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Deleted member 1006777
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To each their own. I'll still take Canada with all its faults over the US (as long as it benefits me. I have no allegiance to either country)
FSW WORLDWIDE
- Thread starter js555
- Start date
Be careful what you wish for. I was longing of coming here when I was in the US too.
Have you lived in Canada before? I think a person who lived in both countries for years might be a better judge.
Lol gotta like it when people simp for Canada over the US.
Healthcare? Unless you case is deemed "emergency" expect month of wait before actually getting treatment (e.g. here). The beauty of public healthcare! (Economics 101). Canada is nowhere near Nords level public healthcare which is understandable (they are small countries). When it comes to private healthcare it's all the same everywhere.
Safety - maybe, but still depends on the neighborhood. If I got the chance I would stay away from cities. Both Toronto and Vancouver have their own crime ridden zones.
To me the only perks are ease of getting PR (can I still say the same nowadays?). Canada will always rely on and play second fiddle to the USA.
For those trash talking Florida have you really lived there?
Healthcare? Unless you case is deemed "emergency" expect month of wait before actually getting treatment (e.g. here). The beauty of public healthcare! (Economics 101). Canada is nowhere near Nords level public healthcare which is understandable (they are small countries). When it comes to private healthcare it's all the same everywhere.
Safety - maybe, but still depends on the neighborhood. If I got the chance I would stay away from cities. Both Toronto and Vancouver have their own crime ridden zones.
To me the only perks are ease of getting PR (can I still say the same nowadays?). Canada will always rely on and play second fiddle to the USA.
For those trash talking Florida have you really lived there?
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Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are travelling abroad despite Omicron
In December, more than 700,000 Canadian air passenger arrivals returned home from international travel
Despite growing concerns across the globe last fall over the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, Sandy Long and her husband departed on Nov. 28 for a 10-day vacation in Mexico.
Long said they felt comfortable travelling, because they planned to take strict safety precautions. Plus, the couple hadn't gone abroad for two years due to the pandemic and were yearning to get away.
"Life is short," said Long, 58, of Richmond, B.C. "We needed to feel some warmth [and] we really missed Mexico."
It appears many Canadians have a similar attitude toward travel these days despite Omicron's fast and furious spread, which prompted Canada to repost its advisory against non-essential international travel last month.
Statistics Canada tallied 742,417 Canadian air-passenger arrivals returning home from abroad in December.
When adjusted to account for recent changes in tracking air travel, that total is almost six times the number of arrivals for the same month in 2020, and more than half the total for pre-pandemic December 2019.
The increase in international travel is likely to continue: there were 216,752 Canadian air-passenger arrivals to Canada during the week of Jan. 3 to Jan. 9, according to the latest data posted by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Lesley Keyter, owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary, said clients are booking trips despite the threat of Omicron because they want to return to travelling.
Travel agency owner Lesley Keyter said that since October, the number of clients booking trips has jumped by between 30 and 40 per cent compared with the same time last year.
She said popular destinations for her clients, most of whom are aged 50 or older, include Europe, Mexico and Costa Rica. When Omicron cases started to surge in December, Keyter said some clients cancelled their trip, but most kept their travel plans.
"People are saying, "Listen, we only have a limited time on this planet.… We've put off travel for two years now, I don't want to put it off anymore," said Keyter, owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary.
She said travellers also feel confident with the added protection of their COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot. Because Omicron is so transmissible and more able to evade vaccines, even vaccinated people may get infected. However, they're less likely to wind up in the hospital.
Risk of testing positive abroad
But even if infected travellers only experience mild symptoms, they'll still face hurdles returning home.
To enter Canada, air passengers must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure. If a traveller tests positive, they must wait at least 11 days before boarding a flight home.
Brennan Watson, 26, of Milverton, Ont., tested positive on Dec. 28 while travelling in Northern Ireland.
He was set to fly home the following day, but instead had to find a place to self-isolate in Belfast. Due to Canada's rules at the time — which have now changed — Watson had to wait 15 days before he could fly home.
"It was very stressful in the beginning," he said. "It was a bit of a panic just to think that I'm stuck here."
Brennan said the delay cost him: he missed 11 days of work as an electrician and spent $2,000 in added expenses, including another plane ticket home.
"There's nothing you can really do about it," he said. "It's just something I didn't even think would happen."
Travel insurance broker Martin Firestone said travellers can avoid such unexpected costs by purchasing trip-interruption insurance. He said most of his clients now opt for the coverage that will reimburse travellers for some or all of their costs if they test positive and must extend their trip.
"Trip interruption — which used to be a very rarely [purchased product] — is now being added to all the emergency medical plans, because clients worry terribly about testing positive," said Firestone with Travel Secure.
