Differences between US & Canada?

Question

I'm considering moving to Canada from the US, can anyone give me some tips and insight to the main differences between living here compared to living in Canada? (government, real estate, school system differences(colleges), taxes, ect) Thanks!

Answer 1

I moved to Canada from the US as well, and Toni covered it very well. Cost of living in Canada is quite a bit higher than in the US. Grocery costs was one of the things that really surprised me, on average expect your grocery bills to be 35% more in Canada.

I love Canada though, and have no regrets. It's a wonderful place to live!! Depends too where you choose to live .. I would highly recommend the Vancouver area. :)

oh, and you may want to check out the immigration website, you can't just pick up and move to Canada, you have to go through the whole immigration process, even from the US. The only way it is easier is if you are married to a Canadian, but you still have to go through imigration process once you get here.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/

Answer 2

There are many differences between Canada and the U.S., but for the most part, those differences are rather small.

We spell words a little differently, speak differently, but nothing that you won't adjust to reasonably quick. We're pretty modest about our national pride, meaning not every house, car, or shirt has a flag on it. We have two official languages, English and French, and there's always been some level of animosity between the two. The joke is, in the U.S. you can look at person to know if you're supposed to dislike them, but in Canada you actually have to talk to them first.

We get taxed on everything, and it's high all around. I hate paying through the nose like this, but then again, an illness in the family won't bankrupt you, we have pretty decent roads, and the government pays for nearly everything. Whether our education system is better or not is subject of much debate, but for all the whining Canadian students do (and they do a lot, just watch the news when you come here), we get off pretty cheap on post-secondary education.

I've grown up on the Canada-U.S. border, so it's easy for me to compare the two nations. Having family and having lived on both sides, I enjoy a "best-of-both-worlds" scenario, since I can enjoy the good things each country has to offer.

Answer 3

I can only speak for differences I've seen. I live in Vancouver, and I've only been to Seattle, so the differences I've seen are that we use the metric system, and we're way less populated. I noticed on the way to Seattle on the i5 the roads are very thin and bumpy, and all the residential areas by the high way are blocked off by a huge concrete wall to block off the noise. Canadian high ways are quite a bit wider, more smooth, but if you live near the high way you better deal with the noise, because the only thing separating you from the road is a fence.
Anyway our taxes are higher, our people are far less patriotic, and everything is more expensive. We have way less Mexicans/Latinos, and Blacks compared the the USA, and lots of Chinese, East Indians, and Koreans; we also have many native Indians, buit like the USA they usually stay in their reserve and out of the big cities. All in all a very multicultural place to live, racism is not a very big issue these days, the schools here are pretty much like the USA, although Canadian standards are a little higher. Post secondary studies can be a pain in the ***, and if you're interested in Optometry you need about a 95% average to get in since we only have one university for Optometry.
In Canada we do not have the death penalty and every day you look at the news it seems like another child molester is out on parol after molesting 50 children, sometimes it can be quite sickening. We are really big on the 'human rights' crap here, which is beneficial, and annoying at the same time, I can't explain, but you will find out after living here for a while.

Answer 4

I just want to clarify as a born and bred Canadian that most of us definately do not hate Americans. We may not be crazy about the American government but most of us are intelligent enough to know that most governments serve themselves rather than their citizens.I have never even met someone in 42 years that disliked Americans. I think the majority of Canadians feel that most Americans are great people and some are real weinies, but the same can be said for Canadians. Welcome to Canada eh!

Answer 5

I am a Canadian citizen but have lived in the U.S. What a lot of great answers so far. All that pride and they say we're not patriotic!

We're proud of our much lower crime rate than the U.S. We don't all carry guns. No, we definitely don't hate Americans, but think your government is insane and your news programs must be censoring a lot because you seem like an intelligent bunch - so what the hell happened? (Thank God for Jon Stewart).

We also think you're a bit ignorant about the rest of the world. Our Rick Mercer did a show: Talking to Amercians that made you look extremely stupid. It was very funny - sorry. See, we're so polite. We're also very thoughtful - all that snow gives us lots of time to read newspapers and books and formulate opinions. We are, therefore, very opinionated, but not as open and outgoing as Amercians.

Not all of us like hockey, but many do, along with our twice-as strong-as-your's-beer that you have to buy in a special store called The Beer Store. We drink a lot of coffee. You'll learn the term: double-double. We have pretty money. Some of us like gravy on our fries. Some even eat poutine, which originated in Quebec (I think). It's fries and gravy with cheese curds. Kinda weird and unbelievably bad for your arteries, but it's good.

We actually hate the metric system and many of us still use both systems of measurement. Even our kids talk in feet and inches - our fault I'm sure.

Our health care sucks - a shortage of doctors - they all move to Kansas or Phoenix. Still, we are pretty healthy because we don't pay when we get sick. Though we have to wait ages to see specialists and some of us die waiting.

We watch your TV shows, but have a few of our own. We don't go for as many special effects. We have fantastic musicians here. The best don't move south to become rich and famous. Our artists (visual and performing) struggle, yet we're culturally rich.

Not many of us speak Spanish. Many of us speak French. Toronto whites are a minority (or close to it). We encourage people to maintain their own heritage. This causes lots of problems when immigrants don't want to adopt our laws, but it makes our cities interesting.

We are secretly worried that you will come someday for our natural resources. We will never become the 51st state. Every single tree hugging pacifist among us would take up arms and fight to stop an American invasion.

Canada is a beautiful country. We have 4 seasons here. Buy a house with a big closet. Choose a rural small city or large town within an hour of a major centre and you'll enjoy the best we have to offer. The west coast probably has the most moderate climate. Thanks for asking about us. We will welcome you with all our hearts.

Answer 6

I just moved here from the US. There are more difference than I expected. Let's see: health care (better, I think), French is one of the official languages, EVERYTHING under the sun is taxed (even postage stamps!), the spelling of many words (IE: cheque=check), most of the stores, EVERYTHING is expensive!!!!!!!, use lawyers for real estate transactions, property tax information is not considered "public record", catholic schools (in Alberta at least) are free!, most Canadians hate Americans, Canadian television shows are lame, everything is metric................. basically, lots of differences but for us, nothing we can't live with. Our main reason for moving here was for the welfare of our children. Canada has a population of (maybe) 35,000,000,000 compared to the US just reaching 300,000,000,000 (IKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). We feel that because the population is so much less, our children will be quite abit safer. The fact that my husband is Canadian made it an easy move!

Good luck! More than likely, you will like it up here :)

mb

Answer 7

Canada is colder.