Canada.
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Basically the same weather as any of your northern states...the farther north you go the colder it will get obviously. This winter has been a joke and pretty warm for the most part with hardly any snow.
Tim Hortons is not a version of starbucks or even anything close to it, probably more like a dunkin donuts. The coffee is pretty good but who the fuck cares, and who judges a country based on a retail chain.
Tim Hortons is not a version of starbucks or even anything close to it, probably more like a dunkin donuts. The coffee is pretty good but who the fuck cares, and who judges a country based on a retail chain.
I think it's pretty bad in Quebec, I am not sure. I live in Ontario, and although I do have my share of complaints about the health care, it is not nearly that bad.
I have just gotten a fam dr in less than a month after applying. Set an appointment the next day. Went to see him, got a bunch of blood work referral without any problems.
Europe -> Canada/ Australia -> America
Canada isn't that cold, it depends where you live, Toronto isn't bad. Why not come for 2-3 months see if you like it then gtfo or stay. Also beach affiliate that video is propaganda bullshit, I really hope people don't take it too seriously. There are problems, but not as bad as they proclaim.
Toronto born and raised. Been here 27 years, and still is my favourite city.
Weather is getting better, winters have become mild, and the summers here are awesome. Parties are great, culture is an ethnic melting pot of races from all over the world.
Real estate is constantly growing at a great rate and has already made me 200k+ in just two flips.
People are generally nicer and more accommodating than places ive travelled.
Everything is good except the inner-city traffic and taxes being high, but if your incorporated it isnt even THAT bad.
Weather is getting better, winters have become mild, and the summers here are awesome. Parties are great, culture is an ethnic melting pot of races from all over the world.
Real estate is constantly growing at a great rate and has already made me 200k+ in just two flips.
People are generally nicer and more accommodating than places ive travelled.
Everything is good except the inner-city traffic and taxes being high, but if your incorporated it isnt even THAT bad.
I'm from Detroit, so I could get to Toronto in just under 4 hours. You're right, summer in T.O. is awesome, lots of hot girls of a thousand different ethnicities, cool non-hating dudes and good beer. Ahhh memories.... Props to Toronto. I knew a BAAAAAD chick in London Ontario too!
You never really hear about Canada because we have our shit together. I could never imagine a day where I would even consider wanting to live in the United States. Europe is great for vacationing, and I have quite a bit of family in various parts of Europe but I would never dream of living there (except maybe southern France or Switzerland).
I live in Toronto and this winter has been an absolute joke. Rarely has it gone below 0 Celsius this whole winter. We've had a few days with snow fall, however they have been immediately followed by warm weather (0-5 celsius) so everything melts.
Vancouver - Warmer than Toronto but way more expensive. Close to the Rocky Mountains, Skiing/Snowboarding
Toronto - I'd say Toronto is warmer than NYC or Boston. Getting to be expensive for property. The most 'American' of the Canadian cities, I'd say. A Yank would not feel out of place in Toronto.
Montreal - Colder than Toronto. Not sure what the real estate market is like. City has more of a European feel to it. French is not a MUST as most establishments are Bilingual, and there are English Daily Newspapers, etc.
A Canadian who only speaks English would get snubbed in Montreal, however a foreigner who only speaks English is fine. They tend to snub the rest of the country who don't take Bilingualism seriously.
Those are your big 3 cities anyway. I doubt you'd be looking at Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Quebec City.
Algonquin Park is amazing, and is about 2-3 hours north of Toronto. Can't recommend any hunting but lots of great fishing in Ontario too if you choose Toronto.
I did a lot of business travel in my late twenties and early thirties and I think the two best cities to live in would be Sydney or Vancouver. Right now I live in Vancouver, Sydney was too far away from family to be a comfortable choice.
But I do have to say, real estate in both cities are just super-expensive.
Maybe try living in Canadian city from May-November and hit up Mexico for the winter months?
But I do have to say, real estate in both cities are just super-expensive.
Maybe try living in Canadian city from May-November and hit up Mexico for the winter months?
Avatar-33 mentioned Alberta about being business friendly.. What's that about? How is Alberta?
@trickykid.. Why do you say I may not like Calgary? One of my friends moved there from Tulsa.. His family is kinda liking it there..
Looks like Vancouver or Toronto is the place to be.. I am pretty good with languages (already know a few).. WIll just try to pick up French with some video, movies and Rosetta stone.
Notsure if I will get bored, but always wanted to live on a large property with some hunting ground, maybe a stream or lake or fishing nearby..
@trickykid.. Why do you say I may not like Calgary? One of my friends moved there from Tulsa.. His family is kinda liking it there..
Looks like Vancouver or Toronto is the place to be.. I am pretty good with languages (already know a few).. WIll just try to pick up French with some video, movies and Rosetta stone.
Notsure if I will get bored, but always wanted to live on a large property with some hunting ground, maybe a stream or lake or fishing nearby..
