So... how's Canada? ^^

[Nicnac]

Sup guys,

I'll be in my final year of university next year and can do about half of my time in clinical rotations abroad. Right now I'm thinking Canada, Australia or even New Zealand.

Since LTT is a Canadian company and a bunch of forum users here are, too I thought I'd ask a few questions about Canada here.

First of all, I definitely wanna see the big cities at some point but internships are notoriously hard to get there so I'll probably go for the outskirts or even more rural areas.

So, first of all, which regions are cheaper regarding living costs and such? are there big differences from east to west? Obviously the big cities will be more expensive...

Also, which areas are nice to live in? I can definitely appreciate a nice natural environment and after watching the Netflix Lost in Space adaptation I really wanna check out the national parks, too  

So I'm not really asking too specific things here, just tell me what you like about where you live maybe and what else is great about Canada!

[WkdPaul]

I would first look at what province would recognize your diploma first, unfortunately it seems there isn't much equivalence, or help with that.

 

Not familiar with the health care system, but seeing as my wfie hard a very hard time becoming an engineer here in Canada, I would be surprised if it was easier for the medical field.

[Nicnac]

8 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

I would first look at what province would recognize your diploma first, unfortunately it seems there isn't much equivalence, or help with that.

 

Not familiar with the health care system, but seeing as my wfie hard a very hard time becoming an engineer here in Canada, I would be surprised if it was easier for the medical field.

Thanks for your response!

Oh I don't need to worry about that as it's just a sort of internship for doctors I won't even have my diploma at that time (yet) ^^ I will get it after completing the clinicals which takes a whole year and I can do about half of that time abroad.

[WkdPaul]

9 minutes ago, Nicnac said:

Thanks for your response!

Oh I don't need to worry about that as it's just a sort of internship for doctors I won't even have my diploma at that time (yet) ^^ I will get it after completing the clinicals which takes a whole year and I can do about half of that time abroad.

Ah great then. If you can, look for something in the Ontario "regions" (far from the big cities) since there's a shortage. But be prepared for some harsh winters!

 

EDIT : @Nicnac not sure how to say that in English, since here in Québec (French), when we talk about smaller communities we say "en région" (in regional area). Those smaller cities have a big job shortage. Though be careful with living cost, because even if you can find lots of listing around (but not in) Toronto, there's a big chance housing is still going to be expensive!

[Guest]

I live here in Australia, and as you mentioned it in your thread, I thought i'd give you a bit of insight.

 

I assume you are in the medical sector, which I honestly have no knowledge of, and I do not want to provide you with information that may be false in that sense.

 

However with Australia's living cost I can help.

 

 

Transportation

 

Public

GoCards are transportation cards like a lot of cities use. An adult ticket on a GoCard is around $3.60 per trip. You get a 3 hour free return ticket.

Without a GoCard, one ticket is around $4.60. And you also get a 3 hr return ticket.

 

Private

Car "rego" (registration) depends on the amount of cylinders in your car.
If you have a 4 cylinder car, you would be paying $727.60 per year on rego, which includes Compulsory Third Party insurance.

 

 

Cost of living

 

Rent

Rent here can range from area, You should expect to pay in between $200 - $450 per week for a house.

You can always go into a shared home with house mates and make it cheaper.

 

Utilities

You'll also need to pay for water, gas (if applicable) and electricity. So depending on how much you use each day is how much you'll pay when the bill comes in.

 

Groceries

Depending on how much you eat, how picky you are etc. The average australian pays about $150 per week (for a single person).

 

 

[Nicnac]

Thanks for the insight @Netivity ! 

Rent certainly sounds good compared to Germany  

I also have some friends in Tasmania and Sydney that I want to visit one day so Australia is really high on my list.

When's the best time of the year to travel (and not die of heatstroke..) ?

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Nicnac said:

Thanks for the insight @Netivity ! 

Rent certainly sounds good compared to Germany  

I also have some friends in Tasmania and Sydney that I want to visit one day so Australia is really high on my list.

When's the best time of the year to travel (and not die of heatstroke..) ?

 

I mean, it's spring here currently and it's 30 degrees (Celsius). Winter it is around the 10 in the morning (early morning 4,5,6 am), and as it gets to around 10-11 am it gets up to about 22. So Winter is definitely a good time to come.

 

However, Tasmania gets the antarctic winds, so it's usually always cold there. Sydney can get pretty hot, but is generally mild. (20-25).

 

I have been to Germany more times than I can count, I find that Melbourne is more of a climate that is similar to Germany, but I have no knowledge re rent etc in Melbourne.

