Canada vs. U.S.A. Which is better off right now?

Page 1 of 5 [ 71 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

Chronos
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2010
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,698

25 Sep 2017, 4:30 pm

The Cat Ghost wrote:
My wife and I had a similar talk years back; she is American and I am Canadian. We were going to start a family and had to figure out where we were going to live. I'll spare you a lot of details but we decided to stay in Canada. One thing to consider is that immigration is VERY expensive. My wife's permanent resident application was approved a few days ago and we have our final interview in about 2 weeks where she will get her PR card and new SIN card. All said, this little adventure with the government has cost us over $6,000 CAD and has taken a year and a half to get through.

As a part of our application we've had to dig up details of our relationship from the very beginning and provide supporting documents such as text message history month to month over a period of two years, photos of us together along with descriptions of the date of the event and who was attending along with us, over a dozen letters of support from friends and family who attest to our relationship being genuine, letters and ultrasounds from our doctor confirming that my wife is pregnant, etc. It was a HUGE ordeal that took hundreds of hours of work to complete.

I'll go to bat for Canada a bit here... "Canada" is a huge country with a small population (less than the population of California). You can consider Canada as a bunch of different countries put together. You've got:

-The West, which has better weather than the rest of Canada, a very diverse population, but is quite expensive.
- Upper Canada, which is cold, dark, and beautiful but you really will only live there if you were born there.
- The prairies, which are probably a lot of fun if you are a farmer
- Eastern Canada, where most people end up (Ontario or Quebec- specifically Toronto or Montreal). I hated Toronto but I've only ever visited there and I lived in Montreal for 3 years and my social phobia didn't let me go outside because there are just too many people!
- Atlantic Canada. It's where I live. There isn't as much diversity here and the wages are pretty low compared to the rest of the country but in terms of quality of life, it ranks right up there with the west coast.

All I can really say about Canada in general is that if you're looking to escape violence and racial persecution, Canada is a better bet than America right now but Canada is not a perfect place to live. Oh! If you move to Canada, get a good parka for the winter. I have had lots of friends from Panama, Colombia, etc. and they are just not built to handle our winters.


Excluding Quebec, do you or your wife notice any significant cultural difference between Canada and the US or are the cultural differences not any more significant than the cultural differences between different American states/Canadian provinces (excluding Quebec)?



funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,184
Location: Right over your left shoulder

25 Sep 2017, 5:45 pm

The_Blonde_Alien wrote:

^Apparently there was a white nationalist rally over there. And, after doing a little research over here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nat ... ite_note-2 I realized that white nationalism can essentially be considered a form of racism.

"So what if there was a racist rally?" the angry grey Mustang driver probably asked him/herself, "They surely dissever to be criticized!" he/she probably said.

...Unfortunately the would-be social justice warrior's definition of "criticism" was rather...deadly. :cry:



Actually the driver of the Dodge Challenger (not a Mustang!) was one of the Nazis, not one of the SJWs. :roll:


_________________
"If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made... and they won't even admit the knife is there." Malcolm X
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う


BettaPonic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 2 Jan 2017
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Posts: 918
Location: NOVA

25 Sep 2017, 8:55 pm

I am a citizen of both countries and think Trudeau is many times worse than Trump.



lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 11,790
Location: Lost on Earth, waddya think?

25 Sep 2017, 9:45 pm

Canada.

I don't directly pay for health care and never have. I heard Americans think of that as communism. I have no idea why since I believe people should help the ill out of the goodness of their heart and not so they'll get paid. I heard there are problems with our health care but as long as it bothers Americans it works for me.

I think Americans are overboard with their religion, with their Bible Belt, their "In God We Trust" motto, wanting prayer and religion top be put back in school and all kinds of fundamentalist Christian nonsense. The thought of Canada becoming like that scares me more than anything Stephen King ever wrote!

I don't really know much of anything about our current PM, nor do I really care. But saying he's many times worse than Trump is like saying the chicken pox is a million times worse than bubonic plague.

I don't get why the US has to be enemies with North Korea and so many other countries. I don't get how the US always has money for war but never anything else. I really wonder if the real reason there isn't peace is because all the millions of soldiers will be out of a job.

I'm always hearing about police brutality and racism in the US. I even read that most police down there aren't trained to handle a mentally ill person and may even kill them, even if the person wasn't acting dangerously. A couple of weeks ago, however, I read in our local newspaper that a policeman stayed with a suicidal person on a bridge for several hours just talking and keeping them calm.

