Best and Worst things in Canada

[CDNPR2014]

I had four weeks holiday and 10 sick days in Australia.

Now after negotiating on 3 weeks holiday and 5 sick here in Canada - still not enough

ah! i see. yeah Australia is kinder to their employees. Welcome to North America!

When I left the UK, I was getting 25 days a year and an extra 5 days in each 5th anniversary year. Sick pay was at least 6 months at full pay. Not sure what happens after that... Here I get 15 days. Not sure about sick days but I do know that it doesn't appear to be specifically limited.

seems like the UK is kinder too and that 3 weeks is more of a standard for vacation here, not 2 weeks as i thought.

 

[keesio]

ah! i see. yeah Australia is kinder to their employees. Welcome to North America!

seems like the UK is kinder too and that 3 weeks is more of a standard for vacation here, not 2 weeks as i thought.

You should see how much time off you get working in East Asia. North America seems like paradise in comparison.

 

[CDNPR2014]

You should see how much time off you get working in East Asia. North America seems like paradise in comparison.

yeah, i would assume it's not so generous there...

 

[Softdev00]

Here in Finland we get 4 weeks of paid holiday/year and don't know how many sick leaves, but for example this year I have already got 17 paid sick leaves. Things that sucks in Finland thought in my opinion are few:

1. Very high taxation (up to 65%)
2. Almost anything you can imagine has tax
3. Salaries are low compared to other developed countries
4. Lack of things to do

 

[Sonata95]

In most provinces, you start with 2 weeks vacation and after 5 years with the same employer, you can get 3 weeks.

I have heard of mostly public service, educational etc. paying sick days but usually limited to 10-20 days per year. I know one person who works in a hospital and gets sick leave paid through a union insurance but mostly in Canada, if you don't work, you don't get paid. After 2 weeks of being sick though, you can apply for EI sickness benefits but that's only a very small amount that you would get for up to 15 weeks.

Hi Leon,

Sick leave means you have to sick and get Doctor confirm that you are sick and take the rest at home or you only declare that I am sick and get sick leave paid?

Thanks for your help

 

[Leon]

Hi Leon,

Sick leave means you have to sick and get Doctor confirm that you are sick and take the rest at home or you only declare that I am sick and get sick leave paid?

Thanks for your help

In most cases I know, employers are not paying sick days anyway and therefore don't ask for a doctors note but they still take it as a breach of trust if you call in sick just because you feel like getting a day off. It would be bad for you if you are seen around town going about your business when you are supposed to be sick.

As for EI sickness benefits, they definitely ask for a doctors note before they pay you. The benefits are there for people who are sick, that's why they are called that. Trying to obtain benefits you are not eligible for is considered fraudulent and fraud is a crime.

 

[Rossei]

During the 12 years in Canada from being an Int'l student to a Canadian Citizen:

The Best:
1) Mostly calm and welcoming people
2) Easy-going attitude (less crime, racial aggression etc.)
3) Less people (I'm from a overly crowded country)
4) Open to immigration, resulting in a diverse society
5) Priorities given to Canadian education & experience (I know it's not loved by immigrants but it worked for me as an Int'l student)

The Worst:
1) Weather
2) Taxes on everything
3) Low (salary, job growth, job opportunities)
4) Not so developed infrastructure, urban places, job markets (especially compared to US)
5) The way social welfare works. If someone makes 50K (with a family of 4), he will pay full taxes. And when a new immigrant comes with same family size, s/he will get all sort of benefits free and have the same life of the former who is working his a$$ off to meet his ends. If you're making over 150K, then it can be fair. But you don't make that much in Canada. To take 30 - 50% off your <100K job and giving it to a new immigrant - isn't attractive to me. 8)

 

[Sonata95]

During the 12 years in Canada from being an Int'l student to a Canadian Citizen:

The Best:
1) Mostly calm and welcoming people
2) Easy-going attitude (less crime, racial aggression etc.)
3) Less people (I'm from a overly crowded country)
4) Open to immigration, resulting in a diverse society
5) Priorities given to Canadian education & experience (I know it's not loved by immigrants but it worked for me as an Int'l student)

The Worst:
1) Weather
2) Taxes on everything
3) Low (salary, job growth, job opportunities)
4) Not so developed infrastructure, urban places, job markets (especially compared to US)
5) The way social welfare works. If someone makes 50K (with a family of 4), he will pay full taxes. And when a new immigrant comes with same family size, s/he will get all sort of benefits free and have the same life of the former who is working his a$$ off to meet his ends. If you're making over 150K, then it can be fair. But you don't make that much in Canada. To take 30 - 50% off your <100K job and giving it to a new immigrant - isn't attractive to me. 8)

For the tax I think the effective personal tax rate is around 30% - 35% in my country (ASEAN) if your income is more 100K, so Canada may have a little bit higher. If you can get 100K in Canada you will have a lot option like borrowing to buy big house with low interest rate and set up an additional business to reduce your personal tax rate and etc... therefore, for the tax purpose I don't think it is a problem. The big worst for mature person is opportunity job growth but it is quite good for young person.

