Attention Canada! I would like to defect!

[dispatch]

So I was talking to my dear darling this week about life, the universe, and everything. During the course of said conversation we got to talking about the wanderlust and how there's ever-so-many places to go and things to do. We found out through the course of this that we both have an interest in traveling if not moving abroad, specifically to Canada. Then today I'm talking to an old friend about travel and road trips we've taken and he brought up the idea of going to Canada. I mentioned that my girlfriend and I would like visit and possibly live there and, well, now we're all curious about the land of hockey, maple syrup and Tim Horton's. How is the job market? would we need to learn french (I think all 3 of us have a desire to learn another language)? does it come with a CD player? how is the rent? do French Canadians have rabies ? how does customs feel about cats? is there an underground railroad for kittehs? are Americans well received?
Lots of questions, I know, but I think I've inspired an exploratory expedition. Any feedback would be helpful and appreciated, and I promise that I and the members of my party are all housebroken, vaccinated, licensed, and social.

[hinakiba777]

I'm not sure about the cat. I'm sure if you intend to move you just need to get some paperwork.

You don't NEED to learn French. There's only one French Province (Quebec) and one bilingual province (New Brunswick). Many other provinces have French and Acadian communities, but it's not insanely prominent. Then again it helps. Also, Cape Breton Island has it's road signs in Gaelic.

As for jobs, um.... Depends on what you want to come here for. Many people in certain fields are at retiring age, and then again some fields are downsizing.

However I can only speak for Atlantic Canada. A place who didn't really care about the recession because we've been living that way since before i was born.

[Gravekeeper]

Vancouver was recently declared the easiest city to live in, in the world.

For reference, no American city appears on the list till #30. -.-

So yeah, I live in Awesome Town.

[smileyeagle1021]

For reference, no American city appears on the list till #30. -.-

thus proving my point that I really should live in either Canada or Europe... I wonder where Berlin fell on that list

[draggar]

From the article:

Berlin in 22nd.

[InSearchOfSunset]

How is the job market? would we need to learn french (I think all 3 of us have a desire to learn another language)? does it come with a CD player? how is the rent? do French Canadians have rabies ? how does customs feel about cats? is there an underground railroad for kittehs? are Americans well received?

Like everyone else said, for jobs it depends what you want to do. Also where you live. The you have to think.. hmm do you I want to live in a wet environment (talk to gravekeeper on that one lol) or a semi arid desert(me), oddly enough not that far from gravekeeper. . then there's the prairies and the flatlands up north, the cold tundra even more north, ugh Ontario. . and let us not forget- "the centre of the centre of the universe" known as Toronto. Hated by all west of the city. Rent varies from place to place, my city is stupidly high, next city over is fairly low *go figure* Cats are well loved here! But the most important thing would be that if you do not like hockey. . . do NOT EVER admit to that ! EVER!!!

[Jester]

For reference, no American city appears on the list till #30.[/B]

I expended much Google Fu trying to find the full list so I could see where various cities ranked. No matter what I did, though, I was unable to find the full list. Anyone know where it is?

[the_std]

Knowing French makes it easier for you to get government jobs and the like (you HAVE to be bilingual if you get any kind of job dealing with the public), which have more stability and pay pretty highly. Bumfudge, The Middle Of Nowhere (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) has been rated the fastest-growing economy is Canada, if not North America. We have jobs popping up like zombies all up in here. Unfortunately, rent matches at $800-$1000 a month being pretty standard. Saskatoon also prides itself on being "the small town with the big city feel". We are the largest city in Saskatchewan at 250,000. We get cold cold winters and hot hot summers. Saskatchewan also has one of the largest percentages of water mass to land mass out of any of the provinces, lakes ABOUND, and therefore partying in the summertime is exponentially easier.

Anyways, I can't say much about Eastern Canada, having not spent much time past Saskatchewan, but Alberta and Saskatchewan are pretty easy to relocate to.

[Jester]

Std, the question is, would an American emigrating to Canada have much of a chance of getting a government job off the bat anyway, whether or not they are bilingual? Just a thought.

[gremcint]

You definitly don't need to know french. I have lived in Canada for 24 years and the only time I've ever needed french was during french class at scool.

[the_std]

It's actually very possible. I was talking about positions like receptionist and things like that. Nothing hard-core.

[Ree]

...the cold tundra even more north, ugh Ontario. . and let us not forget- "the centre of the centre of the universe" known as Toronto. Hated by all west of the city.

That's a bit of a generalization. I actually love Toronto, and I'm sure I'm not alone there.

Oh, and I hope that was a typo on the "ugh Ontario", because I also happen to love my home province as well.

Let's keep the fratching type comments out of this thread, thanks.

[Jester]

That's a bit of a generalization. I actually love Toronto, and I'm sure I'm not alone there.

As a disinterested American who has never been to Canuckistan, I can tell you that most of the people I speak to, Canadian, American, and otherwise, who have been to Toronto speak very highly of it. Other than this website, I have almost never heard a bad thing about Toronto, to be honest. Ditto Vancouver.

[AdminAssistant]

I've heard Toronto is kinda like NYC without the drugs and violence (hence why a lot of American films and TV shows set in NYC are filmed in Toronto).

While I don't know of it's usefulness, I will say that French is a pretty cool (albeit frustrating) language to learn, so go ahead and do it anyway! You'll have the added bonus of getting more Eddie Izzard jokes. ("Et le singe est sur la branche!" "Le singe? Ou est le singe?")

[hinakiba777]

Toronto is a really great place. I haven't been West of Ontario yet, but for a really long time i had never been out of the Atlantic province.

Forget the Atlantic provinces at your own peril.

Anyway, I love Toronto. It's really nice. I know some people who think they are the center of the universe because they are Toronto born, but I can say that about people I know from lots of places.