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Canada is what you make of it. You can arrive rich and end up poor and you can arrive poor and end up rich. In between that, you can have a great life that balances your needs. I’ve seen immigrants succeed simply because they see the opportunity in front of them . They worked hard in their own counties to stay just above the poverty line ,but when they apply that same effort here it pays off ten times greater. I feel that compared to a lot of immigrants, natural born Canadians come across as spoiled and a little lazy…we are. We haven’t had to struggle the same way someone from a poorer country might have. I’ve talked to people who’ve worked ten to twelve hours a day just to stay afloat. If you did that here you could make plenty of money to live and have some left over. As far as owning a house goes,yes it’s expensive . I feel that homeownership in any country is relatively expensive. Here is a tip; use that soaring home prices to your advantage. Houses are expensive but you can make a lot of money buying and selling. I recommend putting together a buyers group and share the house for a few years, then sell at a profit, buy a bigger house or two smaller houses.try to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and fix it up slowly . That house could double in value in five or six years in the Toronto market. This is nothing new of course ,the people from India and China seem to do this a lot here ,it drives up prices and profits. On the downside to this ,you are now part of the problem. As the housing prices are driven up the non wealthy can no longer afford to own a house . They are at the mercy of high rents with no rewards of ownership. They are caught in a cycle of hard work and (relative)poverty. This could also be you if you can’t keep up the house payments and are forced to rent.\nHow well you speak English is important but your native language is also useful here because Canada is half immigrants . As a Canadian that speaks only english (Irish descent)I have to say to all newcomers that I’m very impressed that you have learned a new language and that you may even speak more than two! Don’t be embarrassed about your abilities . I find that in my experience , Canadians do not look down on people just because they don’t know English. In fact ,I’ve known people that have lived here for decades and still know very little English. They are comfortable in their communities and they function just fine. Learn as much English as suits your needs and be proud of any gains you make.\nOutside of Toronto are other cities that you might consider when looking at southern Ontario.From my experience,most are generally the same, just not as big . There are large immigrant communities in London Ontario, Hamilton and just outside of Toronto where housing is just a little bit less expensive but the commute to work is probably longer. This is just my opinion but in the small towns there are less people of colour , (which is what people of no colour call everyone else . I wonder if I’m called a person of no colour in some other culture ? LoL ). That might make it harder for you to feel integrated ,if that’s what you want. I’m not saying that people from other cultures can’t make it in a small town , I’m just saying that it’s definitely not Toronto . Here, people of any nationality can feel like they have a place where they can belong . It seems that no matter where you are from ,there is a community already here that’s set up restaurants and stores and clothing shops and newcomer support systems. And if your from Portugal or China or India or Africa or the Middle East, there are large groups of your kin here that have established roots for generations and you probably know this already.\nToronto means meeting place and that becomes evident quickly. I was born here and it’s one of the things I love the most about my city. I’m not going to say that there isn’t systemic racism here ,the people of no colour still kind of keep the top position , but as we become a minority in a decade or so ,I hope that will shift to a broader spectrum. It’s certainly happening already. One good thing is that the police department tries to hire people of colour so that racialism may play a smaller role. We’re getting used to seeing our politicians more and more reflect their constituents.\nI have to talk about the weather. Because I’m from here I’m used to the extremes of minus thirty and plus thirty . Eventually you get used to it (somewhat). Dressing in the right clothes is important. Summer is easy , but winter is different. It’s trying to kill you. Spend the most that you can afford on winter cloths . If you can afford a quality parka you should get one. The hood can be drawn around the face and stay out of the wind.\nIf not ,think of layers with a outer layer that blocks the wind. We have things called long Johns that are basically full length thick cotton or nylon pants that go on under your pants and a pair of extra thick socks. Buy your boots to fit your thick socks. Try to get the best boots you can afford ,it’s something that you might spend a little extra for but never regret.\nAll in all we are a fairly organized and peaceful society. Most people are friendly and will give you a chance . We have a good social safety net here and you don’t have to be homeless or starving if you don’t want to. There are people and organizations set up to help ,that truly try to get people back on their feet. It’s a good investment that pays off in ways that matter for the quality of life in a big city. I’m not putting my American neighbours down when I say they do things differently. They have their ways ,we have ours. This is just something that we do because we’re trying to learn how to help those that society has discarded or can’t find their place. Sure we have one or two areas where the homeless have pitched tents and we have some resources for them if they want. Unfortunately The mayor recently forced a small camp to move from a very visible place to more scattered locations. There were social workers involved as well as protesters trying to protect them. I didn’t like that happening and I want to see even more resources dedicated to them ,but on the other hand ,we are trying to avoid something like what happens on the streets when it’s just ignored. When I see YouTube videos of the streets of Philadelphia I’m extremely saddened. I thank the lucky stars that I was born in Toronto Canada.\nFor all it’s pollution and expense and crowds ,I think it’s a great place to do almost anything your heart desires . For every ugly building there is a beautiful park ,for every honked horn there is a birds call , for every cold and dark day there is beautiful sunny one around the corner.

