Close Reading

None of these costs would have been incurred if the Trudeau government hadn't completely failed at its job.

These students can't complain about the student fee, Housing , food and living cost .\n\nU can blame trudue for lowering the standards for student visa. \n\nTo my knowledge from friends i know as students durring high-school vs students coming to study at college. \n\nPrior to this issue these a few mandatory requirements \n\n- parents most make over 200 k usd , and assets .\n\n- you must have xxx amount in usd dollars equivalent in your bank account and open a HSBC bank account with xxx amount \n\n - u must show you can afford for your child to stay at a mandatory homestay , all the associated cost staying and studying in canada for min 3 years \n\nJust passing the first 3 requirements, most ppl get rejected. \n\n- most leave the home stay due to culture differences and end up renting a 1 bed room condo. \nThat alone back in harper days was 20 k a year.\n\nMind you these students i met are from Vietnam, a 3rd world country where a university graduate with 2 degree will make only $500 usd which is consider a very good job . Its equivalent to5 k / month . \n\nSo thier dollar isn't worth much , for their parents to have that much money to send a 15 year old to study hs in a foreign country is a luxury only a selected few can dream of\n\nAlso none of them worked and work permit wasn't allowed. Even they were allow why would u when ur parents give u their debit card ~ visa card with allowance of 2- 3k to spend .\n\nInwould say 25% of these rich students go home within a year as they get home sick.\n\nToday standards\n\n- not many come as high school students as it's alot harder and still up hold strict standards as their still a minor. \n\n- college is easier route\nOnly have to prove u can afford the 1st. Year of study \n- a place to live\n- your parents can support you while ur here \n\nSo some one in India is faking the documents so they can come over strictly to work and pay for school and living cost. \n\nThis is why we have this problem. Even Vietnamese students doing this but alot work save all their money and go back home after their visa end. \n\nWhat ever they save in 3 years is like 10-20 years plus of saving working in Vietnam as these students are from.poor families barly getting by\n\nWith that being said, studying aboard is a luxury no matter what country ur from.\n\nImaginenthe cost of sending ur kids to the usa for school, most of will have to take. Out loans

I am a senior and live in Vancouver, BC and my son who has dual citizenship lives in Seattle, WA. His wife and him will move back to Canada when he retires. I visit Seattle and enjoy going there. The shopping is great fun especially with all the big store headquarters being there and we can't forget Trader Joe's. I don't drink alcohol anymore, but the cost, volume and availability is crazy. He also lived in New York and lived a train ride away to the suburbs (great system) and was a lovely area to raise a family. Visited NYC and loved it. I've lived in Montreal and just love big cities. In saying all that, I think were all basically the same, however I could never permamentally live in the US. I can no longer afford the outrageous travel health insurance to travel to the USA because of my age and health issues. I have a primary doctor and four specialists that I see on a regular basis, waiting for a hip replacement and none has cost me a cent. Oh yes, I get free dental care. I wouldn't move to the states, but would sure like to visit again. Politics is a whole other subject.

I’m an international student, from my perspective it seems like the government can’t keep themselves from messing with the economy, basically crippling it by regulations, making the market unable to take advantage of the increased labor supply.\n\nI have spent almost half a million in Canada, which includes tuition, living cost, and starting a business which now employs two Canadians. But because I spent one term as a part time student, I have became ineligible for PGWP, which means I have no way of staying in Canada through my own agencies.\n\nThat is a slap in the face for immigrants whove come here to settle, the fact that I have positively contributed to the Canadian economy than many Canadians ever have, while withdrawing absolutely zero from public benefits, now if I buy a house here yall will drop on me a 50%+ capital gains tax and then kick me out, why would anyone want to invest in Canada? I’m seriously considering just moving to Florida because of all these. \n\nWhat happened to the good old days when you can come here with nothing, integrate into the community, and then become Canadians? Almost none of the forefathers of Canadians had to contribute this much into the society first to become Canadians, they stayed because their peers wanted them to stay, and the market was free to adjust to the labor supply and housing demand without government interference.\n\nWhat I see is not an immigration problem, it’s a big government problem, Canadians have become addicted to the government making decisions for them. The government has its grip on every aspect of Canadian life, it has hindered the responsiveness of the economy so much, that it cant even pivot to take advantage of free capital (int’l students) and third world labor rates (temp foreign workers).

