Pros and cons of living in Canada?

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barefootliam

In every part of Canada where I have lived or worked, there's a strong sense of the need to accept other people, and to help others. This is true not only in cities but in rural areas.

The federal tax tops out at 41%, but anyone earning $60,000 or more to get that rate should be employing an accountant, and will discover that you can claim a lot more things off your taxes here than in the US, bringing them down to between 17 and 25 percent most of the time, especially if you have a home office.

When I worked in Boston my medical deductions were well over $300/month, and they didn't cover significantly more than OHIP here in Ontario. My experience of healthcare in both countries is that some people are better and some worse, some places better and some worse, but overall it seems every bit as good here.

I grew up in the UK, but I'm guessing you want pros and cons of Canada vs. the USA, since otherwise you'd probably mention the other country to comare with :-) Certainly I don't believe you mean, pros and cons of living in canada vs. being dead in Canada!

So, a lot of it depends on where you live, what sort of things you like to do, whether you have a family and so forth. As a gay couple, my partner and I aren't really considered human beings in some parts of the US, and here we are equal, and can marry, have jobs, and carry on normal lives.

Kids might like that it's legal to share audio CDs over the Internet here, and adults might like that there are still some vestiges of respect for privacy here in Canada. All of you might hate mosquitoes, or the heat and humidity of a Toronto summer (gets to about 40C/100F at the hottest), or the cold of an Ottawa winter (-40F/-40C is no surprise). Canada is a bigger country than the USA and there's a lot of diversity here.

If you are a gun-carrying right-wing fundamentalist republican, you might find that most people around you are to the left of you; Canadian politics tends to be centrist, though, so if you are a left-wing communist you might find most people somewhat ot the right of you. Canada is not particularly strong on nationalism, and the flavours are more subtle.

Until a couple of years ago (when there was a change of government, from left-of-centre to right-of-centre) Canada was having an economic boom, very low interest rates and inflation, and the lowest unemployment overall in the past 30 years. The new government is doing its best to run a deficit and damage social programmes, but the people in Canada generally don't want that, and it's a minority government (we have 4 main parties and the largest one doesn't outnumber all the others combined), so there are always alliances going on.

People are polite in Canada, and when they say, have a good day, they mean it. Maybe you could come and visit for a while and see for yourself? :-)

Angela O

Pro: healthcare, clean air, no Bush...

Con: neighbours with Bush

*ajidamoon* the Eh team

Pros: Four beautiful seasons, HOCKEY!, my taxes pay for a whole bunch of things I don't have to worry about, diversity, secular society, excellent educational system, universal health care, wonderful people, acceptance, high quality of living, peacekeeping military, excellent gun control, loved by most other countries in the world, lower rate of crime when comparing cities of likewise populace....I could go on forever........

*barefootliam--->Well said. I would really like to know who the idiots are who felt they needed to thumbs down your answer!

Cons: hmmm.........the completely ridiculous stereotypes that go along with being Canadian

(haha) hailey (xo)â˜†

pros: health care is better than the states. it's beautiful here. Clean air. nice people

cons: nothing really expect people always stereotype Canadians.

And it's not that cold in the winter time

Canadian Yummy Mummy

Pros's-we have good healthcare, beautiful landscapes, multicultural

Cons-the neighbours to the south of us and the ridiculous stereotypes of us--ie we say EH, aboot (for the word about), and like hockey.

Aaron H

PROS: I heard The Canadian Health Care System is much better than here in the US

CONS: Extremely COLD WINTERS, i guess

amd fanboy

Pros: Cool people,great beer.
Cons: Tax rates that equal about half of your pay cheque. Other taxes that outright kill you. Sure we have free healthcare, but good god damn luck getting an appointment. i moved here from the USA. The ONLY reason I am still here is because my wife and kids are Canadian.

florie c

PROS: less crowded, better weather (IMO )

CONS : everything seems to be more expensive ... ( clothing at least .. )

probably 'cause i live in the sub-urbs

luckypatches235

i luv the cold weather
unfortunatly i live in texas :/

island j

free medical and lower taxes! good fishing! the military pays more den the u.s.
downside......hardly any jobs,,,scarce
its too cold on the winter brrrrr!

knight of the Kings Kingdom

healthcare here in Canada is bad

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