I only left Calgary out because it's not one of 'The Big 3', which are Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal. I've been to Calgary and it's not bad. You can take a short drive to Banff from there to enjoy weekends, mini vacations. Banff is amazing. I honeymooned in Banff, and my wife and I stayed in Calgary a couple of nights before flying back to Toronto. Nothing wrong with Calgary but doesn't seem to have the flair of a big city, and all the charms associated with it. Calgary and Edmonton (even more so) are ALOT colder than Vancouver or Montreal, so that's also why I did not suggest it.
If you want to live on a large property then stay in the US. I was watchign House Hunters with my wife and this couple bought a place...fuck forget where...and it was about 10 times the size of my house and half the price of my house. Vancouver and Toronto are certainly expensive when it comes to real estate. Having said that, I'm sure New York, Boston, Miami etc are also very expensive. Trouble with Toronto is that even the surrounding areas are expensive, whereas I get the impression that if you want to live an hour outside of a major US city, you could do so for cheap. Not so here.
If you're still young and adventurous, you'll hear VanCity & Toronto being the two hotspots for sure.
I've also lived in Toronto for most of my life and I LOL when people picture igloos and eskimos or 9months of winter.
Over the last 30 years I've lived in various spots here from the downtown core up to Markham over to Wasaga Beach and you get different flavors everywhere you go but it's beautiful everywhere and frankly the winters here are rather disappearing (this year has been retarded with about 5 light snowfalls? + temperatures throughout? Today it's hailing/raining but warm).
Downtown is just FULL of life 247, 10 minutes in any direction and it's your typical suburb (NOTE: We are the most multicultural city in the world, so there's tons of 'china towns' and 'polak buildings/hoods' literally all across the board of cultures = translates to amazing food and great diversity among hot women). Never a shortage of social life and shit to do, and I believe Toronto still holds the most dancefloor space per square foot as a city than any other city (our clubbing & concert district has been a hotspot for years).
Forgot where I saw the report but it had 4 of Canada's cities among the top 10 cities in the world to live right now - I'll try to find it.
I've played with the idea of leaving, remaining a citizen but being a resident elsewhere and all that however I'm not ready, and in the meantime I don't think there is another place I'd rather be (sans some of the winter I suppose), especially with the world going apeshit right now.
Property = all depends on what you want in life. I'm doing the whole waterfront property thing shortly to take a break from life (I'm in my early 30's, done well, want to fish now
) and looking at stuff between 300-500K gets you a lot here - however that's not downtown that's an hour or so north. Downtown you're looking at 1M for the same property, in fact I don't know of anything waterfront (true waterfront) downtown that's not in the milly's.
French: I've been learning it since grade 1, stopped in highschool, never really retained it well (already speak 2 languages) and don't find I need it other than when the food aisles have canned goods backwards and french labels show
. You won't need to learn French I don't think I've met anyone that speaks French only (even in Quebec/Montreal - they HATE ON YOU if you can't at least say Bonjour etc but I wouldn't want to live there for more than just language barriers).
People: While in the downtown core it's simply BUSY, nobody stops and talks but at the same time you'll see that common daily interaction between people everywhere is happy go lucky and overly polite.
Crime: Meh, I lived in what toronto would call a ghetto area most of my childhood (Scarbronx) and got to see/do a lot first hand but it's NOTHING compared to the states/other parts of the world. Our ghetto's aren't typically ghetto's and we don't have race wars or class wars (perhaps in subtle ways but that's it).
Terrorism/Sheeple in fear: We don't condone or fall prey to this shit. Almost every single person I talk to in person about world issues and the like, is pretty educated and lives fear free, fully aware of agendas and propaganda. Though I'm sure I don't surround myself with idiots either so that's bias - still you'll notice that we're way too multicultural to try to play this card here, it just doesn't fly.
Advice: March/April shit starts really picking up re weather and night/city life - take a few weeks and visit Toronto and Vancouver and experience it during this transition so you see a good average (if you visit during a harsh winter week you might hate it - if you visit during a hot week in August you won't leave).
Oh Canada!
I've also lived in Toronto for most of my life and I LOL when people picture igloos and eskimos or 9months of winter.
Over the last 30 years I've lived in various spots here from the downtown core up to Markham over to Wasaga Beach and you get different flavors everywhere you go but it's beautiful everywhere and frankly the winters here are rather disappearing (this year has been retarded with about 5 light snowfalls? + temperatures throughout? Today it's hailing/raining but warm).
Downtown is just FULL of life 247, 10 minutes in any direction and it's your typical suburb (NOTE: We are the most multicultural city in the world, so there's tons of 'china towns' and 'polak buildings/hoods' literally all across the board of cultures = translates to amazing food and great diversity among hot women). Never a shortage of social life and shit to do, and I believe Toronto still holds the most dancefloor space per square foot as a city than any other city (our clubbing & concert district has been a hotspot for years).
