthy of one because he screams make America great again, without having any real solutions, really it's telling about the average US citizen. Tabarnak

Canadian (Albertan here) - yes, i don't think i'd move to the States unless it was reasonably close (maybe Montana) with fewer people - i'd like to identify as a Hermit :). I motorcycle and have travelled majority of the States, from coast to coast, and i really do like the country side and scenery, and history, that you run through. I do a 4000-6000 mile tripe every year or two - did Tennessee last year, and Colorado this summer. A lot of absolutely amazing country really, and yes some really great people as well. Have run into some real odd people as well and some places i wanted to get out of pretty quick. I do like the fact the US hasn't bought into this woke agenda and politically correctness - it's absolutely nuts up here. I like the gun laws in the States, too bad we're so screwed over that in Canada. Gotta love Trump - may be a bit of a bozo but hey - the guy lays it out and owns his shit, every other polititician plays the blame game and does everything politically correct... End of day, i'd prefer to stay in Canada, either Alberta or British Columbia.

As a Canadian there looks like some great places to visit in the USA but i would never move to the US. The biggest issue in the US is Gun violence, there attachment to guns. Number two is health care, number three is weather volatility and more adverse weather conditions. Instead of one main government the US seems to have two which prevents any real change for the better. Money controls more government and political decisions than even in Canada which is already bad enough. The NRA controls more government and policing. They are seen as the bigger risk to American safety and security. I believe many Canadians believe the NRA are on the cusp of being the largest domestic terrorist organization and closure to a major cartel. Not even the military could control the NRA if the US decided to enforce new laws that the NRA felt would effect their financial, political or perceived control in the US. This is a big reason Canadians may not want to move to the US. To think there is a private military ready to go to war against their own people in the drop of a hat, reminding North Americans of the war between the North and South. There are beautiful places to see in the US, there are hard working and brave people in the US and i am sure there are more good people than bad but those with power, control and weapons have the great degree of balance. The US has a lot to be proud of and still so much possibility and ability to grow if it were not for those with the majority of power that is not being used for good or in the best interest of the majority of US citizens. Love the architecture and old districts and those trying to preserve the environment, farms, seed diversity and best of what made the US great.

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.

Hell yes. I'd move back in an instant. I used to live in the US with my American wife. Coming back to Canada we enjoyed nothing but expense, no rights, a lot of restrictions and now it's becoming like communist China. Love it or hate it America is the last place on earth that has real rights backed up by a real constitution. And you can enjoy any locale not just a few mile strip across the Canadian wet, frozen or scorching nation. People that think the US is bad are deluded and probably leftist, anti-Trumpers, think that the Canadian health care system is free and you have a choice.

I'm canadian and yeah, while the healthcare can be tricky sometimes, in cas of a emergency, it's not that tricky. I had to go to the ER 2 times in 3 month because of a pneumothorax, arrived there, pass in 15 min approximatly both time and was in charge, spent 1 week each time there and the second time even had to have a part of my lung removed. Had no real tricky manipulation to do or anyhing. I was just happy it cost me absolutely nothing and I think it's definetly a reason why the lifespan is higher since in case of an emergency, if I was in the US and had to pay, I would have actually died, since I don't have the money for it, I'm a student so... (that also helps, my session cost me around 200 bucks... yeah, 200, I'm in college). Healthcare should really be something free everywhere, you never know when a shit can happen and... you can't really prepare your bank account for it...\n\nSorry for the bad english, I'm a native french speaker (yes, I'm from Québec)

Thanks The Fifth Estate! We need you guys here in the US! lol Anyway, it seems you Canadians follow the same bad patterns as the US, including doing this. This is not good. Not only that, in the end, there are no real winners. Only losers. Greed is never satisfied and is in constant need of feeding, needing of new victims. This applies to greedy schools in need of new bodies, to homeowners over charging for houses. Canada will end up with newly homeless that needs housing, to unpaid debt that is saddled upon taxpayers. And worse of all, the victims..who traveled all this way, only to end up with debt, and an unfortunate life lesson.

