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2023-12-15 1
This story is very true. I came to Canada when i was 10. Was raised in Canada and life was great. All that changed in the last 10 years. Everything is sooo expensive you have to cut back on leisure activities that you need to keep your mind healthy after a long work week. All i did was work long hours for the necessities for me and my family. After a long conversation about a year ago with my wife, we decided to move back to Portugal (I have dual citizenship). We moved this past summer and couldnt be happier. Life here is much more laid back and you are not charged to do the simple leisure activities like going to a provincial park. Food is cheaper, housing is cheaper, insurance is cheaper and weather is 100x better. No more having to hibernate at home in the winters. Only thing i found more expensive here was electronics and fuel. Something needs to change in Canada.
2023-12-12 0
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.
2023-12-08 1
I am Canadian and I like my country, but . . . \nIn the past few years food prices have gone up by 50%, rent also by 50%, and utilities too, my wage on the other hand increased by only about 10%. So yea there is a big economic problem. I am effectively more poor than I was in 2019.
2023-11-29 0
Technically, I'm an immigrant from the US, but I came on family sponsorship. I'm a permanent resident living in a northern coastal town of about 10,000 residents with a few hundred or more camp workers at any given time. The East Indians have come in hoardes the past couple of years. Domino's opened up in town, and suddenly, there were tons more again. They've taken over several of the food chains and other businesses. Some of them are nice, but the cultural difference (not that Canada has much culture) to North America is vast. Needless to say, my wife and I are planning our escape back to the US.... and she was born here.
2023-11-28 0
Sad but what destroyed Canada is the rapid immigration to this great country. Over the past 10 years, I've seen Asians, black Caribbeans of all kinds flocked into this great country to destroy it. I hope that the continual worsening economic conditions in Canada will deter immigrants to choose Canada as their future home. There are far better countries to live than Canada.
2023-11-19 0
I'm not Indian, I'm indigenous from Canada and I grew up in Vancouver, where the population is mostly from Asia. Being surrounded by people of asian descent is very normal for me. I don't expect anyone to assimilate and lose their culture to exist here. I knew we had a large population of Sikhs here but I didn't think it was nearly as many as in India... and now I find out there are more sikhs here than in India. Amazing. I also didn't know we had so many Sikhs in parliament, let alone Indians. My school is mostly Indian and everyone I talk to has come from Punjab. Everyone seems to love it here, and the school is in the middle of little Punjab so I've been told by my classmates it is the perfect place for the students who are homesick because they are surrounded by their community. I rarely hear English when I walk down the halls, there is even a course to learn to speak Punjabi, which I want to take so I can talk to the students who don't speak English as well. We have many large gurdwaras, and one near me I've eaten langar almost everyday for the past 10 years. Most people here know Sikhs to be very generous and humble. It was a shock to me when I heard the president of Guru Nanak Gurdwara was shot, because I believed Sikhs to be very kind and peaceful, and the gurdwara has a very good reputation as they take lots of food into Vancouver and feed the homeless. They even opened a kitchen in the DTES during the pandemic to be able to have food available to the people immediately. No one else did anything like that. They delivered a lot of food. Now they have an auxiliary kitchen in the DTES permanently that serves free meals. I thought more news would come out of the shooting but it seemed quiet for a bit until Trudeau accused the Indian government of the attack. This news also shocked me, so I decided to start looking into it slowly. I couldn't really get a good idea of what was going on until I searched a video for Diwali and your videos came up. I will share it with my husband so he can be educated on the matter as well. Thank you for your diligent research and dissemination of important knowledge.
2023-11-02 0
The housing pricing in Canada are pretty insane. The value of my 900 SF condo in Victoria has doubled in the past 10 years. I don't know how anyone gets into the market today when you add in inflation for regular goods over the past couple years. I know it's become a hot button in parliament of late, and the government seems to be trying to spearhead more housing, but they are pretty late.\n\nI'm also a little surprised that a majority of conservatives don't think the immigration levels are too high. But I suspect that has gone down of late with the said housing issues. More skilled workers is better for Canada overall, and will generally drag wages up, but housing has to keep pace so costs don't escalate more than wages.
