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An American moving to Canada: what should I know?

firstly, being totally pre-emptive, welcome! :)

lower crime rates is another plus or something to expect. Being able to walk outside without worry is a huge plus. Of course, there will be seedier areas than others, but for the most part, just give'er :)

The cold makes you tough. Us Canucks are a different breed and very wholehearty. We constantly get slammed for being too conservative, but we can hold our own. Personally, I like winter. Tons of snow is great. Being super a$$ cold reminds me of being totally alive as the body revs up to keep warm. This may sound weird, but i really dig going for a long walk at night in the winter.

Althought i've never been, i hear the West is great to settle and Alberta is growing like mad. The only negative I've heard is that housing is starting to get really expensive there.

Best of luck.
Cheers,
Keebler
 
I live in South Florida.... it's considered cold here if the temperature drops into the 60's.... which it did last week WOOHOO!

It's 72 right now (at 1:09 in the morning).... so if you freeze up in Canada during the winter, you should fly down here to warm up. I think like half of Canada's population does that already! You wouldn't believe how many Canadian license plates I see in the area this time of year, haha.

I don't understand why anyone would DRIVE from Canada to Florida.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic so I think I'll just end this post =)
 
Cassie said:
This is good for me too, As I'm also considering moving to Canada.


One question, how do car prices compare to the $US(gas prices too, I guess)?
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i find used cars are bit more pricey than u.s, insurance in ontario is insane(imo) i am paying 290 a month for a 2004 acura, i paid 1.04 /litre today of regular to fuel up... i dunno the conversion to gallons so im not going to get into that...
 
Brianstorm91 said:
They're probably talking in archaic Farenheit :rolleyes:
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Actually -35F is about -37C so the two scales are pretty close at that temperature range. I can remember battling temperatures that cold. It is always amazing how the body adapts. I am now living in Texas and I am freezing at 45F (7C) while a few years ago I would have been out in a T-shirt if it got that warm.
 
House Prices In Canada

Alberta has the lowest income tax rate in Canada. However, it also has some of the highest housing prices.

Almost every house that goes on the market in Canada is listed on the following MLS website. You can use this to compare the prices to the UK market. I think that they are pretty comparable.
http://www.mls.ca

Cheers.
:):apple:
 
Cassie said:
This is good for me too, As I'm also considering moving to Canada.


One question, how do car prices compare to the $US(gas prices too, I guess)?
Click to expand...

Gas is quite a bit more expensive than it is down here. A liter is roughly about the same as a quart (not exactly, but close enough for our estimation), so if Juanster paid $1.04/litre for gas then that works out to well over $4.00/gal. Of course, U.S. gas prices seem to be headed in the same direction, so pretty sure there won't be any compelling reasons not to go. I'll see ya up in the Great White North, Cassie!
 
Stampyhead said:
Gas is quite a bit more expensive than it is down here. A liter is roughly about the same as a quart (not exactly, but close enough for our estimation), so if Juanster paid $1.04/litre for gas then that works out to well over $4.00/gal. Of course, U.S. gas prices seem to be headed in the same direction, so pretty sure there won't be any compelling reasons not to go. I'll see ya up in the Great White North, Cassie!
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Wow, when you put it that way.. :eek:

$1.04/liter is a relatively new spike, just in time for the holidays. In the past year it was hovering (and sloooowly climbing) between 75 cents to 95 cents per liter. $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon is probably about the right range.

You may (or may not) find that you drive less in Canada though. Most cities are smaller, traffic isn't insane (except maybe Toronto), and, well, there's not really as many places to go. :)
 
Cassie said:


Which it is right now. 47F here, just north of San Antonio. I've been inside all day as a result.
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haha it's -11(celsius) right now here,in Toronto it's -4 , i live on the suburbs of Toronto, so also about not having to drive that much?! I guess it all depends but for me i easily drive 150 kms day just going to university and then to train. I wish it was 7C right now....;)
 
juanster said:
about not having to drive that much?! I guess it all depends but for me i easily drive 150 kms day just going to university and then to train. I wish it was 7C right now....;)
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Well obviously it's different for everyone, and you guys in Toronto have a huge "Greater Toronto Area". I have a lot of American friends who seem to be on the road all the time, driving from state to state to state. Some of them have ridiculous commutes to/from work (as in, their drive time is measured in hours). A huge percentage of our population is clustered in cities not far from the Canada / USA border. Most of them are not that big (except, again, Toronto, maybe Montreal, Vancouver). Here in Ottawa, for example, I could get from one end of town clear to the other end in about 25 minutes.
 
juanster said:
haha it's -11(celsius) right now here,in Toronto it's -4 , i live on the suburbs of Toronto, so also about not having to drive that much?! I guess it all depends but for me i easily drive 150 kms day just going to university and then to train. I wish it was 7C right now....;)
Click to expand...

If it ever dropped to -11C here, I can guarantee some idiot would be shouting "If global warming exists, then how could this happen?!":rolleyes:

Argh, it just keeps getting colder. 44F now. :( On top of all that, it's raining.

 
Cassie said:


If it ever dropped to -11C here, I can guarantee some idiot would be shouting "If global warming exists, then how could this happen?!":rolleyes:

Argh, it just keeps getting colder. 44F now. :( On top of all that, it's raining.
Click to expand...

oh believe me, i hear idiots say that all the time here it really bothers me too...
 
"What should I know?"

Learn to love poutine! Mmm mmm good! :)

800px-OriginalPoutineLaBanquise.jpg
 
Cassie said:


Which it is right now. 47F here, just north of San Antonio. I've been inside all day as a result.
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haha...its been 15F all day here and i just got back from a run with my XC team.
I luv the cold weather:D
Edit: Just started snowing, HARD
 
It will be tough. Be prepared to have people being polite to you all the time - holding doors open, letting you go through the stop light first...we're such an annoying bunch :cool:

Being serious, be prepared for four true seasons (yes, the winter can be cold in Alberta, although far milder in BC if you do end up there), be prepared for some stunning scenery, and expect in general a very good quality of life: the standard of living is high, some things get taxed a bit higher (like gas), but the social programs in general are far better than many countries (certainly including health care, education, etc.).

To back it up with a few stats, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Calgary all placed in the top 25 cities in the world to live in - from the Mercer 2007 Quality of Living Survey (nothing in the top 25 from the US/UK, if you want to compare against your other potential destinations). A similar Economist Intelligence Unit study ranked Vancouver as #1 (Toronto as #5)...again, nothing in the top 10 from the US/UK.

So there must be something to those crisp red uniforms... ;)
 
Just wanted to join the American moving to Canada crowd that has seemed to gather here.

I plan on moving to Quebec after I finish college. J'étudie l'histoire et le français, mais je parle un pue français maintenant. I'm only in my first semester, so by the time I graduate I will hopefully be able to speak it well enough to get in.

I had also heard that it can take ~2 years to get through the whole immigration process without any job lined up. Can anyone who has moved to Quebec verify this? I'm thinking it might be easier to find a job, get in on a temp. worker visa, then apply for permanent residence once I'm there. What is the job market like in Montréal, for those that live there/are familiar with it?

Things I look forward to:

low cost of living in Montréal
car-free living
awesome local music scene
 
colinmack said:
It will be tough. Be prepared to have people being polite to you all the time - holding doors open, letting you go through the stop light first...we're such an annoying bunch :cool:
Click to expand...

I remember reading a list of "You know you're Canadian when..." somewhere on the internet, and one in particular struck me as funny because I realized it was TRUE: "You know you're Canadian when someone steps on your toe, and YOU apologize."
 
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