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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 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.

Canada is based on Racist chassis board: ***latest slavery version***; when immigrants NO more required their dual citizenship will be cancelled & sent back to their origins! This ethnic cleansing tactic is upgraded, it's because when Slaves were brought in America, nobody knew what is the origin of those Slaves therefore almost all the Slaves were dumped in the Caribbean islands: now every immigrants are kept as dual citizenship; when NOT needed will be dumped back to their origins! I was dumped earlier, because Canada got confused where to dump me or my next generation to; my mistake was I trusted Canada & foolishly declared everything! Later Canada broke the Protection of Privacy Accord & started dry snitching & snitching about me to the country here! Imagine such a huge country Canada & snitching about a person thousand miles away: it reflects what a tiny mind, tiny thoughts, tiny heart & a pissants attitude Canada has! Cannot tolerate to see other living peacefully, it bites & pinches them! Now I am in very bad condition!

I am Living in Ottawa I am white, I lived here my whole life and now I am a minority I deal with different races all the time and I do feel that I am being pushed out of my country different ethnicities treat me with disrespect I was growing up with Canadian culture of respecting everyone around you but I fine with all these different cultures coming in I’m losing my Canadian identity and it is a lot for me to hold strong onto the values as of what the Canadian is and I’m a fourth generation Canadian I see what’s happening to our veterans I visit my grandfather every other week and I see all the different nationalities that are PSW‘s and nurses And I really mean no offence but we have a different level of respect we have a different way of talking and these different nationalities coming in they all click together and some of them they treat the men who built this country with such disrespect please listen to meand I’m really not Trying racially profile this is been happening for the last 15 years and I’m not being silent about it Canada is freedom of speech Canada is being strong enough to speak up I mean this from the bottom of my heart if you’re coming into my country that my grand parents built for me and my children can you please give my children the opportunity that you were now taking from them and I see how they treat our veterans I see how difficult it is for seniors that didn’t have a placement in our homeless I see that all of our government funding is now going to people that are now immigrating into Canada and they’re being able to start up small businesses have four bedroom townhomes in their children to schools and drive them and fancy SUVs can you look around us and see somebody sold Canada

I remember when my family immigrated here over 15+ years ago and my brother was only 1 years old. 2 weeks after coming here he slipped on the floor and cut open his forehead on the hinges of our door and he was bleeding everywhere (he later had to get 6 stitches to fix it), my father was out working and we didn't know how to contact the police or hospital because we didn't have a home phone yet. We used our neighbors and the ambulance came and I strictly remember that because we didn't have our health cards yet they wouldn't start work even though my father said he will pay when he gets there. I remember my mother and I feeling helpless while my 1 year old brother was bleeding out (the hospital staff tried to stop the bleeding with cotton ball and bandage) and I distinctly remember that they did not start helping my brother even WHILE my father was paying but only started work after the bill was completed. Even though my family felt helpless at that time and we felt it was unfair, we never blamed Canada because it was their policy and they have every right to follow protocols. So it makes me angry to see people who walked into our country illegally getting far better treatment than my family ever got even though it might not be anything as life threatening as ours was. It makes me angry that our hard earned tax dollars are used to help people who have no motivation to help the country that gave them asylum during war.. It's actually the opposite as a lot of these families call their free housing "disgusting" and compare it to "living like a slave". I'm angry because little girls at my brothers own school are getting shoved and assaulted by refugee boys as young as 6-7 and are let off with a simple "don't do that again" and a meeting with the parents. This is not the Canada my family came to love and call home so I can't imagine the hardships of Canadians who are living here for 3, 4, 5+ generations 😔😔

Well done Fifth Estate. The Chinese have completely taken over. I watch the border crossing show sometimes and when they come back from “vacationing “ in China and pretend that they haven’t brought anything with them and when their bags are inspected they have tons of stuff and have way exceeded the limits and they barely get a verbal reprimand. Let me see a Canadian whose family has been here for 9 generations get away with this. They are dishonest, money laundering scam artists. Yet, Canada still welcomes them with open arms. When will the Canadian government wake up? Having them take over this country is an insult to hard working Canadians and other honest immigrants. When they commit a crime of any type they should be deported. They’re always bragging about how rich their country is, then why do they want to come here? We haven’t invaded their country! Not that any sane person would want to.

Canada needs the farmers, these guys have been farmers for generations, not many Canadians want to do farming, especially not the Young, so what they're doing is feeding Canada and increasing the export market!\nNot all immigration is bad, theres good immigration which is needed\nand theres ridiculously stupid immigration which is not needed!

No one in this video is a Canadian.... lol you were born here though generations they are all immigrants, only aboriginals are the first ones here before French came here and claimed it as Canada ...

We need the same approach when it comes to Syrians in Canada. Every immigrant takes work from a Canadian. Unlike Canadians who help out everyone when it comes to employment. East Indians for example only hire east indians from my experience alot of foreigners only hire their own. Say for example when Alberta was busy the government flooded the market with tfw(temporary foreign workers)to support the trades, but then let them all stay. Now it's slow and there are foreigners working when Canadians need jobs. Cause unlike Canadians they refer all their foreign friends for work. We need to curb this shit in Canada and stop being so kind! Atleast most Mexicans have similar traditional values as most generational Canadians. Unlike most middle eastern countries.

Well, I am not going to generalize all people in the same category. There are good and bad people everywhere in the world but being first generation immigrant in Canada is really hard in every part of life. First, even you are fluent in English you will have an accent that makes big difference in your job hunting, making friends and get along with different people. Many times, I have been treated on the basis of how I look and on the basis of my accent.

This guy works hard; the manual labour he does isn't easy, and it's done in sub-zero weather (it can get down to -50 with windchill up near Edmonton). He's contributing to our economy and isn't a criminal; he's just trying to provide his family with a better life. For the same reasons my ancestors immigrated to Canada. Most of them didn't learn English for over 2 generations, but eventually we found our way and our culture became part of the broader Canadian culture. I hope the same happens for him and his family.

There are many problems with anti-immigrant rhetoric and one of them is the classification who is and who isn't an immigrant and the question of when does a person stop becoming an immigrant and become a Canadian? A significant portion of people living in Canada are first/second/third generation Canadians and so, how do we classify these people, are they immigrants or are they not? And what of their parents/grandparents who immigrated, are they? It's very important to note that without their ancestor parents, all these first/second/third gen Canadians will not be here and they are now 'Canadians' today because we had pro-immigration laws. Also, the idea of accessing services is by itself, very problematic. I spent the first 4 years of my life here paying high tuition fees as well as tax that are used to subsidize fellow Canadians' tuition fees yet I'm not able to access any government services. Following graduation, I worked as a worker on visa where my tax was no less than an average Canadian yet government services were very much inaccessible to me. It was only after I became permanent resident, that somehow everything suddenly became available to me. I have been tax paying 6-7 years before I became a PR here yet all those years, I wasn't able to access a single thing yet somehow, after I became PR, I'm eligible for everything? The tax argument doesn't make sense at all. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship in like a year and does that mean now I am one of you, Canadians?