"That's the new world we live in right now with the pandemic."
Flight cancellations
Another hurdle travellers may face is unexpected flight cancellations.
Since December, thousands of flights in Canada and the U.S. have been cancelled for pandemic-related reasons including crew members out sick due to the virus.
This month, Air Canada Vacations announced it will suspend some flights to sun destinations between Jan. 24 and April 30. After cutting 15 per cent of its January flights, WestJet announced on Tuesday it will cancel 20 per cent of its February flights.
"It's the uncertainty right now," said Long. "I don't want to get down there and then be stranded."
However, she's still optimistic about a trip the couple has booked in May to Spain.
Despite testing positive while travelling, Brennan hopes to return to Ireland this summer — even if the pandemic hasn't waned by then.
"I spent a year and a half of my life not seeing family, not seeing friends," he said. "I'm not going to stop living my life."
In December, more than 700,000 Canadian air passenger arrivals returned home from international travel
Despite growing concerns across the globe last fall over the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, Sandy Long and her husband departed on Nov. 28 for a 10-day vacation in Mexico.
Long said they felt comfortable travelling, because they planned to take strict safety precautions. Plus, the couple hadn't gone abroad for two years due to the pandemic and were yearning to get away.
"Life is short," said Long, 58, of Richmond, B.C. "We needed to feel some warmth [and] we really missed Mexico."
It appears many Canadians have a similar attitude toward travel these days despite Omicron's fast and furious spread, which prompted Canada to repost its advisory against non-essential international travel last month.
Statistics Canada tallied 742,417 Canadian air-passenger arrivals returning home from abroad in December.
When adjusted to account for recent changes in tracking air travel, that total is almost six times the number of arrivals for the same month in 2020, and more than half the total for pre-pandemic December 2019.
The increase in international travel is likely to continue: there were 216,752 Canadian air-passenger arrivals to Canada during the week of Jan. 3 to Jan. 9, according to the latest data posted by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Lesley Keyter, owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary, said clients are booking trips despite the threat of Omicron because they want to return to travelling.
Travel agency owner Lesley Keyter said that since October, the number of clients booking trips has jumped by between 30 and 40 per cent compared with the same time last year.
She said popular destinations for her clients, most of whom are aged 50 or older, include Europe, Mexico and Costa Rica. When Omicron cases started to surge in December, Keyter said some clients cancelled their trip, but most kept their travel plans.
"People are saying, "Listen, we only have a limited time on this planet.… We've put off travel for two years now, I don't want to put it off anymore," said Keyter, owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary.
She said travellers also feel confident with the added protection of their COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot. Because Omicron is so transmissible and more able to evade vaccines, even vaccinated people may get infected. However, they're less likely to wind up in the hospital.
Risk of testing positive abroad
But even if infected travellers only experience mild symptoms, they'll still face hurdles returning home.
To enter Canada, air passengers must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure. If a traveller tests positive, they must wait at least 11 days before boarding a flight home.
Brennan Watson, 26, of Milverton, Ont., tested positive on Dec. 28 while travelling in Northern Ireland.
He was set to fly home the following day, but instead had to find a place to self-isolate in Belfast. Due to Canada's rules at the time — which have now changed — Watson had to wait 15 days before he could fly home.
"It was very stressful in the beginning," he said. "It was a bit of a panic just to think that I'm stuck here."
Brennan said the delay cost him: he missed 11 days of work as an electrician and spent $2,000 in added expenses, including another plane ticket home.
"There's nothing you can really do about it," he said. "It's just something I didn't even think would happen."
Travel insurance broker Martin Firestone said travellers can avoid such unexpected costs by purchasing trip-interruption insurance. He said most of his clients now opt for the coverage that will reimburse travellers for some or all of their costs if they test positive and must extend their trip.
"Trip interruption — which used to be a very rarely [purchased product] — is now being added to all the emergency medical plans, because clients worry terribly about testing positive," said Firestone with Travel Secure.
"That's the new world we live in right now with the pandemic."
Flight cancellations
Another hurdle travellers may face is unexpected flight cancellations.
Since December, thousands of flights in Canada and the U.S. have been cancelled for pandemic-related reasons including crew members out sick due to the virus.
This month, Air Canada Vacations announced it will suspend some flights to sun destinations between Jan. 24 and April 30. After cutting 15 per cent of its January flights, WestJet announced on Tuesday it will cancel 20 per cent of its February flights.
- 'Now is not the time': Federal government warns against travel abroad as Omicron spreads
- Ottawa is funding COVID-19 PCR tests for hundreds of thousands of travellers. Is it worth it?
