DO NOT COME TO CANADA (Part II)

[clubcanada]

I don;t know whether NZ or AUS would be an alternative considering that the structure isn't so different from CA. It mght be because of your personal attitude (high expectations, impatience, etc.) or due to your professional background and working experience. There are some professions you migyt be better off in AUS due to demand that does not exist in CA. So overall I believe that if you don't make it in either the US or CA you most likely will not succeed somewhere else either.

My suggestion would be to consider a move within CA and give it another try or change your overall strategy and lower your expectations. If you have alternatives such as going back to your home country or immigrate somewhere else, you should consider this as well.

 

[HOTYAHOO]

Guys Cheer up!
I LOVE MY COUNTRY CANADA!!!!
Canada is full of opportunities provided u r ready to work hard.
I am a dentist from India came to Canada in 2004.
Worked crazy hard,cleared my exams in first attempt and got my DDS in 2008.
Practicing for last 4 years and have my own practice in GTA and beautiful house and nice car!!

My Conclusion: Hard work pays off in Canada for sure,just have some patience.

Good luck everybody!

 

[glowingheart]

Let me see if I can do this with a less emotional tone this time around!

I tried to give a general picture of my experience in the first post. It's time to reveal a few more specifics of my situation: I decided to settle in Toronto because I thought it's the largest city in Canada and hence it must have the largest job market. Whether that's true or not is not my concern here. I applied for jobs spanning a wide range of skills, from unskilled grocery store stocking jobs to Business Analyst position with the big five banks. Of course I scoured the national market for jobs in my preferred occupation (college instructor) but I was certainly under no illusions as to what I could expect when starting over. I came here willing to do any job and go from there.

Of all the jobs I applied for since June 4th, these are the calls I've gotten: a phone call from Wal-Mart for a part-time cashier position in Waterloo (55 miles west of Toronto), a phone call from a Toronto Metro store for a part-time cashier position, and an interview call from a local college in Toronto regarding a contract teaching position with their Math Department for the Fall semester (no other college called me about teaching jobs, even though I applied to a lot of open opportunities from coast to coast, making it clear in my cover letters that I was perfectly willing to move at my expense). I went to all three of these interviews I got hired for all three of these positions but needless to say, I had to decline the Wal-Mart offer because it was a back-up option and I really want to be in Toronto. So, right now I'm working as a cashier for Metro (8-12 hours a week a minimum wage) just to cover grocery costs until my teaching contract job starts next week. Since it's only a one-semester contract, I have no way of knowing whether it's going to be renewed beyond December so this teaching job is no big comfort (I won't know until October whether they'll keep me or treat me like a seasonal construction worker).

When you don't have a permanent job, the uncertain nature of your income keeps eating you alive from inside. You have to always worry about where your next paycheck is coming from, and whether you're going to have to go through the embarrassment of facing your landlord with the message that you don't have enough to make next month's rent. You have to spend your time exploring alternative career options, studying for certificate programs or to otherwise upgrade your skills, or applying to jobs in the hope there's some ray of light at the end of the tunnel. There is no time to taste life. None at all, and even if you do take a short amount of time to do something fun, it won't be nearly as enjoyable as you want it to be because the worries in your head don't leave you alone, not even for a minute. This is not what I imagined my life to be. I didn't dream of being rich, but I did want a stable, full-time, permanent job that paid my bills. I felt proud of my accomplishment of getting permanent residence here, a pride that has vanished in the wind after realizing that it's a status that means nothing here. My relationship with this country has been damaged beyond repair. Even if I manage to get a job that's permanent, I don't think I can learn to love this country given how I get treated here.

I guess part of what makes this hard is that I'm getting older and I expect better from life (even if that's not a fair expectation). I'm going to be 34 years old in two and a half weeks and I'm still no closer to owning a home than I was at 19. When you're 19, it's easier to accept living in a basement bachelor apartment that's someone else's property, and looking for the absolute cheapest prices in the absolute cheapest stores ("poor man stores" I like to call them, e.g. Dollarama, for those of you that are here and have seen them).

