Regularly see people have done almost no research on moving to Canada from the very educated to those with very little education or skills. I find it shocking but you regularly find people on this forum who have been told that they need to immigrate to Canada but have not looked at whether their skills are needed, what the cost of living will be, whether the rest of their family can be sponsored to Canada, the cost of public schooling is free but daycare, university or before or after school care is not, the cost of transportation is often significantly higher than what they expected, many are used to employing help and home which will likely out of reach in Canada and are expecting that a single income will be possible. What people have heard of is the relatively new child benefit payments, school is free and healthcare is free. In reality healthcare is only partially free. Many expect immediate no wait times and haven’t considered the cost things like dental care, prescription drugs, longterm illness, etc. Same thing as school. Elementary school may be free but working parents often spend $500-700 monthly on childcare before and after school plus thousands of dollars a month for childcare during the summer and holidays. Many Canadian families also base their family planning decisions based on their budget and the ability to pay for childcare.
Unfortunately you have not lived in Canada long enough if you don’t believe homelessness exists. I am not saying that there is worse poverty in other countries but 1 in 5 Canadian children go hungry on a regular basis. Many seniors are only getting enough to eat thanks to charity and many live in substandard or temporary housing. What if you got sick and your spouse had never worked, had to care for small children plus had to care for you. Even worse what if you passed away. How would your family pay their bills? Have you seen the welfare rates in Canada. Most welfare rates don’t cover the rent or just cover the rent without accounting for food, transportation, etc. Believe a mother and 2 young children gets around $1300 a month in welfare payments from Ontario. That is not a lot of money to live on.
Yes your children have the opportunity to do well in Canada but they also have opportunities in many countries. The fact that people come for only the passport is maddening and because of our global world 3 years is not going to be long enough to guarantee a life of free benefits for generations to come. I expect that residency requirements and time paying into the Canadian tax system is going to have to change for the system to be affordable.
Not telling people not to move to Canada but people should do research on whether there is a need for their profession in Canada. If you work in oil and gas it is probably not the best time to move to Canada. Are you a foreign trained dentist or pharmacist? Have you seen there is a surplus of dentist and pharmacists already in Canada. Licensing is likely not your big obstacle. IMGs...I don’t know why anyone would move if they want to practice given there is such a small chance of being able to become a family doctor. A specialist has no chance in my opinion unless from a few select countries. If you immigrate and are a truck driver what happens when automation becomes the norm. What are your plans in 10 years? Many also assume that they will be able to sponsor their parents and soon. Although this year 20K people may be able to sponsor their parents this year there are no guarantees that will continue. Provinces have big deficits and have already started cutting services for individuals already in Canada so adding older adults will likely be very unpopular and not feasible budget wise. When deciding to come to Canada people must realize that being able to sponsor parents is not guaranteed. I don’t want to seem negative. Canada is still a great place to live but money definitely doesn’t grow on trees and you will likely have hard times not only when you arrive in Canada but sometime during your adult life in Canada. There are recessions, layoffs, family illness, financial strain, family issues, etc. People not only have to think of plan A but plan B and plan C if considering coming to Canada and whether they are willing to step out of the comfort zone and out of what may be typical for their cultural group when they arrive. If the whole family is up for the challenge then they should consider Canada.