2023-10-29 0
Its funny when people talk about the quality of Canadian health care. For example, BC Cancer is one of the best in the world. Canada is on the cutting edge of many health care procedures. Yes, its hard to get a primary care physician but that is because the US is throwing enormous amounts of cash at Canadian doctors and nurses. Canada still keeps up pretty darn well especially when considering Canada has only a FRACTION of the US population and much fewer resources and funds available. My family has never suffered from our health care system in the past 60 years. 1 family member had a quadruple bypass - no bills 2) cancer - no bills 3) emergency c-section w air transport to city 400 mils away - $360 for air ambulance 4) emergency appendectomy - no bills 5) Heart atttack w stint - no bill 6) MRI and CATscans - No bills 6) 3 ADHD diagnosis w mental health care support - no bills 7) industrial accident with crushed hand - no bills 8) Electrical accident with burns throughout body - no bills 9) burns from an oil fire - no bills 10) fall into fire pit w subsequent 3rd degree burns on leg - no bills 11) leg amputation from type 1 diabetes - no bills. And then there are all the little things that happen day to day. In each event, we received top notch care and services. So, you might earn more in the US but we save more in Canada and very few suffer from it. A lot of complaints? Most bad experiences are shared whereas positive ones are not. I think if people on both sides really looked, the US health care fails many more people per capital on a daily basis than in Canada. US insurers are known to abandoned people when they become overly expensive and its not unusual to not have choices in drugs or care options.
2023-09-13 0
Do we have a government in office? And I aint talking about just just President Biden cause hes d*** show not doing his job, but the republicans and the democrats. You all need to address this border. S***, this is going on too long. It's time to shut that s*** down. Making people turn their a**** around and go home and end about 10 million of the ones that already got through over the past 10 years need to round all day a**** up and send them back as well. And then I have to get through sending him back. There's another 30 million that's over here illegally. And it's not okay, it's making it hard for the Americans that has to live here. And it's not right to the taxpayers that work hard every day. Yeah, you illegal aliens. Ya'll might get over here and take a job from someone else. And yeah, Uncle Sam, take taxes out of your check. But you still, you're taken from other Americans, it's not right. It's time to go back, what's wrong? It's not my fault, and it's not our fault. What's wrong is the same thing? That's wrong, and our government is wrong in your government. Corruption corruption kills so corruption need to be killed. One way or another to have a better country and a better government. You have to rude out the poison.
2023-08-31 0
Comments from a Canadian. Homeless people are generally concentrated in the larger cities but in the past few years it has become a real problem. It is a real problem for the people when the temperature drops to -30C. Mental wellness is a huge issue. The racism issue is mainly against the indigenous. The doctor migration to the US is a money thing, not better conditions. Getting a family doctor is easy in some places and difficult in others, generally in rural communities. Getting a reference to a specialist is not an issue and I believe this may be a doctor specific issue. If your GP does not refer you, ER will take care of you. The issue with referrals is the triage system that may result in a longer wait to see the specialist. This is in contrast to the US where one can see a specialist very quickly, if one has insurance. In Canada, every citizen and legal resident has the ability to receive medical care as covered by the provincial medical systems which differs from province to province. Many doctors are now offering online communication with your GP and specialist. Your finance comments are inaccurate. There are 5 nation wide banks but there are also nation wide credit unions and provincial banks which in my opinion these tend to offer better service than the big 5 (exclude National Bank, which is big bank but more investment focused). Cell carrier monopolies is a real issue. Cell carriers are recently offering unlimited data, no long distance to the US, etc. Other countries have a definite advantage here. The government has enabled conditions for a new carrier a few times but eventually, these smaller carriers get swallowed up by the big national carriers. More recently Rogers bought out Shaw which limits our choices further. Sales tax is not always 10-15%. In Alberta the sales tax is 5%. Passing courses and evaluations ensures there are standards which is a good thing. Would you want a Civil Engineer designing a road or bridge that is not suitable for the climate? How about a doctor with questionable credentials? Agree with your recommendations for hiring. It is expensive to hire and train a new employee but can be much more expensive to fire an employee. Agree with the housing crisis comments and the reasons. Getting an absent owner to fix a property? This is crazy inaccurate. Multi-dwelling properties have property managers paid to look after the properties regardless of who owns it. While on the average, foreign investment may not seem to contribute to property prices, this is not the case when looking a the local sectors of the big two - Toronto and Vancouver. There was a case in Vancouver where a property with a shack sold for over $1MM. This is not because the house price was unrealistic, but because of the property location and perceived property value. This is a direct result of foreign investment in houses in the Vancouver area resulting in a lack of properties. Many of these foreign owned single family investment properties remain empty most of the year. Another big issue in many Canadian municipalities is the lack of building code enforcement. The laws are in place but not always enforced.
