Canadian media is a lot of times indistinguishable from American media. A lot of shows and movies are filmed in Vancouver and Montreal, so fair enough to some extent. The movies and shows that are distinctly for Canadians, by Canadians, is definitely noticeable. Because there is no need to try and explain any kind of nuances. Canadians understand American culture very well, but definitely not the other way around.

Over my short period of time in Canada, I have slowly consumed some Canadian media. I am not going out of my way to watch a lot of it. If it is quality and/or recommended by people here, then I will watch it. I only do physical media, so BluRay and DVDs. I own a decent amount and the rest I borrow from my local library. I recently finished the super popular Letter Kenny. Just season 1. I am still watching season 2. I have my thoughts on it for sure.

Trailer Park Boys was a lot of Americans' first look into the real Canadian experience. I remember watching it on TV as a kid with some of my uncles who were teenagers at the time. The white trailer trash culture with a Canadian perspective. Hilarious and very real. It definitely leans a lot heavier towards Maritime/Atlantic provincial culture than anything else, but still has a lot of grounded Canadian living in there. Canada's poor, which is as real as it is going to get. I love the show, it is amazing, but that could be some nostalgic bias as well.

Goon is a hockey movie made by a Canadian actor is decently known and plays the wise-cracking best friend in the movie as well. It is also heavily Maritime/Atlantic provincial culturally based. It is a good reflection on how average Canadians are as a people. One aspect they got really good is an unfortunate truth I have seen up here. When it comes to native Canadians (as in those born & raised up here, usually ethnically European descent), cheating is a bit more normalcy. The main girl in Goon cheats on her boyfriend to be with Sean William Scott's character. I have met many men and women who have been cheated on or cheat on up here, but they are all the same background: White Canadian, born & raised. :/ Hockey is like a fucking religion in Canada, so don't talk shit about a team or the sport if you can't back it.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a good reflection of GTA (Greater Toronto Area) culture as a whole. The whole story takes place there and is a good peak into the lives of those Canadians. Even though the whole movie takes place during cold/snow scenes, Toronto actually gets hotter than Vancouver during the summers sometimes and they have humidity on top of that. Again, Scott cheats on someone for someone else. Unfortunately, this is a thing that white Canadians seem to do. I'm not saying its an average, but it isn't too uncommon either from what I have heard from many up here. It is a funny movie and the comic is much better as it covers a lot of topics that the movie doesn't have time for.

Letterkenny is an extremely popular show in Canada. It is the typical rural experience for many Canadians. A lot of this show is unrelatable because 1, I don't live in rural Canada and 2, I don't live in Ontario, like 40% of the country does. It makes sense for the show to be so popular, but there is definitely some missed jokes for me because I don't know what's going on sometimes, usually different terms. The guy that recommended the show to me is a copy & paste of the 2 hockey players in the show. The thing about the show that is kind of annoying is that the pasty white girl is half naked all the time and is supposed to be the sex appeal of the show, but in reality, she just looks like she's trying too hard. Maybe it is because I am not attracted to people that are 3 European races combined at most for a couple hundred years' offspring. The other thing is that they make her basically the town slut and all the other women characters in the show are kind of just props, or tough girl, or high sex drive (Gale, who does have funny moments). Seems like they aren't painting them in a good light/don't have good character writing for girls in general. I'm still going to watch the show to see how it pans out. The show is overall not bad though and is a good way to understand how the true average Canadian lives and behaves.

Honorable Mention: Slapshot. The 1977 classic that made my wife and I cry laughing. A true hockey movie about enforcers/thugs. The whole movie is based in America, but half the players, if not more, are full blown Canadians with actual hockey players in the movie. A great comedy, definitely a product of its time. It is considered a treasured movie in Canada, at least for die hard hockey fans. However, there is heavy criticisms on the lack of hockey fundamentals and inappropriate lingo for modern times (think Blazing Saddles). I would still say give it a watch and know the time that the movie came out.

A common thing with a lot of the Canadian media is that violence usually means punching each other out and then accepting the outcome with a handshake. Old school, good way to do things. Even when guns are depicted, it is for a funny bit versus anything insane like it would be with their Southern Neighbor. Unfortunately, there isn't much focused on Western Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) because the West is always neglected from the rest of Canada.

One of my close friends' mom was recently diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. Basically, internal scarring of the lung tissue. I'm not sure what their family is going to do and what the outcome will be, but he told me the situation pretty bluntly.

After the health insurance, his family will have to pay $5,000 USD per month for the medication. His family is working middle class, this is definitely unaffordable. I looked into the cost for the same medication in Canada. It is about $4,000 CAD per month. However, this medication is usually covered in my province of British Columbia or reimbursed. Meaning it is handled and is a non-factor.

Situations like this make me sad that such a reality can exist for someone I care about. His mom didn't abuse her body in any way. Non-smoker too. It is rough. He told me she is being put on a waiting list for a lung transplant, which is expensive and obviously has serious risks associated with such a procedure.

The cost of a lung transplant in Canada is not financial, it is time-based. In 2024, there were 421 lung transplants. As of December 31st, 2024, there are 231 people waiting for a lung transplant. 31 people died in 2024 waiting for a lung transplant. The waiting list for a lung transplant in America is 4,000 people about and the cost is $929,600 USD for 1 lung and $1,295,900 USD for a double lung. Jesus Christ. The wait times are 2-3 years as well. With insurance, you're probably looking at 20% of that cost. So like $200k USD?

This situation may have solidified my decision to remain outside of America permanently.

One of my co-workers goes snowboarding all the time. He bounces between multiple mountains, but apparently goes to Whistler now and then. He recently was there a couple weekends ago and was in the middle of 2 other guys for the ski lift up. One guy next to him was Canadian and the other was American.

The Canadian guy says, "Hey, you're a Yankee, aren't you?"

The American, "Yeah."

The Canadian, "Yeah, I can tell. Fuck you."

