Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada
 
Since I applied for PR, I receive regularly this pasted below email. I don´t know why I get that but .... is in there any truth ?

This gives a rather negative image of Canada. I can´t believe all of this stuff. I love Canada and always will ... just want comments.

Thanks


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8. Discriminatory and Dishonest Immigration System.
Immigration to Canada is based on a point system, obtained with your education, qualifications and job experience. Points are good enough for immigration, but in Canada, they are not good enough to get a job in your field. Amazing, how the credentials that qualify you to come to Canada are the same credentials that don´t qualify you for your profession in Canada. The reason is, Canada only wants immigrants to do the labor jobs - pizza delivery, driving taxis, factory work etc.

7. Out Of Control Cost Of Living.
From rent, to utility bills, to shopping, to phone, internet and cable bills, to gas, to car insurance, to eating out, to basically anything you have to pay for or buy, the cost of living in Canada has become astronomical. Recent immigrants are astonished as to how expensive everything is. It is estimated that compared to most countries around the world, the cost of living in Canada is on average five times greater.

6. Health Care Crisis.
Practicing physicians in Canada are in a shortage, 1 in 4 Canadians cannot get a family doctor. Canadian doctors are leaving to move permanently to the United States. Statistics Canada and the Canadian Medical Association both have identified that for every 1 American doctor that moves to Canada, 19 (nineteen) Canadian doctors move to the United States! Doctors in Canada are overworked and underpaid, and there is a cap on their salaries.

5. Very High Taxes.
Yes, you have the GST, the PST, totaling 15%, on practically everything you purchase and many other taxes taken out of our weekly paycheck. You have to pay a whopping amount to the government, out of your hard earned salary, so that the government can turn around and give it to beer drinking, hockey watching welfare bums. Fair? It does not matter, it´s Canada.

4. Money Hungry Government.
Canadian Embassies around the world lie to foreigners, painting this picture that Canada is Utopia, because they want them to come to Canada. Why? Because foreigners bring money! So after being deceived, these foreigners come. They must bring with them at least $10,000. Canada has an immigration quota of 250,000 per year. So please do the math, 250,000 multiplied by $10,000 each equals a whopping 2.5 Billion dollars that Canada gains from immigrants every year.

3. No Culture.
Unlike almost every other country in the world, Canada has no culture. Actually American culture is what dominates Canada. When was the last time you had some ´Canadian´ food? There are no Canadian traditions and there is no national identity. What does it even mean to call yourself a ´Canadian´. . .nothing really. People living in Canada, still identify themselves with the country they ´originally´ came from.

2. Worst Weather.
Yes, Canada has the worst weather conditions of any country in the world. Freezing cold temperatures, snow, ice, hail, winds, storms etc. From the Prairie provinces to the Maritimes, from the Territories to southern Ontario, the weather is so horrific and disgusting that many Canadians leave Canada simply because of this reason alone.

1. No Jobs.
Yes, coast to coast, there are no jobs. Immigrants are highly qualified (MD´s, PhD´s, Lawyers, Engineers etc.) but they are driving taxi cabs, delivering pizza´s or working in factories. Even people with bachelors degrees from Canadian Universities cannot find jobs after graduation. This is the tragedy associated with immigration to Canada. I feel sorry for those immigrants who are stuck in Canada for the rest of their lives. It is indeed a very sad and hopeless future.


[17-07-2007,14:50]
[***.207.36.26]
CBV333
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
did you register your email somewhere?

this is a really nasty spam email that rolls around every so often. Sometimes it shows up here 40-50 times all at once- like a bad rash. It is a moderators worst nightmare.

is there truth to it... maybe 5%.


[17-07-2007,14:55]
[***.20.127.20]
sharon
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
Thanks Sharon
No I did not register to anything. Don´t know why I get that. It is so bad.

[17-07-2007,15:52]
[***.207.36.26]
CBV333
Read the very last line........ (in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
"stuck in Canada for the rest of their lives ".

Anyone who wants to LEAVE Canada is free to do so at any time. No one is being forced to stay in Canada, BUT the ones who WANT to get in to Canada, are in the millions, aren´t they?

This is just one more example of the small percentage who are NEVER satisfied, wherever they are in the world.

Jim B. Toronto.

[17-07-2007,16:26]
[**.99.152.2]
Canadian Citizen
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
"Anyone who wants to LEAVE Canada is free to do so at any time"

After spending thousands of Dollars (usually almost all they have!)... its kinda hard..ain´t it?

Wonder why truth always hurts...

