Canada

Do you love mass shootings or just hate having healthcare?

Thought about it very seriously for a long time. I did grad school for planetary science and there's almost no market for that degree in Canada. But in order to work in the US in the space program, you need permanent residency in order to even have a crack at getting security clearance.

Had $10k US set aside for the immigration lawyer. Started interviewing at new space startups in 2015.

Then I was in Seattle for an interview and it was too expensive to get a hotel near the company. Since I had a car rental, I took a hotel an hour south -- a roadaide hotel for $200/night. Can't be that bad for $200, right? Got there and it was kind of shitty. Being if an adventurous sort, I went outside and sat in front of my room in the evening and chatted with the locals -- the hotel was full of people on the dole for various reasons. Every single one of them was a republican. They all thought Obama was coming for their guns. They railed against anything socialist while, ironically, being the absolute dregs of society and we're wholly supported by said system. I couldn't understand it. This isn't the hip Seattle I was expecting...

Then 2016 happened and I said "hmm, maybe I'll wait." Then the child detention thing happened and I said "I kind of feel like I am trying to immigrate to Germany in 1936..." and I took a look at myself. I decided to use that money as a downpayment on a house in Winnipeg and start a scientific equipment business. I'm not making instruments for spacecraft, but close enough. At least I'm no von Braun.

Hell no. We even talk leaving Canada for Europe because of the influence US has here. I will gladly have a month PTO and better worker benefits, thank you.

nope. lol. Not unless my salary doubles, at minimum, and that's just to make sure I don't go bankrupt from healthcare. Actually fuck that, because if I get an injury that prevents me from working I'm still completely fucked. They're also notoriously anti union and worker rights are eroding day by day

That place is a shit show. Let's not even talk about Republicans...

Nah. Don't feel like being caught up in one of the 15 mass shootings per day where the government will try to brush it off and blame it on trans people.

I may be dirt poor in Canada, but at least my trans neighbour and I are both safe when we leave our places.

No, im really not. There is too much darkness, and too much hate.

The gun culture, "freedumb" insanity, and lack of basics such as healthcare make me view it fairly close to the third world. the only they thing have better there is more buying power.

If you are single this sounds like it might be an interesting opportunity as long as you find a GOOD place to settle in the US. Much like every province is very different in Canada so are the states.

However keep a few things in mind:

• you will be a foreigner ( make sure you know your rights / or lack there of)
• your employment terms may change immediately from being fairly safe and having severance in Canada in law to changing to at will termination in the US depending on the state and situation.
• find out ALL the details of your company medical coverage and its cost before going, everything will cost you money medically in the US but you might get faster service
• If you are thinking about buying a home find out what the laws are for foreigners on a TN visa.. Also find out what the property taxes are as in some states they are VERY high, while the price of the home is attractive.

Alternatively look into low cost of living places in Canada and consider moving within Canada. You may find that there is a lot of difference in the provinces and major cities.

No. Their cost of living is insane, plus I have T1D, which would be a pre-existing condition under their insurance schemes. Not insurmountable, but would be an ongoing issue. Plus their culture is intolerable.

Nope, I'm happy to sit up here in ol' Canada, living high on the hog, taking advantage of a 1.32 USD/CAD exchange rate.

We did it for four years. Washington state in the Seattle are is very nice. We met a lot of great people and we have fond memories.

Having said that it was clear early on this was not going to be permanent. Imagine taking your kids to the local park and seeing a sign that said no guns allowed in this park. Wait, guns are allowed in some parks? WTF. That was just a head scratcher. I found it genuinely hard to be in a place where I was decidedly middle class and so many people were so poor and with no benefits at all.

I remember once chatting with a cashier at the grocery store over the weeks as she was pregnant. One day I stopped seeing her and figured she had her baby. Two weeks later she was back. No maternity leave. She took her full two weeks of vacation and that was it. Shit.

Or the conversation I had with a cab driver who talked about still being in debt because his FIL was sick and avoided getting medical attention because none of the family had medical coverage until he had to be admitted.

The medical system is a confusing shambles of insanity. That's if you have good coverage. Once our daughter was sick and the childrens hospital directed us to a closer clinic. We went. There was a discussion about possibly admitting her but in the end she went home. A few days later she was worse so we ended up going to the children's hospital and she was admitted. Turns out the near by clinic was not in our medical coverage group and it cost us nearly $1000 out of pocket. Not fun but doable. The thing is, she was two nights in the hospital where we were covered. If we had admitted her the first day at the wrong hospital it would have cost us at least $10 000.

