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Vancouver is very expensive to live. Go to Calgary if she could stand the weather. Best Wishes.

I'd recomend new Immagrants go to Calgary if you can tollerate the weather.

100% bang on.. I've lived in Dubai (traveled to many other countries).. this is nowhere near being considered as developed anymore (GDP criteria is outdated)..Canada got developed and they forgot to update and even upgrade..!! The drug situation is so bad that I really hope that you didn't come across crackheads/homeless who are under the influence of drugs at all times.. No doubt there are way more homeless people in India, but they are working or at least trying in some way to make their life better and they never hurt you at least, here, it's the opposite, as they literally can do anything.. you can find them roaming all over on the streets of Old Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa.. You can literally find them everywhere.. someone commented earlier that you should give 2 years.. Bro or sis.. it's a complete waste as I am at the same point.. and on top of it when you invested 2 years, it even becomes tougher as it becomes even harder to go back as you have spent so much on furniture, house, car, tools, n all and most importantly - 2 YEARS of life. I left my pregnant wife and have been staying away from her and a 1-and-a-half-year-old baby boy hoping that we'll create a better future and can afford to struggle right now.. its been 2+ years.. Honestly.. I am still not able to figure out whether there is any future or I have spoiled my present looking for a future.. its a dilemma beyond explanation in words, with no relatives or anyone based here.. I've a lot at stake currently and that's the only reason I am stuck otherwise leaving this place seems to be inevitable.. \n\nI travel extensively all throughout and forget about expressways anywhere in Canada (Except 407 which has an insane toll rate) it's a 4-lane highway just 80 km from Toronto to the rest of 450+ kms to Montreal which are 2 major cities of this so-called developed country.. same is for Ottawa, the same hold true from Calgary to Edmonton, and any other major town/city!! on top of it, they are struggling to even maintain those (always under construction - even construction is a wrong word to use as they aren't adding anything new.... it is just being repaired in true words) Same is true with adding new infra in terms of hospitals or any other facility... Banking sucks.. Still dealing through the mail (Postal mail).. (Mails not e-mails). I simply can't get that.. the tax agency - CRA sends communications through the mail, and the same with any other agency.. Comon.. grow up is what I feel at times..!! People are literally not willing to work (Except hard-working immigrants), Govt. doesn't have any plans for the future regarding the economy and development... just bringing in immigrants.. that's it..\n\nYou've made a very smart decision and really at a very good time.. wish you, and your family all the best..!!

Toronto is very overrated in a lot of ways. A lot of people especially immigrants are stuck here because they don't have a better option. Vancouver: more expensive; Montreal: French; Calgary: Colder; Smaller cities or towns: less jobs and hard to find your communities. The Canadian government keeps flooding numerous people into Canada to keep their real estate Ponzi scheme going without giving a damn about how people can live in this expensive country.

This is a ridiculous channel, have you even been to Canada? Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black,.....I live in Calgary and see very few homeless people, we have shelters they can go to....this is BS.....

Sounds like why when I had the opportunity to leave Cleveland; I made a bee line to the U-Haul garage to line up my truck and car trailer. When I left on a very busy morning looking down I-480 and going west from a west end suburb, going out of the city, and looking at the traffic entering the city ( 4 to 5 lanes going east and 4 to 5 lanes going west with everyone moving at 80 mph/129 kph except the east lane which was moving at 35 mph/56 kph with no more than 1 to 2 car lengths between each other) it hit me that I was darn lucky to survive all this without any major incidents. I also remember saying to myself, I can not wait to get out of this traffic. Either I was lucky or God had my Guardian Angle on 24/7 over time pay for the last 7 to 8 years. I was missing the people I knew but not the place and above all not the crime and traffic. ( at that time it was a 10 mile traffic jam into the city and getting worse every year & has gotten worse every year) That is why I am now living in a place like Melfort but in the USA. I am not recommending Melfort to you but if you want to stay in Canada then perhaps you need to find a place like Melfort or some nice far flung suburb of Calgary so that you can visit a city now and then. Take your time as you can travel around and work anywhere you think that you might want to stay, and for as long as it takes you to find your permanent nesting place. This is a luxury that few humans experience on this planet.