I don't know where life will take me in this country. I am exploring a few other career options that are in line with my mathematical training but these will take time to materialize, as will my hurt soul to recover (if ever).

Dude what were you expecting?
do you have a nobel prize in whatever you do?
do you know how many people come each year to begin a new life?
does the word begin means something to you?
its basically you are new here and you have to work your way up the better you are in what you do the fastest you will make it
there is also something you have to earn and is Canadian Experience

if you dont like it here you should go elsewhere its a big world

stop Killing other peoples dream by talking crap about Canada that is THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
Ive been here for a little over 4 years and the first year was hard but I knew it was going to be then I received offers and offers from other companies and now Im in the best stage of my life

I started from almost the beginning here with over 20 years of experience and having won multiple important international awards for my career like Grammys and Emmys and Gold and Platinum records but that doesn't matter here or anywhere else you have to prove your self, you have to show what are you made of you have to teach them who you are

once you understand that you can say I made it

applying for jobs is nothing, you went to a big city maybe you should have gone to a small town and it would me a different story

make your self a favour and either leave Canada or Shut up and fight

 

[ADUFE]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to request everyone to stop making personal comments, like you are a loser etc etc. Off late I am hearing a lot about people breaking down due to interaction on the Internet, and people disabiling their facebook acoount, twitter account etc etc We really don't know how our words impact others, especially on Internet.

We really don't know, what we are dealing with here. I hope marcus is not having a breakdown and I hope these interactions here don't push him on the edge.

This is a beautiful forum that helps many people and we need to continue doing that, without getting very personal.

Cheers,
2good2btrue

Thanks for the attempt at restoring some civility into the thread; I just cannot believe the level of immaturity and rudeness being displayed here!

 

[Dr Eng X]

I don't really like posting here any more cause people just don't get it.

Someone in here said that my problem is not just the lack of a job but that I am negative and don't like anything about Canada: I WILL LIKE CANADA WHEN I FIND SOMETHING TO LIKE ABOUT CANADA. Sorry, but so far I haven't found anything positive about this country: I need a job and can't find one. Instead what do I find? Trivial "education" companies trying to sell me education courses in tangential things like Microsoft (really? are u fu.cking kidding me? I'm a research mathematician and you think you need to show me how to use Microsoft Word?)

I need low prices to stretch my money when I don't have full-time employment and what do I find? Prices that are double what I used to pay in the US and a government that doesn't help at all when it taxes 13% on every purchase I make. Seriously? 13% Do you think a poor unemployed guy can afford that? Is THAT how the government helps immigrants here?

As bad as all that is, there is something else that just irritates me every day: it's the fact that, even though there are no jobs and prices of rent and food are high, EVERYONE seems to appear so smug and happy .... ON PURPOSE. Any time I voice a real concern, for example at a grocery store when I say "that's too expensive, I can't afford that" they pounce on me with one and the same message over and over "Canada is number one (free health care), bla bla". It's a message you hear not just from people but from other outlets too, the media, the billboard ads on the street, everywhere. I was eating a slice of pizza at Pizza Pizza the other day and there were these two guys on TV who were talking about amusement parks in Canada and they just kept saying "we have it sooo good in canada" I'm sorry but I don't see how you can have it good in canada when (a) it's almost impossible to find a full-time job, (b) even when you get a job it pays so low compared to the cost of living that you can forget about affording things like a house. This is the problem I have with this country. Everyone keeps saying this country is GREAT, but all they're doing is denying how hard life is here. Yes, there are people who are doing very well economically (there are people doing well in any country, even the third world countries), but that's not the question. The truth is, if you're not in the SMALL MINORITY of the highly-skilled people who hold the few high-paying jobs, your life here will be hard. You won't be able to afford any of the nice things of life that you see around you.

Call me negative all you want but that's just a word of mouth, and like they say "talk is cheap". Truth be told, nobody here can give me a real reason to like Canada.