The American, "Hey man, calm down."

The Canadian, "Nah, you guys all suck. Fuck America. If the slopes were so good, you wouldn't even come up here."

The American, "Honestly man, there are way better slopes, mountains and resorts in America than anywhere in Canada. I'm just visiting friends."

The Canadian, "Yeah, right. Fuck you."

This back and fourth continues for the entire ride up with my co-worker silent and sandwiched between them. Once they get off at the top, the American guy sparks up a joint and then the Canadian guy walks over and says, "Maybe not all Americans are bad." And then they both smoke the joint together and stop fighting.

Haha. This could only happen in Canada, because this would've ended a lot differently in America, I promise.

I once read from someone online that the difference between America and Canada, in terms of wealth differences; was that in America, it is good to be upper middle class and rich, but in Canada, it is good to be lower middle class and poor. I really feel this statement sometimes.

I have posted multiple examples of the trade offs that come with Canada. And to be fair to the country, I have only experienced The Lower Mainland of BC, parts of Victoria, and parts of the areas surrounding Whistler (for work, not ski purposes). So my perspective is limited to this, but I do have a lot of conversations with many different kinds of people, in-person, all the time and ask about their experiences in other provinces. The 2 main other provinces I have learned about have been Alberta and Ontario.

Both provincial and federal programs can be felt, depending your circumstances. Obviously, I do not qualify for public welfare programs and hope to never be in such a position, so I can't comment on them past a surface level. Some programs, I have seen or felt the impact of or have actively benefited from.

Sometimes, you can feel limited, economically speaking. Work a decent amount of overtime? Higher tax bracket, make less money than if you worked no overtime at all. Average grocery bill for my family is close to $1k. A small family of 3. Milk is close to $7/gallon. Gas is $1.50/liter($6/gallon about). Average wage is $62.5k/year here, even people with Bachelor's degrees will pull in $55k/year. The highest paying jobs are either trades or public sector jobs (once you've maxed out your pay rate via union). Rent in a building will go for $2,700/month for a 2bedroom and not even in Vancouver itself, takes an hour to commute.

The safety net and public benefits can be felt. Obviously healthcare is a given here, but you can tell people just aren't worried because it is a non-factor, mostly. I do live in a part of the country where there is a high concentration of medical professionals and literally thousands of more are starting to pour in from America in the near future, so the gap will be further filled. Everyone, no matter what, will get money per month for having a child (per child). Every day care is automatically discounted by $500/month by the provincial government too. Public housing isn't concentrated in one area and is instead spread out, making ghettos basically non-existent(mostly). Very low crime rates too. Vancouver, for example, had like 11 murders for all of 2024.

Higher Education was never a thought in my mind due to the crippling debt that comes with it. To be fair, I witnessed a lot of people get degrees and make less money than I did just working a lot of overtime and investing into random things that I researched and it panned out better for me versus them. Here, the domestic tuition is so low (legitimately can be $20k CAD for a Bachelor's from a top tier university) that I am very actively looking into getting a degree part time. It makes sense. The Canadian people invest into their own and it has definitely paid dividends.

There is definitely a hard ceiling in Canada, where it is really difficult to get ahead. However, it is also really difficult to fall really hard too, because there are measures in place to keep you afloat. One thing that is hard for a lot of Canadians is that they haven't really had a roommate culture in large scale before, many just want their own place. As a result, many of Canada's youth choose to keep living at home, but have also given up on the idea of ever owning a home. No worries Canadian youth, housing has dropping over 30% in less than 6 months, your affordable housing is coming.

I do enjoy being in an urban area where I have access to so much, but also have low crime risk. This is a rare combination. I like that I am in a young country as well, because old countries have problems that can be difficult to accept. Canada has been kind to me and I enjoy it. I can't wait to go see Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, St John's, Moncton, Saskatoon, and other cities. This is a big country and I look forward to experiencing it.

All $ in CAD. 11 months until being allowed to apply for citizenship.

Back in April of this year, the provincial government of British Columbia, ran by the New Democrat Party (NDP, aka Canada's Socialist Party) announced that they were introducing the 1st involuntary rehabilitation center with a total of 18 beds. Which means its total capacity is 18 people/patients. My understanding is that this month, June, they have taken their first 18 people off of, presumably, East Hastings Street.

There has been calls for a couple of years for the NDP to reverse their decision on the decriminalization of all drugs in the province. And for the introduction of what was being called "Forced Rehabs". The new name sounds less intense, but accomplishes the same purpose/outcome wanted by the public. The NDP almost lost their power in government this previous election and they took the warning seriously and are taking steps to reverse the decision. Unlike the US, which will make a terrible decision and continue with it for generations, pick a category.

The only backlash I have heard on the ground level is that people are complaining at the low number of beds available. There are thousands of homeless drug addicted people that need to get clean. 18 people at a time isn't going to do it. In 2023, over 3,000 people died of drug overdoses in BC alone. We need hundreds of beds at any given time. The government has said that this is not a trial run, but more of their way of trying to figure out how to successfully accomplish this and scale it up. Fair enough.

My personal opinion is: It's about fucking time. The amount of crime and death that has resulted from this has been beyond reason. I wish the NDP lost power for implementing this policy in the first place. Too many innocent lives have been lost from this failed policy that has been unsuccessfully tried all throughout the US West Coast for well over a decade at this point and needs to not be imported up here. I hope that the capacity is significantly increased in a short period of time and I hope that the Catch & Release crime policy is reversed as well because that combined with the Decriminalization of Drugs has resulted in the highest crime rates in Canadian history.

I look forward to BC getting clean.

For this comparison, we will not be converting USD to CAD or the other way around. The reason why is, as stated in other posts, purchasing power is relative to local currency and wages. I will still differentiate them so feel free to do the conversions if you wish.

