ITT simple facts why the US is better than Canada

[Virtuoz]

ITT (in this thread) I tell you why the United-States is better to live than Canada (or for Quebec at least)

this, of course, assuming you have a relatively good job in either countries so you can compare - please also note this is from a perspective of someone who lived in the states

I lived 5+ years in the US and now live in Canada, and I can safely say that U.S is better in large variety of aspects (obvious for some of you, but in reality new immigrants can't see the difference)

- Shopping online sucks: nothing is shipped to Canada, many of international brands and manufacturers won't ship anything to most of Canadian provinces. We are limited to local brands and lower quality brands

- Computers/Electronics/food/gas are expensive: Ridiculous prices everytime you go to Best Buy or Future Shop (same company, same management same prices, few feet away... can't explain that), no competitions whatsoever...

- Cars/Insurance: up to $3,000 difference for a european car brand manufactured in michigan. Insurance coverage freaking expensive, basic liability is 100$/month if you're lucky, in the states $60/month.

- Malls/Stores close at 5PM the weekends: Lol at this one, seriously how in the hell are these guys making money?

- Limited franchise chains: First thing I noticed was the absence of famous chains, where is IHOP, applebee's, TGI Friday's, Dennys, Taco Bell, and so forth

- 12% taxes: Provincial + federal, not more than 9% in New England

- Wages are low: entry level salary for a fresh graduate is 55K+ minimum in the states. Here new grads should be happy with a ridiculous 35K.

- Universities/Education: international students who decide to study Canada are sorry but idiots, if you are going to pay 25k+ a year for tuitions, just GO TO A U.S UNIVERSITY, best education in the world, best degree ever... why the F*** would you come to canada??

- No Mastercard/visa debit cards: heard RBC is going to start doing it (finally), let's hope that Interac (crappy debit card system) will DIE. Basically in the states when you open a checking account, you're given a VISA card, even if you have 0 credit history, the card acts like a credit card and allows you to makes purchases online, and buy whatever you want in the whole world. In Canada the bank gives you an Interac card, you can't use it online and can't use it internationally... enjoy spending only with it in the super market or getting cash from the ATM

- Expensive fees everywhere: drivers license is $100/year, change of address $120/year, checking account $5/month, ridiculous condo fees 25-75c/ftsq...

boring cities, nothing to do

no real industry, etc...

of yeah and everybody goes to Cuba for vacations... EVERYBODY, that's like the only country in the world where to spend time off, what the f**ing f***

that's all I can remember for now folks

Discuss

 

[FqihZgandaf]

You're absolutely right in everything you wrote down but you have forgotten one major thing : to get the citizenship is way easier here in Canada than in US man ! This is why most of us bear this country till we get it inchallah and then fly fly away

 

[snakecharmer]

Canada's Health care system is better than that of the USA though .

 

[yassine2500]

Your post is thoughts triggering. Thanks for leveling up the standard of topics in this forum. I just want to say that I knew everything you mentioned in your post before putting my feet in Canada, but I still chose to come here for one reason which is the citizenship.

In my case, I visited hundreds of university websites while I was looking for the right graduate school when I was still back fel maghrib. I consider myself more of an anglophone than a franco, so all of Canada, US, UK, Australia were eventual places that should be considered.

I had managed to secure an admission offer from San Francisco University, Concordia and HEC Montreal. At the beginning I was more excited about going to the states, but a friend of mine who did his undergrad in the states told me about how difficult it is to go from I20 to H1B to Green Card holder in the US. You can spend up to 10 years without ever managing to get a permanent status. To me it was a red flag that I couldn't ignore because it had enormous consequences on my personal and professional life later on, so I decided the only way to avoid putting myself in trouble later on was to read every single piece of information Google had indexed about immigration . It took me more than 4 months of research. After the extensive research effort involving reading boring immigration laws, and checking official websites such as CIC, homeland security, UK Foreign Service and Immigration Australia I realized Canada was by far the easiest place to become a Permanent Resident and later a Citizen. I also learnt about NAFTA, and how it does allow the free movement of professionals in North America with the right kind of skills.

It was my assessment then that I should better go to Canada 1st, get the Canadian citizenship then move to the US or somewhere else better.

 

[awaydon]

- No Mastercard/visa debit cards: heard RBC is going to start doing it (finally), let's hope that Interac (crappy debit card system) will DIE. Basically in the states when you open a checking account, you're given a VISA card, even if you have 0 credit history, the card acts like a credit card and allows you to makes purchases online, and buy whatever you want in the whole world. In Canada the bank gives you an Interac card, you can't use it online and can't use it internationally... enjoy spending only with it in the super market or getting cash from the ATM

In Canada, you can still apply for a Visa card (i.e. credit card) and have the same advantages. With no credit history, it may be more difficult but this has more to do with the bank you selected (I remember they used to ask you to invest in some financial product...)

