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Anyone From Canada? Need Advice On Living In Canada

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WildGoose
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Anyone From Canada? Need Advice On Living In Canada

Post by WildGoose » Mon, 02 Apr 2012 3:22 pm

Hi,

I'm thinking of migrating to Canada with my wife and 3 kids.
Would appreciate advice from anyone who has lived in Canada before... the culture, the people, whether racism is an issue, or life in general.

Specifically looking at Vancouver/BA, Ottawa/Ontario.

Any other good cities you can suggest would be appreciated.

Thank you!

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Post by Singapure » Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:54 am

Canada is a multi-cultural society, especially in Toronto, so dont worry about racism. It's a great country to live in. Canadians in general are polite and friendly. It has great schools, social programs, parks and lakes, good night life. fyi our dollar has been more or less at par with that of our neighbor the US of A.

Vancouver is nice but very pricey to live in. You'll like Toronto..just my opinion.

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Post by zzm9980 » Wed, 04 Apr 2012 4:14 pm

If you want a more metropolitan dense city, go Toronto. It is very much like NYC or Chicago. If you want cheaper property, go Toronto.

If you love the outdoors, especially winter sports, or a heavy Asian (particularly HK Chinese) population, go Vancouver. If you want a more picturesque city, go Vancouver. If you like SF, Seattle, or Portland Oregon, go Vancouver. If you can't take deep deep freeze, go Vancouver.

I've lived in Chicago and SF, and visited nearly every 1Mil+ population city in North America. Vancouver is the only city in NA I'd truly love to live in for non-work/financial reasons.

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Post by Singapure » Wed, 04 Apr 2012 9:28 pm

zzm9980's addendum is spot on.

The thing is having said all the niceties about Canada, I find myself perusing this site to see what it is like living and working in Singapore. From what I heard and read about Singapore - it is a nice country, has strict and rigid anti-drug policies and laws, expensive to live in, has the best airline (SAL) fleet in Asia albeit expensive,,, and when in Singapore, dont spit in public XD.

$$$INGAPORE - The Rolls Royce country in Asia :)

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Post by Strong Eagle » Wed, 04 Apr 2012 9:58 pm

One word: SNOW. Canada is mostly above the 49th parallel. First snow late September, last snow in April. Lovely country otherwise, I was born there.

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Post by zzm9980 » Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:29 pm

Singapure wrote: has the best airline
No, Cathay Pacific is based in Hong Kong, not Singapore :D

As a frequent business-class flier (and occasional champaign swigger in First as often as miles / status upgrades permit) on both CX, and SIA, I'll take CX any time over SIA. I'd even take it with a transfer at HKG over SIA non-stop in many cases. Notable exceptions are destinations I can take the A380 non-stop.

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aster
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Post by aster » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:44 am

zzm9980 wrote:If you want a more metropolitan dense city, go Toronto. It is very much like NYC or Chicago. If you want cheaper property, go Toronto.

If you love the outdoors, especially winter sports, or a heavy Asian (particularly HK Chinese) population, go Vancouver. If you want a more picturesque city, go Vancouver. If you like SF, Seattle, or Portland Oregon, go Vancouver. If you can't take deep deep freeze, go Vancouver.

I've lived in Chicago and SF, and visited nearly every 1Mil+ population city in North America. Vancouver is the only city in NA I'd truly love to live in for non-work/financial reasons.
I've never been to Toronto, but I've been to Vancouver as recently as just several months ago.

It's not exactly the happenin' place I have to say. Suburbs are boring and bland, shopping malls are probably the worst I have seen in the last dozen countries I have visited (and I'm not even a fan of shopping, but still... sheesh!), it rains a lot, downtown isn't very exciting either, lots of bums and beggars (check out Gastown during daylight hours - it's like a zombie movie set), average restaurants, it just all doesn't add up if you know what I mean.

If I wasn't working there/didn't have any family reasons for being there then I don't see how it would ever become a lifestyle choice to move to Vancouver... And moving there from Singapore would be guaranteed to put the world's biggest optimist into a state of clinical depression... :)

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Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 7:06 am

Well, it depends on the person for the climate. I love that type of weather, but yeah I know people who hate it. The activties there are all outdoors, just north of the city to all over. The city/downtown is actually pretty typical for most cities in North America. They tend to be less bustling.

And Gastown is a bit... yeah. Methadone clinics and heroin addicts and such. But that is just one part, like we have Geylang or some of the seedier streets in Little India.

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Post by WildGoose » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:49 am

Thanks for the feedback. For a while I thought there weren't any Canadians in Singapore!

Seems like the cities of choice are Vancouver and Toronto.
Any idea which city is better for a family with 3 kids below 12?

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Post by WildGoose » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:52 am

Singapure wrote:zzm9980's addendum is spot on.

The thing is having said all the niceties about Canada, I find myself perusing this site to see what it is like living and working in Singapore. From what I heard and read about Singapore - it is a nice country, has strict and rigid anti-drug policies and laws, expensive to live in, has the best airline (SAL) fleet in Asia albeit expensive,,, and when in Singapore, dont spit in public XD.

$$$INGAPORE - The Rolls Royce country in Asia :)
Singapure, are you already in Singapore, or planning on moving here?

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Post by WildGoose » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:59 am

Strong Eagle wrote:One word: SNOW. Canada is mostly above the 49th parallel. First snow late September, last snow in April. Lovely country otherwise, I was born there.
Hey Strong Eagle, excuse me for being presumptuous, but seems like you've been in Singapore for a long time?

Care to share why you chose to stay here for so long instead of going back to Canada? Anything that you dislike there?

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:06 am

SNOW?
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:07 am

Oh, and moving to Houston I would think.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 1:29 pm

WildGoose wrote: Anything that you dislike there?
taxes for one.

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Post by movingtospore » Thu, 05 Apr 2012 7:04 pm

It really depends what you want. Calgary is also a good city these days, though winter is serious there so be prepared. But it is affordable, well set up for families (much more so than Vancouver and Toronto in my view), and there are good work opportunities.

I would disagree with the previous post re Vancouver a bit. Yes, there is a big drug/gang/street issue there. And, it isn't NYC re nightlife etc that's for sure. That's just not the nature of the city. But, if you like being outside, and appreciate a down to earth vibe, Vancouver is a magnificent city, close to some of the most beautiful places on the planet. If you want to sail, ski, climb...it's a great place. But if you're into shopping, not so much. People don't really care about that there, even the masses of Hong Kong immigrants seem to have mellowed in Vancouver's laid back culture. I would also disagree re restaurants, Vancouver has consistently been rating as one of the best cities to eat anywhere...especially for fine Asian cuisine. It IS grim in November though. Rain, rain, rain. But then the sun comes out, and the mountains glisten, and you remember why you live there.

All that said, where are you from, a wish to Canada is not a done deal these days, they have tightened the screws on immigration considerably.

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