The States are great to visit we love Florida but I would never leave Nova Scotia. I love my country the people are second to none, great school system ,can get a new heart and not cost a dime. We have the RCMP and 4 seasons ,gun control and the most lakes in the world ..Why would I live anywhere else ..!

Most of what was reported here is true but the housing market and rents have skyrocketed all over the world since the Chinese government F'd everyone with Covid-19. At first there were supply chain issues with all goods so businesses said we have to increase prices. Once supply issues were back to pre-Covid-19 levels businesses did not & will not lower their prices on goods because , we as a society do not take matters into our own hands and boycott products\\company's etc. Now obviously we cannot boycott all goods & services but the majority we could and that is the only thing that would cause action among companies to lower bank fees, fast food prices, grocery prices, cell plan costs etc.\n\nWith that said, you picked two of the highest and most sought after city's in CAN to rent & or try to buy a home. Although rent & home prices have really jumped all over the world in the past 3-4 years, more affordable (still not cheap) housing, compared to Toronto, Vancouver, can be found all across CAN. My sister & brother in law found an apartment to rent in Winnipeg without any difficulty or waiting. \nThey are immigrants and entered on her student Visa & he is a computer programmer. They are not struggling to eat but they have to follow a tight budget since she cannot work but 20 hours a week as a student and they have 1 kid, a car payment,utilities, cell plan, etc. They have filed for their PR and I suspect they will be approved since his job is in demand and she will graduate from College there in 4 months or so.\n\nOne thing I noticed, when my wife & I went up to get them settled in, is that the government (national & local) taxes you all pay out of the wazzoo on everything! I think the only thing that wasn't taxed was air. ? I know most of this is due to the healthcare system, because the money has to come from somewhere. Don't misunderstand, I like the CAN healthcare system better than the US's, because the insurance companies stick it to us as well, but both have their pluses and minuses.\n\nCAN does have a much easier system for immigration. If my sister & bro in law could have come here we would have been glad for them to stay with us and help them get started but the backlog is just so long to wait (10 + years). I also LOVE CAN because you uphold your laws and DEPORT illegal immigrants instead of letting them pour into the Country, by the millions each year, and the majority eventually trickle into the population illegally, who get jobs & pay no taxes (other than sales tax) no driver's licenses or vehicle insurance and get 100% free medical and hospital care anytime while legal US citizen's pay high premiums, into social security and their income taxes each year.

Truth is the immigrants were lied to. There is an economic crisis which make living cost unbarable even for middle class. There are no available dwellings/ appartments anywhere below $1500 per month. Poor immigrants comes here with no job and no place to live. But even if they find work, still have no dwelling they can afford. That is unless they pack 10 or 15 of them in a one bedroom place. If the newcomers would have known this about Canada, none would come. Exept on occasion, millionaire newcomer comes from time to time.

All of those issues are the same in any OCDE country. \n\nHousing market is shit in Europe too, even worse I would say, but at least they have decent public transports, so you can live outside a city and still go to your work fast. That’s the only real advantage. (Okay maybe construction quality and norms also)\n\nFrom experience, aka a French software engineer now living in Quebec, cost of life is waaaaaaay cheaper here than in Europe. I just don’t buy shitty stuff I don’t need, and eat responsibly. \n\nSure Canada have a lot of issue. Probably due to the current liberal government and the usamerican capitalism, healthcare is in shambles (as any other healthcare system in OCDE), public transport is non existant, etc. \nWherever you go, at some different levels, theses are issues you find in any developed countries because this is just how we made our society and how it’s deteriorating because our model is just bad overall. \n\nI do have gripes with Quebec stuff, which I think it’s one of the worst province in the country, but as far as I’m concerned, as well as most of my immigrant friends, this is still a prime country to immigrate to. \n\nAlso, the Canadians are really welcoming, progressive, kind. (In general, not all of them, don’t get me wrong)\nOne of the best people I’ve encountered and this is very important when you immigrate somewhere.