I am a resident of Toronto for the past 11 years now. I moved here from Calgary because back then I had a better opportunity. I was an aspiring pastry chef. I landed in pretty stable and well paid job. I've already noticed the changes in city a few years before the pandemic. The drug addiction and mental health problem were already quite evident as injection sites were popping up around the cities including public parks. Then the pademic happened, it exposes the cracks in our society, some people are becoming selfish and intolerant. I lost my job due to the pandemic, it was very traumatic, I developed severe anxiety/depression. Luckily, i had some savings when it all happened. Fastforward, I've been working in the last 2 years now but I can no longer find the same job and pay I used to have. Most companies are now more ruthless. They let go employees any minute as soon as they felt the business is slow. There's no more job security. The only reason why I am surviving is because I am living in the same apartment since i moved here. However, my new neighbours who just moved in are paying twice as much. I've been attempting to leave the city but that would mean that i would be paying at least twice of my current rent and there aren't much opportunities elesewhere. I honestly felt trapped in my current situation but I am still grateful that I am still better off than many people who are already living on the edge. Sadly, the situation is only getting worst according to many analysts. I think the country is at a breaking point in many aspects.

Trucking is a terrible industry to get into right now, especially as an owner operator, rates are way down and big companies are going out of business, thats what happens when the industry is flooded with new driver's, too many driver's chasing too little freight, $22000 a month before expenses, just fuel will be $15000, net will be a few thousand dollars after all expenses and tax, but i love your video's been watching you since i came to Calgary 5 year's ago

Im Canadian and I've lived in Calgary (4 hrs south of Edmonton), Lethbridge (5 hours south of Edmonton) and Toronto. I currently live west of Toronto. There's discrimination but it's not in your face so it's harder to find a job but I keep my head up, although it can be frustrating. I'm not going to refute the lady in the video's experience, but when I was living in Calgary, my experience was good. Since the Greater Toronto Area is multicultural, some people will ask where I'm from, but it gets a little annoying to explain where Trinidad is on a map.

I grew up in Calgary, two hours south. I've dealt with it on many levels, sometimes blatantly obvious, most times a series of micro aggressions that make you want to explode and destroy everything when it happens. As much pain it's caused over decades it's made me stronger as well as smarter. I will also say this and I can stress this enough, because of the demographics most of my friends are white and THEY HAVE MY BACK. in almost every aspect life will throw at me, they're ride or die people, I can say this with the utmost confidence The difference for me between Canada and the states is I'm not fighting alone if and when a situation comes up, there's people I can call if needed. Canada has it's issues no question and I could easily go ballistic when it happens to me or anyone I know, but we're not as bad as the states. I believe you can be heard.

Bro you come back to Canada.. MASHALLAH MASHALLAH... Am coming also to Canada calgary, please go to Calgary Alberta, so I will get helped, am from UAE, in about 3 or 4 months am moving and also say my Salam to Shaam idrees and froggy

Yeah, I moved from Calgary to the Philippines, so I get those reasons. I'm way happier here and the way things seem to keep going, Canada is becoming the most corrupt place. If you can, and it's something you are willing to do, I'd recommend finding the place that truly makes you happy to live in and enjoy life.

How is it going in Calgary so far? I once had to make a choice between AU & CA. I am glad I went for the latter. But Calgary, my home city now, is one of the best in the world with 333 days of sunshine?

