7 ms·

I dunno, I'm willing to take a pretty substantial pay cut to move to Canada from the USA. I like to think I'm fairly competent.

LegitShady 3y ago
I think you do not know how badly the housing gand healthcare crisis in Canada is right now. But you do you!
gadflyinyoureye 3y ago
Please say why? I thought about moving to Italy but taking a 40% income loss to taxes seems insane to me. Canada is pretty much the same. I’d rather move to Georgia or Indiana.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- FalconSensei 3y ago
  You could also ask yourself about the quality and type of life you would have. Do you prefer your life in Indiana, or Italy? For me it's a no-brainer that it would be Italy. Not much interest on living in the US, unless I was a millionaire.
xyzelement 3y ago
Why haven't you?
- bovermyer 3y ago
  I'm trying. The difficulty is in the Canadian immigration bureaucracy, not the availability of jobs. These changes announced yesterday will make it much easier for me.
bluefirebrand 3y ago
How substantial? I don't think most people really understand the economics of being Canadian right now compared to the US. Right off the top you're earning CAD instead of USD, so with the current exchange rate that's a ~25% reduction in purchasing power. On top of that, it's a smaller country, with fewer large and wealthy industries. Salaries are not only CAD but also the actual dollar numbers tend to be smaller. EG I've seen listings for roles in the States offering 200k USD, but similar roles in Canada offer 120k CAD, which is less than 100k USD. That's a "pretty substantial" pay cut if you want it. It's also not like they make up for lower salaries with other perks like super high vacation time or anything either. Then you're living in a country where we have some of the most expensive real estate in the world in Toronto and Vancouver, which has effects in other markets as well. Also everything is just more expensive here, with the exception of Health Care I suppose. Groceries are absurdly expensive right now, but even when they were cheaper they weren't anywhere near as cheap as my friends pay in the US. The cheapest pound of butter you can find is $6.50 CAD right now. Same with Gas for your car, insurance, etc. All of the tech we buy is more expensive too, and not just "cost of exchange rate", it's always just higher. Don't get me wrong, I am happy here and in a lot of ways I am glad I chose to stay rather than chasing higher salaries in the States. I'm just trying to illustrate that there are definitely struggles here too and it will very likely be a very substantial pay cut to move here and get a job here. More substantial than you probably think. tl;dr: It's very expensive to live here in a lot of ways, our salaries don't really compete in a numerical way even before factoring in exchange rate.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  Butter prices are not a good representative of Canadian grocery prices. Canada has a really stupid milk quota system making milk, butter & cheese more expensive than elsewhere. But most other groceries are cheaper in Canada than in the US. For example, the average cost of a loaf of bread in Canada is CAD3.50, in the US it's USD3.50, 33% more expensive. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=United+States https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_resu... Most things are cheaper in Canada than in the US, mostly because the average wage is cheaper in Canada than the US. But the things that are more expensive are the biggies, like rent & taxes.
moneywoes 3y ago
We’ll check out the express entry program you’ll be welcome However, I’d read up on the healthcare shortage and high housing costs first though
- bovermyer 3y ago
  I'm already in the Express Entry system. My CRS score is much lower than that of a student or someone with work experience in Canada, though, so the odds of me getting a draw are very low. I'm already aware of the healthcare issues and the housing costs. I have a region picked out that mitigates some of that.
RobertDeNiro 3y ago
Keep in mind the COL in Canada is often higher too. So its pay cut + higher COL. Most Canadians can't afford to buy homes.
- brewdad 3y ago
  Most Americans, who don't already own a home, can't afford to buy a home either.
Fervicus 3y ago
Why?
- bovermyer 3y ago
  There are things I value more than money.
  - Fervicus 3y ago
    I am curious what those things are and why you think you'll get them in Canada and not in the US.
    - bovermyer 3y ago
      Fewer fascists, for one thing.
      - Fervicus 3y ago
        Whatever you mean by "fascists", I can assure you there will be no shortage of them in Canada.

