A post from Anurag (From Babbu Manns-NDVO-MI3 Thread):-
Dear friends
I would like to share my Canada Experience with you. I thought it would be good for you too to get to know about Canada and get mentally prepared.
Landed here in March this year and applied for PR card which I received in two months time. This card is required to return to Canada if you are abroad like you came to India and want to go back to Canada then you need this card to board the plane and enter Canada. You all should make sure that photos you send are of wright specifications, in India photographers don't have experience of taking such photos and give us rubbish which is fine for processing but you will get stuck in getting PR card, as these peoples are highly specific.
Got Fido connection and mobile phone on contract. Here you don't pay for the mobile phone its free you just have to sign a contract that you will stick to the connection for two or three years depending upon on the scheme. Not all phones are free like i phones for which you pay few hunderd dollars to get it out of $600 which is its actual cost, the rest amount is waived if you stick to the plans for 3 years. Other mobile services are Roggers, Koodo, Chat-R, Wind, Telus etc. Keeping a mobile phone is not easy its costly. You pay for incoming as well as outgoing and receving text messages too. Moreover Caller Id is not free you pay $7 to get this service so that you get to know who is calling you. A good package with unlimited messages national and international with unlimited talking in a specific area will cost you $35 + taxes. If you use internet then you may add another $40 to your bill, for me its $25 for 500Mb and another $5 for another 500Mb. Its really costly. and in between you can't leave the services of mobile phone due to contract you signed if you break you have to pay $400 ohhh my god. So sign the contract of mobile phone wisely.
Getting a room on rent is easy, you get several bhai from India and can get a basement for $500-650 a month, some include electricity bill while others don't. I paid $50 to get electricity bill transferred to my name and the bill comes somewhere around $ 30. I use token laundry and it takes $2 to wash and $ 3 to dry clothes. For your home you need a vacuum cleaner that may cost $100 or more.
Indian food is available in plenty but I didn't find the taste. it's okay okay type, I buy chole, rajma, palak paneer, baigan bharta, paav bhaji etc instant pak for $1.99 + taxes each. My monthly fooding costs me somewhere around $220 a month and sometimes more when I go out like $13 + taxes for a buffet.
Job market is not good for people like us, our education is not valid here and we have to do credential assement for $270 for various agencies like ICAS, or WES. finding a job in our field is very very difficult moreover to get a job you need canadian experience which all employers ask for (how can we get it, we are not offered a job so how can we gain this experience), few of you think its easy but is not at all. Sitting at home in initial days will bring frustation and I too completely broke down, because you earn nothing and spend so much. Bus ticket for a rout is $3 and pass is in hundred dollars its costly but I have it to go here and there. Keeping a car is not at all easy, u can purchase a car easily for $1000 + depending upon the model, my friend purchased Honda civic for $4500, but friends insurance is in several hundred dollars a month for new users. If u want to drive get Indian plastic card license with international license from local RTO and a letter of verification stating that ur license is genuine. After writing the written test you will get G1 license or learner's license and immediately G2 for road test and then your license. Exam fees is hundred dollars approx. For learning how to drive $25/ class is charged by few indians who teach here.
I didn't get job in my field and many many many are here its same with everyone except those who have big links and good references. For ordinary people like me its difficult. So, what I did is to take up labour jobs, hard physical work which many of us think is very easy but its not. Unlike India for 8 hrs you have to work fastly and seriously otherwise you are fired the next day. I earn $10.25 per hour and maximum for other labours working for several several years is $11-12 per hr. and you work for 40 hrs a week, and 8 hrs a day from Mon to friday and when on saturdays and sundays u think to go out you find shopping malls closed as they open for a short period on weekends.
So overall from my point of view I enjoy quality life but not money wise
I earn $2000 by working in two shifts and get $1600 after tax deduction.
$1600 my salary - $100 for mobile and internet bill - $600 room rent - $200 food - $ 120 bus pass - $ 25 electricity bill - $ 25 clothes washing - $50 if you eat out = I actually save $480 which is equivalent to indian rupees 24000. with this many many like me can't purchase own home ever here and can't send anything back to home. Only thing I want to say in this paragraph life is very hard unlike what many of us think and is not cakewalk.
bye think twice.
