Stay or leave Canada?

[Atecami]

Hello. I would like to know some opinions about my situation. My husband is cabadian citicen, but not born here. He lives in Montréal, Québec. I am here since two months to joun him. From what I have noticed, living in Canada is very extremly expensive. Too many taxes, health care is not really free and I feel very isolated, since I cannot work and do not see that it is easy to make friends here, since people go from work to home and there is not lot of life. We cannot go to the home country of my husband which is Honduras. We also do not wabt to go to Spain, which is my home country. I lived in Switzerland and grew up there, but also going there is not a good option since I did not like the culture. We are considering if moving to a another european country or to stay in Québec. The problem is that moving is expensive and not easy, because my husband does not have EU citicenship. But staying here and have a family seems not a good option either due to the extremly high taxes and cost of living.
And beautiful nature is available almost anywhere. Also we would have to pay more then 1200$ just to get my husband to sponsor me, which makes no sense. We have also to go trough Québecs immigration process and the federal process. Leaving right now is not an option, because my husband has debts and we need to pay them off before leaving. But staying long term is not very encouraging due to live beeing so different than in a place where the people go outside and have a life. So what to do? Plan to stay or plan to move?
Thanks for your input.

 

[manuce]

Hi,

Every place has pros and con, if you guys speak French its much faster process to get immigrated. In general I found people liking Montreal for family related reason and schooling for kids and integration is better. I am surprise to see that you finding it Expansive here coming from a European Country Like Switzerland which is one of the most expansive countries in the world. Every where you go and try to start a a new life there are struggling times and things gets better slowly once you find yourselves in better or suitable job at a good salary scale. Montreal has the lowest child care payments in the whole Canada which alone set back many parents to take it in another provinces. You should start to see things a bit more positively and for a better future for your family and then decide what you want to do good luck.

 

[Atecami]

Hello. Thank you for your reply. I guess I did not see the expensiveness of Switzerland because I was a child back then and prices have increased the last 1p years everywhere probably.
I actually learned some French in Switzerland aswell. Will try to see things more positive. About childcare I plan to be a stay at home mom and not to work. Which is permitted in Québec. Not everywhere it's allowed. So that is a good thing. Thanks and may God bless you. All the best for you aswell.

 

[canuck78]

Hello. Thank you for your reply. I guess I did not see the expensiveness of Switzerland because I was a child back then and prices have increased the last 1p years everywhere probably.
I actually learned some French in Switzerland aswell. Will try to see things more positive. About childcare I plan to be a stay at home mom and not to work. Which is permitted in Québec. Not everywhere it's allowed. So that is a good thing. Thanks and may God bless you. All the best for you aswell.

Being a stay ay home mother is permitted everywhere but usually not affordable. Quebec is one of the provinces that encourages mothers to return to work with reasonably priced childcare. If your husband has debts and you feel Montreal is unaffordable the answer will likely be you need to get a job and your husband may need a second job. Montreal is extremely cheap compared to Switzerland and many EU countries. Cost of housing in Montreal is lower than most Canadian cities except a few in the Maritimes.

 

[Atecami]

Being a stay ay home mother is permitted everywhere but usually not affordable. Quebec is one of the provinces that encourages mothers to return to work with reasonably priced childcare. If your husband has debts and you feel Montreal is unaffordable the answer will likely be you need to get a job and your husband may need a second job. Montreal is extremely cheap compared to Switzerland and many EU countries. Cost of housing in Montreal is lower than most Canadian cities except a few in the Maritimes.