I was born and raised on the east coast of Canada, lived in Vancouver and visited Montréal Edmonton, Calgary with the acception of Winnipeg I’ve seen every major city in Canada. \n\nI will always have pride for my country and love for my family there but it has changed dramatically since 2010.\n \nI will say the transportation in Canadian cities are better and so is the crime and the food but you have to drive a minimum of an hour to get anywhere outside the city, your not leaving that city without a car and good luck surviving without a car outside the city, and VIA rail is way overpriced. The GO train is nice though.\n\nLiving in America it has changed a lot since covid too though people are a lot more desperate and you can feel it but people are too prideful to admit, where in Canada people are struggling and they dress and look terrible and fail to dress nice because there is less prideful.\n\nCanadians are not nice people they are passive aggressive and will not got out of their way to help you most of the time (modern day) kind of like Californians.\nThe east coast Americans are rude and trashy but they will help you if you show respect. There just no fun to be around mostly ? overall North Americans are chauvinistic.\n\nJobs are harder to get in Canada and opportunity isn’t there, but it is very relaxed.\nAmerica is overcrowded and stressful especially for a Canadian.\nMontréal is cheap rent great food, and being personally bilingual I like the French, but there infrastructure is terrible and the people are depressed and disgustingly rude and they have no customer service.\n\nVancouver is overpriced in every way possible, beautiful city, great seafood but it’s not worth the price tag, you would be better of living in a San Francisco, the crime in Richmond and burnaby and new Westminster and hasting street is just as bad as San Francisco’s tenderloin.\n\nToronto is big and fun yet it doesn’t feel Canada at all, it feels like it’s been hijacked by American and foreign companies. It’s beautiful but lots of rats and bad traffic. People are relatively nicer there but it’s still expensive like New York.\nCalgary is very pretty probably my favorite, it’s just cold AF and kinda pricey. Probably perfect for families.\nEdmonton is flat and boring but I like it’s proximity to Calgary ?\nOverall it’s one of the best countries to live in the west but if you like fast paced, opportunity, diversity, traveling and are rich enough for elite education then come to America. Lastly Canada is a democracy so bills can be passed faster but that can also be a bad thing if you have a courrupt gov’t, cough cough trudeau.\nAmerica is a republic so it is harder to pass laws which can suck but it is also harder for people like uncle joe to overreach. Overall in America you are more free but in Canada you are more at peace. \n\nI’ve lived in America for six years and moved here at 20yrs so this is just my experience.

I’m dipping to Calgary soon. That city flows well, much better than the T. Already been there twice. Is I ain’t legit on paper west is the only option I can do. I would love to go the the states man. That would be dope. Some day.

I randomly looked at videos from downtown Manchester and Concord in New Hampshire - Philadelphia - Detroit - Chicago - New York - Baltimore - Denver - Atlanta - Nashville, and Knoxville in the United States, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and London in the UK, Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and Toulouse in France, Frankfurt, and Hamburg in Germany, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane in Australia, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka in Japan, Busan, Seoul, and Incheon in South Korea, Toronto - Quebec - Montreal - Winnipeg - Calgary - Vancouver - Victoria - Ottawa and Thunder Bay in Canada. we should be fair. The bitter truth must be accepted. Without any exaggeration. Completely impartial. I have to say that I didn't see a single piece of garbage in any of the other country's videos to convince myself. Without exaggeration, in all Canadian cities, you will find a piece of trash or garbage on the ground less than every hundred meters. It must have an important reason. I do not know. But this is a bitter truth. You can try. This country should be brought closer to its exaggerated claim. Certainly, some Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and even Malaysia are much cleaner compared to Canada. Of course, we should not forget that Canada claims to be one of the 10 cleanest countries in the world. And cities like Vancouver and Toronto claim to be one of the 5 cleanest cities in the world. I am 50 years old and from a country in the 3rd world in the Middle East called Iran (with the most dictatorial regime in the world) and have traveled to 26 countries. Canada is far from its claims. At this time I live in Saint-Sauveur with my family. I work 5 hours a week as a volunteer person to clean the sides of roads, streets, national parks, and public places in the city. I lived in Vancouver for 4 years, this city is a disaster. when you drive or walk on East Hastings, Victoria Drive, Commercial Drive, West Georgia, Broadway, Main Street, Granville, and most places downtown, you never believe this city is in Canada. they're worst than some places in Africa or the 3rd world countries in Asia. I love this country and try my best to help. I came for peace. I thought Canada is a developed and first-world country like European countries, the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, News Land, and Singapore with the western standard, and also I thought is one of the best. The first time 2018 I arrived in Vancouver, I was shocked. I saw a lot of homelessness, trash, crime, ugly urbanism, and rusty houses in downtown and east Vancouver. I saw, homeless people, pooping and peeing everywhere and it's so common. nobody cares. I was shocked again. I endured for 3 years but every day going worst. late in 2022I decided to move to the east coast because I thought that place has a stronger culture. I chose Montreal. I had heard it is the capital of art and civilization in Canada. it was absolutely wrong. Canada is Canada. I was shocked again, again, and again. the wave of homelessness, graffiti, vandalism, bad smell, terrible infrastructure especially roads in or out of the city, and above all, you can see trash everywhere. plastic bags, tissues, water bottles, and disposable cups. You cannot see any street or park or public place without these. This is impossible. surprisingly nobody cares. neither the people nor the government!!!!!!! please, don't be fooled by the advertisement about a good Canada. please, be careful. most of the things about a good Canada are deception.