Interac allows you to use your debit card abroad (see the Cirrus logo on it).

Universal healthcare and cost of health care: this may not matter when you are a young professional but as soon as you have a family, it may become crucial.
Not sure how it compares though.

Other than that, many valid points here.

 

[mrlinsky]

Average salary for my current job is 65k (up to 100 in some cases) in the US.

I get 28k here.


And we haven't even mentioned the weather. In canada you're trapped in an igloo for life, when in the US you have plenty of different climates to match your taste.

You want rain? Go to seattle. You want sun? Go to florida, arizona, california....
You want snow? Go to vermont and whatnot.



As for whoever claims the healthcare system is better here, I rather get private insurance in the US and get treatment when I need it than pay taxes for a broken healthcare system that doesn't take care of me.
If you want to talk about a good public healthcare system talk about france or spain but please don't ever mention a broken one as an example.

 

[yassine2500]

In Canada, you can still apply for a Visa card (i.e. credit card) and have the same advantages. With no credit history, it may be more difficult but this has more to do with the bank you selected (I remember they used to ask you to invest in some financial product...)

Interac allows you to use your debit card abroad (see the Cirrus logo on it).

Universal healthcare and cost of health care: this may not matter when you are a young professional but as soon as you have a family, it may become crucial.
Not sure how it compares though.

Other than that, many valid points here.

CIBC started offering a Visa Debit card last year, but I think it is still the only canuck bank so far. https://www.cibc.com/ca/features/cibc-advantage-card.html

As for taxes it is not 12%, at least in Quebec, it is even worse. Federal GST is 5% while Provincial QST is 9,5%. There is a trick though, the total Sales tax is not 14.5% because the provincial government computes the 9,5% tax this way (Original Price + 5%) * 9.5%. YES, they make you pay taxes on other taxes.

 

[Virtuoz]

Your post is thoughts triggering. Thanks for leveling up the standard of topics in this forum. I just want to say that I knew everything you mentioned in your post before putting my feet in Canada, but I still chose to come here for one reason which is the citizenship.

In my case, I visited hundreds of university websites while I was looking for the right graduate school when I was still back fel maghrib. I consider myself more of an anglophone than a franco, so all of Canada, US, UK, Australia were eventual places that should be considered.

I had managed to secure an admission offer from San Francisco University, Concordia and HEC Montreal. At the beginning I was more excited about going to the states, but a friend of mine who did his undergrad in the states told me about how difficult it is to go from I20 to H1B to Green Card holder in the US. You can spend up to 10 years without ever managing to get a permanent status. To me it was a red flag that I couldn't ignore because it had enormous consequences on my personal and professional life later on, so I decided the only way to avoid putting myself in trouble later on was to read every single piece of information Google had indexed about immigration . It took me more than 4 months of research. After the extensive research effort involving reading boring immigration laws, and checking official websites such as CIC, homeland security, UK Foreign Service and Immigration Australia I realized Canada was by far the easiest place to become a Permanent Resident and later a Citizen. I also learnt about NAFTA, and how it does allow the free movement of professionals in North America with the right kind of skills.

It was my assessment then that I should better go to Canada 1st, get the Canadian citizenship then move to the US or somewhere else better.

Looks like you did your research the right way. If I were you I would do the same, so yes in this case the best decision in your interest was to come here. That's actually exactly what made me leave the states. From an F1 visa to H1 became difficult, it is very hard to find a company that will sponsor you, priority is given to citizens and green card holders... not talking about H1 to green card, I have family members who never succeeded in that.
Now, the only effective way to get a US citizenship was to get married to an american chick and agree beforehand that is a "business" marriage (meaning the chicks gets a weekly salary for being married), knew couple of moroccans who did this and succeeded. Other than that it's the greencard lottery, getting or not is a matter of luck.

 

[Virtuoz]

You're absolutely right in everything you wrote down but you have forgotten one major thing : to get the citizenship is way easier here in Canada than in US man ! This is why most of us bear this country till we get it inchallah and then fly fly away

Canada's Health care system is better than that of the USA though .

There are definitely some positive sides about Canada, but still, the system is flawed. Healthcare can be free for basic treatment, once surgery is involved you're put to a very long waiting list.

I had a problem in my shoulder, and wanted to see a orthopedic surgeon, hospitals I called have a huge waiting list and won't even take appointments. The options left were to go to private clinics, one medical exam with an ortho surgeon costs from $220 to $350...

 

[mrlinsky]

There are definitely some positive sides about Canada, but still, the system is flawed. Healthcare can be free for basic treatment, once surgery is involved you're put to a very long waiting list.

I had a problem in my shoulder, and wanted to see a orthopedic surgeon, hospitals I called have a huge waiting list and won't even take appointments. The options left were to go to private clinics, one medical exam with an ortho surgeon costs from $220 to $350...