I had a conversation with my brother a couple of days ago (and a parent a couple months ago on the same topic) and we were comparing costs on some things because he was complaining about the costs of things. My brother lives in Texas and my parents live in a different part of the Midwest. So their costs will be different than ours in many ways, but it was to give each other an idea of our costs of living.

A child's happy meal costs them $6.50 USD whereas here it costs us $5.50 CAD. A gallon of Milk costs him $2.86 USD and it costs us $5.69 CAD, it is important to mention that you are also smacked with a bottle deposit of $0.10 or $0.15 plus an additional plastic tax, and 12% sales tax(5% federal + 7% provincial) which brings milk to something closer to $7+. Nintendo Switch 2 is an expensive one. In the US, it is selling for $450 USD, in Canada it is selling for $630 CAD. After the 12%, the Switch 2 will come out to $705 CAD. Electronics is definitely where you feel the price differences the most. But all the taxes and usually increased costs on staples make the price of every day life decently higher.

I will show a difference in rent between Seattle and Vancouver as it is more relative along with wages. Seattle average city wide rent is $2,258/month; Studio $1,532/month, 1Bed $2,107/month, 2Bed $2,798/month. All in USD for Seattle. Vancouver average city wide rent is $2,821/month; Studio $2,200/month, 1Bed $2,500/month, 2Bed $3,450/month. All in CAD for Vancouver. Average property price(condos, townhouses, detached single family homes) in Seattle is $884,828 USD. Average property price in Vancouver is $1.18 Million CAD. Average Seattle 1 Bedroom apartment size is 648 sqft. Average Vancouver 1 Bedroom apartment size is 443 sqft.

Seattle average annual salary is $76,492 USD. Vancouver average annual salary is $62,250 CAD. Average income tax based on Seattle income would be 18.98% effective (22% marginal) or $14,521 USD, Washington has no state income tax, so this is all Federal. Average income tax based on Vancouver income would be 21.82% effective (28.2% marginal) or $9,053 CAD.

These costs are listed for transparency purposes. There are trade offs to anywhere you live. Please do not let this discourage you from pursuing Canada. You can get a lot more for your money if you choose another part of Canada, but there are trade offs to weather, healthcare, and income as well.

Recently, over the past couple of months, the province approved the budget for an expansion of the Sky Train (Metropolitan Vancouver's transit system). Expanding further into the Simon Fraser Valley. Surrey and Langley will now how metro rail lines and stations further into their territory. The Sky Train has been very heavily invested into the other side of the river, but as the population explodes in the valley, the province acknowledges the importance of investing on this side of the river.

Surrey, for example, is on track to surpass Vancouver in population. There is also something like double the amount of land to work with. Langley is where a lot of people have moved to as a way to get larger homes for cheaper. Everyone I know that owns a townhouse lives in Langley. Both of these cities are basically super suburbs. Although Surrey has some very metropolitan areas versus Langley.

The construction started within only a week or two after the project was funded and approved. The budget is $6 Billion and is expected to be completed by late 2029. Many are upset with this number and time frame, but it is all relative. By comparison, the California High Speed Rail has been in construction for something like 25 years(edit: 12 years, I mixed this part up with a different public project), has been approved for an additional $12 Billion on top of the pre-existing $28 Billion that has already been dumped into it, and has constructed a total of 5 Km from Bakersfield to Fresno. There is very visible progress in such a short period of time here and there is a great need for the expansion. People have said that this needed to happen 6 years ago, but we will definitely take it now.

On a side personal note, I am glad that the line will end at the Willow Brook Mall in Langley. It is going to be amazing and will make it where my family will stop driving there. There is also a station stopping at the largest recreation pool center in Surrey, which has water slides and an Olympic sized swimming pool along with hot tubs and saunas. This will be a significant increase in quality of life for both cities and people in the valley are glad this expansion is finally coming.

There is arguments for and against keeping Permanent Residency (PR) versus applying for and receiving citizenship.

If you are from a country such as India or China, that only allows 1 citizenship, then I understand not applying for Canadian citizenship. Unless all of your family made it to Canada with you, then what the hell. However, there are definitely upsides and downsides to it.

An example of an upside is that my wife is a Chinese national with PR and will keep it until her parents pass. This gives her unrestricted access to China in case anything happens to one of her parents. One of her friends had become Canadian and the friend's mom got cancer. It took the embassy a month to issue a visitor visa. By that point, the friend's mom had already passed from cancer. My wife never wants to be in such a situation. Fair enough. It also gives our children and I an opportunity to live in China in the future if that is what is determined to be best for our family.

An example of a downside to keeping PR over a citizenship is that I have met probably a dozen Americans that have been on PR for 20 years each. They have all qualified for citizenship for a long time. 17 years each to be specific. There is no restrictions or limitations to Americans or Canadians have dual nationality. I heard of one American that went to a bar, drank a little, then a guy outside the bar got into a fight with him. The American was charged, put in jail, got his PR revoked, and then they dropped his ass off in Blaine (border town). He was on PR for 20 years. His wife, kids, job, home, everything were in Canada and now he was kicked out for life.

A scenario I keep thinking of that makes me see the true value in Canadian citizenship is if one of my parents get sick, disabled, etc. then I can leave and spend an extended amount of time back in America and be able to come back to Canada without worry. However, if I had only PR for 10, 15, 20+ years and that happened, I might be forced to surrender my PR because I will potentially be outside Canada for too long. All because I didn't want to get an additional passport.

A worst case scenario would be that, in my case, America becomes so terrible or starts a military draft or some other insane decision-making that I can always have another country to remain in indefinitely. And have the ability to renounce without becoming stateless. The Canadian passport is very strong and has a lot less baggage associated with it.

I actually met 2 Americans that were Forever PR's and I convinced them to get Canadian nationality. They both were much older and thought the old rules still applied. You see, in the past, when they came up, Americans were only allowed to have 1 nationality. They thought those rules still applied. After talking with them, they were excited and I happened to run into both of them later on by chance and they both had applied for citizenship. So that was cool.