Hi G Singh I am born in the UK what to do to go to Canada and it’s worth it. \nI find the battle to survive how can you as of the right to settle in Canada without the high fees and being to express myself it’s the extremely expensive and how can you settle down there. I feel the extremely expensive and the cost of living there \nWhy is it too expensive and the house to live in. It’s took extremely ex can try. I like to settle there in Calgary it’s a very difficult situation to settle if you have no money. The fees are too expensive but have hope. Too expensive for me the expensive taxes prices and too high. What can I do now ? It’s very extremely expensive and can you get the visas on line too expensive for me Singh Baha’i ok \nOk the fees are too high and I live in the UK. What’s the main fees. There’s too much money have to pay ok. \nCan it be cheaper or not. I want my residence permit or the level of it. \nOk the visas and pay the taxes. This is too high for me. What else can I do. ?\nI like to settle there. It’s very very expensive and can you get the money back. am I too old and PR. Can I settle \ndown the cost of living too high. How can you. Ok Singh well in the UK. Ok need the visas to travel. The cost of living is too high ok. Thanks for the update. Thanks G Singh.

Hello Igor. Awesome video. I am a Canadian citizen, and will soon be moving to Calgary from Vancouver, but currently in Pakistan for a short while on business. I am going to be meeting you when I get there to Calgary to discuss some business ideas. I have bought an under-construction house in Calgary

I was born and raised in Canada. My family immigrated in the 70s. Growing up I was proud to be Canadian but after living in other parts of the world I can tell you, Canada isn't it! \n\nFirstly our Prime Minister is a puppet he works for the Commonwealth and whatever they say goes, they profit off all of your hard work. \nThey keep you sick so you rely on the health care system. Medicate you instead of solving the problem. Doctors are exhausted, rude and over worked, emergency rooms are a disaster and if you book an appointment to see your doctor...be sure you're waiting at least a week. If you go to a walk in clinic you risk getting a doctor that seems like they paid for a fake degree.\n\nYou know when you go to a mall in one town and then hear about a mall in another town that has really cool different things??? Ya, not here! Everything is monopolized! Same stores everywhere you go. there's a mall in Toronto called Vaughn Mills mall, when I was in Calgary they have an exact replica just a different name. Small businesses are hard to keep because everything is so expensive. There needs to be more indoor things for people to do in the winter. \n\nWhoever said Canadians are polite, has never been to Alberta!!!! I've never experienced racism in my life like I did out west, not just Alberta but also Northwest Territories and Manitoba. \n\nOn top of that they want everyone to be gay and not believe in God, they push the agenda so hard in the schools, they institutionalize and confuse your kids. If you believe anything different they literally hate you. The children are hypersexualized...teenage girls looking like they're 30 year old drag queens. They bully kids so badly in school, especially boys. Parents have no time to get involved because they're busying working multiple jobs to pay for their 4000 dollar mortgage, husband and wife barely see each other. And because they're not involved the children have no respect for their elders or teachers. the teachers don't care to get involved like they used to because everything's a liability...a problem. We had a 13 year old girl call a male teacher a pedophile for pushing a little girl on the swing. He quit on the spot, because now he's worried for his career. Kids have no shame anymore. \n\nIF YOU WANT QUALITY OVER QUANTITY (WHICH YOU MIGHT NEVER GET), DON'T COME HERE! or, Come here and send all your money home but don't educate your kids here unless you have enough money to put them in private schools and there are good private schools. If the only thing you want out of your life is freedom, freedom to just be left alone and no one hounding you...you like being alone. Then, that you can have here. \n\nIf you are from a colonized country we are all slaves to the system!