[17-07-2007,18:22]
[***.189.81.82]
Anonymous
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)

:)

All numbers are fake
All numbers that you paste it here are not true

I was in Canada few years ago, and spend there almost a year and I saw all those numbers from 1 to 8

Only Nr.5 I can say is correct , which I agree a lot, because a country without taxes can´t exists

:)

[17-07-2007,18:39]
[**.80.161.134]
Anonymous
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
No country is 100 % heaven, if Canada is better than your current country, move on or just live where u are
[18-07-2007,12:17]
[**.89.120.218]
KK
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
8. One is true to some extent even one Canadian minister admitted it that a truck driver wanting to work in Canada cannot come though he can easily manage a job but a PhD can easily come though he cannot find job. Though I would not call it discriminatory or dishonest. May be discriminatory when it comes to having different processing times for different visa posts but it has its own explanation which does not satisfy me though it is reasonable.

7. Cost of living is high in Canada but the quality of life is also high. You cannot get high quality without paying for it. Try recommending Singapore or Hong Kong where quality is not so high but costs are much higher.

6. I do not know about the numbers but yes a lot of Canadian doctors, top engineers, PhDs, and MBAs move to US. The case of doctors was confirmed by some of the doctors I chatted with during my long stay in hospital. The others I know cause Canadian universities are always trying to retain their top business Phds but US universities lure them with 100k+ packages. MBA and enigneering market is also better in US but US economy is huge and there is no point in comparing.

Doctors are underpaid not true less paid then doctors in US true. However, they always can go for private practice.

5. High Taxes: True but free health care, education and social assistance do not come for free. Moreover, taxes are not so high when you compare them with Sweden or Denmark. For family man Canada is more affordable than some countries.

4. Calculation is correct but they are not forcing people to pay money. Do not want to pay don´t pay. By the way calculate the cost of applying for H1B for US.

3. No Culture: depends on how you look at it. People´s habits which continue for long periods of time to take the shape of culture. Give sometime and you will get "culture" here too. As long as people are willing to identify themselves as humans do you really care about which country they are from? May be a lot of people do but for me being human is more important than being Canadian or American or Russian. By the way if people will not identify themselves as Chinese, Indian, etc. then people will start accusing them of forgetting their roots. So, its a delicate situation.

2. Worst Weather: Not true. Canada is cold but livable. There are very nice places like Vancouver too. Imagine hot weather countries what can you do there? Cold weather you can put on clothes to protect yourself but hot weather even if you join the nudists nothing can be done. By the way there are some places in Russia where average temperature sometimes can be lower than even Antarctica. People have access to internet they can find about the cold weather and decide not to apply, again no one is forcing them.

1. No Jobs: Finding employment in Canada is difficult but there are no jobs is not true. If you are a doctor or lawyer you can expect a very long journey ahead. You might not make it also. PhDs mostly work at the same level as Master´s and Bachelors. Sometimes they get rejected solely cause they have PhDs and are expected to demand too many things but I have seen some people getting jobs just cause they had Phd.

Taxi stories are also not entirely false. A friend of mine was still driving cab 5 years after landing. He has 2 bachelor´s and 2 master´s but I have to admit that his language skills were not upto the mark and he had degrees in fields in which its hard to find jobs in almost all countries.

The story about Canadian Bachelor´s not finding jobs is also true. I know one such guy who tried to find jobs for 2 years in his field in Electrical Engineering. However, isn´t it true for every country?

To find jobs in Canada go for some kind of course in Canada otherwise its difficult to land a job but not impossible.
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[19-07-2007,05:52]
[***.69.2.5]
Anonymous
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
Anonymous (Last posting), your remarks are very sensible indeed. It has some realistic points. Problem is whoever discuss this issues, take it into the extreme like best country in the world or no jobs/culture at all. Like you said, no country is best, all have both plus and minus, it is upto an individual to decide what is better for him. However, in order to do so he/she needs to research a lot and hence need good sources, realistic feed back.

I agree with you that high tax mustn?t be a bad thing about Canada. Most of the Euro countries even have higher tax than Canada. More over, Canada has an excellent universal healthcare, better social security, public transport..

Worst weather is also a gross exaggeration. Many places on the earth have worse weather than Canada. However, it plays a major part in Canada. 90% of Canadian population have to live in the south, more appropriately within 200 KM of US border. Resulting congested cities with lower living standard overall. Weather together with high tax and lower payment cause many Canadians to move into the USA.

I would also say that Canadian immigration fee is not high compared to North American standard. The mistake immigrants do is after getting immigration they blindly sell their properties back home and land into Canada with entire family, without any suitable job they eventually lose their life saving. They should come alone first and study the job market before selling properties and bringing family. Anyway, H-1B processing fees (750$-1500$) are most of the times paid by the employers.

No culture is also a gross mistake. Wherever human civilization exists, there is culture. Good or bad is immaterial. Canada has multiculture. As a result, standing in any major Canadian cities it is hard to tell which part of the world it is. Is it good or bad? Upto you again. I firmly believe that when different ethnic groups stay in one place they have to share most of the values, they have right to keep their roots too. But in Canada if I consider myself Indian rather than Canadian then it is bad.