[kokakolia]

Don’t ever go to Alberta (Canada). The cities are built for cars, not people. The people are extremely conservative and materialistic. They only care about work, money and spending money. Alberta is flat and boring. It’s mostly pine trees, prairies and empty fields. There’s nothing really interesting going on Alberta. Just some scattered artists here and there. Albertans view culture as something superfluous, pretentious and a waste of resources and taxpayer money. Everything about Alberta is superficial. There is nothing positive I can say about Alberta. 

[jsonschema]

On 11/17/2018 at 8:21 AM, kokakolia said:

Don’t ever go to Alberta (Canada). The cities are built for cars, not people. The people are extremely conservative and materialistic. They only care about work, money and spending money. Alberta is flat and boring. It’s mostly pine trees, prairies and empty fields. There’s nothing really interesting going on Alberta. Just some scattered artists here and there. Albertans view culture as something superfluous, pretentious and a waste of resources and taxpayer money. Everything about Alberta is superficial. There is nothing positive I can say about Alberta. 

This sounds a really nice place to live,not being sarcastic. This is just what i dig,Flat Plains,cold weather,pine,farm land. Big roads. Its like kansas. 

[Canada EH]

On 11/14/2018 at 9:33 AM, Nicnac said:

First of all, I definitely wanna see the big cities at some point but internships are notoriously hard to get there so I'll probably go for the outskirts or even more rural areas.

So, first of all, which regions are cheaper regarding living costs and such? are there big differences from east to west? Obviously the big cities will be more expensive...

Also, which areas are nice to live in? I can definitely appreciate a nice natural environment and after watching the Netflix Lost in Space adaptation I really wanna check out the national parks, too  

So I'm not really asking too specific things here, just tell me what you like about where you live maybe and what else is great about Canada!

Big cities are awful, T.O. Van just too crowded, go to the isle of van or the east coast. Lots of ghost towns, lots of glaciers, tourist towns like Jasper where you would tower over everyone on the street. Areas nice to live in? depends on what you like, do you like crowds, go to Van that comes with crime. National parks, there are many, and many types. You should try skiing or snowboarding, Maple Syrup, CNE, CS, Klondike Days, rafting, Whislter is cool for mountain biking in the summer, you can even rent ebikes now, better to just buy a kit, its cheaper! Canada is only good for making a ton of cash in the oil fields, then retiring someplace warm because the winters are cold and they last forever, while summer like weather is just too short. Jobs, well plenty of jobs if you like to get dirty and work 12 hour days. But most people want indoor 8 hour shifts with a tie. Do you have a work permit? Hostels are cheap for awhile, airbnb is good too, in Victoria you can even legally camp in the city parks, I did just such a thing on the beach, with a great big bonfire and loads of beer. You can do lots of hiking.

[TetraSky]

If you decide on Quebec, I encourage you to speak French. Even if it's broken AF, most of us will love you for it for having even tried, especially in the regions outside of large cities like Montreal.

 

Edit : 
That said, rent in Montreal can go between $500 for a studio apartment to well over $2000 per month, depending on the location.(The closer you are to downtown, the more expensive everything is)
 

Also depending on the location, there may or may not be a water taxe.(like in the borough "Lasalle")

Other than that, food can be cheap or expensive depending on what you buy. Obviously if you feed yourself with chicken hotdog sausage and plain white rice every day, it won't cost you much. (pack of 41 sausages is about 8$ at "Maxi" and rice can be had in bags of 8kg for 10~12$)
Cheapest stores for grocery shopping, are places like Super C, Maxi and CostCo(large quantities).

Avoid buying "local" or "bio", you'll pay a massive amount of money for the same thing, it's a scam, not worth it. (IMO)

[WkdPaul]

3 hours ago, Canada EH said:

*snip*

I would avoid shorts like these for city name (though a quick Google is going to reveal the city name).

 

 

@Nicnac Also, if you're interested in Canada, I forgot to mention that Quebec should be avoided for work, unless you speak French. Sadly with a wife that immigrated here I was faced with the ugly thing that is racism, but now that she speaks French it's much better ... but racism is still present (but that's also because she's Asian). It's sad, it isn't everywhere, but I thought it should be mentioned because with no French, it's going to happen at one time or another!

[TetraSky]

4 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

but racism is still present (but that's also because she's Asian). It's sad, it isn't everywhere, but I thought it should be mentioned because with no French, it's going to happen at one time or another!

Especially for Asians, as there's relatively big stereotype of Asians coming here, buying all the houses, living here for YEARS and never bothering to ever speak French. 
I don't personally care since I'm bilingual, but the things my mother who only speak French says about them(and pretty much every other races really, but mainly Asians)... Especially after she had one as a Landlord, who didn't speak a word of French and made "repairs" to the house in a 100% not up to code way to avoid paying people to do the job, who then sold the house to another Asian who kicked her out in order to double the rent a year later. (They officially need to live there for at least a year to justify kicking a tenant out after buying a building)

[kokakolia]

22 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

If you decide on Quebec, I encourage you to speak French. Even if it's broken AF, most of us will love you for it for having even tried, especially in the regions outside of large cities like Montreal.

