For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
It’s funny how in these kinds of articles it’s implied that there’s some magic place out there unaffected by corporate greed where everyone is moving to but in reality there is no escape from the rising cost of living.
Other countries have strengths in different places that might be better for some people’s specific situations, but overall Canada’s still obviously a great place to live.
Indeed. With that said there are some cultural cases too. I know of several families who did well financially but left years ago because Canada was getting too woke for them. Some went back to Eastern Europe where racism is alright, and others went to Florida. Still these kind of cases are probably the minority. 😄
Personally I do have the grass-is-greener periods now and then but I’m sticking with Canada due to what I think is likely one of the safest places to be in 2050. I’m trying not to think about how drought, heat and extreme weather will affect many other parts of the world. I think we still have a chance to keep this place decent socioeconomically and politically.
That second paragraph… I know what you mean. I like imagining myself living in Australia or somewhere else that’s warmer but long term Canada will probably be the best place to be for trying to survive climate change.
The main thing that holds us back sociopolitically is probably our proximity to the US.
I’m counting on us being close to mostly sane states. When shit begins hitting the fan I think they’ll gain significant control over the US simply because they’ll be much less fucked economically than the South. So I imagine that even if there is some sovereignty dispute or a “takeover” it would be closer to moving to NY or California than moving to Florida or Texas. Of course these are super wild guesses. If the US goes full dictatorship it will be a Southern dictator who could usurp national power for decades… So go Stormy go!
I’m hoping the crazy situation in the US will get well educated Americans and big corpos to migrate to Canada so we can get that free boost to our economy.
It’s the reason I’m still hesitant of emigrating there with my family (Canadian wife). Even though we’d be going to Quebec which is the “least American” part, it’s still a bit too close for comfort for me… I worked for American companies for a long time and fuck that lifestyle. What I’d really like is going to a “slower” country where the rat race takes a back seat and people just enjoy life more, but that usually also means abandoning a lot of benefits and links to modern life and our entourages so the missus is not so hot about it. Meanwhile we live in one of the most advanced countries on earth (Netherlands) so it’s also really hard to justify moving when we have it so great here in terms of infrastructure, administration, career prospects etc etc etc. Very few countries offer a better deal.
It’s very much workaholic here like I imagine it is in the US. I’d be cool to ‘take a year off’ and move to Costa Rica just to see what it’s like. Maybe being less stressed is worth it no matter the lack of infrastructure.
Yeah I was lucky to get to grow up, visit and live in other countries so I have a decent idea of what to expect, and I’d tend to agree with you. When you’re old on your death bed you won’t be thinking about how you made some great quarterly results for faceless shareholders or how rich your country was or whatever, but you’ll sure as hell be wondering if you enjoyed life as much as you could and gave enough attention to your loved ones. Maybe places where material wealth isn’t as important can help with that but who knows…
Very true. The cost-of-living crisis is happening around the world. The main issue with Canada is, and always has been, that it is cold. That’s why Canada is so under-populated. Of course, this also means that Canada will (probably) become more desirable as it warms and more southerly countries become unliveable due to climate change.
In addition, some immigrants have unrealistic expectations of Canada. A friend of mine originally from Nigeria has family back home that literally asked him to go to a bank machine, take out some money, and send it to them because they thought ATMs just gave out free money in Canada. His wife also doesn’t like the fact that Canada is less socially stratified. Being a university graduate in Nigeria makes you a big man (or woman) and you can lord it over poorly-paid tradesmen and other lower classes. Whereas in Canada, there’s a good chance that your plumber makes more money than you do!
overall Canada’s still obviously a great place to live.
Especially when you ignore clickbait, sensationalist, controversial, “this really doesn’t affect me” articles like this one.
Unless your country is in the middle of a genocide, war, militant religious control, or experiencing constant natural disasters, most will be similar.
And if you came from a country like that, what could honestly be worse about Canada?
Not everyone can live in the Netherlands, and if it’s only about the cost of living, not everyone wants to live in Peru.
