Pros N Cons Of Living In Canada

Yes, you can def. lease a car. In some States you can drive using your Indian driving license for up to one year. Some States require IDP.

I have been in US for 10 years and my DH is here for 17 years now and not had any bad experience or any racial discrimination.
Americans are quite chatty and friendly.

Socializing generally happens at home or if weather is good outside is also a possibility. Actually a lot depends on what type of group/s you end up meeting and having a comfortable wave-length.

If you get lucky you end up getting au-pair nanny who is a Nepali or Gujrati aunty and they are good. I have so many friends who have an au-pair and now have become parts of their families.

 

Ashneys, any idea which province they plan to come to. Most of my answers would depend on that. Everything is in the location.

As for the job, it depends on what qualification and experience they currently bring in. But for business, they should be OK to start with a small franchise. If they are new to Canada, perhaps its best if you look at the existing successful model and join the Franchise. Examples are Subway, Tim Hortons, Star Bucks etc. There are plenty of options but I think you will need at least 500 K to start in a successful franchise as you will be using their logo, software etc. Once you know which location they want to come in, I would look at the franchise costs as it vastly depends on the location.

I don’t know how much money they will need to migrate but for a family of 4, downtown Toronto (Ontario Province), the 1 bed room condo rent is around $2,000. If they move out of the city, you are looking about $1200. Then, grocery, utilities etc will add in. So, even if you are very conservative in spending, I would say $3000 per month is bare min for a family of 4.

You will of course need to be a permanent Resident or hold a valid business visa to setup a business.

Any city is OK for Indian families. You are talking about a BIG country here. Perhaps if you drill down to a province, I can help answer this question. I am from Ontario.

The questions about friends is also very generic. For a house wife, I would think she would meet the kids school parents and make friends with them. Or a fitness club or going to library etc. It very hard to talk about friends without knowing few more things. As such, she will have barely enough time for friends when she comes.

There are Public, Private and catholic schools here (Ontario). Public schools are free education. I mean, you pay a big taxes here and so, your health care and schools are free (usually you buy insurance or get it covered through workplace for prescription drugs, dental etc).

You will need a Baptism certificate to join in a Catholic school. Private schools and Montessori starts with about $1200 per kid, per month. So, if you want to be a little conservative to start with, Public schools are the way to go. They are extremely high standard here (don’t think government schools from back home).

It starts getting cold in the beginning of September and stays that way until late April. Coldest months would be Jan and Feb where the temp could dip below -30 D C (without even taking wind chill into account).

Its very expensive to hire help. I would not go that route at all without good source of income.

If you can drill down to a province I can help you. Overall, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are expensive provinces. But, they are also where you can earn a decent living. I would rule Quebec out and all the Union territories. If they haven’t decided on the provinces, perhaps its better to nail that down first.

P.S: If they move to Toronto, I can be her friend

 

Mostly potlucks will be held at home here. To be frank we were never a part of any potluck group. In fact my social life is good only in my present place , we meet in Temple ,and help each other in conducting pooja and baby shower(both at home and temple). It is heavy winter here . so not much socialising outside. We have our mother tongue classes in temple itself. We have Indian association and association for different state people too.
Maybe around 200 Indian families

 

There are many children activities held in churches and also few classes for elders are held in churches near us. We can take permission from the sheriff's office and start classes like story time,value education classes, music classes in church itself. In temple too we can ask the temple's permission and start music class etc.

 

I have visited Canada many times and some of my friends are living there. So the input here is based on that

Pros -

* Good water, air and environmental quality
* high social security (eg :you can get pregnant and you wont lose job, you can take maternity live for more than 1 year or so with reduced salary until you return to job)
*Good basic medical care, insurance low compared to USA
*Education,
*infrastructure,
*public Transportation in cities,
*high living standards
*cleanliness
*safety standards
* law and order
* mixed culture, diversity

Cons:
*weather, very cold during winter times ( September to April, may reach close to -60C in many places) except in some cities like Vancouver in British Columbia
* very difficult to get specialist medical appointments, expensive medicines.
*very expensive housing (rents can be very high - for two bed rooms CAN$ 1000-2000 or above depending on where you are
*high tax rates ( if your monthly salary is CAN$ 5000, you get less than $2500 in your hand due to tax, in addition to it you have to pay annual taxes)
* work experience - not easy to get job especially in professional/skilled level (they ask for Canadian driving licence, degree , experience etc).
* miss your family in India


OP, Landing in Canada without a work visa is not easy on everyone. If its PR, it take time to establish and find a job. First few years after immigration will be difficult. If they are ready to take up any job and face challenges they can try.

Indian society-you will find Indians every where, their population density depend on the area.

It is not easy to hire help as its very expensive. If you have a really good life in India with lot of maids, you may find it difficult initially to adjust . You have to help yourself.

In Vancouver, you may find lot of Asians ( Chinese/japan/Korean/Indian/Srilanken origin etc, ). In Ottawa, especially in some parts, you may think you reached some Arabian/African country (I was there just for two days, dont know about current status)
Avoid Quebec- you need to learn French-look like European style place

some stories: google in youtube and google for more stories
'The move with great expectations'

It is a nice place to live if you can adjust well.

 

Yes, getting jobs in cities is far more easier, assuming they are in mainstream industries. Cities like Toronto (ON), Vancouver (BC), Calgary (Alberta) and depending on what field they are in, even Halifax would be a good choice.


Unfortunately tax is pretty high. We have tax slabs and depending on how much income they make you are looking at some big bucks (at least 32% to 50% even) as income tax. On top of that Ontario also has GST/HST which together is 13%. So, yes, you will spend a LOT on taxes. For jobs, I know people who got a job in 2 weeks’ time when they were extremely hardcore in job hunt. And then there are a few who have been struggling for years. But really though, you don’t have to start at rock bottom if you have good qualification and experience. Doing some company research or getting in touch with people and head-hunters through LinkedIn can start months before the actual move so have some leads even before you get here.

Toronto is extremely multi-cultural city. Its also the Financial hub. Getting a franchise in Toronto may entail a big price tag and a big wait list. Yes, I would think the cost would be upwards of 500K (I am talking downtown). But they don’t have to pay it all right? They can show collateral and apply for small business loans. Toronto is big time into food/coffee/dinks culture. Something in those lines would be a good start. Are you sure they want it? I mean, I heard being a business owner isn’t easy either. Most of the time the first 1 year would not even be enough to break-even. Think this route through if funds are tight.

Don’t worry about horror stories reg job search. Its hard, yes and its stressful, yes. But its not bad. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you go to, you are going to face this.

They do not dismiss you if you don’t have a Canadian experience. You don’t have to start from down below. Of course, if you can’t practise medicine or plumbing or chartered accountancy or real estate, trading etc that need specific Canadian license.

And in Toronto, you don’t need a car right away. I mean, the subway will sustain you until they get a driving license and insurance.

Vancouver (BC) is surely more expensive than Toronto. Alberta, I would say would be more or less same as Ontario. You can survive with 3K per month. Good insurance plan, good place to live etc would mean you are looking to add at least 2 grand more.