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.

A lot of these are rich country problems. Which is why we get such a huge number of immigrants from developing countries. Ans almost none from developing ones. Only about 10,000 a year from the USA compared to over 300,000 a year from developing ones. But while I returned to Canada before I retired to care for my elderly mother, I had been approved for a green card in the USA. I lived in LA for 10 years. But my very low out of pocket cost of medical care still makes Canada attractive to me. \n\nBut my kid who was 13 when I moved to the USA, stayed there when I returned to Canada. They have had a green card for 11 years and is soon to become a US citizen. They and their spouse would like to move to Canada but simply cannot make anything like a similar net income in Canada. \n\nBut the housing crisis here is very real for many people.

most canadian are ignorant. they would say go back to wher eyou from then. 99% of them dont realize that canada got a higher divorce rate then usa 47% that means every marriage got 50 50 chance of not working. now domino affect of that is single mother homes. single mothers dont raise man I REPEAT SINGLE MOTHER DO NOT RAISE MAN. man have to suffer through mistake and life lesson to understand how to be a man. they need a good father. most woman now dont want to be wives but rather the title to tell their friends and have the hoopla. most will say the cost of living requires bla bla bla. no its not the cost of living its your lifestyle that you want that is expensive. its the decision you made are making that makes it challenging. most woman get into marriage for love that is the dumbest thing ever since woman dont love they just love the way a man can make them feel until he cant anymore. you marry for duty and lifestyle and not love. man love woman respect. once she lose respect its over if she didnt have none from the jump then you got F. \n\nThat 1970 line is when men & women were expected to stop behaving differently in life & work. That’s the major event. Rockefeller economics wanted all citizens to be lifetime tax payers, not just men. That’s the only real, solvable issue. If woman a determined to embrace their natural place in society, to be matriarchs as they once were, instead of chasing masculinity and seeking to be patriarchs, a huge impact on everything would result. We’re not mature enough to have that discussion, however.\n\nThe XX’s were simply unavailable ideologically as labor/employees, and were deeply committed to being matriarchs: being nutritionists, home decorators, social emissaries , herbalist , first aid expert , gardeners, child care , pregnancy, child birth , lactation etc…they once were, then the labour market would be much more supply driven, wages rise, and both males and females not only a much easier life, but the children in that environment thrive.\n\nthis is a domino effect of what woman in the workforce created. this is grown man discussion here. this is critical thinking discussion here. unfortunately woman will never go back to where it was. oh and make no mistake I REPEAT MAKE NO MISTAKE MEN NOW ARE F ING WEAK AND WHEN I MEAN WEAK THEY ARE GODLY WEAK in almost every sense possible. we have 50% less testosterone then are grand fathers in the 1950 our sperm count decrease 1% every year this is factual check it out. so we need to blame weak men. rich man in power dont care as long as they make a profit. 85% of advert is toward woman. woman holds 3é4 of the depts . 98% of jobs that you need to run a society are run by man ( plumber , electrician , oil rigs , etc... ) we give woman ceo jobs but none of them deserve to be ceo or in position of power basically. there are so many few that could that its insignificant. crime is through the roof 90% of criminal , drug addicts , homeless , innmate are from single mother home. \n\nwhat woman want to be working 40 hours + with 2 + kids at 35+ years old instead of staying home ? show me those woman ? now that men are so weak we have a new industry of sex that makes younger adult woman make money not caring about consequences for their future child or their current ones. 1 in 3 woman are on some antidepressant 35 years old + . the least happy demographic is 35+ years old woman with no child no man and a job . i mean the stats are all there but th eprofit is to sweet for the ppl in power. they dont care because they are reach. \n\ntrudeau wife divorced him not a month ago but 2-3 .. year prior mentally. i bet she wasnt ready for a man with no spine. this push for alphabet mafia must of said ok thats enough. canada is becoming what ppl never thought it would be. in 5-10 years canada and china will have very little difference. its a beautiful country with beautiful landscape beautiful ppl beautiful opportunities led by the worst ppl on earth .