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.

You're not correct about the Quebec government banning the hijab - actually they ban all forms of religious expression in clothes worn at work by public servants - so don't criticize us unless you get the facts straight. All countries are facing public health crisis especially in the aftermath of a global pandemic, you mention how long it could take to get an MRI - weeks/months, but it's no worse than in the UK, or other western countries. I do agree with you about limited competition in banking and tech - but we're still a young and growing country, however, look at the global recession that took place in 2007 - Canada was least affected by mortgage default, the US was hit the worst and hundreds of thousands had their homes foreclosed by the Banks, yet in Canada because of our strict banking policies we were saved and the Banks worked with defaulters to try to keep their homes. Taxes, well most countries require you to file your own taxes at the end of the year - what's so strange about that? Yes sales tax is added onto the sales price depending on what province and what you are purchasing, same as US, just because it's not the same in Europe doesn't mean it's worse! Listen, when you're a newcomer to any country you need to fit in when looking for a job, put in the effort, take the time, do the work, any country is going to expect you to be able to speak the language and know the lingo, so I don't agree with your analysis that Canadians are risk adverse! You are 100% correct about the housing crisis, listen it's been going on everywhere for decades, and international investors in the past 10 years or so woke up and noticed that Canada was a great bet for investment, so the problem got really bad. The government just passed a 2 year moratorium on non Canadians buying real estate - as have many other countries, so fingers crossed no more new foreign landlords just regular Canadians buying their first homes, let's hope so!! I've lived many years in Europe - and I loved it! But the quality of life in Canada is better. If you don't live in the crowded city you can have a nice property with lots of space, good roads, not bad school system, very friendly and helpful people. Quebec has some of the best food on the North American continent, we have clean air and lots of water in Canada - I'm very happy here, so don't be so negative please!

Just stop coming to Canada period. Don’t mean to be rude but it wouldn’t be so bad here if we stoped giving out handouts too everyone and supporting every country that’s broke or not doing too good. And we know y’all just come here and fill up the homeless shelters and collect government money till you get on your feet.\nCome to Canada if you have something to contribute to society \n\nYou can’t help everyone out and us real Canadians are struggling as is…

a lot of people leave because they discover the lies they told when applying to immigration.\ncanadian experience? it's a scam,\nbad weather, no real healthcare system, expensive living, high taxation, bad roads, and after 15 years of working u still broke.\nif you want to change carrier good luck.\na lot of wasp bon canadians leave canada also.\ncanada is good for living on wellfare.

My experience about Canada after living here for a few years now: \n1): Healthcare: There are two sides of it. If you need a specialist, forget about it, just live with your disease or problems and hope it will cure itself and won’t get worse. If you are in a life threatening condition and need a surgery, you’ll get it and the medical bill won’t scare you. I needed a dermatologist, never got one, eventually had to fly to the US for a simple treatment. \n2): Taxes: You’ll pay extra to take care of the large aging population of Canada and to maintain the infrastructure in the extreme cold weather. But, you can make a good use of your RRSP and TFSA accounts, and you can also buy American stocks without paying taxes. \n3): Travel and transportation: Forget about public transportation methods like buses and trains. You’re on your own. But a vehicle ownership isn’t very hard here. \n4): Social networking: Good luck with that. Good luck finding friends here or being a part of a friends group. Canadians are polite but not outgoing and extrovert. Most people make a few friends in Schools and College. You’re not going to see people of different races and origin hanging out with each other. \n5): Real estate: Population is growing, population is aging, it’s all happening but what’s not many houses are getting built. Buying your own house isn’t easy. If you’ve bought one, good luck with the energy prices. \n5): Landscape: It’s gorgeous out here, if you want to be happy in Canada, go out for sightseeing.\n6): Jobs: Totally depends in which jobs you can fit in and what previous experience you have. If you have previously done exactly what the job profile is asking for, for sure you can find a job.\n\nIn the end I would say, I have lived in many places, each come with their downsides, you have to see what works for you. There’s isn’t a perfect world really there isn’t. You have to take the bad with the good.

