How many people left the US for Canada?

How many people left the US for Canada and why? what are the benifits and downfalls? me and my wife have been talking about moving to canada for a few years but have not actually made the trip to experience it yet. I know experiencing it would have a lot to do deciding on such a decision. but I I was hoping for some helpful info about Canadas culture and maybe some useful information to help us decide whether the move or travel would be beneficial to us or not.

 

Not very many. There was a lot of talk but little action.

Some things to remember about Canada, though -

Taxes are high. Very high. As in, New york is a tax haven high. Capital Gains taxes can hit 80%.

You do NOT have the right to bear arms. Buying a weapon is a logistical nightmare and recent laws now say that if you own a gun you give up the right to remain silent, to unreasonable search and seizure, the cops can come fishing anytime they want and there's reverse onus crimes you can be charged with. Carry a weapon and you can and probably will be shot dead on sight.

You do NOT have the right to free speech. Insulting an identifiable group of people can lead to hate crime charges. "Americans deserved to be blown up in 9/11" is NOT hate speech, as the government hates Americans and won't press charges when someone says something like that. Heck, the Prime Minister did it, on the anniversary of 9/11.

Your kids WILL be required to learn French.

Jobs will pay less than you're used to and a LOT harder to find, and will be taxed more. But you can't be fired from them as easily.

Elections happen at the convenience of the person in power, and it's basically a one-man banana republic dictatorship by this point. The folks in power now are crooks and thieves of the first order and there's no sign of any kind of change, ever.

 

Where do you get this stuff? lol. Anti-Canada Propaganda Monthly?

Almost everyone I know has a gun. Big guns, used for hunting. There are 5 of them in my parent's house alone... stored in a locked cabinet in the basement. My dad keeps a gun with him at all time when doing CAT work... never know when you might wake up a pissed off bear, eh?

Free Speech? I've always said what I want to say, and have never had any problems.

Jobs aren't hard to find. If you want a job, you can get one. You might be working in a gas station or a pig barn, but there are jobs. For example, right now the oil fields are desparet for jobs. So much that the average wage has raised 30% this year alone. And, after taxes, your two week take home from that job would be around $5000.... so, thats $10,000 a month after taxes.

I took french in school. Why is that an issue? Learning another language actually adds to your job qualifications. I don't see how having kids that speak 2 languages would be a negative.

You make Canada sound like it's being run by the KGB. Whats your issue with the Canada-hating? I don't think I have ever heard you say something nice about anything.

 

RE: NOT TRUE--i dont speak french, and over half the people here dont either

A patent lie. In most provinces French language education is MANDATORY. In Ontario you're required to take it til Grade 9. Interestingly enough there's NO requirement to learn English in Quebec.

RE: Almost everyone I know has a gun. Big guns, used for hunting.

Bought before C-68, or whatever. There's a big difference between Canadian gun ownership and load-it-and-put-it-in-the-glove-compartment concealed weapons permit type laws here.

RE: Free Speech? I've always said what I want to say, and have never had any problems.

You've never said anything contrary to the government.

RE:
Jobs aren't hard to find. If you want a job, you can get one. You might be working in a gas station or a pig barn, but there are jobs.

I'm referring to people here finding that moving to the USA means fewer jobs, good jobs I mean, there's always Zeller's.... and they're taxed harder and harder to get.

And the oil fields are an aberration. You can make $65,000 in five days on an Alaskan crab trawler. Doesn't mean everyone in Alaska is rich.

RE: I took french in school. Why is that an issue?

RE: Whats your issue with the Canada-hating?

Lived there 27 years.

Bilingualisation = $1 billion dollars in needless promote-him-cause-his-name-is-Jean-Guy-ism

 

wow... and i'm planning on moving there with my significant other when we get married... or even before. i NEED to hear more positives because he's unwilling to immigrate to the states.

 

I don't see why your average Joe Schmo would NEED to have a concealled weapon permit. Why does a person feel the need to carry a concealled weapon? What are you afraid of? Are Moose now packing heat? There is NO NEED to carry a concealed weapon... unless you are in law inforcement or something simular.

And I have said something "negative" to the govenment. I point blank told my former MP that her son was a fucking rapist, and that she was an ignorant racist bitch. I also have picketed outside the parliment buildings. I have written letters to the Government about Health Care and about Farm Aid. Guess what? I'm still here. The Canadian KGB has yet take me out.