I hate seeing this in Canada. What happened? We used to be proud to be open and welcoming to people from other countries and religions. Canada is becoming like America. How sameful. No more Canada the good.

I used to say i was a Proud Canadian.. I can't say that anymore because i'm not at all Proud Of The Canada That Is Being Uncovered and SEEN. Larry A Boyd..plz visit my FaceBook. Thankyou Marketplace for always informative and insightful thought provoking and hopefully ACTION initiating articles... INDIFFERENCE IS THE WORST EVIL ONE PEOPLE ONE WORLD NO BORDERS NO DIVISIONS ALL LIVES MATTER EQUALLY

Black people need to know  about  African History not European  Culture ,    let me give u  a little  about   African  History , this  for Blacks in Canada ,  America and blacks  all over the world ,   Heres  history   About our people ,    thousands years ago on the continent of Africa ,  theres was place called Ancient Egypt ,  Egypt  was birth place of math, Science,  Philososphy,  and more ,   when Greeks , like Alaxander  came  to Egypt , he study the culture of Egyptians ,  and   Greek Philosopher like  Plato  and  other Greek Philosophers who study  for over 20 to 30 years  in  Ancient Egypt,   so Greeks stole knowledge  from  from the  Ancient  Egypt .   all the letters and words didn't come  Greece ,    the Greeks stole  it   from Egypt  ,   the greeks would put their stamp on their books , so you would think that Greeks    came up    with the Knowledge , but they  didn't  , it was Ancient  Egyptians .   Ancient Egypt is been around  10 to 20 thousands  years  before Greece and Rome ,  there was no other kingdom like  Ancient  Egypt ,    many people  from different  culture  came  to Study in Egypt , before Greece and Rome   snd Arabs and Europeans .    Africa was the light of the world .    everything that  we use today like  math, Science,  letters, and words  that we use come  from  Ancient  Egypt , so black people should  feel proud of   where they   come from  ,

These people are used to do dirty tactics for money, it seems that they are proud of doing lies and scam

growing up in canada, i felt left out in the blk community b/c i am a 5th generation blk cdn on mom's side and 3rd on my dad's - when other black ppl not canadian born met me - i tell them i'm cdn, but i always used to get the question - where are you really from - they were looking for me to say the islands - when i told them my paternal grandma was born in 1901 in canada - that's when the questions stopped. i've been told that b/c i wasn't from the islands, i had no culture in college, but a mbr of the black student society put him in his place i heard he got into a lot of trouble. i was asked what do we eat as in food as canadians what kind of music do we listen to - at our blk canadian weddings, the only carribean song played was hot hot hot by arrow - we played straight up r and b and motown. i hv been rejected by other blk men b/c i'm not west indian enough...it was hurtful. even with 'friends' they made of my cdn heritage but i used to think, why are you making fun of me knowing that my family and ancestors were in canada first - they were 1st generation - i live in the usa now and i'm with an african american man - he has never treated me as if i were different and he loves going w/me to canada. my parents told me it was jealousy on those ppl's parts - one guy i used to be friends with in college, when i went to his house, his mom was from the islands, when she met me - she said, 'you cdn ppl are loud' and that did it for me - i didn't date her son but when he met my parents, they never said any of that crap to him. in the usa, the african americans don't treat differently at all - my ex mom in law thought we were american but decided to live in canada - b/c she was surprised that blacks do live in canada. her other daughter in law's family were from the islands - but she gravitated more to my family and felt comfortable around them more than her family and this ex sis in law would brag about the islands this and that and she would make comments about my looks being skinny and such but it was jealousy - i didn't care much for her b/c she was very insecure. i felt once again, i was a young girl in college again - being around island ppl....i would love to meet drake and ask him did he feel left out and isolated because he wasn't from the islands - he makes me very proud being a blk canadian - his dad is african american and his mom is jewish. i still hv dealt w/racism not much with wht ppl, but with my own ppl - which is quite sad and on top of it-colorism, that also played a part from my family - being called pygmy, chocolate dip, nappy hair - it hurt but these so called relatives, they aren't all that anymore, they had hard lives as children...when ppl see something in you that is special and they don't have, that's when their ugliness shows -

Problem not in Islam or in Christianity, problem not because you are Muslim or Christian, problem because of your ego and your blind mind and the evil inside you that pushing you to hate others , leave everyone to his faith and try to be example and a model inspiring people to love each other, what is the use when you tell me Quran said or bible said and you are a hater and spreading hate and violence among humanity, I am proud to be Muslim and I am more proud when I have Christian neighbour asking me for help and I help them every year to put their Xmas light in their house and share them their joy and happiness, I actually bought some lights and gave it to them as a gift , I invite them to my house and they do the same , problem not in religion, the problem is you haters , even if all the humanity become one religion, do you think all our problems solved?! No absolutely no , it's the nature of human been, fix yourself first before you try to fix others