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| Subject: Landing - 4 months later |
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Hi everyone
Just found the time to drop a line on this forum. So how is it for new immigrants after 4 months ?
We moved from US and landed in Calgary early spring. My spouse got a job after 10 days and I am still looking (though i am not going to extend on that today).
After 4 months being here, this is a few points I´d like we noticed, this is mostly for people moving from US, that could be of interest of others.
#1 Overall: life is very good here, no doubt about that and I would rate 8/10 on the scale of "how good it is to be in Canada", adjustment is complete now and we have a feeling of belonging here (never had that in USA) and it feels good to wake up every morning thinking we are permanent resident, no visa worries.
#2 Visa/Debit cards: I still can´t get used to that. In USA we had this debit card with the visa sign so when you pay you are asked "debit or credit ?" one of the first thing we learn here is that it doesn´t exist in Canada ..... not that I missed the card but being new immigrants it is not so easy to apply immediately for a credit card ... so it is a hard adjustment. I used to buy my calling cards to call overseas online when you must have a credit card so I used my US one and pay the foreign exchange rate everytime! That´s bad!
#3 Cell phone plans: be prepared even if we knew it, this is definitely a drawback from US. Without going into details basically you get less and you pay more. Very frustrating! What I missed the most in our particular case is that I cannot use SMS to send messages overseas to my friends and family. Did not expect that, definitely a draw back.
#4 Healthcare: well this is a famous fact and everyone knows it. In USA we used to pay each and every little bit of visit (co-pay) or this or that ..... here naturally the system is better. So far it feels good to get things for "free" to a certain extent. Medical bills used to give us so much tension .... there is no much worry ... definitely a plus.
#5 Driving: well we don´t know yet as we don´t have car. We exchanged our US license VERY EASILY so at least we have a license. We heard things are more expensive here so we will find out in future I guess.
#6 Mail: no mail on Saturdays well it is OK just need to get used to it. Overall it feels that canada post is slower than the USPS (it took forever to get our boxes sent from USA to us and we lost one!!) but at least we can still send parcels overseas by surface mail which we could not do anymore in USA (at least that is what we were told when we tried).
Well I don´t know if this is interesting to people, just wanted to share some feelings and experience.
More later with hopefully some exciting stories to tell :)
[09-09-2008,03:38]
[**.71.223.153]
CBV333 |
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(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Thanks for the information. Overall, I believe without doubt that the US is superior to Canada in many major things, mainly education, economy, finance, employment and technology. However, Canada might be better in minor things which do not have a big weight in one´s life..even for the health care..you are not going to get sick every day to make the health care in Canada as a huge plus over the US. Canada can be for many people just a bridge to the US once the Canadian citizenship is obtained.
By the way- Why women´s life is much easier than men´s? just kidding..(your wife found the job 10 days after landing while you ahave been unemployed for four months..She should be pretty :)lol
Wish you all the best in your new life........
[09-09-2008,04:23]
[**.180.89.63]
Anonymous |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Anonymous, gety ready for 8th surprise of the world..she is not HE ...it´s really SHE. CBV333 is a woman.
[09-09-2008,05:39]
[***.29.114.6]
Anonymous |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
CBV333
I heard you can get a secured credit card from Royal Bank of Canada against a security deposit...my brother-in-law who lives there got one...the when he opened his account with them.
good luck...
[09-09-2008,06:12]
[**.228.82.196]
Shiva |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Credit card use is overall is relatively very less in Canada for some reasons. Except the big named retailers credit card is not very popular and a willing way of payment. Consumers are also very cautious about using credit cards. One reason may be escalating credit card fraud. In my circle there I used to here stories of credit fraud in a regular occasssion. For the same reason I think online shopping is not that popular which is a good way of saving money from consumer points. Better not to keep 2 or 3 cards at best and monitor the activity closely.. I also had a hard time to get the first one. Though after getting the first one and with job then in the future credit card availability is not tough.
"even for the health care..you are not going to get sick every day to make the health care in Canada as a huge plus over the US."
This is my feelings too as I´m an ordinary health people never need any regular medication other than check up. Though I know that if that "one day" comes even with the health insuracne I have to pay a huge amount. Definitely a free system with quality is better, it is matter of how important to you.
CBV should´ve told a little more about the spouse job to avoid any confusion.
[09-09-2008,09:59]
[***.254.208.246]
DC |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Good post CBV!
I´m glad that you have found so much to be positive about in Canada. May I add a few thoughts?
* I was not used to debit cards (I´m sort of old fashioned that way I guess, that I like proof written down in check form) so getting used to debit cards has been weird for me. And the bank fees are an awful reality (we looked into credit unions, Sharon, but the one available here was awful!), but almost impossible to get around entirely. Also, if you are charging something as opposed to using debit, you have to physically hand your card to the cashier. I haven´t done that for years in the US, so it´s taking some getting used to.
