My impression- How different is Canada from US

[avi_15]

Here are my observations about Canada and the differences between US and Canada,
These are entirely my opinion. You may or may not aggree but most of the people who move from
US to Canada will find a lot of truth and will be able to relate to them once they come here . People who are moving
from other countries may not find it useful and can ignore then info given below

Canada is not a mirror image of US. This is what i came to realize after coming here. I was expecting it
to be a lot similar but the reality is far different. US is far superior to Canada

People in Canada are rude on an average. Most of them dont have any knowledge
of customer eccentricity and hence you can expect the person at the gas station or a tim hortons employee
or a zellers associate to be fairly rude and mannerless

Milk is priced a $5.5 a gallon compared to $2.7 in US... Yes this is true.. Start drinking black tea friends

Gas is priced at $4.75 a gallon as compared to $3.3 in US...this is where is say ... Ohh SH****T

I havent seen any real canadians in toronto at least and its immigrants all around.

Expect to meet people everywhere who want to rip you apart. Be it on the road or in a bank or a store. Its just like India where you find salesmen all around just trying to grab a buck out of ur pocket

Road ettiquetes dont seem to exist. Honking and crossing speed limits seems to be quite common

Food items are expensive. Butter for instance is $4-5 one brick. Similarly juice, other dairy products, vegetables
etc all are around 20-50% more expensive than US(varying from item to item)

Clothes are very expensive. I havent shopped for any clothes till now but thats what my colleagues who have come
from US have told me

Rents are pretty high and most of the appartment building ask for 2 months of rent upfront and some even 3 months rent

Driving licence costs $75 compared to $15-20 in US...

Advertised basements /appartements are very different to whats shown in the picture. I am indian and hence can speak of
our community here. Most of the ones rented by desis are not good. They say completely opposite of what the place actually is
Most of these are damp, dark basements and they still want you to believe its a nice place to live

Insurance rates very high. i used to pay $550 for 6 months full auto insurance in US. the quotes which i am getting here
are around 450 per month. Yes it is this high. This is with 3.5 years good driving record in US

I will suggest you all moving here to try and get a job before moving as this is a costly country compared to US. so if you are earning 60 K per annum in US the ideal to ask here would be 80K. so basically 60 k in US is comparatively equivalent to 80 K here.
thats what i am feeling based upon what the expenses are.

bank accounts come with a annual fee, a fee to get check books , a fee for getting a money wired into ur account, a fee for every service u can think of.

the entire population here consists of immigrants. all fighting to get hold of odd jobs to make ends meet. frankly speaking it is
depressing to see this scenario. people are working 2 .. sometime 3 shifts to support themselves.

Friends please dont take any of this personally but this is what i have seen and observed. let me know if you need any more info


Avi

 

[PMM]

Hi

Here are my observations about Canada and the differences between US and Canada,
These are entirely my opinion. You may or may not aggree but most of the people who move from
US to Canada will find a lot of truth and will be able to relate to them once they come here . People who are moving
from other countries may not find it useful and can ignore then info given below

Canada is not a mirror image of US. This is what i came to realize after coming here. I was expecting it
to be a lot similar but the reality is far different. US is far superior to Canada

People in Canada are rude on an average. Most of them dont have any knowledge
of customer eccentricity and hence you can expect the person at the gas station or a tim hortons employee
or a zellers associate to be fairly rude and mannerless

Milk is priced a $5.5 a gallon compared to $2.7 in US... Yes this is true.. Start drinking black tea friends

Gas is priced at $4.75 a gallon as compared to $3.3 in US...this is where is say ... Ohh SH****T

I havent seen any real canadians in toronto at least and its immigrants all around.

Expect to meet people everywhere who want to rip you apart. Be it on the road or in a bank or a store. Its just like India where you find salesmen all around just trying to grab a buck out of ur pocket

Road ettiquetes dont seem to exist. Honking and crossing speed limits seems to be quite common

Food items are expensive. Butter for instance is $4-5 one brick. Similarly juice, other dairy products, vegetables
etc all are around 20-50% more expensive than US(varying from item to item)

Clothes are very expensive. I havent shopped for any clothes till now but thats what my colleagues who have come
from US have told me

Rents are pretty high and most of the appartment building ask for 2 months of rent upfront and some even 3 months rent

Driving licence costs $75 compared to $15-20 in US...