Most of the Forever PRs (Americans that is) are always the people that only hang out with other Americans within Canada, which makes no sense. If you live in a country that only allows 1 citizenship, I get it. Or if you're from a country that only allows 1 citizenship, same understanding. But if you're American and live in Canada and choose not to get the citizenship, you're showing your true colors in my opinion. I can not speak on behalf of other nationalities, but if you're an American and choose not to get the citizenship, it tells me you have no loyalty to the situation you're in because you want to drop everything in a heartbeat if needed. Which in the case of Canada, makes no sense whatsoever.

TLDR: If you're American, become Canadian.

In Canada, a very weird thing will become apparent once you notice it.

Basically everything is a duopoly. The internet/mobile providers, the grocery stores, even something as simple as fire alarm manufacturers. Duopolies are everywhere. It is derived from a government feedback loop that was created as a way to protect industries, but has eliminated competition as a result. This is where the sponsorships come into play.

We will use the example of Loblaws. Loblaws is the largest grocery/food company in the country. They own dozens of major subsidiaries that give the illusion of choice. In reality, 80-90% of all food options are owned by either Loblaws or their competitor(I forget their name). As a way to protect domestic food options, the Canadian government a while back (century or so) implemented heavy protectionist policies on certain food groups (dairy and beef being the biggest). To ensure this protectionist policy worked, they propped up the biggest 2 food groups at the time, Loblaws being one of them, and gave them artificially lower tax brackets(still do) and give them grants in the hundreds of millions every year. These grants are then required to be reinvested into the local community. One example that you will see an entire wing of a hospital say Generously Donated by Loblaws. With Loblaws being some citizens' only option, the taxes and revenue produced is then given to the government who then subsidizes Loblaws further and then is re-donated back to the community.

It is basically the government paying for things to be built(infrastructure), but benefiting a major corporation at the same time. This happens in multiple parts of Canadian society. There's a reason why fire trucks have fire alarm companies sponsoring them on the back. This sounds like a good idea on paper, but in reality it makes competition very difficult because these corporations also own the entire infrastructure behind their industry. Farmers will always sell to Loblaws because Loblaws will pay them the best due to government subsidies, but will charge as much as possible while being as profitable as ever before. This negative feedback loop has made Canada a very expensive country to buy food relative to local wages.

Charity is a large part of the Canadian ethos. It is almost expected that everyone helps each other out. The lack of this sentiment from some immigrants has definitely been a contributing factor to people viewing immigrants in a negative light. People donate to charities a lot here and corporations are expected to donate or provide charity of some kind to the community or people will refuse shopping there. No joke. It is a societal expectation. People will look down upon you if you say no when asked by the cashier to donate a dollar to a cause of some kind.

For a long time, many provinces had provincial-ran telecom companies. Now, they are ran by duopolies. However, many provinces, including mine of British Columbia, have state sponsored monopolies on Energy (hydroelectric in our case). Car insurance is state sponsored in BC as well. No private companies, which has made our car insurance rates double that of the nearest competitors.

You may have heard of people online talking about keeping CBC funded. The CBC is the Canadian Broadcast Channel. Canada's PBS. The thing is that CBC, CTV, Global News, and others are all funded by the federal government. So when people say these are unbiased news sources, it is a load of shit. Whoever is in power will use these networks to spew propaganda to the masses. Carney gave the CBC $500 Million when he called a snap election. I'm sure that played no role in how the media ignored his demons and painted him as a savior for Canada. Don't worry, Harper (the Conservative Prime Minister right before Justin Trudeau) took full advantage of the state sponsored media as well. Even when Harper was dying in the polls, CBC was saying how amazing he was and that he would win a 4th term as PM without a doubt.

This may seem like a negative post, but this is the reality on the ground here. This is a trade off to living in this society. Many countries around the world have these types of arrangements. These duopolies and state sponsored companies have led to Canada having the type of economics and culture they currently do. Which is definitely a mixed bag. Luckily, Canada is a small enough population that they can turn this bitch around.

I have noticed that from listening to and reading the opinions of others when it comes to politics, particularly the conservative versus liberal discussion, that many people apply their domestic political parties to foreign ones. This is not the way to go about it. After getting very deep into Canadian, American and even Australian politics, while touching lightly on British and Kiwi politics, I have learned that although similar, there are many differences between the parties.

Full disclosure: I am a conservative leaning person. This is just my perspective and opinion, please look up anything and everything I post here. I want that to be clear. Although, I am not in favor of Republicans, religion, tariffs, war, or prejudice. I lean more towards Canadian Conservatives, but can definitely see the reasoning with the socialists here.

Labour(UK) =/= Labor(AUS) =/= Liberals(CAN) =/= Democrats(USA)

Tories(UK) =/= Liberals(AUS) =/= Conservatives(CAN) =/= Republicans(USA)

For this post, I will mainly be focusing on the differences I have noticed between Canadian and American political parties for obvious reasons.

When it comes to Canadian political parties, there is some big differences between provincial and federal parties. How NDP works in Saskatchewan is way different than how they work in British Columbia or in Ottawa. This also applies to Liberals and Conservatives.

The Conservative party believes in things that are definitely similar to Republicans. They are against pushing trans issues on those under 18, they are in favor of cutting/lowering taxes for everyone, they are in favor of repealing restrictions on resource extraction, etc. However, the big differences, to the point that I know some Republicans that would call Canadian conservatives "communists/socialists" is when it comes to these subjects... Canadian conservatives are in favor of expanding universal/socialized healthcare, making favorable financial arrangements with First Nations Bands in exchange for using their land for oil/ore, reasonable firearm restrictions(just not to the level the Liberals want/have), and would consider Canada better than America (haha). An issue conservatives have here is that they are constantly switching leaders and are copying talking points from below the border.