Tyler? I suggest google’n “ school shootings, small town America”…. article after article, when you do, says why most mass school shootings tend to happen in small towns….where nobody expects that they would have happened & how all the residents in those towns are always surprised that they happened in their town. \nI say this as somebody who once loved the idea of moving to the USA. \nMy mom was a single parent and as a result I spent a ton of time as a very young kid in the late 80s throughout the mid 90s in a small town in Oregon on my aunt and uncles dairy farm with my cousins and I absolutely loved it. Truthfully, I still love small-town America and I love the vast majority of the people I have met from small-town America. There is the friendliness and community that I find very similar to prairie farming towns in Canada. \n And as a kid, I loved the focus on high school sports in the small USA town I spent time in and how it brought the community together. It was very exciting to go to my cousins football games—stuff like that was super fun as a kid.\nAs an adult, with 2 young kids of my own now? \nYes, I would be terrified to send my children to any school in the United States, especially knowing that the vast majority of my school shootings do happen in small towns, which is a type of place in the states I would personally like to go to, if I did move. \n\nAdditionally, I will be completely bankrupt at this point given my own health issues as well as my two kids health issues and I’m just in my late 30s. \nAnd I’m not talking to super crazy health issues, but health issues nonetheless. I have asthma that has gone through patches where I’ve had to be hospitalized & I was diagnosed with stage 3 malignant melanoma when I was in my late 20s and pregnant with my 2nd. My first child was born with a congenital heart disorder that was missed through the pregnancy and until she was two, and that involved many many trips to the hospital & various specialists until they figured out what was going on (one of the symptoms was her randomly stopping breathing and going blue, which was terrifying, and could’ve been for many different reasons & it took many specialists & many hospital visits to figure it all out)\nMy son was born with a multiple protein intolerance and later received an autism diagnosis. There a decent number of hospital visits and specialists for his first couple of years of life too. \n\n I have no idea if I was in the United States how I would’ve paid for any of our health issues (let alone all three of ours) for that 5 or 6 year period where we all needed various types of regular-ish medical care. \n(because we got good medical care, thankfully, none of us have really had to see doctors any more than the average person in the last few years?)\n\nMy kids are now in elementary school, and, as a Canadian, the issue of school shootings happening anywhere….., including in small towns that seem perfectly safe……as well as the cost of healthcare for stuff that is covered by our taxes here in Canada….. are the two biggest reasons that I will think fondly of my time in small-town America, but would never consider moving there

As a Canadian myself living in this country for over 30 years... the problem here is that Canada have a diversed industry but because the country itself is so small (population wise) that none of these industries reached economies of scale. While Canada has regions rich with natural resources, all they do is extracted it, sell it to U.S. and then buy the producted that was produced by these raw materials back at a higher cost. The political structure of Canada doesn't help either: Each region essencially specialized in a few industries (Alberta Oil, Ontario Finance, the Alantic provice's fisheries and oil refineries) and there's equalization payment... meaning if one province is doing well... they don't get to reinvest it back into its infrastructure but rather have to spread some of the excess revenue to other failing provinces... this doesn't incentized productivity but rather leads to a race to the bottom where provinces would want to spend their way to get some of that equalization payment money. Also the provinces themselves doesn't have a unifying economic agenda... Alberta's oil could be best served to be refined out east and then shipped but British Columbia doesn't want pipelines and oil shipping facilities on their coastline... and Quebec isn't interested in having a pipeline either so there's nowhere by the oil but to go down to the states. Finally the province of Quebec( which is french speaking and have their own culture and language) isn't interested in the overall prosperity of Canada at all but rather to extract as much special privilages, rights, and money from the Federal government... and even to declare independance from the Rest of Canada.

To summarize;\nCanada has not just clean but tasty tap water, significantly lower cost of living for the same quality of life, prettier women, better city planning, but the US has better airlines.\n\nYou would think all of those celebrities who cried about how they would leave the US to come to Canada in 2016 apparently couldn't even afford a plane ticket out of there cause none of them left.

