For what it's worth, I spent a good bit of time looking at the Not Canada web site --on one hand, it's worth thinking about. Imagine yourself in a new country, new climate, new customs, new manners, and you have to go find a good job. Of course there are going to be people in that country already who can do your job, and maybe there is some institutional and personal prejudice against you; it might be tough to get yourself hired over other, more local people. Everywhere is like that, and in my experience (I was a student in Toronto), Canada is too but less so than most places. You might be one of the people who hates it -- imagine all of the above, and then a gray, bitter winter and expensive, bland food and everyone walking around in a coat staring at the ground.
I think a lot of it depends on what you expect. My personal hope (beyond getting my visa approved, please) is that when I go to Canada I can simply find an acceptable job, right away, that will let me and my family live without using our savings. That will give me time to find a better job at leisure, and my wife a relaxed period to pass the Canadian nursing qualifications.
The Not Canada site is driven by bitterness and ignorance. I read a very interesting thread started by an American doctor working in Nova Scotia who described his wish to move to Canada (to work in a fair health system), how he prepared beforehand, fit in quite well, accepted Canada and loved his work there even though he made less money. The three or four people (Not Canada only has about 6 regular posters) who respond to everything not only couldn't accept this, they didn't believe him. They questioned his motives, refusing to believe an American doctor would accept less pay in Canada, and eventually deciding that he must have committed serious malpractice in the States. They questioned his identity; the doctor gave them his name and how to check his current licensing online; they discovered that he was also faculty at Dalhousie University (which is normal for medical schools, they have large numbers of normal doctors appointed as occasional instructors) and accused him of making everything up, etc. etc. All of this was done in the rudest manner, and showed a small group of people who were simply unable to believe a normal, happy story, and were ignorant of how the educational system works in North America.
There was another person who mentioned how he went to school in Canada and the States, graduated with a PhD, and got a good job in Canada that paid more than the U.S. (I think it was about $80,000). The regulars at Not Canada couldn't believe that this was an entry-level salary for a PhD (in fact, it's rather high), and spent their time making fun of the person for wasting his time getting an education and a good job in a field that he loved.
In other words, the people at Not Canada don't really understand how things work, there. They don't understand Western educational institutions, or what is possible and realistic. On or two of them actually brag that they didn't waste their time getting a Masters degree in Canada. They can't believe that people would do something that doesn't make them rich, probably because they went to Canada expecting to become wealthy. Don't go to Canada to get rich, go there to be comfortable and to enjoy the equality of education and opportunity that you and your children will receive. They can't accept that many immigrants are successful in Canada -- I don't know why this is, because I don't know them myself. I have no doubt at all that there is racism and discrimination in Canada, it's not a perfect country. Many people will go there and fail, or feel like they fail. But at the same time, it accepts huge numbers of immigrants, it gives them health insurance, free language training, counseling for credential licensing, and much, much, more. A former Premier of British Columbia was born in the Punjab and lived there until he was 18 or so. He arrived in Canada as an adult and worked as a manual laborer. Now he's in the national government. How many of us can say our country would have a man, or woman, like that in charge of one of its largest provinces, or as a minister?
I certainly can't.
