Ask HN: Has anyone moved to Canada?
Hi, my girlfriend is a Canadian citizen and eventually wants to move back. I work as a data scientist manager in tech and make good money. How have people found the move to Canada in terms of salary, opportunity, and interesting companies to work for compared to American non-Bay Area tech cities like NYC, Seattle etc.
My initial searches have found it to be relatively barren, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places? Thinking primarily Vancouver but potentially open to other cities.
Thank you.
14 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 41.0 ms ] threadMy wife’s family loves living in Canada and we may yet move one day but I’d say if you’re from the US, UK or Asia I would not feel bad about it taking much longer to find work in Canada, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong or looking in the wrong places.
If you do that, your cost of living will be lower and in Canada you will have access to good healthcare, education and maybe to enjoy things again which doesn't imply monetary property. I'm pretty sure that overall, you'll have happier and more educated kids. I can imagine the kind of monsters people grow in the USA.
I live in Germany and we have many points like Canada and I just laugh when I hear about "could make more money elsewhere" or "career" in America when life is much softer and nicer here. Sure, things aren't perfect here, but at least people in general care about the environment and the personal space of others, I can easily get a lot of vegetarian/vegan food in Berlin and people are just awesome, many of them, from the US and sick of the state of art country you've got there. If you don't care about this and is a psycho which just want to maximize how much you make and then die, just stay in the US. It is a good place for you to be.
If I had the chance to pick living in the USA or in a first developed country, somewhat decent living conditions and economy. I would definitely pick the second choice.
I seriously wouldn't feel like living in a the same country of Trump, or just the average american mindset. It just looks pretty retarded to me. It's a economy that only exists because it manages to really impose its power around the world, so americans there feel like they got something, but it's always in exchange of somebodys life or happiness. I'm not sure if I would like to tell my kids I'm this kind of person, or my family. I wouldn't feel happy for myself.
But that's just me. Make your choice, but remember, life isn't your salary or your job position.
Also, what do you think of the male immigrant importation ? Will their happiness be taken from yours (or your daughter's) ? Is it better to give your happiness or take others (if you had a choice) ?
Note: neither in USA or Germany.
You know that Canada and Mexico are not part of the US right?
Still, giving you the benefit of interpreting your point as friendly as I can, I can't help but state that your economical advantage there on one of the richest countries in the world also only exists because it is imposed on others around the world
- He can move somewhere if he wants(he got the choice, unlike many). - Country is bad, creates a bad impact in the world than the other country. Also can enjoy as a individual a better quality of life. - Why stay?
I travel frequently to the US(lately, roughly every year) and that is my observation. Every year I go, my typical restaurants look more cheap and the people more decadent and I'm quite young, so I saw that change since I visited it for the first time, around 20 years ago.
I find it very hard to believe that anything about the american way of doing things(let it be culture or business) is sustainable. The US will probably undergo in some crisis and change, but I wouldn't like to be exactly there and experience it :-)
I was born in a third-world country and at least recently, I've been quite amused at how many things my country started to do much better than the US and some areas look as good as they do in the US, meanwhile I haven't seen anything getting better in the last decade... Have you tried using a bank in the US?
I bet that there is a country in Africa that has a better and faster banking system than in the US.
Maybe if you share another opinion, you could share it as well.
- Salaries: Look on glassdoor. Also look on the CRA website (CRA is the IRS in Canada) to see which tax bracket you'll be in - you'll notice lower salaries and higher taxes, as many people have already pointed out
- Interesting Companies: Lots! Microsoft, Amazon, Hootsuite, and more. There is an increasing number of big tech companies that have figure out its cheaper to have a Canadian office than an American office. There are less tech jobs but there are also less tech people - It sounds like you have a niche background, so it might take a little longer to find a job.
It definitely is harder to find interesting companies in Canada, which is why I originally left. They do exist though! Most decently sized cities are actively building startup & tech communities.
Perfect mix of a big / small city .
Tech salaries are higher than London for staff salary people and smaller than US which is just across the border.
Cost of life is expensive but for tech workers is OK. Better than London for sure.