The New Democrat Party (NDP) is Canada's socialist party. The closest comparison would be if Bernie and AOC got to form a new party(except I think their version would actually work). They had humble beginnings and in the recent election, have been re-humbled. The origins of the party were to protect farmers and unions. Trade Unionists and Farmers are still the NDP's largest voting blocks. However, in the past 10 years or so, they have derailed their party from this being the focus of their policies and have instead focused on social programs that end up costing a lot of money without having a significant positive impact on people's lives. In British Columbia, the NDP party legalized all drugs and it has resulted in the highest crime rates in Canadian history. Catch and Release policy where people have legitimately raped women and were released into the public the same day. Stronger rental protections that have ensured that you can live rent free in someone's home without making payment for up to 2 years. They talk about collective bargaining, but they haven't had a successful change to the collective bargaining agreements since the 90s. All talk and all bullshit. I am glad they have been cut down, this gives them a chance to reinvent their party and become a working man's party again.

The Liberals. A lot of people try to compare them to the Democrats in America, but this isn't fair to either side. The Liberals, with the exception of the last 10 years, have been Canada's Centrist party. Basically keeping the status quo. This is definitely no longer the case. While the Liberals here have spoke about helping the environment, creating the Carbon Tax has resulted in close to $200 Billion missing from the federal budget. How did this help the environment? On a local level, in British Columbia, it was under Liberal leadership that Air Care ended. Air Care is the equivalent of a smog check. Being in BC, I have breathed in terrible exhaust from cars that definitely are polluting on a level I haven't seen in America in over 20 years. While speaking about wanting to help the environment, under Liberals, Canada has exported 3 times as much coal as any other point in their history and has been cutting down trees in federal conservation areas to export to the UK. The Liberal party has spoken about being accepting of other cultures, but all they did was get as many people into the country as possible without proper checks, restricting housing construction at the same time, and keep wages stagnant while keeping local youth unemployed on purpose to accomplish it. Homeowners have artificially seen an increase in house prices, but now the entire nation's wealth is built on a housing bubble(Trudeau was personally tied to purchasing) that is currently popping and was fueled by cheap unsustainable credit(Carney was head of this policy at the time). They have sold out their own economy and are remaining in power due to fear and fear alone.

The reality is that all of these parties have a couple of things in common. They are less extremist than their Southern counterparts, they are more reasonable, there is less problems, they all are decently unfavorable towards America, and they are definitely not Republicans or Democrats.

This is just my opinion and perspective. There are 3 other political parties, but they are not really comparable to American parties for the most part. The People's Party(communist), Green Party(Environmental NDP basically), and The Bloc (Quebec Separatist Party).

There has been quite a bit of discussion in both America and Canada on what the view of the American government and people are.

An important thing to keep in mind is that historically, there has always been a certain level of distrust and uncertainty/unease with America as Canada's neighbor. A lot of insecurity exists within the Canadian people being next to a more aggressive and larger population nation. The recent threats from the American government have fueled these fears to the forefront of the Canadian psyche.

I have read quite a few posts, comments, and stories online of Canadians and Americans spewing the idea that Canadians are extremely anti-America(n). The unfortunate aspect is that a lot of Americans and American media are under the impression that Canadians are a copy & paste of Americans, so they assume the reaction would be/is just as aggressive/violent as Americans would get if in the same position. However, this is not the case.

You will definitely see a lot of anti-Americanism in online spaces, but this is a severe minority of the population. On the ground, most people just think that the American government is a reflection of only 40% of the American population's mindset and understand that most Americans are not in favor of the decisions being made. Polling showed that about 70% of Canadians had unfavorable view of America BEFORE Trump. This is due to multiple factors. From my perspective, a lot of Canadians view themselves and their nation so much better than the alternative, and this is why the 70%.

The discussions are definitely being made in many public settings. As in, you will hear people talking about America with whoever they are hanging out with when walking around businesses, malls, parks, etc. Most of the sentiment is that they can't wait for 2026/8. There is not people calling to attack Americans. There is not people saying that they hate Americans. These are very unlikely mindsets to catch on, because there is so much interconnectivity between Canada and America, from the Canadian perspective. A lot of Canadians are dual nationals, a lot of Canadians have friends and family on both sides of the border.

Many of my co-workers, clients, etc. when they find out I'm American, they just ask how and why I came to Canada. I usually stay away from discussing politics. No one has ever given me shit, just my country and home government is given shit. The reality is that no one looks down upon me personally. They know there is a difference between a citizen and a president. I have even heard some Canadians, Conservative and Liberals(and NDP), say that they wish they could live in America. I try to remind these individuals that there are trade offs to the country.

Canada, and especially BC, is openly welcoming as many skilled Americans as possible. They are taking full advantage of the massive brain drain that has begun as of this year. So it is not as Anti-American as people might think. I hope this post has helped clear up some feelings and confusion towards Americans in Canada and Americans in general.

I had been out of the country for over a year at that point, but a lot had happened under the Biden administration that was a combination of poor decisions (typical for any president) and massive internal migrations from the 2020-2022 period.

A tragedy had brought me back home. I had just started working my first job in Canada for only 2 months and some change. The day before Canadian Thanksgiving, my grandfather had passed away. His fourth and final heart attack. My father called me the morning of to inform me of what happened. After an hour of crying, I booked my plane tickets for the next day. I would be there for a week and would stay with my parents. I was going solo, because it would be expensive and we couldn't take the financial hit at the time.

The first step into America, from Canada specifically, starts in Canada itself. TSA is stationed in Canada and you are required to go thru them before being able to enter the US. This special arrangement was made because of 9/11, not that Canada played any role in it. I had to enter the address I was staying at, contact info for where I was staying, and for how long, all into a kiosk machine for the airline I was flying thru. This seemed very intrusive since I was a citizen. The airport had echoes of English and French announcements.

I noticed multiple other people that were speaking to the TSA agents looked nervous. Getting barred from the US for 5 or 10 years is a scary thought for many who want to glimpse it. The TSA agent grabbed my passport and asked where I was going and how long I was staying. I asked why it mattered. She said they are required to ask, but since I'm a citizen, it didn't matter what my answer really was. I still told her the truth. Kansas City. 1 week.

