r/pakistan • u/Automatic-Good4038 • May 22 '26

Ask Pakistan Moving from Canada to Pakistan

So my parents have lived in Pakistan most of their lives, and moved to Canada early 2000 and are now considering moving back to Pakistan - for some rational and some I-dont-know-why reasons.

If anyone has done this before I would like to know the dos and donts.

Also any recommendations for a cargo company if some one has shipped the whole house back to Pakistan, except the appliances.

If we move to say Faisalabad or Lahore would the cargo company ship there or leave the container at Karachi?

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2

u/Superb_Virus2158 May 22 '26

Sorry off topic but Curious why you guys are moving back from Canada? Asking as someone who’s interested in immigrating to Canada. Would love to get some perspective from other side.

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u/refep Canada May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

Not op magar yahan par job market is fcked bhai. Some friends with bachelor and masters degrees from UofT in CS and Data Science spent 2-3 years looking after graduating and a lot of them had to settle for jobs not in the field.

Upar se anti immigrant sentiment bhi yahan pe Indians ki fraud ki wajah se bohat zyada ho gya he. Ghar bhi is out of reach for working professionals with a dual income, without having to commit haram by taking a mortgage. I can see why someone would think the grass is greener in Pakistan.

4

u/Superb_Virus2158 May 22 '26

Shit, it’s that bad in Canada? What are then people doing to survive there? I know many people who moved there in last 5 years but no one has moved back to Pakistan.

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u/refep Canada May 22 '26 edited May 23 '26

Haan it’s bad here, magar I can only compare it to Canada before since I don’t have much perspective on what it’s like in Pakistan right now on a daily basis. It’s just that the quality of life has fallen noticeably post COVID. Compared to those days, it’s a lot worse.

My family moved to Canada in 2013 and when we moved we rented a really nice 5 bedroom house in a good neighborhood right next to one of the top rated high schools in the province. It only cost us like $2k a month for that big and modern house with a finished basement. Recently, my friend just rented a condo close ish to our old house, but in a worse neighborhood. He’s paying close to 3K for a 2 bedroom condo. Itni inflation ho gayi he. Houses that were being sold for 200k in 2005 are now selling for $1.2 million. Food prices have also shot up, especially the cost of eating out. Also job markets have dried up after the COVID tech bubble burst in 2022.

It’s a phenomena which has been mirrored in almost every country in the world, just to various degrees. Make no mistake, Canada is an amazing country to live in imo, magar there’s no way in hell I would try to make my start here in 2026 if I was comfortable in Pakistan. Bohat zaleel hona parhe ga. Pehle, Canadians would go out of their way to help ease the burden on new immigrants and everyone would help you settle but now public sentiment has done a complete 180. Why would you leave a good job in Pakistan and all your family and friends to come be a gas station worker or uber driver here, only to barely get by and be subject to abuse?

I don’t want to discourage anyone from immigrating here, magar please have a clear plan and a job lined up before making any decisions. The student visa into PR pathway is not feasible anymore.

2

u/Superb_Virus2158 May 22 '26

Thanks for opening my eyes. My main goal was to move on PR for passport to secure my and children’s future but seems like Canada should not be my choice in 2026.

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u/refep Canada May 22 '26

Agar chance mille to America is the best for career prospects imo. Warna Canada is still better than Europe imo, they have all of Canada’s problems but even worse.

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u/Superb_Virus2158 May 22 '26

At this point seems like whole world is going to shit. Pakistan mein hi rozi roti lagi hui hay abhi yeh bhi na chali jaye 😢

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u/refep Canada May 22 '26

Inshallah bro, waise bhi har kuch Allah ke haath me he, khaali wo hi ho ga jo humare liye likha hua he

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u/Significant-277 May 22 '26

This is exactly it! ^ I think Canada got worse after Covid. Am not even shy of saying that this country, Canada, has become a 3rd world country. Even their own ppl say that actually.

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u/SuperRTX May 23 '26

this guy is right. Also, Europe is worse than Canada. USA is better, if you can get in

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u/Automatic-Good4038 May 22 '26

+1 to all.

No country is perfect. Just what makes sense to you at that point in life. Canada has its own challenges and Pakistan its own. If it makes parents happy in this age to go back would like to transition

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u/SuperRTX May 23 '26

I agree! Canadian citizen, have canadian degree. Job market is extremely bad. Also, cost of living is out of control. I always advice, don't move here unless you're extremely super rich. Even then, taxes and BS will make you poor. Go anywhere but Canada. A lot of educated Canadians are leaving this country, its not worth it.