Free health care? Sorry, that's not my problem. I don't need to go see the doctor. I'm young and healthy. What I need is a job that's going to afford me a home mortgage.

Clean air? Sorry, that's just another bulll*censored word* reason: I can't tell the difference between US air and Canadian air.

Friendlier people: You're joking right? Come spend a few weeks in Toronto. You'll be lucky if anyone lays their eyes on you, let alone say "hello". Take a walk at the Eaton Centre mall, and all you'll see is complacent people who just pay the ridiculously high prices for clothing without caring that they're getting ripped off.

Better place to raise kids? Sorry, I am single and don't have kids. I didn't come to Canada to raise kids. I came here to improve my financial lot.

Better education? Compared to what? the US? You're out of your mind. What you have in Canada is a million community colleges and small institutions that teach peripheral skills. The real research universities (where knowledge is produced instead of just consumed) like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, are all in the USA. The world-renowned academics are irremediably drawn to the United States.

You can all talk out of your as.s but none of you can give me a single reason to like Canada. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Am I negative? You bet your as.s. I have every reason to be. To have to live in a country where I'm not really happy but I have no other choice, cause I can't get residence in the US. My heart cries out when I think of the good times I had in the US which aren't coming back, but I think I'd better stop here before I go crazy.

Few great honest articles.

 

[Dr Eng X]

if canada is only good for a somalian or afghan refugee as you say, how come most of its major cities are listed in the world's best cities to live in, highest standards of living ...etc?

this is really confusing, i'm quite close to making the move and really surprised on how people's opinions could vary largely between the 2 extremes, there are people in this forum who think its a great country and offers a good future for immigrants - while others regret being there and feel that moving there was the biggest mistake they ever made....really strange,both those opinions cannot be true....its either a good country or not...but cannot be both :-\?!

I'm starting to wonder how its going to be like - when i move there, but whatever challenges i may face - i'm willing to take the risk with a strong will succeed ...so lets see.

I hope i won't be whining in this post someday!! :-[

That is totally right

 

[chandelsachin]

Hey @Marcus
I am new here. My dream is to be in canada.There is always two sides of a coin. Its up to you
What side you got.Don't play with anyone dreams with such statements

 

[glowingheart]

Few great honest articles.

Call me negative all you want but that's just a word of mouth, and like they say "talk is cheap". Truth be told, nobody here can give me a real reason to like Canada.
EDUCATION, LIFE QUALITY, FREEDOM, EDUCATION, SKI SEASON, THE GREAT OUTDOORS, NO DISCRIMINATION
Free health care? Sorry, that's not my problem. I don't need to go see the doctor. I'm young and healthy. What I need is a job that's going to afford me a home mortgage.
WAIT UNTIL YOU GET SICK OR HAVE AN ACCIDENT

Clean air? Sorry, that's just another bulll*censored word* reason: I can't tell the difference between US air and Canadian air.
I LIVE IN CALGARY AND WE HAVE CLEAN AIR IN FACT PURE AIR

Friendlier people: You're joking right? Come spend a few weeks in Toronto. You'll be lucky if anyone lays their eyes on you, let alone say "hello". Take a walk at the Eaton Centre mall, and all you'll see is complacent people who just pay the ridiculously high prices for clothing without caring that they're getting ripped off.
JUDGING BY YOUR ATTIITUDE NOONE WILL BE FRIENDS WITH YOU

Better place to raise kids? Sorry, I am single and don't have kids. I didn't come to Canada to raise kids. I came here to improve my financial lot.
AGAIN JUDGING YOU ITS BETTER IF YOU DONT PROCREATE