* We were able to secure a credit card with no hassle, and the bank we used was able to accept our US credit history without any problem. We used the same bank for our mortgage as well as credit. Not sure if that helped, but getting access to information from the US and having it accepted here has not been an issue for us so far.
* I think insurance costs vary considerably from province to province. When we thought of moving to Ontario, we seriously considered whether we could get by with one car because insurance was so expensive, but here in New Brunswick it is comparable with what we paid in the US. Gas prices are higher, of course, but it´s not unmanageable.
* Cell phones: yep, expensive. Have you looked into Rogers for overseas charges on your home phone? We were able to get unlimited calls on a landline to the US for only $19.99 month, and it looks like they have some deals to other parts of the world as well.
* Quality of life: for us, it´s a matter more of getting adjusted to living in a more rural environment than we are accustomed to. I would recommend to new immigrants to be aware of the limitations of smaller communities; it won´t be an issue for everyone, but if you are used to a bustling city life with lots of options, you might find smaller communities lacking. For us, our son´s education is a major concern here, and we are finding a serious lack of resources to remedy the situation. On the other hand, there is a balance of life in a smaller community that you might not find in a large city. Crime here is basically non existent, for example. Doing your research and being honest with yourself about your needs before moving will pay off.
* Politics: compared with the US, it is a wonderful change of pace. Enough said.
Always good to hear from you CBV, and hope you are doing well in Calgary! :)
[09-09-2008,10:22]
[***.166.78.243]
wannabecanadian |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
I had problems with getting a CC when I moved to Australia ~ no credit established.
What I did find was that because one of my CCs was American Express, you can ´convert´ your account to a different currency. When I moved to Melbourne, I requested a card in Aussie dollars. I was able to pay the account online from my Aussie account, so it was the same as getting a CC there...
[09-09-2008,10:22]
[**.203.190.104]
Carrie |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Great input CBV. Very helpful for those of us originating from the U.S.
To Anonymous, DC:
"even for the health care..you are not going to get sick every day to make the health care in Canada as a huge plus over the US."
This is a very naive statement. It´s interesting that many people tend to think they´re invincible, and health care and its costs is something to sorry about only when it becomes a problem.
Well, it´s often too late by then. If you lose your job (and health care), your HMO/PPO decides it´s not going to cover a life-threatening procedure to save money, or you have a pre-existing condition and no one will cover you, then it´ll suddenly become a top issue and you´ll wonder how this could have happened.
Primary cause of personal bankrutcy in the U.S. is inability to pay unexpected health care costs. This topic is at the top of debated issues in the upcoming U.S. election. And you say it´s not a "huge" issue in importance?
[09-09-2008,16:56]
[***.131.12.0]
Richard |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
Richard,
I didn´t deny ever what you are saying.
Last month our little girl (dog) was sick and we had to run with her in 3 hospitals, total bill is closer to 6000$. Her problem was critical, needed a major surgery. Still the cost was way too much. I can imagine the bill for simialr problem to me... May be 10 times..Even with insurance I would have to pay at least 10 grand.
This is a calculated risk..Staying in Ft. Mcmurray vs Florida...Sunny weather year round you are fine...just one morning you may find yourself under open sky. Even thoug most people porbably would prefer Florida.
Sorry to say, it is a huge issue. No doubt. However, if it were so huge then you would see reverse trend in US/Canada inter immigration. Very recently little more Americans are moving into Canada, not for free healthcare, but mostly due to Bush autocracy and booming Canadian economy.
[09-09-2008,17:35]
[***.254.208.246]
DC |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
DC, good points. I see you´re aware of the situation, risks, and pluses/minuses of both sides.
I think most Americans aren´t attracted to Canada for this reason simply because they´re brainwashed that Canada´s health system is somehow "bad", have to wait years for everything, and they´re better off under the American insurance beaurocracy. It´s the result of very effective insurance lobby advertising (i.e., Harry and Louise from a few years ago), general misinformation, and conservative misrepresenation.
If they knew what it really was about and how it works, we´d see different statistics in incoming applications, in my opinion.
(Sorry to hijack this thread, CBV.)
[09-09-2008,18:02]
[***.131.12.0]
Richard |
(in reply to: Landing - 4 months later)
My apology to CBV too.
Though I didn´t have a chance to mingle with a good number of Americans to give any public opinion, I have a solid impression that Americans in general have a very high impression about Canada. I didn´t find a single Amercian bad mouthing about Canada.
I think it is more like my philosopy, you do not need healthcare everyday. You´ll only realize after engding up with a 100K bill. If I have a problem like kidney dialisys or something then I would definitely leave USA.
Just my thought, even if Obama comes, I have serious doubt about how much can he really do about the universal healthcare.
[09-09-2008,19:00]
[***.254.208.246]
DC |
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