EPTI don't know why people from the US are always so obsessed with taxes. I think about taxes when it's time to file or when there's an election but otherwise it means nothing.
Moving to Canada - Thoughts? - Page 3
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lolmlg
619 Posts
I don't know why people from the US are always so obsessed with taxes. I think about taxes when it's time to file or when there's an election but otherwise it means nothing. | ||
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TheKwas
Iceland372 Posts
On April 15 2012 16:03 lolmlg wrote: Regina isn't a national capital. If you live in Kanata, or Barrhaven, or Orleans (i.e. you live anywhere in Ottawa where people live in a house, especially one that costs less than a million dollars) then you will be subjected to long trips on the bus. If you plan to work in Kanata then you'd better either live in Kanata or live downtown within a five minute walk of the transitway, otherwise you will spend more than an hour on the bus each way, guaranteed. It's a provincial capital. Anyways, I doubt the OP is looking to become a homeowner right after jumping off the plane. He would probably be renting a place in Ottawa proper, meaning the buses work just fine. Statements like "you'll need a car, no exceptions" are just downright false. I survived 4 years in Ottawa(Nepean, not downtown) without a car just fine, and even buses going out to places like Kanata (where I went often due to friends) are pretty good and fast (transportation within Kanata is a different matter). EDIT: Don't worry too much about taxes despite the groaning and complaining going on here (eh, it's taxes, who doesn't want to complain?). It's really not a burden and if your lower-income, you really don't pay much. Through my life I've certainly gained more from canada's social services than what I've personally contributed, so perhaps I'm more willing to accept taxes than others. | ||
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MrRicewife
Canada515 Posts
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lolmlg
619 Posts
Speaking of less than fifths, four years is less than a fifth of how long I've lived in Ottawa in my lifetime. Want to know how long it takes to get to the airport from Barrhaven by bus on a weekday? An hour and a half. If you make all your connections. The drive is 25 minutes and costs over $30 by taxi. It's nice that you have this small-town view where everything is amazing but Ottawa has substandard public transportation and everyone who lives here agrees. I've spent time in many different cities so I have a lot to compare it to. | ||
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-Kaiser-
Canada932 Posts
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TheKwas
Iceland372 Posts
Ottawa clearly doesn't have top-notch public transpo (I currently live in seoul, which DOES have world-class public transpo, and spent significant time in other cities as well, so my perspective isn't limited to a small-town view), and it's certainly a huge boost to have a car if you live in the suburbs (because, well duh it's a suburb; people don't tend to move to the suburbs unless they already have a car), but you can live a pretty normal life in Ottawa-proper without a car. | ||
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-Kaiser-
Canada932 Posts
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lolmlg
619 Posts
On April 15 2012 18:34 TheKwas wrote: Substandard transpo =/= "you must own a car, no exceptions". Ottawa clearly doesn't have top-notch public transpo (I currently live in seoul, which DOES have world-class public transpo, and spent significant time in other cities as well, so my perspective isn't limited to a small-town view), and it's certainly a huge boost to have a car if you live in the suburbs (because, well duh it's a suburb; people don't tend to move to the suburbs unless they already have a car), but you can live a pretty normal life in Ottawa-proper without a car. Haha, you know, it's possible to "survive" without a job or apartment at all. You can panhandle downtown and dodge the whole problem, right? He said he wants to work for a game company, so he's probably looking for a tech job. The two places to find a tech job are downtown and Kanata. Kanata is the suburbs. If he's not going to own a home or live in the suburbs then he's not going to live in Kanata. You have to choose where you live and work carefully if you're going to avoid punishing bus tours is the point, and sometimes you can't choose. The only reason I "survived" my first job in Kanata was because my neighbour worked on the same street and gave me a lift four days of the week. And while I didn't mind the two hour commute so much in university, the fact that the bus stopped running at midnight definitely fucked up a lot of plans. | ||
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TheKwas
Iceland372 Posts
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Omnipresent
United States871 Posts
On April 15 2012 14:29 skipgamer wrote: See, in Australia, the culture is based heavily on drinking, having barbecues, being friendly in the sense that if someone's around you'll say G'day, or if someone needs a hand with something you'll lend it. But you never really get to know anybody unless you have a reason to. I know this is a little off topic, but you've inspired me. Is this true? Can any other Aussies confirm? Drinking and not being bothered by strangers sounds pretty sweet. In the US, it seems like you either live somewhere where everyone wants to know your business or where everyone's an asshole. I may need a visa. | ||
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lifeisgood99
Canada915 Posts
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Mementoss
Canada2595 Posts
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OpticalShot
Canada6330 Posts