I am an American born in NY, raised in VA. I also lived in Van Nuys for a year, also lived in Texas before my job industry moved me to Canada. \ni have been in Canada for 7yrs, been to Vancouver, Toronto and MTL and to be honest i like a lot of things in Canada like the health care differences and of course the lower insulin cost for my husband but i still want to go back home. If anything i would stay in Toronto because it's the closest similarity to home but where Aba and Preach live, in Montreal, it's literally been my nightmare. I feel like the tap water at least in my area has gotten worse over time. \nOne thing i feel like they didn't mention that I have to tell people from America to watch out for is the credit card vs debit card thing. \nI grew up only having debit cards because i didn't want to get into debt. when i came to Canada i continued getting a debit card and realized the hard way that not everything accepts debit cards and you NEED to also have a credit card to access certain things.\nbut overall i do feel much safer in Canada even though the crazy trump lovers are showing up here and there it's significantly less than i see when I'm back home.

I'm listening to hear how Canada is not a desirable place to live, bc I have thought it would be a better alternative to the USA. But it still sounds better than life in the USA, if even just slightly. ?\nSo far, I hear 30% taxes on income (which is same in the USA).\nYou have free healthcare, however you have to wait in emergency room for 8 hours.....we DON'T have free healthcare....and guess what? $450+ later, we have still waited 4-10 hours in the ER. \nHere in the USA, our cost of living is insanely high compared to a single and even a double income. Our lowest rent is $1,200 to live in low income surroundings. A rent around $1,800/month will bring you to nicer surroundings in an apartment, but still surrounding areas have crime. \nFood costs are so high, Gas is so high. We haven't bought new clothes for ourselves in YEARS, only for our kids. \nDaycare is $485-500 month per child, even before and after school care. \nHealth insurance averages $145/per person per month, not to mention car insurance which is required to drive. \nSegregation has improved here but is ever being integrated back into our society as racism is kept very alive, even as they constantly teach it in the schools. They say it's to teach history but I believe it is just reinforcing racist ways and thinking patterns. \nI don't blame anyone for wanting to return to the comfort of their own people, language and living and country. \nYou may have us with the cold/hot weather in Canada! \nI didn't know about the Canadian passport being so opportunistic for travelling. That's cool ? \nAs far as desired profession, there are many doctors and teachers that come here to the USA from other countries and are now working as a clerk in the dollar stores here in the US. \nAnd forget work life balance here too. Cost of living here causes so much disruption in our family life. Debt is revolving.\nMy fiance's mother comes from a country in West Africa. She longs to return. She calls the USA a place you come to be a work rat. \nBesides free healthcare, it sounds like USA and Canada are similar. \nOne thing I've heard about Canada is that the government cares about kindness, as well as the banks. I hear that people are generally more courteous in Canada than they are here in the US.

THE REAL TRUTH, who cares! we have been here over 50 thousand years, and 500 as European emigrants. YOUR NOT GETTING TREATED LIKE A QUEEN.\n\nYour liars, and business pay very little to none in taxes, 99% is written off. I've been in business all my life.\n\nYou should check how much us Canadians pay into taking care of emigrants.\n\nGo to the USA. Where 40 % of the population makes less than minimum wage. You say you have no money after all your costs, now you want to pay for your private high medical bills, and the high cost of private medical insurance. But yet you don't like the high cost of private automobile insurance, so why would you like the high cost of private medical insurance. You both are ignorant you just want everything for nothing. Leave and stop complaining.

I would never live in Quebec as it has the highest provincial income tax rate. The starting rate on the first 45K of income is 15%, that's triple Ontario and BC. Ontario is number one for me. If you live in smaller city, the cost of housing is bearable. It's starting provincial tax rate is just over 5%, much like BC. Alberta is only tax friendly if you are earning at least $100 grand but for lower incomes, their starting tax rate is double that of Ontario and BC at 10%. I have seen a few cost comparison websites by province and NONE that I have seen mentions provincial income tax differences, a major omission.