 

Edit : 
That said, rent in Montreal can go between $500 for a studio apartment to well over $2000 per month, depending on the location.(The closer you are to downtown, the more expensive everything is)
 

Also depending on the location, there may or may not be a water taxe.(like in the borough "Lasalle")

Other than that, food can be cheap or expensive depending on what you buy. Obviously if you feed yourself with chicken hotdog sausage and plain white rice every day, it won't cost you much. (pack of 41 sausages is about 8$ at "Maxi" and rice can be had in bags of 8kg for 10~12$)
Cheapest stores for grocery shopping, are places like Super C, Maxi and CostCo(large quantities).

Avoid buying "local" or "bio", you'll pay a massive amount of money for the same thing, it's a scam, not worth it. (IMO)

I am gonna be honest here: Canadian food sucks and is expensive. The produce has absolutely no flavor. Canadian cuisine is meat, meat, meat with a side of potatoes and a little bit of unseasoned greens. It’s so bland! If you come from Western Europe you’ll be abhorred by how expensive and terrible the food is. 

 

16 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

I would avoid shorts like these for city name (though a quick Google is going to reveal the city name).

 

 

@Nicnac Also, if you're interested in Canada, I forgot to mention that Quebec should be avoided for work, unless you speak French. Sadly with a wife that immigrated here I was faced with the ugly thing that is racism, but now that she speaks French it's much better ... but racism is still present (but that's also because she's Asian). It's sad, it isn't everywhere, but I thought it should be mentioned because with no French, it's going to happen at one time or another!

Racism is a French thing. But Canadians will despise you if you speak French with a French accent. 

 

That said, the French Canadians are far more cultured and better at cooking than Albertans. 

[WkdPaul]

31 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Especially for Asians, as there's relatively big stereotype of Asians coming here, buying all the houses, living here for YEARS and never bothering to ever speak French. 
I don't personally care since I'm bilingual, but the things my mother who only speak French says about them(and pretty much every other races really, but mainly Asians)... Especially after she had one as a Landlord, who didn't speak a word of French and made "repairs" to the house in a 100% not up to code way to avoid paying people to do the job, who then sold the house to another Asian who kicked her out in order to double the rent a year later. (They officially need to live there for at least a year to justify kicking a tenant out after buying a building)

Unfortunately, Chinese (from China) are cheapskate when it comes to maintenance in general (real-estate, cars, etc..) and I totally see how a Chinese landlord (born in China, not here) could be problematic. My wife is Chinese and "being a cheapskate" is a hot topic in our house. Trying to save money is one thing, but when it comes to the detriment of other things, it really becomes a problem, not a solution .

 

But lets not go too deep into that

[Canada EH]

5 hours ago, TetraSky said:

French

That is the delimma at hand because the quebecois are looked down upon in the rest of canada by some folk so its vice versa with the rest of canada in quebec. Quebecois are very hard workers, just like people coming from the farm, and east coasters, but even east coasters have stereotypes because anyone with an accent sticks out, plus a thick accent its very hard to understand them. As for nicknames, yes there are nicknames as well for everyone and places.

[Andreas Lilja]

8 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

@Nicnac Also, if you're interested in Canada, I forgot to mention that Quebec should be avoided for work, unless you speak French. Sadly with a wife that immigrated here I was faced with the ugly thing that is racism, but now that she speaks French it's much better ... but racism is still present (but that's also because she's Asian). It's sad, it isn't everywhere, but I thought it should be mentioned because with no French, it's going to happen at one time or another!

Well, yeah; if you emigrate to the U.S. or to the ROC and don't speak English, they won't like you much either. Also linguistic prejudice isn't racism, it has nothing to do with the color of your skin or your ethnic group.

 

Never heard of much prejudice towards Asians, maybe Muslims or Sikhs, but it's a religion thing.

[Terryv]

I can give you some insight into both the medical side and Canadian side. I know several doctors and am familiar with how the hospital system works (in my province at least)

 

PM me if you're interested

[kokakolia]

3 hours ago, Raskolnikov said:

Well, yeah; if you emigrate to the U.S. or to the ROC and don't speak English, they won't like you much either. Also linguistic prejudice isn't racism, it has nothing to do with the color of your skin or your ethnic group.

 

Never heard of much prejudice towards Asians, maybe Muslims or Sikhs, but it's a religion thing.

I’ll say it again, don’t speak French with a French accent in Canada. People will hate you. You must speak French with a Canadian accent. 

[Canada EH]

12 hours ago, kokakolia said:

Canadian food

There is a fun fact about Canada, there is a french colony within its borders and it has nothing to do with France.

