Oh Canada! Maybe we should move.

[Murphy101]

I mean half joking but that means half serious.  Anyone moved there? Tell me all about it. I wouldn’t think they’d want us, but I’m curious. 

[ktgrok]

We looked into it pretty seriously a while ago. On the plus side, my DH's field is one in demand, so likely could get in. On the con side, he'd make less and COL was more, at least where we were looking. I don't think their grads have 100K debt to deal with like here...so salaries reflect that. 

Also, our DS was old enough that he'd have to apply on his own, not as part of the family and that didn't make me feel good about it. 

[Junie]

I know someone who wants to move to Canada because her significant other lives there.  But she would have to pay medical expenses out of pocket (for I think three years) and her health is not good enough to take that kind of financial risk.

[ktgrok]

Just now, Junie said:

I know someone who wants to move to Canada because her significant other lives there.  But she would have to pay medical expenses out of pocket (for I think three years) and her health is not good enough to take that kind of financial risk.

I wonder if that varies by province? When we looked we would have been able to get it pretty quickly -  I want to say more like 3 months, not years. 

[Amy Gen]

My sister moved to Ottawa a few years ago. I almost fainted when I found out she spent this past summer in Texas. She said Canada was so locked down that she was “losing her people skills.”  LOL. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Are you thinking of it due to Covid?  Have you read Wathe’s posts on the overwhelmed healthcare system there right now?  

[Junie]

8 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I wonder if that varies by province? When we looked we would have been able to get it pretty quickly -  I want to say more like 3 months, not years. 

Oh, then maybe I misheard or maybe she didn't tell me the truth...

Either is possible.

[gardenmom5]

I've known a lot of canadians who have come down here because of the opportunities.

in Vancouver, non-canadian citizens have to pay a surcharge to purchase a home.  That was in response non-canadians coming in and buying up property causing prices to skyrocket.   

[fraidycat]

33 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I wonder if that varies by province? When we looked we would have been able to get it pretty quickly -  I want to say more like 3 months, not years. 

This.

I'm Canadian, but we just finished the immigration process for my DH in May. Prior to his becoming a permanent resident, he was here on a work visa. The first couple things he was advised to do when he received the work visa was to get his healthcard and driver's license. Instructions were included on how to complete the steps that took about 10 minutes, filling out his info online. He had his card in about a week. For his DL, we just took his work visa and state DL to the license issuer and he got his license immediately. In about 30 minutes total between DMV and eHealth he was considered a resident of our province with provincial ID to prove it. 
 

ETA: The IDs had an expiry date that expired when his work visa/passport expired. When he got his PR card, he got updated cards with regular expiry dates like the rest of us.

Edited August 23, 2021 by fraidycat

[fraidycat]

If you or your DH qualify as a skilled worker, and can secure a valid job offer there is a "faster track" program for moving here.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility/federal-skilled-workers.html

 

[pinball]

37 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I mean half joking but that means half serious.  Anyone moved there? Tell me all about it. I wouldn’t think they’d want us, but I’m curious. 

Have you followed the news with the burning of Catholic Churches in Canada? 

[Janeway]

30 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

I've known a lot of canadians who have come down here because of the opportunities.

in Vancouver, non-canadian citizens have to pay a surcharge to purchase a home.  That was in response non-canadians coming in and buying up property causing prices to skyrocket.   

I wish we would do that here. Too many foreign investors running up the cost of living. 

[Murphy101]

36 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Are you thinking of it due to Covid?  Have you read Wathe’s posts on the overwhelmed healthcare system there right now?  

It’s not bc of Covid.  It’s bc of healthcare and Dh being unemployed and possibly higher education costs. 

4 minutes ago, pinball said:

Have you followed the news with the burning of Catholic Churches in Canada? 

I vaguely know of them.  Are you saying Catholics are generally targets of more hate crimes there than in the states?

[Melissa in Australia]

I think the Catholic Churches in Canada that have been burnt down are on indigenous land and connected to all those mass graves that have been rediscovered lately. I can completely understand the people who were forced into those schools feeling angry enough to burn those churches.

[fraidycat]

3 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

It’s not bc of Covid.  It’s bc of healthcare and Dh being unemployed and possibly higher education costs. 

I vaguely know of them.  Are you saying Catholics are generally targets of more hate crimes there than in the states?

