4 ms·

It all comes down to wages. Sure, you can argue Canada has some stronger social programs or quality of life per dollar, but when you can earn 2-4x the wage for

It all comes down to wages. Sure, you can argue Canada has some stronger social programs or quality of life per dollar, but when you can earn 2-4x the wage for the same work by moving 200km south from Vancouver to Seattle, it's a no-brainer.

jakeinspace 3y ago
I’m a US citizen, but moved to Montreal a few years back. I’m earning roughly 40% of what I would be if I moved back even to Philly where I grew up, let alone the west coast. But y’a know, I fell in love with someone here, so it’s tough. I definitely enjoy this city more than any US city I’ve lived in, but on paper it’s easily the dumbest decision of my life.
- droobles 3y ago
  Sounds like the best decision if you enjoy it and found love. I only ever hear great things about Montreal, my wife and I plan to visit from the US in a couple months on vacation, we're really excited!
  - jakeinspace 3y ago
    It really is a great city. Learning French from zero takes a lot of time and effort though, but I can see it’ll be very worth it.
throwboatyface 3y ago
As a Canadian who makes ~250k working for bay area companies from Canada, where can I make 500k-1M in the states?
- qvrjuec 3y ago
  In the the bay area, Seattle, or NYC.
- MikeTheRocker 3y ago
  Staff level engineers at big tech companies and late stage startups earn in that range, typically based in Silicon Valley, Seattle and New York City. Check out https://www.levels.fyi/leaderboard/Software-Engineer/Staff-Engineer/country/United-States/ https://www.levels.fyi/leaderboard/Software-Engineer/Staff-E....
VancouverMan 3y ago
> Sure, you can argue Canada has some stronger social programs or quality of life per dollar, ... Maybe there was some truth to that in the past, but that certainly isn't the case any longer, and hasn't been for some time now. In practice, Canada's social programs are tremendously costly, limited, and low-quality. The provincial public health care systems are relevant examples of this. It's typical for Canadians with the means to do so to seek medical treatment in the US or abroad, rather than dealing with the slow and ineffective Canadian systems, especially for any serious ailment. The provincial public education systems are similar. Canadians with the financial means to do so will send their children to independent schools, rather than public schools. Even those who don't have the means will still do what they can to make that happen. In terms of the broader quality-of-life picture, it isn't what it used to be. Housing is prohibitively expensive. Food, fuel, vehicles, and other essential goods are expensive. There's much less variety and choice when it comes to retail, restaurants, entertainment, and so forth. The taxation is excessive, especially for getting so little in return. Government makes it far harder than it should be to start and operate a business. At this point, Canada is coasting on past success, and has a reputation that no longer matches reality.
- TMWNN 3y ago
  >It's typical for Canadians with the means to do so to seek medical treatment in the US or abroad My favorite example of this is Chretien's secret trips to the Mayo Clinic in 1999. <https://web.archive.org/web/20100204202553/http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/ultimate+tier+health+care/2515150/story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100204202553/http://www.montre...>

jakeinspace 3y ago

I’m a US citizen, but moved to Montreal a few years back. I’m earning roughly 40% of what I would be if I moved back even to Philly where I grew up, let alone the west coast. But y’a know, I fell in love with someone here, so it’s tough. I definitely enjoy this city more than any US city I’ve lived in, but on paper it’s easily the dumbest decision of my life.

droobles 3y ago
Sounds like the best decision if you enjoy it and found love. I only ever hear great things about Montreal, my wife and I plan to visit from the US in a couple months on vacation, we're really excited!
- jakeinspace 3y ago
  It really is a great city. Learning French from zero takes a lot of time and effort though, but I can see it’ll be very worth it.

throwboatyface 3y ago

As a Canadian who makes ~250k working for bay area companies from Canada, where can I make 500k-1M in the states?

qvrjuec 3y ago
In the the bay area, Seattle, or NYC.
MikeTheRocker 3y ago
Staff level engineers at big tech companies and late stage startups earn in that range, typically based in Silicon Valley, Seattle and New York City. Check out https://www.levels.fyi/leaderboard/Software-Engineer/Staff-Engineer/country/United-States/ https://www.levels.fyi/leaderboard/Software-Engineer/Staff-E....

VancouverMan 3y ago

> Sure, you can argue Canada has some stronger social programs or quality of life per dollar, ... Maybe there was some truth to that in the past, but that certainly isn't the case any longer, and hasn't been for some time now. In practice, Canada's social programs are tremendously costly, limited, and low-quality. The provincial public health care systems are relevant examples of this. It's typical for Canadians with the means to do so to seek medical treatment in the US or abroad, rather than dealing with the slow and ineffective Canadian systems, especially for any serious ailment. The provincial public education systems are similar. Canadians with the financial means to do so will send their children to independent schools, rather than public schools. Even those who don't have the means will still do what they can to make that happen. In terms of the broader quality-of-life picture, it isn't what it used to be. Housing is prohibitively expensive. Food, fuel, vehicles, and other essential goods are expensive. There's much less variety and choice when it comes to retail, restaurants, entertainment, and so forth. The taxation is excessive, especially for getting so little in return. Government makes it far harder than it should be to start and operate a business. At this point, Canada is coasting on past success, and has a reputation that no longer matches reality.

TMWNN 3y ago
>It's typical for Canadians with the means to do so to seek medical treatment in the US or abroad My favorite example of this is Chretien's secret trips to the Mayo Clinic in 1999. <https://web.archive.org/web/20100204202553/http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/ultimate+tier+health+care/2515150/story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100204202553/http://www.montre...>