Better education? Compared to what? the US? You're out of your mind. What you have in Canada is a million community colleges and small institutions that teach peripheral skills. The real research universities (where knowledge is produced instead of just consumed) like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, are all in the USA. The world-renowned academics are irremediably drawn to the United States.
THE EDUCATION IS WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD
You can all talk out of your as.s but none of you can give me a single reason to like Canada. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
JUST KILLED EVERY ONE OF YOUR ARGUMENTS
Am I negative? You bet your as.s. I have every reason to be. To have to live in a country where I'm not really happy but I have no other choice, cause I can't get residence in the US. My heart cries out when I think of the good times I had in the US which aren't coming back, but I think I'd better stop here before I go crazy.
WHY DONT YOU GO TO THE SH1T HOLE WHERE YOU WERE BORN MAYBE YOU ARE HAPPY THERE

GO BACK TO YOUR NATIVE LAND AND BE MISERABLE

 

[glowingheart]

if canada is only good for a somalian or afghan refugee as you say, how come most of its major cities are listed in the world's best cities to live in, highest standards of living ...etc?

this is really confusing, i'm quite close to making the move and really surprised on how people's opinions could vary largely between the 2 extremes, there are people in this forum who think its a great country and offers a good future for immigrants - while others regret being there and feel that moving there was the biggest mistake they ever made....really strange,both those opinions cannot be true....its either a good country or not...but cannot be both :-\?!

I'm starting to wonder how its going to be like - when i move there, but whatever challenges i may face - i'm willing to take the risk with a strong will succeed ...so lets see.

I hope i won't be whining in this post someday!! :-[

IT WILL BE HARD IN THE BEGINNING BUT ITS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE

 

[deepbrits]

Hi Marcus,
We are in the same situation some what less or more. I am also going to be 35 within next three months. Haven't got married and no way to establish a property of own in India. I am also ambitious to go and settle abroad . Don't loose hope look at the people struggling below you. You will feel blessed that atleast you are the fortunate ones to get out and get started although it's a bit late as in my case too.
Life is there to teach you and it's better if we struggle and establish. I am motivated because in India lots n lots of people from rural background who even don't know English manage to get visa by somehow and they are working there and earning.
Chill out there are lots and lots of people like you and they will succeed one day.
Deepak.

 

[clubcanada]

WHY DONT YOU GO TO THE SH1T HOLE WHERE YOU WERE BORN MAYBE YOU ARE HAPPY THERE
GO BACK TO YOUR NATIVE LAND AND BE MISERABLE

@ glowingheart:
If Canada has worked well for you, good for you! At the same time we need to accept that Canada might not be a fit for everybody due to numerous reasons (working background, culture, expectations, etc.) or they hadn't had a good start as yours.

Everyone has the right to post his/her own opinion and experience whether it's positive or negative. And believe it or not: negative comments and experiences sometimes are more helpful than glorification of Canada. So please do us all a favour and stop posting abusive and offensive comments like those above.

 

[Dr Eng X]

@ glowingheart:
If Canada has worked well for you, good for you! At the same time we need to accept that Canada might not be a fit for everybody due to numerous reasons (working background, culture, expectations, etc.) or they hadn't had a good start as yours.

Everyone has the right to post his/her own opinion and experience whether it's positive or negative. And believe it or not: negative comments and experiences sometimes are more helpful than glorification of Canada. So please do us all a favour and stop posting abusive and offensive comments like those above.

totally right

 

[Dr Eng X]

Call me negative all you want but that's just a word of mouth, and like they say "talk is cheap". Truth be told, nobody here can give me a real reason to like Canada.
EDUCATION, LIFE QUALITY, FREEDOM, EDUCATION, SKI SEASON, THE GREAT OUTDOORS, NO DISCRIMINATION
Free health care? Sorry, that's not my problem. I don't need to go see the doctor. I'm young and healthy. What I need is a job that's going to afford me a home mortgage.
WAIT UNTIL YOU GET SICK OR HAVE AN ACCIDENT

Clean air? Sorry, that's just another bulll*censored word* reason: I can't tell the difference between US air and Canadian air.
I LIVE IN CALGARY AND WE HAVE CLEAN AIR IN FACT PURE AIR