I got my first job at 18, and have never been unemployed since. What do you classify as being a "good job"?

 

RE: wow... and i'm planning on moving there with my significant other when we get married... or even before. i NEED to hear more positives because he's unwilling to immigrate to the states.

Well, let's see.

The Liberanos are really good at finding more reasons to tax you. The latest is a $1 tax EACH on CDROMs and a $4 tax on grinding discs and other tools - "environmental fees" and suchlike. With Kyoto we're gonna see CO2 fines on people too.... wait for it.

They're also really good at stealing your money. Jean Chretien pocketed almost a quarter mil of public money with Shawinigate, Paul Martin and others through AdScam are doing rather well (hey, wonder why they didn't look too hard at why Paul Martin's shipping vessel had 80 some odd kilos of cocaine on it?) and hey, we never found that BILLION dollars the HRDC "lost". By the way the police answers to the Prime Minister. So do the banks. As does Canada's equivalent of Kenneth Starr.

So basically, the PM can take bank money. He can then tell the cops NOT to investigate him, and then on top of that, tell Kenneth Starr to tell the world that you're perfectly legit.

Your TV stations and radio stations MUST (and this includes satellite) play 60-85% Canadian Content. Get used to Rush and Anne Murray. But hey there'll be lots of great fiddle music and Vicky Gabereau to listen to. Won't be able to get magazines - you'll be reading the Canadian edition.

Your kids will come home speaking French. They will be required to learn it.

And of course when people find out you're American they'll get condescendingly superior. Expect to hear a lot they burned down the White House once and other such crap. Or LONG WINDED RANTING about softwood lumber.

RE: And I have said something "negative" to the govenment. I point blank told my former MP that her son was a fucking rapist

That's to an MP.

RE: I got my first job at 18, and have never been unemployed since. What do you classify as being a "good job"?

Most people I know here in IT or other fields find that when they go to Canada they're expected to take a 30% salary hit. And you're a woman. Most of the men I knew went to the USA to find work.

 

Iron, you sound rather bigoted.
No offense...

 

Environmental Taxes suck... but the alternative is what? Doing what Bush did and being the only G8 nation not to follow? I would rather pay a buck here and know that said product was being properly manufactured and disposed of.

Canadian Content Laws aren't that bad. Yes, there is a lot of Nickelback and Anne Murray on the radio. But there is also a lot of Sam Roberts, Teagan and Sarah, Rufus, Hawksley, Sarah Slean, Sara Harmer and Matthew Good. Sometimes Canadian Content is a really good thing. Would these artists be heard if there wasn't a CC law?

The Canadian version of most mags is identical to the American.... everything from Entertainment Weeekly to Cosmopolitan is identical. I don't know what magazines you were refering to, to be honest. Even the Psychology Today mag is identical to the US version. And.. if you want the UK edition, they have it at the nearest Chapters (Canadian version of Borders)

Not all Canadians are condesendingly superiour. Although, I admit some are. Just like there are some Americans who treat Canadians like they are inbred idiots who live in igloos. Assholes are everywhere, Canada isn't exempt. But, most people won't treat you any differently than if you were Canadian.

My husband (an American) noticed that people were actually interested in where he was from, what it was like, what the weather was like.... all of that. People went out of the way to meet my "man from the south country".

Last time I checked, MP stood for Member of Parliment.... and Parliment was one of the levels of Canadian Government. Ergo, by that reasoning, a MP must be a member of the government.

And I do have a vagina.... but its has never gotten me a job. I don't know a single man, other than hockey players, who went to the US for work. Not one.

Tigerlily... there are lots of great things about Canada. There are lots of great things about the US. In some ways they are very simular. You will find lots of differences though, I am sure you know.... visiting your man as you have, you know a lot of them already.

 

i think a lot of the negatives have been mentioned to keep out the riff raff



ps, i'd be unwilling to immigrate to the states too. i've lived there in the past. ...never. again.

pps. usually when people move to get away from something, they'll find more of the same wherever they end up. but, if you're going towards something....that's a whole 'nother story.

 

thanks ladies. iron goths posts kinda freaked me out, but i forgot how negative he is... *sigh* btw- i liked your pps. nimh

i've lived among some pretty different cultures and even though all were within the united states, i think i freaked out for little good reason.