Here in Canada we have social welfare and unemployment payments and there is nothing wrong with that. I heard in the USA they think it's horrible, I mean, how DARE people who can't work for reasons beyond their control actually be given anything. Everyone knows when people are poor and can't work it's completely their own fault. *heavy sarcasm* :roll: But if it wasn't for the extra spending money I get from my parents each month, I would really be poor and barely able to make ends meet. :(

I read that there are some American-style rights Canadians don't really have that we think we have, but I don't even know what those rights are. Social studies was one of my worst school subjects. I found it insanely boring and difficult.

I think the US has gone beyond being insane, something I both find both entertaining and terrifying. I know there are probably worse countries to live in, especially if you're left-handed, aspie and female, but I am getting more thankful every day I don't live there.



Raptor
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 12,997
Location: Southeast U.S.A.

26 Sep 2017, 12:41 am

Many Canadians talk about how wonderful Canada is compared to the USA........until it's time to go to their timeshare condo on Daytona Beach.
It's all about which side of the bread the butter is on...


_________________
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
- Thomas Jefferson


androbot01
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Sep 2014
Age: 53
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,746
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

26 Sep 2017, 4:55 am

Raptor wrote:
Many Canadians talk about how wonderful Canada is compared to the USA........until it's time to go to their timeshare condo on Daytona Beach.
It's all about which side of the bread the butter is on...

Too bad about those hurricanes.



kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

26 Sep 2017, 5:56 am

LOL....but you get these nice 100 cm snowstorms in Newfoundland/Labrador and in Atlantic Canada in general.

And you've had a few hurricanes, too.

I, myself, wouldn't mind emigrating to Canada---but would have to marry a Canadian.



androbot01
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Sep 2014
Age: 53
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,746
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

26 Sep 2017, 6:08 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
LOL....but you get these nice 100 cm snowstorms in Newfoundland/Labrador and in Atlantic Canada in general.

And you've had a few hurricanes, too.

I, myself, wouldn't mind emigrating to Canada---but would have to marry a Canadian.

Aren't you already married?

Yeah, the east coast gets terrible winter storms. And the west coast is expecting an earthquake any time. Still though, those hurricanes were bad. Florida and Texas will recover, but some of those Caribbean islands were devastated.



kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

26 Sep 2017, 6:11 am

I am married, yes. I was just saying what would be necessary for me to emigrate to Canada.

The Caribbean Islands will recover pretty quickly--primarily because they are prime tourist sites, and the rich folks don't want to be deprived of their sun and beach for long.

Puerto Rico will recover, too.

Florida does get cold in the winter sometimes.



Tim_Tex
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2004
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 45,472
Location: Houston, Texas

26 Sep 2017, 8:16 am

Jeez, what do you have to do to emigrate there (aside from marriage)?

I have no plans to emigrate to another country, though.


_________________
Who’s better at math than a robot? They’re made of math!

Now proficient in ChatGPT!


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

26 Sep 2017, 9:12 am

One has to have a "marketable" skill. One has to have a skill that an equivalent Canadian doesn't have.

In practical terms, if one doesn't have an advanced degree and is not "sponsored" by someone in Canada, one would have great difficulty obtaining permanent residence and citizenship. Similar to the US.

Saying this, Canada does sponsor a certain amount of people from (at least) Caribbean nations. I know this for a fact.



Tim_Tex
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2004
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 45,472
Location: Houston, Texas

26 Sep 2017, 11:15 am

That said, which similarly developed nations have less stringent emigration prerequisites?


_________________
Who’s better at math than a robot? They’re made of math!

Now proficient in ChatGPT!


funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,184
Location: Right over your left shoulder

26 Sep 2017, 11:51 am

Right now I'm dating an American and whenever discussion of our future comes up, she seems fixated on that future being in Canada, not in the US. Personally I don't feel the one is enough better than the other to strongly care where I live so long as it isn't Florida. :lol:


_________________
"If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made... and they won't even admit the knife is there." Malcolm X
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う


sly279
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Dec 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 16,181
Location: US

26 Sep 2017, 5:00 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
That said, which similarly developed nations have less stringent emigration prerequisites?

The USA, all you have to do is sneak across the border and hide long enough and people want to give you citizenship. I bet Canada just sends them home



adifferentname
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,885

26 Sep 2017, 6:18 pm

The_Blonde_Alien wrote:
As a Puerto Rican, the idea of moving to another country is a common destiny I share with my peers. Most Puerto Ricans would move to the U.S. (either to Florida or NYC) since most of us have U.S. citizenship and don't need to have a passport to enter, and, unlike Puerto Rico, the U.S. has a more developed economy meaning more job opportunities for us to get.


Forget Florida or NYC. Move to Las Vegas.



kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

26 Sep 2017, 7:42 pm

And what's wrong with NYC? LOL