The burning of the churches a couple months ago was in response to the Vatican's refusal to apologize or take any responsibility for the residential school horrors.

[Melissa Louise]

14 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I think the Catholic Churches in Canada that have been burnt down are on indigenous land and connected to all those mass graves that have been rediscovered lately. I can completely understand the people who were forced into those schools feeling angry enough to burn those churches.

Yeah, burning churches ( or mosques or temples or any other place of worship) is not the way to protest. Some of those churches had minority parishes. 

[Melissa in Australia]

I agree it isn’t the way to protest, but I can understand the victims being angry enough to do this.

 

[Melissa Louise]

If you have a serious, chronic disease and you are not financially advantaged, there's zero doubt a socialised health care system works better for you. Free at the point of service is extremely life-giving to people who need ongoing and expensive  medical support. 

I am beyond grateful my ex husband's ICU stay was taxpayer funded. Ditto his dialysis. 

There's a trade off - if you are used to a a system where you, as an individual, can purchase better access, you may not like having to support two systems - the taxpayer public and your own private. 

All health systems have drawbacks. Ours (AU) has plenty. But your husband would get free or at point of cost or low cost diabetes treatment and meds if unemployed and on a Health care card. 

Major advantage here is health coverage not linked to employment. I imagine Canada is similar? 

But not perfect. Long way from. 

 

[Melissa Louise]

6 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I agree it isn’t the way to protest, but I can understand the victims being angry enough to do this.

 

We have many victims of the Church (es) here. We need to use the legal systems available to us to do our best to obtain justice. I'll never understand burning down a parish church, particularly when (often) said burning is undertaken not by victims, but by 'allies'. 

[jen3kids]

39 minutes ago, pinball said:

Have you followed the news with the burning of Catholic Churches in Canada? 

 

Were you intending to give the reasons behind that or just trying to scare people?  Or are you simply someone who likes to give the worse part of all stories?    Your question makes it sound like crimes against the Catholic Church in Canada are a daily occurrence in every town.  

[Murphy101]

4 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

Were you intending to give the reasons behind that or just trying to scare people?  Or are you simply someone who likes to give the worse part of all stories?    Your question makes it sound like crimes against the Catholic Church in Canada are a daily occurrence in every town.  

I don’t think it’s a daily occurrence. But it does make me want to know what the general sentiment about practicing Catholics may be there.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Murphy101

[Melissa Louise]

4 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

 

Were you intending to give the reasons behind that or just trying to scare people?  Or are you simply someone who likes to give the worse part of all stories?    Your question makes it sound like crimes against the Catholic Church in Canada are a daily occurrence in every town.  

I think she thought it was relevant to a Catholic. 

[jen3kids]

2 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

I think she thought it was relevant to a Catholic. 

Regardless, it is a ridiculous statement to make.  

[Murphy101]

42 minutes ago, Janeway said:

I wish we would do that here. Too many foreign investors running up the cost of living. 

I don’t really have an issue with giving citizens preferential treatment as long as once someone is living there they can still function. So an extra fee is fine as long as it’s not so high that we can’t do basic things.

I also think preference for individual purchases over investor companies would be helpful.  I remember when we bought our current home being so frustrated that homes in our price range were constantly snapped up by investor groups who could pay cash and then would flip it and double the price or add it to their rental portfolio. And that was 15 years ago! 

[Melissa Louise]

Just now, jen3kids said:

Regardless, it is a ridiculous statement to make.  

Eh, it's a question. 

I imagine that, like anywhere, Canada has regions that are more or less friendly to the religious.

If I was religious, I'd want to know about that.

Clearly, everyday Canadians don't go out on the regular to burn down a church. But you have had church burnings. That's not something usual. 

 

[Murphy101]

2 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

Regardless, it is a ridiculous statement to make.  

Why?  Some places ARE more hostile to Catholics. Some places have reason to be.  

[Shoeless]

1 minute ago, Melissa Louise said:

Eh, it's a question. 

I imagine that, like anywhere, Canada has regions that are more or less friendly to the religious.

If I was religious, I'd want to know about that.

Clearly, everyday Canadians don't go out on the regular to burn down a church. But you have had church burnings. That's not something usual. 

 

It's becoming a pattern with this poster to post pot-stirring comments. 