"It's the uncertainty right now," said Long. "I don't want to get down there and then be stranded."
However, she's still optimistic about a trip the couple has booked in May to Spain.
Despite testing positive while travelling, Brennan hopes to return to Ireland this summer — even if the pandemic hasn't waned by then.
"I spent a year and a half of my life not seeing family, not seeing friends," he said. "I'm not going to stop living my life."
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/any-idea-prediction-on-next-cec-draw-and-cut-off-2022.755984/#post-9918250
@EscoBlades bro, them still can't handle the reality isn't it, hehe, the other user who replied - "Ppl who have PR or COPR in their hands tend to be this condescending. " is already under the impression everybody else is displaying superiority to the pre ita folks. i came across this user once in a thread. hehe
@GandiBaat stepped in later with the tweet
@EscoBlades bro, them still can't handle the reality isn't it, hehe, the other user who replied - "Ppl who have PR or COPR in their hands tend to be this condescending. " is already under the impression everybody else is displaying superiority to the pre ita folks. i came across this user once in a thread. hehe
@GandiBaat stepped in later with the tweet
I never expected we will see this situation, but we always had the wild thought that fsw won't be back soon, but dumb lazy ass ircc had to stop cec, if they did it then it's evident they can't take too much. mendishitno is epic, held the historical draw in the history of worldwide immigration and messed up the world's swiftest pr process.
There is no private healthcare, only private health insurance, you still get to enjoy the wait time even if ur paying for your insurance. On top of that you don’t get to see a specialist without a GP referral. Now it takes like 2 weeks to see a GP and 4-6 months to see a specialist in big cities.
For the safety part, the chances of you getting murdered is much lower in Canada, I’ve been through the shitty part of Vancouver. Yes there are a lot homeless and addicts concentrated in the area (more than Seattle, more like Skid Row of LA). The chances of you being murdered there is much lower than most US major city shit holes.
For the immigration part, if you are an Indian working a white collar job, you’ll be on the unlucky side.
I’ve also done my calculation, every month I spent around the same money living in Seattle and Vancouver. Seattle is more expensive in rent and dining out and cheaper in everything else. But my take home money is 50% less working the same job for the same company and for the same manager as a remote worker now (Thanks to BC income taxes and no WA state income taxes).
I have talked to some peers in my company. They either 1. Established a family here and don’t wanna move 2. Waiting for citizenship to get TN. 3. About to get transferred to Seattle via TN or L1.
One of my friends from U of Waterloo said, almost all capable Canadians he knows studying CS there ended up going to the US.
All CEC's below 400 should protest and display their entitlement to the fullest.
Some ways in which Canada outperforms the US:
1. Gun control laws
2. No (or less) mass shootings/ violent hate crimes
3. A woman's right to choose is respected - relatively (abortion laws)
4. Access to birth control options/better women's healthcare
5. LGBTQIA+ rights (or less discrimination)
6. More academic freedom (In contrast to the US backlash against teaching CRT/LGBT/African American history)
7. General healthcare ( and the ability to get primary care and lab work done without worrying about a co-pay of $5000)
8. Child welfare/foster care
9. The political system (no gerrymandering, has a multiparty system that curbs polarization, there is a movement towards proportional representation, for example in PEI, that will make the political system more representative)
*This is not to say that the US doesn't have strong points as well. I absolutely love the US and I can't imagine ever loving another country more - but I do recognize that the US still has several important problems to fix.
One good thing about Canada is that the salaries in tech are going up pretty quickly (not as fast as the US though). It’s hard to find enough tech people in the US now (thanks to Covid). Salaries here are still much better than EU except for Switzerland and Israel.
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Deleted member 1006777
Guest
As I have said before, I don't have any allegiance to either the US or Canada. If Canada had treated us with an ounce of dignity, I might have shown more loyalty to Canada. But despite that, Canada is still the lesser of two evils for me, and that's what I'll choose. I decide things based on what I deem important and I know dozens of people who have lived in both countries. Guess what, not all of them agree. So yes, my opinions are also partly based on people who have lived in both countries. Like I said, to each their own. If you despise Canada so much, you're free to leave. If I end up there and hate it, I am free to leave too, and I fully intend to if that's what it comes to.
For idiots who want to only partly read comments and get snarky (not you, but some others who decided their opinion was worth something and inserted themselves into the middle of it), that's up to them. Couldn't care less about any of their opinions.
There is definitely more emphasis on diversity and inclusion among US companies than Canadian counterparts. Like we don’t even use the word “whitelist” “blacklist” anymore instead it’s “allowlist” and “blocklist”
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Deleted member 1006777
Guest
Careful saying this. A certain kangaroo will have an anneurysm if he reads it.