 

I was in 7/11 and I am seeing more and more bags of rice being sold, also Cantonese labelled food like them Mr. Noodle cups, even seaweed as a snack. I laughed and swigged my beer and walked over to the ice cooler.

[zassou]

6 hours ago, Canada EH said:

There is a fun fact about Canada, there is a french colony within its borders and it has nothing to do with France.

 

I was in 7/11 and I am seeing more and more bags of rice being sold, also Cantonese labelled food like them Mr. Noodle cups, even seaweed as a snack. I laughed and swigged my beer and walked over to the ice cooler.

what? you havent tried seaweed with beer? thats a killer

[zassou]

btw this thread can be summerized in this video

 

so, do you exist?

[captain_to_fire]

On 11/15/2018 at 12:33 AM, Nicnac said:

New Zealand.

I think @RorzNZ or @leadeater can help you with that

[Guest]

New Zealand is just the best country in the world hands down, if you take away the North Island.

 

would be nice to have some good doctors, our health system is a bit of a shambles, but it works ok.

 

Its just very old.

[dizmo]

I think Eastern/Central Canada is cheaper. I'd avoid the prairies, aside from perhaps Calgary, but it's a very expensive city.

Western Canada is expensive if you go to Vancouver, but Victoria is not. If you're male, it also has a very disproportionate ratio of women to men (it was what my aunt tried to use to persuade me to move there in my mid 20's ). I'd avoid smaller towns as I imagine you'd want to have some kind of a life, and you don't get that there.

 

Personally, I'd go for Vancouver. Yes, it's extremely expensive, but you get what you pay for. There's amazing restaurants of virtually all cultures, you can go mountain biking/hiking/wind surfing during the day and skiing/snowboarding at night. Everything is right at your doorstep. I've lived all over Western Canada and the prairies, and Vancouver will always have my heart.

 

If you go into the bush, take bear spray and make lots of noise.

 

On 11/14/2018 at 2:11 PM, Netivity said:

Groceries

Depending on how much you eat, how picky you are etc. The average australian pays about $150 per week (for a single person).

Dear God that's an insane amount of food for a single person. I pay 1/3 of that easy.

On 11/16/2018 at 7:51 PM, kokakolia said:

Don’t ever go to Alberta (Canada). The cities are built for cars, not people. The people are extremely conservative and materialistic. They only care about work, money and spending money. Alberta is flat and boring. It’s mostly pine trees, prairies and empty fields. There’s nothing really interesting going on Alberta. Just some scattered artists here and there. Albertans view culture as something superfluous, pretentious and a waste of resources and taxpayer money. Everything about Alberta is superficial. There is nothing positive I can say about Alberta. 

Haha, I agree about the infrastructure, however I've found the people to be completely opposite of what you're stating. There's a wide variety of cultures, and everyone is very open, friendly, and always willing to help. They're a lot friendlier than say, Vancouver. While flat, Alberta has tons of natural beauty; you just have to look for it.

 

Alberta positive: Huge carbon credits every year, one of the few places you can still afford to buy a house on an average income.

On 11/18/2018 at 3:38 AM, Canada EH said:

Big cities are awful, T.O. Van just too crowded, go to the isle of van or the east coast. Lots of ghost towns, lots of glaciers, tourist towns like Jasper where you would tower over everyone on the street. Areas nice to live in? depends on what you like, do you like crowds, go to Van that comes with crime. National parks, there are many, and many types. You should try skiing or snowboarding, Maple Syrup, CNE, CS, Klondike Days, rafting, Whislter is cool for mountain biking in the summer, you can even rent ebikes now, better to just buy a kit, its cheaper! Canada is only good for making a ton of cash in the oil fields, then retiring someplace warm because the winters are cold and they last forever, while summer like weather is just too short. Jobs, well plenty of jobs if you like to get dirty and work 12 hour days. But most people want indoor 8 hour shifts with a tie. Do you have a work permit? Hostels are cheap for awhile, airbnb is good too, in Victoria you can even legally camp in the city parks, I did just such a thing on the beach, with a great big bonfire and loads of beer. You can do lots of hiking.

You can live in Western Canada, close to the border and not see snow for years. It's also pretty mild. Clearly you can also make good money, as well, since Vancouver is so expensive The oil field will be out in the next decade.

On 11/18/2018 at 8:04 AM, wkdpaul said:

Unfortunately, Chinese (from China) are cheapskate when it comes to maintenance in general (real-estate, cars, etc..) and I totally see how a Chinese landlord (born in China, not here) could be problematic. My wife is Chinese and "being a cheapskate" is a hot topic in our house. Trying to save money is one thing, but when it comes to the detriment of other things, it really becomes a problem, not a solution .

 

But lets not go too deep into that

Not all, though. I've known several that are more than willing to pay for quality, including a couple of past landlords.

My ex was anything but a cheapskate, but that's for other reasons.