[jen3kids]

20 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

We have many victims of the Church (es) here. We need to use the legal systems available to us to do our best to obtain justice. I'll never understand burning down a parish church, particularly when (often) said burning is undertaken not by victims, but by 'allies'. 

NM - It's not worth the emotional effort 

Edited August 23, 2021 by jen3kids
calming down now

[Murphy101]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

It's becoming a pattern with this poster to post pot-stirring comments. 

Sure. I would agree with that. But I’m not offended by the question or even bothered by it. So ima just move that pot to a back burner instead of stirring it.

Moving along to the topic at hand please?

 

[Melissa Louise]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

It's becoming a pattern with this poster to post pot-stirring comments. 

I often don't even notice who posts what. It made sense to me - Murphy is a devout Catholic, there's been anti- Catholic feeling in Canada recently. 

I'm only lapsed, and ID as agnostic, but anti-Catholicism has long been a part of Anglophone nations, including mine, so I can understand wanting to know about it. 

 

[Murphy101]

Just now, jen3kids said:

Oh yes, the legal system is so fair to the Indigineous people of Canada.   They tried that already.  The Catholic (and other) churches were ordered to pay.  The Catholic church said they were too poor to pay.  Instead they extorted their members for more money to build a monstrous cathedral.

Well. Gotta admit your post makes it sound like the general sentiment is that they should burn a cathedral next?

[Melissa Louise]

4 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

Oh yes, the legal system is so fair to the Indigineous people of Canada.   They tried that already.  The Catholic (and other) churches were ordered to pay.  The Catholic church said they were too poor to pay.  Instead they extorted their members for more money to build a monstrous cathedral.

Most of these churches were not, as you know, burned down by indigenous people. Some of the churches had indigenous or other minority  parishes. 

Sorry for not believing that burning down the parish church is justice. Think that has any impact on the wealth and power of the Vatican? It has zero impact. It's white ally theatre and it's b/s. 

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Melissa Louise

[Murphy101]

3 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

I often don't even notice who posts what. It made sense to me - Murphy is a devout Catholic, there's been anti- Catholic feeling in Canada recently. 

I'm only lapsed, and ID as agnostic, but anti-Catholicism has long been a part of Anglophone nations, including mine, so I can understand wanting to know about it. 

 

I don’t think I’m particularly devout but otherwise it’s valid to point out anything someone thinks a person should know prior to a major move.  

So noted. 

Bow can we quit bickering and talk about other possible Canadian incentives or problems for an American moving there?

[jen3kids]

2 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Well. Gotta admit your post makes it sound like the general sentiment is that they should burn a cathedral next?

Well, if you're worried about that I guess you better stay in the US then.

 

But to answer your initial question... what do you mean by 'wouldn't think they'd want us?'

[Melissa Louise]

Most countries don't want ppl with pre-existing conditions. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Just now, Melissa Louise said:

Most countries don't want ppl with pre-existing conditions. 

Especially countries with universal health care.

[Melissa Louise]

Just now, Melissa in Australia said:

Especially countries with universal health care.

Yep, I am pretty sure Murphy's husband's diabetes would count against him coming here. Maybe Canada is different. 

[Murphy101]

7 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

Well, if you're worried about that I guess you better stay in the US then.

I said YOUR post came across that way.  Is that an overall sentiment do you think or just your current peeve with another poster making you cranky?

But to answer your initial question... what do you mean by 'wouldn't think they'd want us?'

Well we are in our later 40s, he is currently unemployed with type 1 diabetes, I do no paid work whatsoever, neither of us currently have a college degree, and I’d be bringing 5 kids ages 5-17 with us. And we are practicing Catholics.  And yeah there’s places that wouldn’t like that even if they gave lip service to otherwise. 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Murphy101

[jen3kids]

4 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

Most countries don't want ppl with pre-existing conditions. 

 

Canada does have a page on Medical Inadmissability  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/reasons/medical-inadmissibility.html

[ktgrok]

3 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

 

Canada does have a page on Medical Inadmissability  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/reasons/medical-inadmissibility.html

Found this, which may help - I'm thinking diabetes probably would be okay, depending on the cost of his meds. 