As a resident of Toronto who's lived here 13 years, here are a few things you should know (and I'll offer some opinions on things said about Toronto): - Toronto, as you already know, is the biggest city in Canada in terms of population. Count the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), and we have like several million (and that's a lot for Canada). There is a lot of diversity, I'm not sure if the most diverse place in Canada, but there certainly is no short of immigrants from all over the world. If you want to experience foods and cultures around the world in one place, Toronto is a good one. - Our public transportation service SUCKS. I would rank it as one of the worst in North America. The system hasn't evolved much since the 1980's, it's mad jammed in rush hour, it's unreliable, and not very cheap either. It almost encourages people to get a car ASAP. That being said, our downtown is much too hard to access with cars due to poor road network configurations and lack of parking spaces, so subway is a must when travelling to/from/within downtown. - Living costs are relatively high, but I wouldn't say it's the highest in Canada. Altogether (rent, insurance, gas, food, internet, phone, leisure) personally, I think I spend about $2000/month. - Job market in the city is decent... and most of the "office" jobs are concentrated either in the downtown core, or near the airport. - Nightlife is also decent if you live in the downtown, but elsewhere, the options are pretty limited. Any more questions, I can probably answer, so feel free to PM me if you're seriously considering Toronto! | ||
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StarStruck
25339 Posts
It's one thing to be an avid traveller as I one as well, but moving to an entirely different country is another and these stereotypes really have to end lmao. | ||
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The_LiNk
Canada863 Posts
On April 15 2012 23:25 OpticalShot wrote: First of all, you can already how awesome us Canadians are from the supportive and informative posts in this thread. :D I know moving to Canada seems like a pretty random decision (I still think so) but if you're the adventurous type, hey, why not. As a resident of Toronto who's lived here 13 years, here are a few things you should know (and I'll offer some opinions on things said about Toronto): - Toronto, as you already know, is the biggest city in Canada in terms of population. Count the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), and we have like several million (and that's a lot for Canada). There is a lot of diversity, I'm not sure if the most diverse place in Canada, but there certainly is no short of immigrants from all over the world. If you want to experience foods and cultures around the world in one place, Toronto is a good one. - Our public transportation service SUCKS. I would rank it as one of the worst in North America. The system hasn't evolved much since the 1980's, it's mad jammed in rush hour, it's unreliable, and not very cheap either. It almost encourages people to get a car ASAP. That being said, our downtown is much too hard to access with cars due to poor road network configurations and lack of parking spaces, so subway is a must when travelling to/from/within downtown. - Living costs are relatively high, but I wouldn't say it's the highest in Canada. Altogether (rent, insurance, gas, food, internet, phone, leisure) personally, I think I spend about $2000/month. - Job market in the city is decent... and most of the "office" jobs are concentrated either in the downtown core, or near the airport. - Nightlife is also decent if you live in the downtown, but elsewhere, the options are pretty limited. Any more questions, I can probably answer, so feel free to PM me if you're seriously considering Toronto! TTC is acronym for "Take the Car" | ||
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PassiveAce
United States18076 Posts
I'm sure thats probably true for many countries though, if you want to travel go travel. If you really like it maybe you could consider staying there. You can go there if you want to, its not like its impossible. | ||
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skipgamer
Australia701 Posts
I'll be coming with at least one friend, planning to share accommodation at least to begin with just to make things easier, and I'm fairly confident I will be able to buy a cheap car on arrival if necessary for work. Living costs are fairly high in Melbourne too so I don't think that will come as too much as a shock. If I wanted cheap I'd go to Thailand or Dubai or something. But that's not what it's about, Canada just genuinely seems like a better country with better opportunities for travelling from. So as for whether it's possible, that's almost a definite assuming getting the Visa goes well, It's not like I'm talking about moving out tomorrow, more like in a year or so time. I was just more-so interested in how Canadians themselves were in terms of culture and as a society, but as someone pointed out early on people will always be different no matter where they are. Still, from what people have said since it pretty much aligns with what I've heard elsewhere, that there really is nothing bad apart from the weather (and i like the cold, beats 40c heat and bush-fires down here in summer.) The idea of moving makes sense to me, but I'll probably just travel a bit first to see the different cities before thinking about settling somewhere. I just don't want to double my cost and time in flights, travel, spending money, by coming out for a non-working holiday first. I think it will be obvious if it doesn't suit and then I can just go back to Aus. On April 15 2012 15:17 SK.Testie wrote: I've seen your spiders. What the fuck are you doing in Australia? It is fun to clean spiderwebs though + Show Spoiler + Anyway, thanks again TL as always, given me a bit more to think about. | ||
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jjun212
Canada2208 Posts
On April 15 2012 14:59 cmen15 wrote: they have milk bags watch out LOL <3 Canada Man I was raised with bagged milk. It's so normal to me. I thought it was the industry standard! I still get surprised when others go WTF looooollll. | ||
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kane]deth[
Canada368 Posts
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ziggurat
Canada847 Posts
On April 15 2012 15:02 skipgamer wrote: Really, that's a huge bummer. Of course I wouldn't expect everyone to be the same, but from what I've read there just seems to be a more culturally accepting vibe about Canada. I don't know if you've ever been to Australia, but there is real seperation and segregation within most of the community. Australians stick to themselves, Vietnamese stick to themselves, Europeans stick to themselves, Middle-eastern's stick to themselves. And if you spend time with any of these groups you will usually find them complaining about others (especially Australian's complaining about others.) Perhaps, you are right, it may just be a pipe-dream. My parents lived in Canada all their lives. A few years ago after they retired they spent a few months travelling in Australia. They came back and couldn't get over how friendly all the Australians were. | ||
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