 

I think people should be able to carry guns, one day the government could fuck us all over more than they already are and take away all our rights and there might be a need for a revolution.

 

I'm moving to Canada in 11 days with my youngest son. My fiancee lived in London, but bought a house in Sarnia. I can't work in Canada as a nurse but I can in Michigan. Canada requires extra schooling and retesting, which I refuse to do. I've been to Canada several times and have found it to be a very beautiful place. I'm not real thrilled with the taxes, but nowhere is really perfect, and I've lived a lot of places. I'm looking forward to it though.

 

Yeah, don't listen to that negative shit. Sure, we ain't perfect, but we're better point-to-point than the US. Can't really comment on the gun thing. Never had a gun. Never felt a need to have one. None of my friends have guns either, except some hunting rifles, or B B guns. I never understood the need to shoot anyone. The taxes are high. I won't defend that. But it ain't makin anyone poor. If you make less than like 15,000 a year, you get it all back anyway. French is mandatory until grade 9. So what? So is gym. I bet all those kids with slow metabolism have an equally good argument as anyone against learning french. I'm not gonna defend our government either, cause they are pretty fucking far from perfect....but they're fucking angels compared to the shit the US gov. pulls. We don't have freedom of speech? Where di you live. Yeah, maybe you'd get in trouble for running up to the PM and bitching at him. Nothing big. But you won't get in trouble for holding a rational rally for a valid complaint. Yeah you can't scream bigoted shit in the middle of a busy street. Cause the people will kick your ass. We're all about civility here. Mind your manners, and keep it respectable and in good taste, otherwise, keep it private. I don't see any disadvantages to Canada over the US. So come on over! The airs not clean, but cleaner!

 

That is funny how you can work as a nurse in one area but not in another. My ex had the same problem, she worked in Ontario as a nurse but when she moved to Lousiana she had to get retested to work there. She did tell me if she moved to Minnisota that she wouldn't have to get retested to work there.

 

All you guys-- quit picking and insulting my favorite Canuck, miss IceyTeaPrincesss! She's promised to send me a pair of breeding beavers-- I always wan't my three-foot creek to become a fifty-acre lake.


QUIT PICKING ON HER!

 

That's democratic socialism for you. Universal healthcare, and other staples of a welfare state. Its not as if they lie about taxation trying to trick people to come here.

Other than the fact that you cannot carry around a gun without a license, this is pretty much a blatant lie.

You mean you're not allowed to incite hatred against an identifiable group. I'm sure you miss your ability to express hatred for gays, niggers, and camel-jockeys, but these rights are limitied in America as well.

Education varies provincially - French may be required depending on the province, but you cannot make sweeping generalizations about it.

Because the US has such a huge demand for unskilled labour... And their minimum wage laws are incredibly high. Its pretty comparable, really.

Except in times of war, a federal election must happen every 5 years. And our "dictatorship" came within one vote of being forced into re-election. With two MPs absent. This was the most exciting politics to happen in my memory.

Fuck IronGoth. The guy is so full of shit.

 

well at least you got one thing right...

more like 30-40 % unless you're pulling in cash by the multi millions.

have you read the patriot act? theres nothing the police can do here that american police can't do with even less paper work to file...and there is hardly ever shooting deaths related between police and civilians. why? because not every joe shmoe is walking around with a fucking gun. we don't need guns to protect ourselves because the individual we're gonna be protecting ourselves from probably doenst have a gun either.

up untill grade 9, which is frankly a good thing, and you can opt out of it many ways.

our jobless rate is barely above the american jobless rate. by about 2 percent, and shrinking.

you're right, elections HAPPEN. which is more than i can say for the states, where elections seem to happen, but the win goes to whoever has the most political capital. *cough cough* W's second term.

 

can I just say where else can a 21 year old have graduated from a public highschool which provided a good education, graduate college without any debt, got a job right out of college and months later buy a house and car? All without any financial help! Sorry, I don't have rich parents.

IronGoth where you from? doesn't sound like Canada to me!

the differences between the countries are small day to day. the big stuff is in politics, healthcare and legal system.

I've been to the U.S. several times and each time enjoyed myself and had lot's of fun. the people were a little less courteous, and the store names a little confusing... The only thing was I didn't feel as safe as when I'm in Canada. that's just my thoughts anyways.

what you find in Canada also depends where you end up, just like in the US, Texas is differend than Ohio... same here.