By increasing the cost threshold for medical inadmissibility, there will be more leniency for immigration applicants who require regular prescription drug treatment. As long as their treatment requires less than approximately $20,000 CAD in prescription medication per year, then this should not be grounds for refusal. https://www.canadim.com/blog/canada-relaxes-medical-inadmissibility/

[Murphy101]

3 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

 

Canada does have a page on Medical Inadmissability  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/reasons/medical-inadmissibility.html

I saw that they made huge changes in 2018 though. And I honestly have zero idea how to figure the diabetic factor bc here it’s easily going to top 30k a year. But that’s bc our pricing is nuts. 

[jen3kids]

2 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Well we are in our later 40s, he is currently unemployed with type 1 diabetes, I do no paid work whatsoever, neither of us currently have a college degree, and I’d be bringing 5 kids ages 5-17 with us. And we are practicing Catholics.  And yeah there’s places that wouldn’t like that even if they gave lip service to otherwise. 

 

There is no general sentiment supporting burning any church or cathedral in Canada.  And,  I cannot imagine that you (as a Catholic) would have any problems living anywhere in Canada.   And, yes, I was definitely pissed at that other poster, so she got what she wanted - crazy-a$$ people getting their jollies by riling otherwise even-keeled folks up.  I apologize for that.

Honestly, you'd more likely get harassed (and by that I mean good-natured teasing) for being an American before you'd get harassed for being Catholic.    

[Murphy101]

12 minutes ago, jen3kids said:

 

There is no general sentiment supporting burning any church or cathedral in Canada.  And,  I cannot imagine that you (as a Catholic) would have any problems living anywhere in Canada.   And, yes, I was definitely pissed at that other poster, so she got what she wanted - crazy-a$$ people getting their jollies by riling otherwise even-keeled folks up.  I apologize for that.

Honestly, you'd more likely get harassed (and by that I mean good-natured teasing) for being an American before you'd get harassed for being Catholic.    

Awww. I’d not be much fun to tease for being American bc I’d probably totally agree with them.

[pinball]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

It’s not bc of Covid.  It’s bc of healthcare and Dh being unemployed and possibly higher education costs. 

I vaguely know of them.  Are you saying Catholics are generally targets of more hate crimes there than in the states?

No. It’s just that I thought you go to Daily Mass, and that as a convert it seems like your Faith means the world to you. 

[Murphy101]

1 minute ago, pinball said:

No. It’s just that I thought you go to Daily Mass, and that as a convert it seems like your Faith means the world to you. 

I do and it does. I’d say I’m a practicing Catholic who needs all the practice I can get.  I wouldn’t purposely move somewhere I could not attend a proper mass with a proper priest.  It would be hard enough to move to another country without that factor!

[Janeway]

51 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I don’t really have an issue with giving citizens preferential treatment as long as once someone is living there they can still function. So an extra fee is fine as long as it’s not so high that we can’t do basic things.

I also think preference for individual purchases over investor companies would be helpful.  I remember when we bought our current home being so frustrated that homes in our price range were constantly snapped up by investor groups who could pay cash and then would flip it and double the price or add it to their rental portfolio. And that was 15 years ago! 

yeah, I agree. It would be like..if they are going to personally live in the house as a first, main home, then no surcharge. But if they are buying as an investment, second home, vacation home, rental, etc...then extra tax/surcharge.

[Frances]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

Well. Gotta admit your post makes it sound like the general sentiment is that they should burn a cathedral next?

I think this is what she is referring to, that the church should fulfill the promise it made to compensate victims. They were able to raise more money to build a new Cathedral than they still owed ($25 million) victims. Instead of putting the same effort into fundraising for the victims as they did for the cathedral or getting the money from other church sources, they used legal maneuvers to get out of paying. The other denominations involved did pay as promised. I’ll admit I didn’t know anything about it, but I’m absolutely disgusted now that I’ve read about it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/church-residential-school-compensation-1.6082935

[Murphy101]

22 minutes ago, Frances said:

I think this is what she is referring to, that the church should fulfill the promise it made to compensate victims. They were able to raise more money to build a new Cathedral than they still owed ($25 million) victims. Instead of putting the same effort into fundraising for the victims as they did for the cathedral or getting the money from other church sources, they used legal maneuvers to get out of paying. The other denominations involved did pay as promised. I’ll admit I didn’t know anything about it, but I’m absolutely disgusted now that I’ve read about it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon

38 minutes ago, Frances said:

I think this is what she is referring to, that the church should fulfill the promise it made to compensate victims. They were able to raise more money to build a new Cathedral than they still owed ($25 million) victims. Instead of putting the same effort into fundraising for the victims as they did for the cathedral or getting the money from other church sources, they used legal maneuvers to get out of paying. The other denominations involved did pay as promised. I’ll admit I didn’t know anything about it, but I’m absolutely disgusted now that I’ve read about it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/church-residential-school-compensation-1.6082935

/church-residential-school-compensation-1.6082935

My first thought is … I don’t think people understand that the RCC is not wealthy. It’s kind of like saying Biden should auction stuff out of the White House to pay for rebuilding Black Wallstreet.   None of it is his to sell for that.

My second thought is that I completely agree they should not have built the cathedral until after that providence’s churches had paid their share of the national debt owed.

My third thought is that Cathedral is hideous.  For that kind of money I’d want it to at least not be hideous. I hope it’s more… idk… spiritually appealing… on the inside. 

But mostly I think what happened to those kids was a blasphemy and the church should help those families regardless of the lawsuit. 😞

[wathe]

Canadian.  Never lived in the States, but know plenty of people who have.

Taxes will be a lot more than you are used to.

Healthcare:  Healthcare is a provincial responsibility, and publicly funded healthcare varies a little province to province.  I know my own province best, what follows is what's true here:  Provincial plans (publicly funded, universal health care) generally pay for hospital and doctor fees.  So doctor's visits and hospitalizations are $0 out of pocket.  The usual waiting time to be covered by provincial plans is 3 months of residency.  There is no parallel private system.  EVERYONE uses the public system, whether they like it or not.  It is illegal for MD's or hospitals to bill privately for services that are covered under the provincial plan.  So you won't have the same kind of choices in healthcare delivery as you do in the US.

We DO NOT have universal pharmacare.  In most provinces, medications are paid for privately (either out of pocket, or by a private insurance plan).  My province's publicly funded pharmacare plan  pays for prescriptions medications for those over 65, those on social assistance (unemployment, disability), and children under 25 who do not have a private plan.  Everyone else pays for their own privately.  Drug costs are cheaper here than in the US, though.  There is a movement toward universal pharmacare, but it's not coming very soon, I don't think.  Dental is private also.

Catholicism:  I have never in my life observed an anti-catholic bias in Canada (but I'm not one, so what do I know?). The current prime minister is Roman Catholic.   Religion is definitely more of a private issue here, and religious community seems to play less of a role in daily life that it does in the US.  The recent church burnings on Indigenous land are a very new thing.  Past mistreatment of Indigenous people by the Catholic Church in the residential school system is a red hot issue right now.  Many Canadians are learning the truth about the abuses for the first time (with the much publicized discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential school sites), and many Indigenous people are ANGRY.  I mean, I think that you'd have to have lived under a rock not to have known about these abuses - there was a commission that got a lot of press 2007-2015 - but, apparently lots of Canadians indeed live under rocks.....

Politics:  Generally more liberal leaning, though this varies by region.  Both your current president and Vice President align politically and policy-wise with our Conservative party, and are way to the right of our liberal parties.  Don't misunderstand me, there are definitely plenty of conservatives here, and pockets of very conservative conservatives, but on the whole the culture is much more liberal, I think.

Multiculturalism is an official policy.  Most cities are extremely diverse.  Rural areas markedly less so.

Many fewer guns, and many, many more restrictions on their use.  ( The images from the Michigan protest last year with the militia guys and their rifles in the legislature just about made my brain explode.  That idea of guns at protests is mind-boggling.  That would NEVER fly here.)

Let me know if you have other specific questions about life here.   I don't know much about immigration policy though. 

ETA:  forgot one.   Our money comes in pretty colours: blue, purple, green, red, brown....  Coins come in both  both silver and gold tones

Edited August 23, 2021 by wathe

[wathe]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

I do and it does. I’d say I’m a practicing Catholic who needs all the practice I can get.  I wouldn’t purposely move somewhere I could not attend a proper mass with a proper priest.  It would be hard enough to move to another country without that factor!

Catholic Churches are EVERYWHERE.  I think every community has one.  Every town  in Ontario has at least 4 churches:  Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and United.  Some aren the 4 corners of the same  same intersection of the Main Street.  They are the four main historical religions/denominations of the country.