Advertised basements /appartements are very different to whats shown in the picture. I am indian and hence can speak of
our community here. Most of the ones rented by desis are not good. They say completely opposite of what the place actually is
Most of these are damp, dark basements and they still want you to believe its a nice place to live

Insurance rates very high. i used to pay $550 for 6 months full auto insurance in US. the quotes which i am getting here
are around 450 per month. Yes it is this high. This is with 3.5 years good driving record in US

I will suggest you all moving here to try and get a job before moving as this is a costly country compared to US. so if you are earning 60 K per annum in US the ideal to ask here would be 80K. so basically 60 k in US is comparatively equivalent to 80 K here.
thats what i am feeling based upon what the expenses are.

bank accounts come with a annual fee, a fee to get check books , a fee for getting a money wired into ur account, a fee for every service u can think of.

the entire population here consists of immigrants. all fighting to get hold of odd jobs to make ends meet. frankly speaking it is
depressing to see this scenario. people are working 2 .. sometime 3 shifts to support themselves.

Friends please dont take any of this personally but this is what i have seen and observed. let me know if you need any more info


Avi

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Why don't you compare the cost of health insurance in the US with Canada?

 

[avi_15]

PMM

i have seen houndreds giving me the same plea as u did about health insurance and i still beg to differ

anyways you are free to disagree and thats what i have written as a disclaimer in the start of my post

Also I am not sure if you have been to US or not so i will not comment further

 

[kchakus]

Any regrets for moving from US to Can?

 

[avi_15]

I cannot call this a regret.. but a shock as of now..

Any regrets for moving from US to Can?

 

[harry_aussie]

God ohh God

$450 per month for auto insurance ??????. Canada seems out of its mind. What a ripper.

 

[asbereth]

God ohh God

$450 per month for auto insurance ??????. Canada seems out of its mind. What a ripper.

I was wondering about that too. I had 5+ years of driving experience in the States, and only paid roughly 135 per month (for full cover) about 2 years ago when I first got to Canada. Now it's 120 per month (still more expensive than in the States, but not that outrageous). I too know several other people that are paying much less than 450 per month, and they all have driven less than 2 years in North America. Now the type of your car might affect your policy obviously, but 450 per month seems way too much.

 

[harry_aussie]

I dont understand people when they say that they are immigrating to give a better future to their kids. How sure are the people that their kids will have better future. Kids might loose the values they might inherit back in their own country. Example: I am an Indian and we dont leave our parents at old age homes to leave this world in seclusion. In these countries this is common. I have a big family in Canada and US, i feel so bad when i listen to the kids talking to their parents. I owe my life to my parents and understand their sacrifices.

 

[explorer101]

1. I pay $4 ( 2 %)for a gallon of milk. Never bought over $4.50, butter brick at $ 2.50 or less.
2. I dont pay any bank fee, my cheques comes free, wire transfer in US is not free and so is here
3. I have no north american driving record , so i pay $ 290 a month as car insurance and i know after 2 years it would be $120
4. No gun culture as in US, I am sure that there would be no shoot outs on the streets and in the school and my kid would definately reach home intact.
5. Insurances are high and so are collusion repairs and people in canada drive more cautiously, when i go to US i meet jerks on the way and feel quite good on crossing back to Canada. That is why one see so many police cars in US.
6. I dont pay anything to doctors, hospitals and labs. I walk home free. My flashing health card takes care of me and after some years i will get free medicines also.
7. Canada is no doubt different from US. When US gives marching orders to leave US , Canada allows permanent residency.
8. 2 months rent- first and last is a trend worldwide. Buy your own house, rent it out and dont take 2 months of rent.
9. US people are rude, abusive and they dont talk, they shout. I am in customer service and i feel it that Canadians are very receptive. They dont use f word all the time.
10. Honking, where , i am waiting to hear it. It is close to 2 years now. a little warning to draw attention or alert, is it also called honking.
11. No doubt Canada looks expenisive. when one see the health and other benifits i feel it is not,
12. I am happy Canada is no mirror image of US.
12( a) I dont make 80 k, i even dont make 60 k, still i am having good life in Canada. Have own 3 bedroom beautiful Condo, drive big car and have $$ in bank. Go out for vacation, dine out, drink a lot etc etc
13. I fail to understand why some people immigrate to Canada and talk about US? US is not the only place in the world where one can live happily .
I would say Love it or leave it

 

[James11]

avi_15 :

who told you to move man !!

Go back

and don't discourage people who is dreaming to come there.........