I moved from Ireland to Calgary Alberta in June 2015 with a hope of living there permanently. I became poorer there…I kept hearing the voice of God telling me to go back to Ireland. June 2016, I came back to Ireland and am grateful to Jesus for directing my steps. I love Ireland and it’s been 6years I left Canada and I don’t wish to go back to.

First of all I'm guessing you are in Toronto or Vancouver or Calgary maybe Montreal, The most expensive places in Canada to Live for sure. I live in Manitoba where the cost of living is pretty close to the cheapest in Canada. Yes minimum wage is $11.95 and apparently going up shortly. I totally agree with you about being taxed to death and the only reason Trudeau legalized pot was for another way to get more tax dollars. I wonder how the pot-heads feel about him now. Free health care you mentioned waiting 8 hours in emergency but you failed to mention if you need to see a specialist your talking months and you'll probably die first. As far as Canada being boring, where have you been? Being bored is a choice, I've lived here my whole life I'm never bored. Having said that I am retiring in Thailand where I can afford to retire. If I stay her I cannot retire. My take away from your video is if you don't know about this issues of living in Canada, you didn't do your research. So those of you looking into Canada as an option to live and work listen to these ladies because it's 95% true.\nBTW your comments about earning more in the USA, wrong! On average the min. Wage in the USA is $7.50 US Funds a few states are better but states like New York and California where the min. wage is higher it also cost a fortune to live there. \n$7.50 US Funds = $9.80 Canadian Average Min. wage is 0ver $13.50 CDN Funds = $10.33 USD

lol Quebec oh give it a break. Nobody moves to Quebec willingly only people who move to Quebec are new Canadian refugees they leave soon after. It 's a high tax high corruption province. Ask any Canadian\n Quebec would rank near the bottom . If you are going to live in Canuckistan , Alberta specifically the Calgary area is the best place to live with the brightest future.

It takes me 3 months to get a doctor appointment in the US here in Seattle and I was just told several months to see my eye doctor. Depending on medical plan the insurance means you do not go to the specialist without a referral. So Canadians may not have as much to complain about. My parents were immigrants to Canada because it was easier (my father was in Danish Merchant Marine and was in China Sea when his appointment would come up in New York). They did not have it easy because they did not speak the language and worked hard to learn. Working as a housekeeper was the norm for females and my mother's education meant nothing when she expected to work in a bank. Danes stuck together and helped each other to get jobs, with carpentry (most had apprenticeships like brick laying), to socialize, etc. and this is normal for immigrants. Working multiple jobs was normal and having a great home was their American dream instead of a government apartment. It is true for all immigrants that their kids will do better than the parents. The kids will have no accent if they learn English by age 12. There are age cutoffs on learning a language in child development. During the hiring process the jobs are given to people the interviewer perceives as being like themselves. This is proven by psychologists (I am one). This puts immigrants at a disadvantage unless they have a rare skill without competition. Dad got his house and Mom took my sister and went back to Denmark because of health issues and the US has garbage medical care and social services for the elderly (poor sister didn't speak Danish because it wasn't allowed in case it impacted our English skill). As a daughter of immigrants I worked 20 hours days and weekends almost all my life. I put myself through school and have been successful despite being female and making much less than men. Immigrants need to realize that it will be their kids who make the big bucks and succeed while the parents who immigrated will struggle. As a cultural mix (US, Canadian and Danish citizen because of wacky sexist rules) I have had a lot of confusion over the years trying to fit in and figure out what my values are. I have had to ask my US husband is that behavior normal? Of course different states in the US or going 200 miles north to Canada means a different language to speak (Canadian or Spanish in the South) and different values, ways of dress, etc. so being an immigrant can mean just traveling 200 miles north or to an insane state like Texas or New York. Culture shock is everywhere but most of us move for the money. I am thinking of going back to Canada but my home was Vancouver and that now looks like a hell hole. My husband had over a million dollars in medical care and I really do not wish to lose all my assets to medical costs in the US. So now I am trying to choose between death by earthquake in BC somewhere or death by tornado or perhaps fire storm in Calgary due to climate change.