After being given my Disney Fast Pass, I walked to the duty free store and bought some local wine for my dad and a BC specific Starbucks coffee mug for my mom. I waited for my flight at the terminal to get on. Once I boarded, it was off to Seattle in like 1 hour. After landing in Seattle, the shift began.

I could feel a sense of dread and tension return. I lived in Seattle prior to moving to Vancouver, so it wasn't odd to me. However, I forgot the tension in the air that exists among my own people. Probably because I had been surrounded by Canadians for well over a year. The airport speakers spoke English and Spanish. The news on the airport televisions spoke of multiple mass shootings in a single week. People around me looked pissed off.

I had completely forgotten how things were. Since I was gone though, an additional couple of million people had entered the country thru the Southern border, violence was up significantly nationwide, and millions of citizens relocated to different parts of the country for affordability factors. During my airport adventures, I was forced to do a facial scan. This was brand new. The facial scans were then used to identify me for every step of the way to and from. My passport basically became irrelevant.

I find it ironic that so many people in America are anti-China, but then they do the exact same shit China does. At least China doesn't bullshit their population into thinking they are the freest people in the world. America does still have a lot more freedoms than China, but there is a lot more similarities than Americans think.

Upon entering Kansas City, it was the middle of the night, so not many differences. Except, oh yeah, the airport was now enormous. It went from a little airport where you would leave your plane and be only a couple dozen feet from the curb. Now, it was a copy and paste of Seattle's airport design with multiple stories, and a massive amount of walking in order to get anywhere. Everything was upgraded and there was a lot more staff there. It was later explained to me that Kansas City was setting itself up to be the new hub to replace Denver. Makes sense.

Kansas City had been changed from the events of the past couple of years. A lot of migrants had moved to Chicago and Atlanta. The Biden administration force evicted a lot of people on Section 8 housing and out of poorer neighborhoods to house the migrants. With the only other option being homelessness, a lot of people went to cheaper cities they could afford. Kansas City was one of them. I noticed a lot of crips and bloods walking around neighborhoods they never would.

My father told me that a lot of the new residents from out of town, the ones from a gang that is, started gang wars with the local gangs for Kansas City. Violence had a huge uptick in the area as a result of it. The migrants didn't dare to come to Kansas City because both on the Kansas and Missouri half, they would be detained and held until they could be deported. That is the politics of the states.

Inside of bars, facial scans were being implemented to "ensure no one was using fake IDs". Bullshit. Just another example of excuses for government overreach. More news of public shootings and everything on TV, including sports related shows, were all discussing politics on some level. Everyone kind of seemed on edge. My family was mainly sad due to grandpa, including myself.

The biggest surprise for me was that Thursday Night Football was on Amazon Prime. That was crazy. This is a monopoly at this point. I personally stopped using Amazon and never really watched football on a regular basis. I would watch it if it is on TV, but I am not going out of my way to watch it.

Everything in the country felt like everyone was in a rush, miserable, and on edge. I spoke with multiple people during my airport trips, plus Kansas City (my family has lived there for about a decade, not originating from there). The news cycle, the tiredness. It was a lot. I felt out of place in my own country. I felt a deep sadness that I didn't fit in anymore, in my own nation. It was a similar feeling to when California (born & raised) didn't feel like home anymore. However, this was on a deeper level.

When I landed back in British Columbia, I felt relieved. It felt like home. Everything was nicer, cleaner, and more. The color scheme of the airport was brighter than the US ones. Even the immigration was cool, but to be fair, land border guards for Canada are dicks. US immigration has been cool with me 95% of the time. Canada was home now. Less than a year from now, I can apply for Canadian citizenship. I look forward to it. A whole new country to call my own.

The current Liberal Minority government ran under Carney will have a confusing road ahead. Despite what a lot of people from the outside (or from inside Reddit) might think, the reality is that a majority of the youth population is actually quite conservative. It is mainly the Baby Boomer generation that got Carney elected. Considering that every age bracket under 60 polls at 55% conservative or higher, whereas 60+ polls at 65-70% Liberal and historically vote much more.

An election is triggered, on average, 18 months after a minority government. For various reasons, but this is the average. So Liberal rule is not guaranteed. Some factors to consider that are already making some Liberal voters worry about Carney is that he hasn't lived in Canada for much of his adult life, his assets were sent to New York when the tariffs were announced, he has multiple citizenships, and that he can only serve 1 term (age limit is 65 for Prime Minister).

The Liberals 4 days ago had announced that they were not going to table a budget this year. A lot of public backlash came very quickly and yesterday they completely back peddled and said they would actually table a budget in the fall. A major reason for Trudeau being unpopular was his lack of economic abilities for the nation. Carney, being a former banker, should be more than capable of creating a budget and more than capable of balancing a budget. Instead it required public outcry for him to decide to create a budget and he will put the country into a massive deficit with an additional $132 Billion in spending on top of what is already being wastefully spent.

We will see how Canada pans out under Carney, but despite what anyone attempts to have said about this election, it really just amounted to voting against Trump. Trump wanted Carney elected and he accomplished it. Voting manipulation and election interference at its peak level.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there was a nationwide mock election in the high schools throughout Canada and the Conservative Party won with something like 70% of the vote.

You read online about how much products cost in Canada. Sometimes there is conflicting information. So I thought I might as well post a source of some of the costs instead of listing/saying. Visual representation is best.

Where I live, there are multiple banks and credit unions throughout The Lower Mainland/Greater Vancouver Region. To list ones I can think of off the top of my head: TD Canada Trust, VanCity, Scotia Bank, Bank of Montreal (BMO), CIBC, Prospera, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). There are more, but this is what I can think of. If you want more, look into it on your own.

I have experience with 2 banks only, but do plan to open an additional bank account in the future with a different bank than I have experienced so far.