 

[jc94]

i'm curious what you're used to in your home country and what you receive here?

In the us, 2 weeks is standard for vacation and 1-2 weeks is standard for sick time (from my experience). Here in Ottawa, I get 3 weeks each. My husband gets 4 weeks vacation and a ridiculous amount of sick time (he's in a union). When I worked at a college part time, full time employees had great vacation/sick times too (they were also unionized). i'm assuming 2 weeks is the standard here, so my experience has been the opposite of yours. i'm guessing this is specific to where a person is from...

Bit of a delay sorry but the UK is 20 days standard starting and ~2 weeks sick leave after 6 months. When I left, I had 25 days and sick leave was easily 6 months as someone else has commented.

I got 22 days here (bumped from 17) which includes sick leave. I'm at 25 now after 10 years of service and I'll max out at 30. That's not bad for vacation, but if I was to fall ill and need a few weeks off, or if I had a family emergency ... NA is nowhere near as generous as ALL European countries I'm aware of. Australia and NZ is even better than Europe in many ways, and while I have limited information South America (Brazil anyway) seems pretty good.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Bit of a delay sorry but the UK is 20 days standard starting and ~2 weeks sick leave after 6 months. When I left, I had 25 days and sick leave was easily 6 months as someone else has commented.

I got 22 days here (bumped from 17) which includes sick leave. I'm at 25 now after 10 years of service and I'll max out at 30. That's not bad for vacation, but if I was to fall ill and need a few weeks off, or if I had a family emergency ... NA is nowhere near as generous as ALL European countries I'm aware of. Australia and NZ is even better than Europe in many ways, and while I have limited information South America (Brazil anyway) seems pretty good.

very interesting. thanks for the info.

 

[Rossei]

For the tax I think the effective personal tax rate is around 30% - 35% in my country (ASEAN) if your income is more 100K, so Canada may have a little bit higher. If you can get 100K in Canada you will have a lot option like borrowing to buy big house with low interest rate and set up an additional business to reduce your personal tax rate and etc... therefore, for the tax purpose I don't think it is a problem. The big worst for mature person is opportunity job growth but it is quite good for young person.

My issue is the ratio of tax to income. For most employment in Canada, a 30-year long career will start from 50K-60K and end somewhere between 120K-150K. Take 100K for example. You pay 30% on income tax. You get 70K net. Out of this 70K, you would probably end up spending 40K-60K on various things (mortgage, several insurances, bills, food, cars, consuming, vacation, drugs/eye/dental etc.). And for all these, you will pay 13% HST. How much can you save at the end?



Apart from this, I forgot to mention another worst thing for me:
If you own a house, then you will need to work for the whole year round. Lawn mowing during spring/summer, cleaning leaves during fall and then ice/snow removing during winter.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Apart from this, I forgot to mention another worst thing for me:
If you own a house, then you will need to work for the whole year round. Lawn mowing during spring/summer, cleaning leaves during fall and then ice/snow removing during winter.

how is this any different than owning a home somewhere else in the world? Unless someone is financially independant or paid for the house in full upfront, the majority of the world needs to work year round to pay for a home, no? this does not seem "canada specific" to me.

While the maintenance needs for each season can vary depending on where you are, i can't see how the responsibility of owning a home in canada is any different than owning a home somewhere else.

 

[steaky]

how is this any different than owning a home somewhere else in the world? Unless someone is financially independant or paid for the house in full upfront, the majority of the world needs to work year round to pay for a home, no? this does not seem "canada specific" to me.

True. Besides, the owner can always hire people to do the maintenance, housekeeping and lawn mowing.

 

[foodie69]

Apart from this, I forgot to mention another worst thing for me:
If you own a house, then you will need to work for the whole year round. Lawn mowing during spring/summer, cleaning leaves during fall and then ice/snow removing during winter.

sell the house and go renting..

 

[steaky]

sell the house and go renting..

Depending on their tenancy agreements, tenants might need to perform those tasks.

The solution: Rent a high-rise condo where the building management will perform those tasks.