I'm from Quebec and moved to Alberta and I agree it could be a great province to live in, except if your job is in Montreal and you want to commute. The traffic of Montreal is horrible, even worse than Toronto's. The healthcare and education systems of Quebec are also inferior to Alberta, BC and Ontario because of the very heavy bureaucracy. Oh and heavy bureaucracy = Higher taxes than elsewhere in the country. But Quebec has a good quality of life in general because of its low cost of living in general and its strict controls on rent, car insurance and electricity prices, which prevent these from going up by too much. People tend to benefit from more government protections towards abusive businesses in Quebec than elsewhere in the country. Quebec also has cheaper beer, but wine and spirits are cheaper in Alberta. That province also doesn't have a lawsuit culture because of its no-fault rules in many aspects (For ex: You cannot be sued for causing a car accident or failing to clear snow from your driveway.) Alberta is more boring (At least, Edmonton. Calgary looks very cool.), but has better public services and better economic potential than Quebec. It's better in my opinion to raise a family in Alberta. And many people think you can move to Quebec without knowing French. That's false, except if you really wanna hate your time in Quebec. In terms of the climate, Quebec has a milder climate than Alberta but has more snow and their summers are very damp, while Alberta has more comfortable and dry summers. Owning an A/C is imperative in Quebec.

I'm been here in Calgary Alberta for almost 26 years to be honest I'm really sick and tired and bored of this place but we have no choice our home country isn't safe if it was safe I would have left long time ago Canada is beautfuil place to be but dont look at the beauty if your life is depressing here back home is the best way to go. if you have lots of money and enjoy it there since is cheaper people in canada work like dogs it's really upsetting

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.

It's so funny for international media, Canada - Toronto .. there is so much more to Canada then just Toronto ! .. Ohh yeah you will say Montreal but still Toronto and Montreal is only 10% Canada ... If you want to see real beautiful Canada go west to places like Vancouver, Banff Calgary,. Whistler .. beautiful serene mountains and wilderness or even far east to the Maritimes .. Toronto is nothing but a flat concrete jungle !!!!

I had an issue in a Calgary Shoppers but I'm not one to stay quiet. I tweeted head office and they called me the next day. I don't know if they changed policies but I haven't been followed since and I go into Shoppers across the country. Then again, I am rarely in Regina and avoid it like the plague.

Often immigrants come here with family and we don’t have much money saved so can’t afford to go back to school so construction is a good way to go, I came almost 4 yrs ago and i started with a steel and stud company starting with 20/hr now from the last two yrs working as a Plant Operator with INLAND CONCRETE making 34/hr with union... Calgary is the place to be if you’re willing to do what it takes and improve your resume as much as you can..

I was born in Seattle and left to Canada (married) when I was in early 20's!  This then was a good change for me as Vancouver was a great city compared to Seattle, moved right downtown and had a blast so for a young person (then) was great.  Met some great people from all over the world and had health care, medical/Dental etc.... I worked in the greater Vancouver area for 8 years and it was tough, very strict, and did not help that I was from the states, white bread Canadian seemed a bit jealous that I was there, sometimes not very friendly.  The Europeans I met were actually better to deal with and I got along quite well with them.  The cost of living was about the same as in Seattle.  After about 8 years being in Canada and working hard I saw America booming and the Canadian dollar was as low as $.62 cents (in late 90's) so I took my craft from Vancouver and brought it to the US just across the border, I became much happier working in the States, I took a little bit of bs but not bad from some that I had a Canadian accent (go figure when I moved up there I had a twang) I really never left the united states I will always be American and I have been still working in the US for over 20 years and deal with mainly Americans on a daily basis from all over the State of Washington.  Depending on where you grow up or end up you should never see a border Seattle and Vancouver have more in common than Vancouver / Calgary in fact most Canadians don't care much for the other provinces.  After 30 years of being part of both countries, I can say that people are people both have great offerings and if you took the best of Canada and America to combine then we would all prosper, there is so much both can learn from each other.  Bottom line:I take the best of both worlds and what they have to offer, yes, I have found less expensive goods in Canada than what they cost in the states.  I have seen it from both eyes, and if you cant be open culturally then stay away.

ha! go to calgary for a day...