Now the major 2 issues, job and standard of living. They are somewhat correlated. Living quality is high in Canada, true, but how? Specially for the immigrants, living standard is falling since 1990, reported by stat Canada. Little example, in GTA area about 76,000 people have to rely on food bank every month. That number is increased by 81% since 95, 1.3% since 2006. In Ontario, the number is 330,000 in total (http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/235493). Isn?t it alarming? 27% of this families have at least one member working, and average household income is 979$/month.

Professional Job market is super frustrated in Canada, which drove me out from their despite having many good things there. It is understandable that their job marker mustn?t be like USA, but at least I could expect to have a job in my field with the best Canadian University degree. But with 2 Masters (one from US, one from Canada) was not enough to secure me a job. Why? Don?t I have qualifications? At the same time sitting in Toronto I secured 3 jobs in the USA, literally had to turn my phone off to avoid employers call from there. I used same resume, my English is very poor but I?m working in top company I my field now. Racism? Not directly. It is just there are too many seals hunting for fish in a small pond. So few jobs come out, go for the lucky ones with good personal connections. Every year you are adding many thousands more without justifying the real needs. Among my 14 immigrant course mates of U of T, Waterloo, and Ryerson only 4 could find jobs in Canada. That explains why each year few thousands qualified Canadians have to go to US or elsewhere for jobs. So, this is a general issue, nothing specific to personal or a particular profession. Listen a little radio talk show about job findings by the recent Canadian university graduates;
http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/media/audio/ottawamorning/20050407STU.ram . Job finding is always challenging everywhere, but I don?t believe it is that much anywhere. Canadian economy is more service oriented, so it is not a good choice from that point. I know many readers will get upset, for them, ON immigration minister Cole made a comment which all must remember, ?Current point system is nothing but inviting someone for dinner and then let him to wash the dish?. I believe he at least knows it better.

[19-07-2007,12:09]
[***.254.208.242]
Departed_Canadian
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
are you sitting down... as a lifetime Canadian I almost totally agree with the last 2 posts.
[19-07-2007,14:48]
[***.121.220.199]
sharon
(in reply to: Top 8 reasons NOT to immigrate to Canada)
Departed_Canadian,

In my last posting my main aim was to paint an impartial picture of Canada. I was not trying to promote or defend Canada as is evident from my post. As you noted, people take the extremes and then argue, which is not right. Information is available on internet and people especially with families should do research before making such a big decision which can alter their lives completely, good or bad they will get to know later.

Weather is a concern in Canada and this has resulted in people moving to certain areas but this phenomenon is present almost everywhere. By the way, people who are coming from developing countries usually live in much more congested cities with every polluted weather. I do not see the reason why they should be complaining a lot. A little yes but a lot not reasonable. We should learn to be satisfied a little at some point. Example, Singapore density-6500+ persons/sqkm, Mumbai-22000+,Bangladesh-one of the most highly populated countries in the world. Some of the US cities are also very crowded.

As for the immigration fees, Australian immigration fee is also quite high but one advantage is that you do not have to show proof of funds. Though, if you look deeply you need money anyway, cause you cannot be thinking of landing a job the next day after you land as a PR. By the way when I said H1B fees, I was not referring to the actual fees but the first month salary that the agents take away from people for getting them jobs. Also, we should not forget that H1B foreign workers are paid much less than Americans with similar skills. This issue has been raised in US senate also. Thus, in the long run people lose money in US also but they are happy cause they cannot see it or are not willing to see it.

Job scenario is not so great in Canada when you compare it with US. There are jobs but barring few areas they are limited. Though, no one can deny that in some fields there are only limited jobs in most countries. To address this issue Canadian government should start awarding more points to professions which are in demand. There is no point in giving a person with PhD in Sanskrit (without a job offer) PR. No offense to people with Sanskrit background but there are not many job opportunities in that field.

You are right in pointing out the living standards of immigrants in Canada has gone down. Also, finding jobs in US is much easier. Usually when you put your resume on job banks you get more calls from US companies than Canadian ones. The reason is Canada´s economy has a bit of a socialism which means as also pointed out by you requires links which can be very troublesome for new immigrant. How the government is going to address it? I have no idea. But don´t you think having a good command of English is essential for you and people around you to know you. The same goes for jobs. If you are looking to hire someone would not you like that person to have decent communication skills. By the way, I have seen quite a few Chinese with poor communication skills managing decent jobs. How they do it? Its a mystery.

Again, I am not saying Canada is great or bad. I am just saying, with the advent of internet age, it is much easier to obtain information. Do the research, make an informed decision and keep a back up plan especially if you have families.



[19-07-2007,15:32]
[***.21.154.73]
Anonymous