Reason's to move to Canada...

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handmeafish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
919
Location
Colorado
I decided rather than hijack Brax's thread, I decided to make my own...

To be 100% honest, I've been thinking about moving away for sometime... I am from a very conservative place (think the crazy people you see on TV and think can't exist... well they are my neighbors, or family members) and I am a very liberal minded person. I honestly border on socialist....

So...
1.) Gay Marriage is legal, in Canada I can marry who I want!
2.) Health care!! I have crohn's disease, and I've looked at the research you guys are doing in terms of stem cell research and MMJ, and you are far a head of the US... so thats promising... Canada will probably cure crohn's, and people here will be all "BUT ITS AGAINST GOD!!!" I mean really... these people just don't understand stem cells at all.

Lets keep listing... cause if I can come up with enough reasons, I maybe bringing my rats up with me (not to alberta of course)... I graduate in the summer... and after I do my internship I'll be looking to move away from colorado... The reason I want to move away from Colorado is the weather. Not the snow or the cold, or the hot summers... Its the drastic changes in weather. Its so hard on my body, I need to live somewhere that it isn't 20 degrees one day, and 70 the next.. or potentially starting the day out with sunny and 70 and ending with a blizzard...
 
Can't say that Canada's weather is great, but our seasons are pretty consistent (so the winters are in the negatives, kind of predictably within a range, summers the same but in the positives).

I think the only thing is if you get approved to come to Canada, you'd have to wait 3 months for public healthcare to kick in unless you buy some kind of overlap insurance (read about that in an article a week or so ago). But hardly unreasonable.

Sounds like you'd like the NDP, by the way :) Not that they're hardcore socialist or anything (though I guess some Americans *cough*RepublicanNominees*cough* would say all Canadians, even conservatives, are socialists, so... yeah!).
 
I am studying to be a child life specialist. It's a person who works in hospitals with kids, helping them understand why they are there, what's going on ect.
It's an up and coming field... Hospitals are seeing a need so there is demand, at least here... I looks at bc children's and they have a program, so I know it exists up there
 
Reason 3: Pet polar bears. :wink2:

But to the weather thing, it depends where in Canada you are, I can safely say in Vancouver, we hardly ever ( even in winter) go below zero ;)
 
Just a heads up about the politics in Canada.. Based on the results of our last election, I can tell you that approximately 39% of canadian voters are right wing conservative, and the remaining 61% are somewhere left of that.

But, due to the way our voting system works, all the left of center votes were split among three parties, and so the conservatives have a majority government, with 39% of the vote.

(We use first-past-the-post electoral system, which was really meant for two competing parties, but we now have at least four parties.)

I'm just mentioning it so you know that you'll likely find lots of liberal minded people in canada, but the current government is conservative.

I'm also originally from the US and have been in Canada now for many years. We've got a much smaller population, but remain competitive on the world stage. Our health care system could use a bit of a boost, but it's still an excellent system. Quality of life here is very good by and large.

Personally, I highly recommend Canada as a great place to live!

Ahh... but by the way... the US demands that no matter where you live, you must continue filing income tax and the department of the treasury also needs a form filed annually. You don't end up paying income tax to the US if you pay taxes in Canada, but you have to fill out the forms every year. US Customs has been stopping people at the border this year and insisting that they file forms for the past 7 or so years if they haven't done so... So, if you make the move, just check in with the US Embassy or Consulate nearest you to get information on this stuff right away... or pm me..
 
ChrisK said:
Just a heads up about the politics in Canada.. Based on the results of our last election, I can tell you that approximately 39% of canadian voters are right wing conservative, and the remaining 61% are somewhere left of that.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd say that 39% of Canadians are right wing conservatives because they voted for the Conservative party in the last election. While many people in this country do identify as Conservative, a large number of them sit more or less in the middle.

The Liberal party of Canada, in power from 1993 to 2006, dug themselves into a pretty deep hole. Canadians have not yet forgotten or forgiven the Liberals for the scandals and economic mismanagement of those years and that's why the Conservatives won a majority in the last election.

The time will come, however, when politics will swing back to the left in this country, the Conservatives will be turfed out, and the Liberals will regain power - quite possibly with a majority government. That's how things are done in Canada. :D
 
I also read somewhere that our "Conservatives" are generally considered to be more liberal than American conservatives and religious fundamentalist groups do not have the same kind of sway in Canada as they do in the U.S. While the Conservative party of Canada may not officially favour same-sex marriage, they aren't making any effort to repeal it.
 
The biggest problems i have with the "conservative right" are Gay rights, woman's rights and their stance on health care and other basic human services...

For example, I went to high school with a girl who felt "gayness" didn't exist and people chose to be that way, same with homelessness... She felt that the government should outlaw "gay behaviors" and that they shouldn't provide any assistance to the less fortunate...
Whats sad is that she isn't the extreme where I live... her views are pretty common. I know there are people in parts of Colorado even that aren't as crazy in such concentrated doses... but I like the idea of Canada more and more...
 
I'm going to be practical...

as a Canadian who moved permanently to the USA in 2005, you just cannot pack up and move permanently to another country, at least not if you want to do it the legal way.

There are multiple options, some do get visas via their work who is willing to sponsor them, there is also fiance visa, but for this one you have to remain in your country of origin until you are approved to move in your fiance's country, and that can take up to 1+ yr, and there are no guarantee of approval ...I'm sure there are other visas or ways to enter a country legally, these were just the 2 that came to mind.