 

[qorax]

Item/Statistics...........................................Canada...........USA...............Notes
BASIC PROPOSITION:
Total Area (sq-km)............................................9,984,670...........9,826,630.........Size-wise both are same
Population2......................................................33,910,000..........313,232,000......USA has 9.2 times more people
Meaning? -Infrastructure requirement being the same, Canada has 9.2 times less ppl to square-off the ROI [Return On Investment]!

NOW READ MORE:
Population Growth Rate.......................................0.79% growth.....0.96% growth....USA has a 17% higher growth rate
Death Rate/1,000 population................................7.98 deaths.........8.38 deaths.......USA has a 4.8% higher death rate
Net Migration Rate/1,000 population......................5.65 migrants.....4.18 migrants.....Canada has a 26% higher migrant rate
Foreign-born Population as % of population.............20.1%..............13.6%...............Canada has a 6.5% higher foreign-born population
Life Expectancy..................................................81.38 years.......78.37 years........Canada has a 3.7% higher life expectancy
Infant Mortality/1,000 population...........................4.92 deaths.......6.06 deaths........USA has a 18.8% greater infant mortality rate
Obesity as % of total population............................24.2................33.8...................USA has 28.4% greater obese population per capita
Murder Rate per 100,000 population.......................1.84................5.06...................USA has 2.8 times higher murder rate
Sexual Offenses as % of total female population......2.3%...............3.6%..................USA has 1.3% higher population of women sexually offended
Consumer Fraud as % of total population................7.4%...............12.5%................USA has 5.1% higher population of people victimized in consumer fraud
Prison Population as % of total population...............0.116%............0.760%..............USA has 6.6 times higher prison population
Police Force.......................................................65,283.............708,569..............USA has 10.9 times higher police force
GDP per capita (USD)..........................................$47,567...........$47,106..............Canada has 0.97% greater GDP per capita
Industrial Growth Rate.........................................5.8%...............3.3%.................Canada's industrial production is growing at 2.5% greater rate
Public Debt as % of GDP......................................84.16%............93.58%..............USA has 9.4% larger gross debt as expressed in % of GDP
Unemployment Benefits Expenditure as % of GDP....0.6%................0.3%................Canada spends 2 times more money on unemployment benefits as expressed in % of GDP
Independence....................................................July 1, 1867......July 4, 1776........USA is 91 years older

-Source: CIA World Factbook
-All figures are 2011 est or 2010

Pls know ur facts !

Qorax

 

[qorax]

@ avi_15
U commented on the behaviour, culture, morality, ethnicity, drive, attitude, mentality, integrity and what may by just ur observation/assessment of 15 days! (to be noted that u just 'landed' on Feb-3, 2012). Ppl take a lifetime to understand those. I must say, "u r one hell of a man, we need to learn a lot from u"!

 

[canlove]

@ avi_15
U commented on the behaviour, culture, morality, ethnicity, drive, attitude, mentality, integrity and what may by just ur observation/assessment of 15 days! (to be noted that u just 'landed' on Feb-3, 2012). Ppl take a lifetime to understand those. I must say, "u r one hell of a man, we need to learn a lot from u"[color=red[/color]]!

+100 boss !

 

[gabrielsjimenez]

I dont understand people when they say that they are immigrating to give a better future to their kids. How sure are the people that their kids will have better future. Kids might loose the values they might inherit back in their own country. Example: I am an Indian and we dont leave our parents at old age homes to leave this world in seclusion. In these countries this is common. I have a big family in Canada and US, i feel so bad when i listen to the kids talking to their parents. I owe my life to my parents and understand their sacrifices.

te]
Most of immigrant's saying that they want to go to Canada or in other country because it depend's on their status on their own country,and Im one of those because in our country we dont get a health insurance provided by our government that is sufficient enough to sustain our medical needs.We are not pay enough to sustain all our needs though we are working that hard.Im not being sound so materialistic,but as far as i know when we migrate to other country specially in Canada somehow our kids can have a better life as long as they work so hard.As their parents we can still instill to them what we left behind in our country, all the positive aspect of our culture as youve mentioned our love for our folk's cause in our country we also took care of our old one's. We just have to pray and guide them in any way, but i know it would not be an easy way but we have to be optimistic,as parents all we wanted is for them to have a better life,so i think we can never be wrong.God Bless.

 

[meems]

Qorax!

Kudos!!!! Commendable ...thanks for the info. ;D