Virtuoz j'en connais un, un salopard d'anglophone très désagréable mais la clinique m'avait donné rdv 3la 3 semaines.

 

[Virtuoz]

Virtuoz j'en connais un, un salopard d'anglophone très désagréable mais la clinique m'avait donné rdv 3la 3 semaines.

90% des docteurs que j'ai vu, meme au privee, sont anthipathiques... kheddamine bjmil

ratemds.com donne d'excellents info, c'est grace a ce site que j'ai choisi mon dentiste

 

[mrlinsky]

oui, il avait des notes pour sa compétence mais des claques pour sa méchanceté.

Ila me7taj ba9i je chercherai dans mes fichiers pour retrouver son nom.

 

[snakecharmer]

Average salary for my current job is 65k (up to 100 in some cases) in the US.

I get 28k here.


And we haven't even mentioned the weather. In canada you're trapped in an igloo for life, when in the US you have plenty of different climates to match your taste.

You want rain? Go to seattle. You want sun? Go to florida, arizona, california....
You want snow? Go to vermont and whatnot.



As for whoever claims the healthcare system is better here, I rather get private insurance in the US and get treatment when I need it than pay taxes for a broken healthcare system that doesn't take care of me.
If you want to talk about a good public healthcare system talk about france or spain but please don't ever mention a broken one as an example.

well mrlinsky i do read your posts every now and then and i can understand your frustration about living here in scamada , but i don t recall you mentioned any positive point about canada whatsoever , you gotta be realistic to some degree Man.
canada s health system is far from perfect but it still efficient than the american one ,hate it or like it but thats the reality ): .

 

[ahuntsic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw

 

[mrlinsky]

well mrlinsky i do read your posts every now and then and i can understand your frustration about living here in scamada , but i don t recall you mentioned any positive point about canada whatsoever , you gotta be realistic to some degree Man.
canada s health system is far from perfect but it still efficient than the american one ,hate it or like it but thats the reality ): .

Positive sides of canada:

very safe. However, our southern neighbors are very close to us now. The USA haven't been that safe in 3 or 4 decades and their crime rates are diving.
This is a very important point if you have a wife or kids. In france I was worried when my girl was in another town and had to go to the supermarket alone (a basic thing). Rak 3aref qui on croise sur les trottoirs là-bas.

Very efficient administration, very quick. (comes in handy when you lose a papier or need a piece of information)


TBH, according to me, that's about it. It has a lot more positive sides if you're to use morocco for comparison. But I look at other good places I've been too, not a third world country!

ps: don't mention the landscape, it's overrated. It's all snow and white 6 months/year and with your 10 paid days off from work have fun exploring the calling of the wild!


edit: virtuoz, je t'ai répondu par MP mais apparemment je ne peux pas envoyer de messages aux gens (ma boîte d'éléments envoyés reste vide.)

 

[yassine2500]

Positive sides of canada:

very safe. However, our southern neighbors are very close to us now. The USA haven't been that safe in 3 or 4 decades and their crime rates are diving.
This is a very important point if you have a wife or kids. In france I was worried when my girl was in another town and had to go to the supermarket alone (a basic thing). Rak 3aref qui on croise sur les trottoirs là-bas.

Very efficient administration, very quick. (comes in handy when you lose a papier or need a piece of information)


TBH, according to me, that's about it. It has a lot more positive sides if you're to use morocco for comparison. But I look at other good places I've been too, not a third world country!

ps: don't mention the landscape, it's overrated. It's all snow and white 6 months/year and with your 10 paid days off from work have fun exploring the calling of the wild!


edit: virtuoz, je t'ai répondu par MP mais apparemment je ne peux pas envoyer de messages aux gens (ma boîte d'éléments envoyés reste vide.)

Les messages passent c'est juste que par défaut dans le système de Bladi les messages ne sont pas automatiquement sauvegardes. Il faut cocher un button pour ca.

 

[izlikton]

There are definitely some positive sides about Canada, but still, the system is flawed. Healthcare can be free for basic treatment, once surgery is involved you're put to a very long waiting list.

Right, but it really depends on the hospital and the type of surgery.

Triage takes a long time when you arrive at the hospital, but if it's an emergency where surgery is needed quickly, they will react quickly and do it. I've seen it happen.
If the surgery is not super urgent, you have to wait...

One other thing: hospitals are not all the same.
A well kept secret is:
1) that you should select your hospital (if your can) and get to their emergency, so that you can be treated there.
2) In Montreal, go to either the Royal Victoria, the Montreal General or the Jewish General Hospital, and avoid the other hospitals if you can: the quality of treatment is not the same but nobody speaks about this...

Someone mentioned France, Switzerland etc...: for sure, the healthcare system is better there but if you select the right hospital in Canada, I think you can get a similar level/type of treatment.