Yes, but bear in mind that in Switzerland and Europe costs of education and health care are much much cheaper and that in Switzerland salaries are not 15$ per hour.
Also the standart of living in any european country is much higher. Even in a country like Portugal where there own people consider thenselves poor, it is easier and much cheaper to get a medical appointment than here in Québec.
Also the roads are much better in any western european country and even if the taxes are higher in some of them, still the quality of life is higher and cities are much more beautiful in the architecture and they were build for people not for the cars like in North America. And the streets are not so dirty and there is a very good garbage collection and you don't see garbage every monday piled like here in Montréal, sonething that looks really ugly. So maybe the country is more expensive, but people get more out of their taxes or have a higher quality of life or have better food and more social life than here. So I think here the only good thing is the government paying back the taxes you paid if you have children. But it would actually be better if you would not have to pay taxes two times, federal and provincial and if you would not be taken 33% or more of your salary taken while there is no real benefit to it, because roads, hospitals, education and policy do not work properly.
Sorry, but canadians should wake up of their fantasy land and start seeing they are really paying a lot to get almost nothing and that things should not be this way. You deserve much better.

 

[canuck78]

Yes, but bear in mind that in Switzerland and Europe costs of education and health care are much much cheaper and that in Switzerland salaries are not 15$ per hour.
Also the standart of living in any european country is much higher. Even in a country like Portugal where there own people consider thenselves poor, it is easier and much cheaper to get a medical appointment than here in Québec.
Also the roads are much better in any western european country and even if the taxes are higher in some of them, still the quality of life is higher and cities are much more beautiful in the architecture and they were build for people not for the cars like in North America. And the streets are not so dirty and there is a very good garbage collection and you don't see garbage every monday piled like here in Montréal, sonething that looks really ugly. So maybe the country is more expensive, but people get more out of their taxes or have a higher quality of life or have better food and more social life than here. So I think here the only good thing is the government paying back the taxes you paid if you have children. But it would actually be better if you would not have to pay taxes two times, federal and provincial and if you would not be taken 33% or more of your salary taken while there is no real benefit to it, because roads, hospitals, education and policy do not work properly.
Sorry, but canadians should wake up of their fantasy land and start seeing they are really paying a lot to get almost nothing and that things should not be this way. You deserve much better.

I'm not sure how much you have travelled through Europe or Canada. If you are a Canadian Citizen or PR you get medical appointments for free so actually very similar. Portugal and other EU countries have wait list to see some specialists. EU countries also bill foreigners if thy use their medical system. Education is also free and post secondary education is extremely subsidized in Quebec. Sure the architecture is the old cities in Europe are beautiful but that is because they are much older. There are plenty of run down areas all over Europe. Switzerland has the most secure borders and due to the finance sector tends to have very high earners and many who struggle. Not much in the middle. Yes many European countries still have free post secondary education but that is slowly going away. Not sure the yellow vests in France agree they are living a good life and there are definitely places in Europe where you find garbage piled up. What about the whole Greek economy? Then there is Portugal. Span and Italy where a large percentage of young people can't get solid jobs and can't move out of the family home. If you are so enamoured by the life in Europe why did you not sponsor your husband to move to Europe? Who qualifies for healthcare in each province is easy information to obtain so it is not Canada's fault that you didn't do your research before getting pregnant. It doesn't sound like you were old enough to live on your own with a family and work but you will likely find Spain equally as expensive as Quebec and more expensive in the larger cities. If you are not employed or going to school you Ontario may not meet many friends and because we have winter people don't go out as much. Sounds like your best option would be to return to Spain and live with your family. You can start sponsoring your spouse and he can work as many jobs as possible to clear his debts as fast as possible. If your husband is in debt perhaps moving back to Europe to work would be the best way to reduce his debt as fast as possible. You also need a serious discussion about whether you can be a stay at home mother given his financial issues.

 

[canuck78]

Would also add that some provinces which don't have wait times for healthcare for PR may not cover spouses of Canadian residents in that province if they are just visitors.

 

[CaBeaver]

Is your husband working full-time? How long-have you been in Montreal? $1200 for sponsorship is not that much. I don't know if you can find another better place. There is always a risk of not liking it wherever you go. It's tough to find new friends in new countries, especially for immigrants from different cultures who are not working. Is it an option for you to find a job? Why you said you cannot work? You don't have a work permit? I am not sure, but maybe you can have a work permit since your husband is a citizen. Ask about this. For me as long as you have a full-time job, I don't think there are many places better than Canada. The only problem in Canada in my experience is finding a good job since the job market is small and not diverse in terms of specializations.