Forgot where I saw the report but it had 4 of Canada's cities among the top 10 cities in the world to live right now - I'll try to find it.
I've played with the idea of leaving, remaining a citizen but being a resident elsewhere and all that however I'm not ready, and in the meantime I don't think there is another place I'd rather be (sans some of the winter I suppose), especially with the world going apeshit right now.
Property = all depends on what you want in life. I'm doing the whole waterfront property thing shortly to take a break from life (I'm in my early 30's, done well, want to fish now
) and looking at stuff between 300-500K gets you a lot here - however that's not downtown that's an hour or so north. Downtown you're looking at 1M for the same property, in fact I don't know of anything waterfront (true waterfront) downtown that's not in the milly's.French: I've been learning it since grade 1, stopped in highschool, never really retained it well (already speak 2 languages) and don't find I need it other than when the food aisles have canned goods backwards and french labels show
. You won't need to learn French I don't think I've met anyone that speaks French only (even in Quebec/Montreal - they HATE ON YOU if you can't at least say Bonjour etc but I wouldn't want to live there for more than just language barriers).People: While in the downtown core it's simply BUSY, nobody stops and talks but at the same time you'll see that common daily interaction between people everywhere is happy go lucky and overly polite.
Crime: Meh, I lived in what toronto would call a ghetto area most of my childhood (Scarbronx) and got to see/do a lot first hand but it's NOTHING compared to the states/other parts of the world. Our ghetto's aren't typically ghetto's and we don't have race wars or class wars (perhaps in subtle ways but that's it).
Terrorism/Sheeple in fear: We don't condone or fall prey to this shit. Almost every single person I talk to in person about world issues and the like, is pretty educated and lives fear free, fully aware of agendas and propaganda. Though I'm sure I don't surround myself with idiots either so that's bias - still you'll notice that we're way too multicultural to try to play this card here, it just doesn't fly.
Advice: March/April shit starts really picking up re weather and night/city life - take a few weeks and visit Toronto and Vancouver and experience it during this transition so you see a good average (if you visit during a harsh winter week you might hate it - if you visit during a hot week in August you won't leave).
Oh Canada!
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Planning on moving back up to Canada full time. Love it.
Should be noted i lived in Montreal/Toronto for two years (had places in both and would just puddle jump back and forth).
Should be noted i lived in Montreal/Toronto for two years (had places in both and would just puddle jump back and forth).
Canada sucks. I just left and never plan on going back. Its a serious shit hole. Everyone is very self entitled, taxes are through the roof, there are laws against everything. Oh, and forget about having nice weather for 90% of the year. Yes. ITS THAT FUCKING COLD.
Oh.. and before everyone starts screaming about "FREE Healthcare" -- its not "free" when you're paying about 45-50% in tax.
Oh.. and before everyone starts screaming about "FREE Healthcare" -- its not "free" when you're paying about 45-50% in tax.
Vancouver FTW. But like the other guys have said, you have to make enough money to actually enjoy what we have to offer. I'd aim for minimum $50k/year, otherwise, you're better off somewhere else where living costs aren't so high.
And it's not that cold here, it's quite temperate... summers don't get hot, winter's don't get cold. You have to be able to deal w/ grey skies and rain though.. but that just makes the sunny days that much better. You can snowboard, hike, shop downtown, eat at a nice restaurant and end your day at the beach, all in 1 day b/c that's how diverse Vancouver can be.
Health care is good, I don't get sick that much but it's nice going into a Doc/Dentist and not needing to pay. All my hospital visits were pretty smooth too, no horror stories from me.
++ Food is incredible here due to the diverse population
+ Women are beautiful but a little on the unfriendly side. But if you know what you're doing, it takes all of 5 mins to break down those barriers.
And it's not that cold here, it's quite temperate... summers don't get hot, winter's don't get cold. You have to be able to deal w/ grey skies and rain though.. but that just makes the sunny days that much better. You can snowboard, hike, shop downtown, eat at a nice restaurant and end your day at the beach, all in 1 day b/c that's how diverse Vancouver can be.
Health care is good, I don't get sick that much but it's nice going into a Doc/Dentist and not needing to pay. All my hospital visits were pretty smooth too, no horror stories from me.
++ Food is incredible here due to the diverse population
+ Women are beautiful but a little on the unfriendly side. But if you know what you're doing, it takes all of 5 mins to break down those barriers.
Can't beat Montreal in that aspect though.
Montreal has always been ranked as one of the best party spots in the world...
World's Top Party Cities (PHOTOS)
Top 10 Party Cities in North America
Top 10 summer party spots - Travel - Summer Travel - msnbc.com
Bars/Clubs close later than anywhere else in Canada, plus there's a plethora of Afterhour clubs that open from 3AM to 12PM the next day that attract some of the best DJs in the world.
However... no jobs and ass-raping taxes.