I married an american in 2005, we got an immigration attorney immediately after the wedding and when everything was said and done, we spent over $5000 between the homeland security forms, medical tests & requirements, interviews and legal fees.
I did not get my permanent residency until 2009, and there was no glitch or any problems at all, there are just specific steps to follow and a LOT of waiting.

Many people dream about moving to another country but it is not always feasible.
 
If you want an open-minded place to live, choose a city with a/several large universities. I find that with so many young people with so many different backgrounds in an area of higher learning, the acceptance levels of different lifestyles and viewpoints are high.
Sometimes you are surprised - we moved to a small town several years ago, and even here people seem to be very tolerant although you wouldn't expect it.
 
I know health care is a big one, but have you considered bellingham? Its a very nice city with a large university population, close to canada so shares a lot of our views.. but not so sure about any large hospitals.. But I am all in favor of you coming to vancouver :D I <3 our childrens hospital.
 
Over the years, immigrating to the US has been much more difficult than immigrating to Canada.

When I immigrated to Canada, I just contacted the Canadian Embassy in the city I lived in in the US and asked for the process to obtain a visa which would allow me to live and work in Canada. They have it all very well documented, and it's pretty easy to follow. I did not hire a lawyer.

For sure, you'd have to go thru the proper process, as kscannuck785 states, but the process for immigrating to Canada is do-able.


kscanuck785 said:
I'm going to be practical...

as a Canadian who moved permanently to the USA in 2005, you just cannot pack up and move permanently to another country, at least not if you want to do it the legal way.

There are multiple options, some do get visas via their work who is willing to sponsor them, there is also fiance visa, but for this one you have to remain in your country of origin until you are approved to move in your fiance's country, and that can take up to 1+ yr, and there are no guarantee of approval ...I'm sure there are other visas or ways to enter a country legally, these were just the 2 that came to mind.

I married an american in 2005, we got an immigration attorney immediately after the wedding and when everything was said and done, we spent over $5000 between the homeland security forms, medical tests & requirements, interviews and legal fees.
I did not get my permanent residency until 2009, and there was no glitch or any problems at all, there are just specific steps to follow and a LOT of waiting.

Many people dream about moving to another country but it is not always feasible.
Click to expand...
 
When my sister and her fiance were deciding what country to live in (both had good jobs) it was actually easier for her to immigrate to the states then him to immigrate to Canada. He has a masters in teaching and she has a diploma in food technology so neither were unskilled. This was 9 years ago so things may have changed.
 
a visa is lot easier to obtain, specifically for work or studiying in a foreign country but it is not permanent and needs to be renewed.

getting citizenship to a new country isn't as simple as calling the embassy.

Even now If I wanted to move back, I still have my Canadian Citizenship, it would not be as simple as it may seem.

how long have you been in Canada Chrisk? and do you have citizenship now?
you may be having more info on that then me, since we did the opposite transition.
 
I dont know that I'd want to stay forever or become a citizen, but I do want to experiance life somewhere else for a while... Even though it's not very far, it seems like Canada is very different. I also think its dumb that it's so hard to get residency... My roomie is going through it here and it's rediculous!
 
one of many reasons is that most countries do not want to have the burden of supporting these new residents financially. this is why usually you are require to have sponsors via family or work.

if you just want to travel, you can do that but after a certain amount of time, you must return to you country of origin. If I remember well, I think it was 6 months out of Canada, then go back to "reset" your counter...lol
 
kscanuck785 said:
a visa is lot easier to obtain, specifically for work or studiying in a foreign country but it is not permanent and needs to be renewed.

getting citizenship to a new country isn't as simple as calling the embassy.

Even now If I wanted to move back, I still have my Canadian Citizenship, it would not be as simple as it may seem.

how long have you been in Canada Chrisk? and do you have citizenship now?
you may be having more info on that then me, since we did the opposite transition.
Click to expand...

Hi again... Just to clarify .. what I was trying to say in my previous post, is that the process for obtaining living/working visa is different from country to country. i.e. getting into the US there are different criteria than getting into Canada. It's been a long time since I came to Canada, and I'm sure lots has changed since then. But I would still suggest starting by contacting the nearest Canadian consulate or embassy to obtain a copy of the process one must follow to obtain the proper visas.

Also.. I'm not saying getting visas or citizenship is as simple as calling the embassy. I'm saying if you call the consulate or embassy and ask for the procedure, they will give it to you, and it's well documented. So if you find it easy enough to do yourself, you don't need to hire a lawyer. (I did not hire a lawyer.)

fyi -- I'm not speaking of student visas, but from my own experience. I came alone, having been in the working world for about 10 years at the time.

Anyway, I really applaud all of you for taking or even seriously considering taking this step. I found moving to another country an awesome, mind-opening, life-changing experience. It was really really frustrating at times, but very rewarding. I found it to be a great adventure, and I wish you a wonderful, fulfilling adventure too!
 
handmeafish said:
2.) Health care!! I have crohn's disease, and I've looked at the research you guys are doing in terms of stem cell research and MMJ, and you are far a head of the US... so thats promising... Canada will probably cure crohn's, and people here will be all "BUT ITS AGAINST GOD!!!" I mean really... these people just don't understand stem cells at all.
Click to expand...

Do those of us a favor who do believe in God and don't generalize. Thank you. :redhot:
 

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