The real AND hidden problem Is Canada does have a non-told agreetment with medium AND big corporations as well as transnationals: they evad the payment of taxes. That's why people must work to sustain the social AND polítical systems.....too bad canadians dont want to stop this by the peaceful way because this problem Is growing AND can be dangerous.

Hi, hope you are doing good. Kindly, your experience of living in Canada will benefit me because I am planning to move Canada with my family. I do business in my home country but country is going bad to worse day by day ,that is the reason I want to immigrant to some other place & I want to invest around canadian 3 millions in commerical real-estate. What is your advice for people like me . Hope you reply. Best regards

I will be leaving Canada within a year or so after declaring non-residency and bring my business with me. My view is that Canada is a good place to live a normal life. Healthcare covers your peace of mind, even if the waitlist is long and bureaucratic. Social benefit is not as generous as people suggest sometimes (at least in Canada unless you're on actual welfare where you can't work but you can't rise your way up easily and you're forever stuck in 1.5k CAD/month... which would be ofc much better than other struggling countries but immigrants often aspire for greater things than that. \n\nEven though I was an Asian immigrant, I never faced significant racism afaik (I could be socially naive however), but there are definitely limitations of opportunities. It's not too difficult to find entry to intermediate jobs, at least for me but that's probably because I did schooling here in Canada. And I was able to network aggressively and learned to be an extrovert, so that also helped. But still, Canadian living cost is high (and I'm saying this from Calgary... imagine what it's like in Vancouver/Toronto). Is it doable? Ofc. 50-70k CAD/year is quite doable ESPECIALLY in Calgary, Alberta. But it'd be difficult to achieve financial independence and true wealth. This is true everywhere ofc but more so in Canada compared to, say, USA where living cost is lower and wage is higher with more opportunities. It's a great place to live normally. If you wanna become exceptional (wealth, customized goods and services, etc), it become harder and costs more. \n\nEven now when I now own business after struggling to get here over 10 years that generates income that I need to achieve financial freedom, tax becomes frightfully bad. Alberta (that imposes lowest tax rate compared to other Canadian provinces (not including territories for obvious reason) is comparable to California in USA that is among the highest in all US states. And let's be real; Alberta is nowhere close of being California. Imagine the taxes in BC/Ontario shiver. \n\nOnce my tax rate becomes high enough to justify moving, I will pull the trigger. Still window-shopping where I wanna go and I have some lists but it's gonna happen especially as Canada will have to deal with their struggling economy, further distancing from US and their government mismanagement that continues to cost the society. I will not have any part in it. I may come back once in a while for visit or potentially retire depending on what the future looks like but right now, I just don't see my longterm future here.

Originally this comment was like the size of a book talking about just some of the specific examples of Police and civilian racism I witnessed with my own Caucasian eyes in this country. I am extremely patriotic and I love being Canadian but I have been saying for years that we have problems when it comes to racism but no one here wants to even acknowledge it. Of course we're not as bad as our neighbors but at least they talk about it and seem to want to come to terms with their bigotry and institutionalized racism in society. As long as we keep pretending we don't TO THIS DAY have an ongoing history with systemic racism in politics, policing and even in the workplace than we will never in real life be the actual Canada we try to tell the world and ourselves we really are and that makes me deeply sad and ashamed.

This is absolutely shameful, not representative of who the Canadians are to the core. We're not all like that. There's bad apples and racist people in all Countries, I find it sad. I'm ashamed for her. And lets be real, the real Canadians are the first nations.

A real measure of just how bad Trudeau is is that, because we are Americans, most people down here in the States are never able to remember who the Canadian Prime Minister is. The general population just tends not to care much about Canadian politics. Trudeau, however, has been able to make a name for himself here just by being a doofus. More Americans than ever seem to know about the Canadian Prime Minister, but for all the wrong teasons. Way to go Justine!