2023-07-31 1
Yeah, 8 years ago only the poor were living on the streets of Toronto. \n'The key driver of homelessness in Toronto is the economy and the housing market. Rental costs have increased dramatically over the past 10 years and a lack of affordable housing has increased to record high numbers.'\nBasically what this fellow is doing is taking a complex issue and telling you to be mad at the liberals and Trudeau. \nSeriously, weren't the last 4 mayors of Toronto all conservatives.\nGees Poilievre. don't you think that maybe they could have fixed the homeless problem when they were mayor? of course I am not including Olivia Chow as she just became Mayor.
2023-07-16 0
I used to spent a lot of time in the U.S. as a child with my parents because they had family there. As an adult I went on vacation to Disney World, Las Vegas, Washington DC, etc. We would go across the border for day trips to shop but not anymore. I do not recognize the U.S I used to know, it's gone crazy in the past 10 years or so and I'm afraid to go there now.
2023-07-16 0
I had considered it once, about 25 years ago. I had friends to move to and everything, but my mother's cancer came back and I decided not to. I think it would have been fine in the past but given the circumstances that have evolved over the last 10 years - no, not to live. There are tons of beautiful and interesting places to visit in the US and I love visiting my friends. There are also tons of nice people in the US, but no, I would never move there.
2023-07-04 0
Hi there, first of all, thanks for such an informative video. I do have one question.\n\nMy father is a businessman but in the Work/activities history where we have to give the details of all your employment and activities for the past 10 years, I didn't find any job title as business or self-employed. I have selected Business, finance, and administration occupation in Work/activities. I don't find any job title. \n\nCan you please suggest what should be in there?
2023-03-25 0
i live in Montreal and i was informed last week that my doctor of the past 15 years ,at my clinic in Montreal , will only take care of these asylum migrants. ... I am a candian citizen , born and raised in Quebec , i have been paying my taxes for the past 10 years in Canada and my ancestors have been living here for the past 450 years.. All these people have access to a doctor for free , not me anymore. About 45,000 arrived inMontreal in 2022 and only 5, 000 transferred to Ontario and maritimes . So still more 40, 000 in Monttreal and those who crossed since the beginning of this year.
2023-03-10 0
F CANADA, im in BC canada on disability for life due to immune system problems. past 10 years ive tride getting healthy and started feeling good, i found a good job last summer, making 29$ hr full time! i was very excited and ready to move on in life from the system, 3 months into it, i start doing the math... im losing 22% off each check for taxes twice per month + union dues, + they charging me for cleaning service for my uniform 5$ per check THEN i pay 12% tax on all good i buy.. SO im losing almost 40% of my monthly income after fees and taxes... NOW im working so i need a car to be at work on taime daily.... this is another 15-20% monthly expense.. YEAHHH RIGHT i am not working myself to the bone to work just to be as POOR as i was on Disability. i quit the job as soon as i paid off the car, sold the car now im my own boss again , i have no need for a clock, i sleep until i want, eat when i want, and go where i want 7 days a week. You have to be a total FOOL to work in this country with these amount of fees and taxes, and please dont say taxes are high becuase of the 2% on welfare, take a look at the BILLIONS of dollars your foolish leader Trudeau is giving to Ukriane.
2023-02-23 0
This country is shit. Born here, over 50 years ago, and having lived and travelled around much of the world, I see that this place has deteriorated so much in the past 5 to 10 years. I dont recognize the place anymore. People here are sheep, foolish, and overly welcoming to people who provide nothing to the country. the government steals from anyone who works. Want to see a reprise of communism? come here. where else do you get a Crime minister openly supporting the burning of churches and stealing peoples money for protesting for true democracy?
2022-12-23 0
This video is spot on! My parents and I immigrated to Canada when I was in high school and I loved it at the time. My parents always complained about work and money and wanted to go back to India but I didn't understand why they were so negative. After I started working, I moved to the US to pursue more work opportunities and now I have been living here for the past 10 years. I always consider moving back to Canada since my family and friends are there. However, I don't see myself doing so for some of the reasons you mentioned in the video: high cost of living, overwhelmed health care, and the cities are a bit boring for living or traveling. The US is by no means perfect and has a lot of the same issues that Canada does (high cost of living, taxes, healthcare) and its own set of problems (crime, uneven school quality, political divides). However, for the time being it's a better fit for me which is why I continue to stay here. Ultimately I feel that everyone's experience is a bit different and they have to go through their own priorities to figure out if a move to Canada makes sense. This video is super helpful in providing context for people who are considering moving though!