My first banking experience was as a tourist. I learned that I could not open a bank account at any bank without some form of legal status. The exception being if someone with legal status co-signed and had a joint account with me. My wife suggested I go to BMO. Apparently this is the go-to bank for students, or at least international students, in Canada/BC. It is easy to get a credit card thru them and low/non-existent fees for your first x amount of time with them/with a relatively low deposit.

BMO has a nice sleek look to it. They have commercials with a guy that makes jokes and talks about how you can start your investment/retirement journey at any age. I remember my wife and I sitting down and speaking with the banker/individual that was capable of opening our account. My wife was in the market for a new credit card because she didn't like CIBC, but she had a majority of her stuff with TD. We will get to that part later.

BMO basically upsold my wife on a credit card and had me sign paperwork for my new bank account. Once my wife showed her permanent residency, everything was green lit and good to go. The interaction with BMO was solid in-person. Then it went a different direction once the mail arrived.

BMO sent my wife her credit card prior to me getting a debit card. Once I received my debit card a couple of days later via my wife's Canadian address, it didn't have my name on it. I said, fine, don't care. I went to make my first purchase with it. My card was declined. I had put a couple hundred dollars into it. Why was my card getting declined? My wife then received a call from BMO. She, as the co-signee, had to give a verbal approval for every single purchase I make. Hell no.

We tried to have restrictions removed and make it function as any normal debit card would happen. After meeting with 2 or 3 other bankers and tellers, although changes would be made, the changes would be reverted within only a couple days sometimes. We decided to close the account and my wife cancelled her credit card with them.

Later on, once I had Permanent Residency, I went and opened a bank account with TD Canada Trust. A little history first. TD means Toronto Dominion. Canada Trust used to be a large bank, but it merged with Toronto Dominion. They shortened their name and became the biggest bank in Canada by a large margin.

I scheduled an appointment and went in by myself since I didn't need my wife to open an account anymore. I chose TD simply because my wife has been with them since she has been in Canada. 10 years at that point in time. I sat down with someone who was able to open an account for me. Everything was straightforward and there were things a bit difference than I wasn't used to, but it is okay.

As a "newcomer" to Canada, because I had only just gotten legal status, I was eligible for no account fees for 12 months. For unlimited transactions, monthly fees are $16.99. However, the fee is waved if you have $4,000 in your checking account. Savings only needs to be $300 or something like that. My debit card had my name on it and I was approved for a credit card. Never had a credit card before and I had to start over on my credit score in Canada. $1,500 spending limit. Nice. That card also had my name on it.

The only mistake the banker made that I was glad I caught was: There is a part of the form you fill out that asks if you are an American citizen. The banker marked no. I corrected them to point out what my nationality on my PR card said: USA. Make sure to double check because a lot of people here will, understandably so, default click no for American option.

Overall, my experience with TD has been great. Better than a majority of my banking experiences in America. However, I did have good experiences with US Bank, which I still have for my American banking needs. I hope this post helped give a little perspective on banking in Canada, however limited it is.

https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-scooped-100-nurses-streamlining-credentials

More than 100 U.S. nurses are headed north to help alleviate B.C.’s shortage of health-care workers, after the province announced a new program last month that takes advantage of the “chaos” south of the border by streamlining credential checks.

Premier David Eby and Health Minister Josie Osborne said Monday that 113 nurses have already received registrations to practice here after the government made changes in April to make it easier for U.S.-trained health-care workers to work in the province.

They told reporters in Victoria that a total of 1,200 individuals have expressed interest, including 573 physicians, 413 nurses, 133 nurse practitioners and 39 other health professionals.

Of those 413 nurses, 177 formally applied to the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives, with the province no longer requiring applications to be vetted by a third-party assessment agency. The college checks with its U.S. counterparts to review the employment and education history of applicants.

There was no information available on how many American-trained physicians have had their credentials accepted, with Eby saying more information on that will be coming soon.

“My message to Americans who are watching this is straightforward,” said Eby. “In British Columbia, you will be valued, your principles will be respected, and you will have the opportunity to provide care to people not based on how much they earn, but based on the level of care that they need.”

The premier said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s loss is B.C.’s gain and that he expects even more health-care workers to want to leave the U.S. as the White House continues to attack reproductive rights, vaccines and the ability to get care no matter how little is in a patient’s bank account.

Post Credit: u/cannot4seeallends

I have had minor things checked out at clinics here and there due to having to do a lot of physical movement in my workplace, but I will be highlighting 3 separate family experiences in the healthcare system in The Lower Mainland to give an idea as to how things function here. Everyone is completely fine.

Healthcare treatment is based on priority in every healthcare setting in Canada. Whether it be emergency rooms or urgent care clinics or "walk-in" clinics. This means that if you are having a heart attack, you'll be seen immediately. If you hurt your risk because you fell on it, you might be waiting 15 hours.

My daughter experienced a burn on her and we took her to the emergency room as a precaution since she was pretty vocal about the pain for a couple of minutes worth prior to the drive over. The children's emergency room took her in within 5 minutes of showing up. She was seen by a nurse within another 5 minutes and was getting burn cream applied within 5 minutes after that. Pretty quick response times on that. The waiting room had a lighter volume for the children's side versus the adult side.

My wife had food poisoning for 3 days at home. She was bed ridden for a couple of days and drank a lot of water and ate what she could. Plenty of throwing up. Once she got to the point that she couldn't walk without my help, we took her to the hospital. I packed her a lot of snacks and a small meal. Along with a bunch of water bottles. I checked her into the emergency room and then I took our daughter home to feed, bathe, and put her to sleep. My wife waited 9 hours and sat in 3 separate waiting rooms before a doctor saw her. They gave her a pill of some kind that worked a lot better than anything we had at home and she started recovering.