Friendlier people: You're joking right? Come spend a few weeks in Toronto. You'll be lucky if anyone lays their eyes on you, let alone say "hello". Take a walk at the Eaton Centre mall, and all you'll see is complacent people who just pay the ridiculously high prices for clothing without caring that they're getting ripped off.
JUDGING BY YOUR ATTIITUDE NOONE WILL BE FRIENDS WITH YOU

Better place to raise kids? Sorry, I am single and don't have kids. I didn't come to Canada to raise kids. I came here to improve my financial lot.
AGAIN JUDGING YOU ITS BETTER IF YOU DONT PROCREATE

Better education? Compared to what? the US? You're out of your mind. What you have in Canada is a million community colleges and small institutions that teach peripheral skills. The real research universities (where knowledge is produced instead of just consumed) like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, are all in the USA. The world-renowned academics are irremediably drawn to the United States.
THE EDUCATION IS WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD
You can all talk out of your as.s but none of you can give me a single reason to like Canada. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
JUST KILLED EVERY ONE OF YOUR ARGUMENTS
Am I negative? You bet your as.s. I have every reason to be. To have to live in a country where I'm not really happy but I have no other choice, cause I can't get residence in the US. My heart cries out when I think of the good times I had in the US which aren't coming back, but I think I'd better stop here before I go crazy.
WHY DONT YOU GO TO THE SH1T HOLE WHERE YOU WERE BORN MAYBE YOU ARE HAPPY THERE

GO BACK TO YOUR NATIVE LAND AND BE MISERABLE

I am a Canadian citizen and all I can say is Canada is not for highly educated people with graduate degrees. I have seen many cases and have taught many graduates that could not find a job

 

[on-hold]

Well, I have a few thoughts about this -- I agreed with Marcus earlier, his gripes about the Canadian job market echoed my own. But now I don't agree . . .

First of all, the Canadian university system is really quite fine -- it combines a few excellent institutions with many fine general institutions, all at an affordable price. It meshes smoothly with the U.S. system, is very similar to it, and it is silly to call it inferior.

Secondly, Canadian society is extremely varied. If you are private, you can be left on your own; if you are gregarious, you can find people like that; it gives you great freedom. Marcus is wrong to criticize strangers for not meeting his demands.

Thirdly, Canada is small . . . It's total population is less than California, and I think this is what is giving Marcus trouble. Quite frankly, Canada doesn't need research mathematicians. Those jobs are extremely few in nature, and Canada produces a few itself -- to get hired, one probably has to be part of an academic network (or at least it would help a lot). Marcus's skills don't fit the job market, he probably immigrated under 3141. The thing about 3141 is that it doesn't exist -- no job ad will ever ask for a 'college teacher', they ask for specific subjects. In my entire time before emigrating and after arriving, I never saw a single academic job that I could apply for; and yet I came under what was supposed to be a high-demand profession. I totally understand why they axed it . . . I hope to work in public health instead, luckily.

I know immigrants who have retrained as statisticians, actuarials. Maybe Marcus could consider this -- frankly, it's a bit odd that someone who cares mostly about money, and not family, society, stability, would study such an abstruse subject. And if he doesn't need to retrain to do those jobs -- I don't know very much about his field -- then he should chill, and flip out after another year or so . . . Three months is a VERY short time to give up on a new place.

 

[glowingheart]

I am a Canadian citizen and all I can say is Canada is not for highly educated people with graduate degrees. I have seen many cases and have taught many graduate that could not find a job

I was replying to marcus not you thats why i ansewred in his points

I agree with you canada is maybe 60 to 70% blue collar but maybethats what makes it so great

Im have 3 citizenships Venezuelan by birth, British by father, Us cause I earned it and now I live in canada and hopefully in a couple of years ill be a canadian

I lived 14 years in the US never liked the US society I grat money there but neverreally loved it
Got a offer from a Canadian company Gave it a shot fell in love with the country , society, the outdoors and applyed for PR been her for a bit over 4 years and i kissed the US goodbye still a citizen but my passport exiprd a year ago and have no plans of renewing it dont want it dont need it