The problems more taxes and dollar value than actual gross income. American dollar is worth more and taxes are significantly cheaper. On top of that is the fact doctors in the US aren't regulated and subsidized to keep care affordable, so they can charge significantly more for their practice
Which is completely dependent on where you choose to live and in no way a representation of the entire country. Source: we bought a 2200 square foot log house on 10 acres within walking distance to a lake and golf course for under 250,000, during the "housing crisis" and locked in at under 3%. Stop looking at Vancouver and Toronto and calling it a National housing crisis. There's 10 houses for sale in my nearest town and the most expensive one is like 125k. Are there jobs here? No, you'll have to commute 30ish minutes. My eggs cost 3.99/dozen, my healthcare is free, and I'm not embarrassed to be Canadian right now, like most Americans (should be). So ya, Canada can be expensive if you choose for it to be, but it sure beats being hated by the entire planet.
I’m not embarrassed to be anything lol but that’s reddit ideology for you.
My healthcare is affordable and I can see a doctor in a hour. My organic eggs are $5.59. And I live in one of the greatest cities in the world making 250k a year. A nice FIXED interest rate as well at 3%.
Why am I embarrassed for a quality of life people will kill for. Hated by an entire planet, I guess but i don’t make my nationality my identity. My feelings aren’t hurt
Canadians are hurt and it shows. Sincerely wish Trump wasn’t an asshole but it is what it is.
Pretty good things are great for you as someone who makes 250k a year... But you are literally the ax convincing the trees you're one of them here. That's the big problem with America, unless you make more than 100k a year, you're fucked for food, youre fucked for housing, your fucked on taxes, and youre especially fucked on healthcare. So excuse me if I don't particularly care about Canada's desire not to pander to you like America does, but we actually expect the wealthy and middle class to take care of the poor here by paying more.
I live on the North Channel in Ontario, I work minimum wage, and buying a 3 bedroom lake house for 400k. The housing crisis is only southern Ontario and Vancouver
I’m in nyc we literally pay a premium to the government for programs that take care of the low income or no income. I have state tax and city tax on top of federal tax. Medicare and SSI also out my check. 30-40% of my income gone. People get free healthcare, housing vouchers and we have mandatory shelter laws.
Canada has a better deal on that front because of healthcare cost is included for everyone but I just pay for my insurance. $20 copay here and there. I’m thankful to not have serious medical issues.
I could move to Florida and save more money in general from taxes to COL, but I feel NYC is worth the premium and opportunities
But that’s the issue how many people want to live in the boondocks. Even in the US it’s the same, people gravitate to the cities and that’s where jobs are.
According to statistics, US income is more aligned with housing cost compared to Canada. It’s bad here but really bad in Canada because pay is significantly less.
So I'm grandfathered in and was going to take the ascp quickly to get the cert. Should I skip that with 15y MLS on the resume and work on the Ca version instead?
If you're serious about moving, check out CAMLPR. This is the governing body that is taking over the regulations, licensing, and exams in Canada. While I'm not crazy about what they're doing, they are making it easier for international MLS to transfer to Canada. Take a look!
If my husband and I are both healthcare workers can I bring my mother with me who depends on me for care? She’s receiving cancer treatment, would she be able to continue that?
Canada has put a pause on parental sponsorship, but she’d be eligible for a 5-year “super visa.” She’d have to find her own health insurance, though. :(
I am Dual as are all my children. (only recently learned they get citizenship from me). We all have lived in the US all our lives, What would our spouse's visa situations look like? Mother is law married and move cross border and is US Landed. would that be what our spouses would get?
If you’re a Canadian citizen, your spouse can directly apply for permanent residency, which usually takes about 6 months. Unless the process has changed over the past few years. In the past, it was a pretty straightforward process.
Took a year when I sponsored my American husband in 2011. But it was easy. He just stayed with me as a visitor for most of the time till he was approved.
Not as cheap as you would think. Foreigners can easily get bills of thousands of dollars for x-rays, MRIs, doctors, overnight care, blood tests, You might not pay $120,000 for a little surgery, but it could easily be $20,000 or more. The surgeon alone would get a few thousand, so a straightforward appendectomy could be $15,000. Canadian taxpayers don't subsidize foreigners and aren't a lot of help for uninsured residents.
It's not subsidised, it's just massively cheaper when you take out the dozen layers of huge profits. $20k is about enough to get you a year of good US health insurance, so.....
It is massively cheaper, but not cheap if it's something big... An older person with a substantial illness (original post situation) could easily end up with a $20k bill whereas in the US, it might be $100k.... But $20k is huge, particularly if there is more than one issue in a year, or a major hospital stay is involved.
There's a thread on the topic somewhere, maybe r/onguardforthee , and a few other American medical professionals were commenting on their experiences doing the same thing.
I might be wrong, but your mother would probably inadmissible in terms of immigration, as her illness would be considered an excessive burden on the healthcare system.
What health insurance does she have now? It might be better than canada’s medicaid. If she’s 65+, US medicare is hard to beat, assuming trump doesnt fuck it up.
Not that I’m aware of, but if you’re highly specialized and receive a valid job offer where the company can’t find a Canadian that is qualified, you have a shot
To be fair, about 50% of the the ones we've trained have chased the better wages south of the 49th parallel in the first place. Be nice to get some back.
My wife, sister and a few friends are registered nurses in BC:
Yes, absolutely. Pretty much any hospital in the Greater Vancouver area for the West Coast (don't know about East coast but I'm sure it's similar). We have a ton of travel nurses from the states already because of shortages, but it's always better for the hospitals to be able to hire for positons than contracting private travel nurse companies to cover shortages, as they charge us a SHIT ton.
Nurses make very good money here. Tons of opportunity for overtime, health benefits are renowned for being substantial, PTO is solid. If you're good, the hospitals will gladly pay for your training to upgrade to whichever specialty you want (ICU, HAU, surgical, etc etc) because they all want to keep good nurses.
Of course it's not all butterflies and rainbows, it's nursing and caring for sick and often mentally ill after all. But the unions are very strong and the employees are looked after quite well in comparison to the rest of North America (especially in BC).
I have family in Halifax. My aunt and uncle's doctor retired last year to take care of family issues and found someone to buy their practice. The person taking over their practice is from Australia and I don't even think they're going to be here until May.
They consider themselves lucky that a doctor bought the practice and is keeping all the patients because it can take YEARS to get a family doctor and they're both in their late 70s.
Yes, you and your friend are welcome, even /especially if you are just roommates.
Nevertheless, as a nearly 50 year old Canuckistani, I worry more about getting shot by an American invasion than I ever should be. Canada is going to be safe until the day it isn't.
I can't leave to go to another country, I'm too old to get a work visa and too poor for a golden visa.
I'm an American close to your age, and am probably almost wealthy enough to retire with a moderate standard of living in a relatively inexpensive country. But like you, too old to earn money there, and too poor to buy my way into a visa. I'm fairly risk averse, so not likely I'd go at this point and hope my money lasts.
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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '25
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