2022-12-23 0
what if both parents have retired for the past 10 years, what information needs to be filled in the working/employment information sector ?
2022-12-11 0
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!
2022-09-16 0
All of things that you mentioned are true and all of them have drastically changed in the past 4 to 10 years with increased immigration. Smaller communities have had prices go up to 3 to 4 times what they were 6 years ago. Growing up here, prices were much lower - there was so much to do - cultural community activities were so much fun. Many Canadians can't go back to their home communities now because the prices have gone up so much. Many Canadians also want to be with their family and friends and not in a home - and do. We travelled all over North America when I was a child, and it was much easier to do then. In summary, I think that many of these things are very recent changes.
2022-08-01 0
Being someone that has travelled the world there is no country better then another but.... The cost of living and stuff in Canada yes it's high but we are in a recession ? the housing market has changed jn the past 10 years... It's hard for anyone not just immigrants.. The thing about having experience in a country and not being able to transfer it, there's a reason for that there are plenty of country's that have alot. Of corruption most places u can get fake degrees by paying enough money ;) Indonesia is a big one and we have alot of immigrants coming from there... Imo ca t really blame. Canada for. Any of this, it also depends were you move in Canada,. My hometown is extremely friendly with Imigrants...
2022-04-05 0
I have a question, if an undocumented alien living in USA want to go to Canada is there any way it can be done, I ask because it seems you need to give proof of residency on the country you have been the past 10 years, but how is that possible in that situation?
2021-06-26 0
I do not mean to be negative here but anyone of you who is well settled outside Canada, don't come to Canada!, unless you want to do labor work. I know people who have done Masters in Software engineering are working in a Pizza shops. If there is one job opening there are 10 thousand applicants for the same job. Companies showing fake jobs to satisfy govt. pressures. Automated refusals replies of your job applications are common.\n People get hired on sources and within companies. Racism exists, results are killings every now and then. Go and watch news channels like CP24. Thieves are here. Things do get stolen. Recently mass graves are found near schools in multiple areas of small children of indigenous people who were tortured and killed by white supremacy in the past. Recently a whole family is killed by a maniac. No capital punishments so killers, rapists walks free after 10-15 years tops.\n\nAshir sahib is being a little dramatic. I guess the agony of Pakistani bureaucracy has influenced him so negatively that in his mind he is comparing Pakistani life with Canadian life. He himself was driving truck initially. may be now a days retired or staying home or may have sufficient funds. But don't get too excited with his kind words. He is only showing the good side of Canada in some sort of excitement. \nThe bitter truth is that unemployment rate is too high here. Govt hides the truth. They couldn't even handle the pandemic properly. Alcohol is cheap marihuana (Hashish, Charas) is legal now. Every 3rd person is smoking weed. Drunk drivers kills innocents on roads often. Every region have different rules and regulations and policies. I moved to Niagara region and they charged me $200 deposit for water $200 deposit for hydro plus monthly bills separate. $1800 to $2000 is the rent of one bed apartment. Burlington where he lives has $2800 to $3000 rent monthly for a house. Go check online! Price of buying a home is in millions of dollars. Go check real estate.
2021-06-23 1
Thanks for the useful info! What do you mean with information on your travel history? Is it all my journeys outside of my country of residence of the past 10 years?
2021-06-14 0
Hey Jason, thanks so much for your videos. They've really provided me with a lot of information and put my mind at ease about a lot of the processes. I do have one query though - I have had a company of my own for the past 10 years (a film production company) in which I have been a managing director and also worked as a writer, director, producer etc. Since this isn't a traditional job with a regular salary, would it be ineligible as work experience under CRS? Would it be considered as being self-employed?
2021-04-07 0
Thank you for being the Voice on this topic... !!\nCan you please respond to the below question ..\n1. 60 days time frame to upload all documents once Invitation is received. What happens to those who miss this window? specially for the people who have lived in various countries in past 10 years, it must be really tough for them to get the PCC done within in 60 days .\n\n2. Can the PCC process be started post Profile creation and before the Invitation to save time, What is the validity of the same . In my case I am living in country(A) for past 6.5 years and I have Travelled countries B , C and D in last 10 years .
2013-09-03 0
Islam is pretty tolerant too. you just need to avoid seeing Islam as shown in the media as beign radical. for the past 10 years all you've seen is propaganda.\nthis is not your country. do you own it? please explain how you lay claim to the fact that it is your country. land is not something that was just handed out you ignorant moron. nobody has any claim to right of land despite what the pathetic capitalists will have you believe.
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