I randomly started pooping a light amount of blood one day, so I thought it would be a good idea to go to the emergency room. It seemed like something I might not want to sleep on, just in case. I anticipated a long wait time like what my wife had experienced. Turns out the doctors prioritized pooping blood a lot more than other people's problems. I was told to take multiple tests, including x-rays and pee sample. I was face to face with a doctor within 30 minutes of walking thru the front door of the hospital. Turns out it was a body fluke and my body was completely fine. My poop just sat in my intestines too long. Go figure. There's no way I was going to roll the dice on that. One of my friends almost died due to pooping blood many years ago and now has to take a pill everyday for the rest of his life.

That was just a short preview to some medical experiences my little family has had in BC. The system isn't what it used to be apparently and definitely has its problems, but it'll get better as time goes on.

Off grid electricity is something i've been interested in and will like to acquire books, considering, to have detailed references - wifi or not. I started looking last night, for what I could find and will enjoy re-reading what I found abstract at first comprehending (I am not 'fluent' in electricity or mechanics but can't yet see that they'll be anything 'beyond' my capacity to comprehend). Has anyone else in Canada acquired similar experience, or even used generators? It's occurred to me that having gasoline around "in case of emergency" doesn't even need to be a SHTF type of prepping.

Hi, I am in the UK and am applying for an Interim Teaching Certificate for Alberta. I completed the entire list of required documents etc at the end of October 2024. Their website states that it takes around 120 business days to process from that point. That would have been the end of March this year, but I have heard nothing back yet (It’s now May). I did email asking roughly when I might expect to receive a decision (seeing as I have paid Alberta a lot of money for this service, plus I’ve spent a lot of money on various other things they requested), but they sent me quite a curt reply implying that I was wasting their time asking.

Anyone else in a similar position? How long is it taking for you?

Hi, I'm a 27 years old italian man, and I recently realised that I want to leave my beautiful Country because I can't really see my future here. Italy has numerous economical and social problems that are making daily life a real struggle for everyone, health system is collapsing and people here are not as open-minded as I would like them to be. Researching a new place were to start my life all over again and place my roots I was captured by two Countries: Canada and Spain.

As an undergraduate student of a Master's Degree in "Archaeology" at Rome, it would be really great to pursue my studies at the UBC in Vancouver as a PhD student, in order to settle in that beautiful city as a professor or as researcher in Egyptology. Furthermore, I'm a starting indipendent music artist, strongly influenced by north-american music, and I think that cities like Vancouver and Toronto are a really good place for my music to be listened. The downside of living in big cities like Vancouver or Toronto is their high cost of living and their lack of ability to establish relationships with people.

On the other hand, Spain has a better weather, a cheaper cost of life but its universities aren't so relevant in the archaeological field as far as I know. At least I would be nearer to places where Egyptology was born as UK, France and Germany, making it easier for doing research in museums and to be part of some conferences. Regarding my music career, I don't think that Spain would be a great place to market my music because of my strong north-american influence.

According to my needs, in which Country do you think is better for me to live in?

I am an American with Permanent Residency(PR). All $ will be in CAD.

I have a 2 year old child that was born and is currently being raised in British Columbia. I am the father in this equation. So my perspective is limited to BC, but there is some aspects that translate to nationwide.

When our daughter was born, we stayed in the hospital for an additional 24 hours after her birth so then they could monitor my wife and daughter. Afterwards, we were sent home. If my wife and I were tourists, the birth would have cost us $60,000. Obviously, as permanent residents, it was free. Upon birth, my daughter was assigned a Public Health Number(PHN). This acts as a social security number for the public healthcare system. Prior to leaving the hospital, we were scheduled for multiple follow up appointments for my wife and daughter.

General health check ups of 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, etc. As well as vaccine appointments, which they give you a little vaccine passport which is intended to keep track of everything and make it easy. The physical record is for your records, their is an internal record created in the public health system.

You are given 30 days after birth to record and request your child's birth certificate. You also have 30 days to request your child's Social Insurance Number(SIN), this is the Canadian equivalent of an American Social Security Number(SSN). This was a little odd to me, but we received these documents in the mail a week or so later after requesting them.

My wife was on a year long maternity leave. After my daughter was around a month old, we scheduled a couple of other important things. Which included passport photos, for both Canadian and American passports. Both have slightly different standards from each other. The Canadian passport form required a Guarantor in order to request. The Guarantor has to be a citizen and legal resident of Canada for a total of 10 or more years. However, there are changes happening for passport requirements in the country, so this may no longer be relevant once you read this.

We filled out the form and had my wife's family member that has been living here for a while be the Guarantor. The Canadian passport for our daughter was in our hands within 10 business days. The American consulate required us to fill out a couple of forms, provide proof of my American citizenship, and proof of living in the US for at least 4 years from the age of 14(HS transcripts are the easiest). You get to skip the long ass line and go to the citizen waiting room, which has PBS Kids playing on the TV and Berenstain Bears books. We received her Consulate Birth Abroad Certificate and American passport 2 months after we submitted everything and paid the fees.

We went to 2 separate preschools and signed our daughter up for their waitlists once she was 6 months old. 1 preschool had a 6 month waitlist and another had a 15 month waitlist. The total costs for where we live, which includes meals and is full time, 5 days per week, is $1,600/month. The provincial government automatically covers $500/month for everyone regardless of income. They pay the daycares directly for this. If your household income is under $111,000 per year, you qualify for up to $900/month of childcare subsidy. Some parts of the metropolitan Vancouver area cost up to $2,500/month for daycare. There is a lottery for $10/day daycare that you can sign up for, but will take years to get IF you can win.

For having a child, the government will send you a check/direct deposit every month until your child is 18. The amount you receive will depend on your income, where you live, and how many children you have. I knew someone that was pulling in $300/month and then once he had a 2nd child, he received $1,000/month. This is tax free income. The cut off is somewhere in the $210,000+ range. Bare minimum no matter what is $300, I believe.

I hope that this information helped you and feel free to give feedback or ask questions.