The whole system is a fucking nightmare of land mines and no one has any clue what any particular thing will cost you.

I just couldn't be happy under those conditions. Side note I'm not happy with the slide in equality here in Canada either BTW.

My job is in high tech and they pay was no better, just even. We lost money on selling buying houses, but that's just timing. I kept track of taxes paid. After medical expenses it was only a 5 percent savings and one medical emergency would too that the other way. Yes, I had great medical coverage.

The real cheat code is to work for a US company (and get paid in USD), yet live in Canada (and have expenses in CAD).

I lived in the US for a while. I knew people in the consular office in California who shared the stats on Canadian movement into and back out of the US. 75% of Canadian immigrants will repatriate within seven years. I was an over achiever, it took me 9.

There are advantages to being down there, but they are all centered in being childless and in good health. Everyone is one chronic illness away from bankruptcy. I was a post-doc at UCLA and my wife was a lawyer. The health insurance we could afford didn't allow us to get treated at the hospital I worked at. As a matter of fact we basically had to choose between preventative care and acute care because our policy wouldn't cover both.

The public school system has been so eroded it is basically useless, so you will have to use a charter school.

I enjoyed my time there, and California is a great place to be rich, but it gets much harder as you settle in and face actual adult life there.

Why go backwards?

Hell no, that country seems to be on track for a civil war.

I live in a small town in Eastern Ontario and work for a company in California. I would never, ever move to the US. Ever. We have it so much better here in Canada.

So background - Civil engineer with ~5Years of experience. Now fully licensed in Ontario. Have a wife and expecting our first child this year.

My FIL is dual and has been harping on me to move there since I graduated. Pay is, on average, much higher. Current 85k CAD, likely 100-120k USD if I moved.

However as a P. eng I'd need to rewrite two massive technical exams before I'd be able to be licensed there, and not all states have reciprocal licenses, meaning if we moved in the states I may have to rewrite them again. Additionally, with a family, average insurance costs eat up all/most of the difference in salary - my FIL is C-suite executive and that's roughly what he paid for his insurance yearly between co-pays and premiums.

Then add on more tribalism, high prevalence of guns, and the generally huge wealthy disparity they get, and Ive decided it's not worth the move.

But weigh the factors for yourself. If you can, try to go work somewhere for a month or so to see how it feels

some guy whining about Trudeau killing Canada

Droughts in the west are going to end up causing mass migrations once all the water is finally gone, and the extreme heat in the east makes me think if anything people are going to be leaving the USA, probably in our lifetimes.

No way. Stronger dollar is enticing, but the pros dont outweigh the cons in my opinion. The tribalism of american politics, the lack of free healthcare, and the increased risk of gun violence are some of those cons. These alone absolutely kill any interest I might otherwise have in moving to America.

No. The risks outweigh any possible benefits. If it's a red state then the risks are even higher in terms of quality of education, healthcare and employment.

Nope, double nope and, while we're at it, triple nope. Too much hate, guns, racism, inequality and I don't want to raise my kids there. If we had to relocate internationally, I'd rather go to New Zealand.

Do they have a good healthcare plan? If they don't...well just never get cancer or something.

I did as a Software Engineer. No winter (in California) and 3x more money working stateside! The worst part is being so far from my family :(

But... as much as I love Canada I also love America and now I get to have two countries 💜!!

I went to the US for y2k , and was there for 5 years.

I came home with the exact same amount of money as I had when I left. And I also got a deep understanding for the absolute depths of cruel poverty in the US and for safety nets they don't have.

Do it. You'll never be the same, and you'll really appreciate Canada better.

I moved to the US (California) for 3.5 years. It was actually a great experience. If you work in tech you should be able to make more money in the US and even in a HCOL city you should be able to save some. As other's mentioned the US is a very diverse place and you should be able to find a state/city/neighbourhood that matches your lifestyle and values.

Sponsorship for a green card is a very long process, and I don't think you can do it from a TN anyway, so you'd need to switch to an immigrant intent visa (H1-B, EB, etc.) The whole process can take years even for Canadian born people (if you are born in India or China you could wait decades)

Ultimately I decided to move back to Canada, being close to family was more important to me than making more money. I also didn't want to raise kids in the US.

Lol no. Fuck those capitalists