LegitShady 3y ago

I think you do not know how badly the housing gand healthcare crisis in Canada is right now. But you do you!

gadflyinyoureye 3y ago

Please say why? I thought about moving to Italy but taking a 40% income loss to taxes seems insane to me. Canada is pretty much the same. I’d rather move to Georgia or Indiana.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
FalconSensei 3y ago
You could also ask yourself about the quality and type of life you would have. Do you prefer your life in Indiana, or Italy? For me it's a no-brainer that it would be Italy. Not much interest on living in the US, unless I was a millionaire.

xyzelement 3y ago

Why haven't you?

bovermyer 3y ago
I'm trying. The difficulty is in the Canadian immigration bureaucracy, not the availability of jobs. These changes announced yesterday will make it much easier for me.

bluefirebrand 3y ago

How substantial? I don't think most people really understand the economics of being Canadian right now compared to the US. Right off the top you're earning CAD instead of USD, so with the current exchange rate that's a ~25% reduction in purchasing power. On top of that, it's a smaller country, with fewer large and wealthy industries. Salaries are not only CAD but also the actual dollar numbers tend to be smaller. EG I've seen listings for roles in the States offering 200k USD, but similar roles in Canada offer 120k CAD, which is less than 100k USD. That's a "pretty substantial" pay cut if you want it. It's also not like they make up for lower salaries with other perks like super high vacation time or anything either. Then you're living in a country where we have some of the most expensive real estate in the world in Toronto and Vancouver, which has effects in other markets as well. Also everything is just more expensive here, with the exception of Health Care I suppose. Groceries are absurdly expensive right now, but even when they were cheaper they weren't anywhere near as cheap as my friends pay in the US. The cheapest pound of butter you can find is $6.50 CAD right now. Same with Gas for your car, insurance, etc. All of the tech we buy is more expensive too, and not just "cost of exchange rate", it's always just higher. Don't get me wrong, I am happy here and in a lot of ways I am glad I chose to stay rather than chasing higher salaries in the States. I'm just trying to illustrate that there are definitely struggles here too and it will very likely be a very substantial pay cut to move here and get a job here. More substantial than you probably think. tl;dr: It's very expensive to live here in a lot of ways, our salaries don't really compete in a numerical way even before factoring in exchange rate.

bryanlarsen 3y ago
Butter prices are not a good representative of Canadian grocery prices. Canada has a really stupid milk quota system making milk, butter & cheese more expensive than elsewhere. But most other groceries are cheaper in Canada than in the US. For example, the average cost of a loaf of bread in Canada is CAD3.50, in the US it's USD3.50, 33% more expensive. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=United+States https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_resu... Most things are cheaper in Canada than in the US, mostly because the average wage is cheaper in Canada than the US. But the things that are more expensive are the biggies, like rent & taxes.

moneywoes 3y ago

We’ll check out the express entry program you’ll be welcome However, I’d read up on the healthcare shortage and high housing costs first though

bovermyer 3y ago
I'm already in the Express Entry system. My CRS score is much lower than that of a student or someone with work experience in Canada, though, so the odds of me getting a draw are very low. I'm already aware of the healthcare issues and the housing costs. I have a region picked out that mitigates some of that.

RobertDeNiro 3y ago

Keep in mind the COL in Canada is often higher too. So its pay cut + higher COL. Most Canadians can't afford to buy homes.

brewdad 3y ago
Most Americans, who don't already own a home, can't afford to buy a home either.

Fervicus 3y ago

Why?

bovermyer 3y ago
There are things I value more than money.
- Fervicus 3y ago
  I am curious what those things are and why you think you'll get them in Canada and not in the US.
  - bovermyer 3y ago
    Fewer fascists, for one thing.
    - Fervicus 3y ago
      Whatever you mean by "fascists", I can assure you there will be no shortage of them in Canada.