Did you know this about Canada?
FEThis post is going to cover 8 facts about Canada you should know, especially if you are thinking about moving there. You may have heard of some of these before, but still they’re important enough to go over for the people who haven’t heard them.
Number 1, the high taxes. Some people may say Canada doesn’t actually have high taxes compared to places like Sweden, where the income tax is about 60 percent. However it’s important to know if you’re moving from a country that has a lower income tax, you can expect taxes to take 15 to 40 percent of your income, depending on how much money you make. To put it into perspective, if you got a job offer in Canada for $100.000 per year, at the end of the year you’d really be getting $70.000. Making a hundred thousand dollars, about thirty percent would be taken away. When you are planning your budgeting and expenses, make sure to take away an extra amount for taxes and not just go with what your salary number is.
Number 2, languages locations. Most people know that Canada has two official languages: English and French. But what’s important to look into before moving there, is making sure you are moving to a place where the main language is the language you speak. If you speak English make sure you’re moving to a place that is primarily English speaking. Currently the only province in Canada that is primarily French-speaking is Quebec. Many people think of moving to Montreal, but sometimes if they’re from a different country they don’t know that Montreal is primarily French speaking.
Number 3, the weather. If you live in Canada, you will likely complain about the weather especially in winter time, it’s actually a very popular conversation topic. In Vancouver as opposed to anywhere else in Canada, it does not snow that much and it does not get that cold there. Before you decide where you’re going to move, make sure you google what the average summer temperature is for that area, and more importantly what the winter temperature is. It’s not uncommon for some places to go ridiculously cold in the winter, it can be so cold that the tears freeze on your face, it does happen. Yet some of those same places can go very warm in the summer. You can also find places that are neutral pretty much the whole year, so it doesn’t get too hot or too cold depending on what type of weather or temperature you’re into.
Number 4, free healthcare. As many people know, Canada has free health care but not everything is free. It’s free if you want to go see a doctor for a checkup, but if they prescribe you pills or medicines, sometimes you will have to pay for those. Sometimes the company that you work for will have a benefits plan where they pay for things like your medicine and prescriptions, but that’s not for every job, so you should ask your employer about their benefits. Also take into account that eye care and dental care is not for free and that’s another thing your employer may cover if they have good benefits.
Number 5, open liquor or drinking in public. Drinking in public is illegal in all parts of Canada besides Quebec where you are allowed to drink in a park if you also have a meal with you. Drinking in public is literally no big deal, but in Canada people will not like it. Usually a lot of people don’t care, but the cops will care of course because it’s against the law.
Number 6, the different lifestyles. Since Canada is such a huge place, there are tons of different lifestyles that people can live. If you wanted to be a cowboy and own a bunch of horses in a farm in the middle of nowhere, you could do it. If you wanted to live a stockbroker lifestyle in the skyscrapers, you could also do that. There are job openings in various provinces and territories in Canada. And there is a place for everyone with different career paths, skill strengths, ranging from blue-collar to white-collar roles.
Number 7, multiculturalism. Canada consists of people from a multitude of racial, religious and cultural backgrounds and the majority of people there are pretty welcoming. You could find someone from every single country in the world just on the streets of Toronto.
Number 8, Canadians are nice. In general you could say that Canadians are a nice group of people, but how nice? They’ll hold the door for you if you’re close enough and if you drop something on the sidewalk they’ll most likely help you pick it up. Evidently these kinds of attitudes changed after the pandemic, but most people are kind there. Of course you will run into people who are rude here and there, just like everywhere. But there’s more nice people than rude people.