Is it worth leaving your home country and move to Canada? Around 300,000 new immigrants that come to Canada each year can’t be wrong.
Pros
All residents in Canada — both permanent residents and Canadian citizens — enjoy many benefits of living in this country, including free health care, free public education, high wages, and more.
Free Health Care System
Canadian citizens and permanent residents, as well as some international students and foreign workers on work permits, may apply for public health insurance. For these categories, health care is free, and health insurance covers all basic services, including diagnostic procedures, nursing services, drugs administered in a hospital, and more.
Free or Affordable Education
Permanent residents up to the age of 18 have the right to free education in Canadian public schools. And when it comes to universities, tuition fees are dramatically lower for permanent residents compared to international student rates.
High Wages
Canada offers high wages especially compared to Asian and CIS countries. It belongs to the top 10 OECD countries with the highest real minimum wages at C$17.4K per year — almost 9 times more than in Mexico, 5 times more than in Russia, and roughly $2K above the US real minimum wage.
Strong Economy
Canada is one of the top 25 world’s wealthiest countries ahead of Japan, France, and Bahrain. It is also one of the top 10 world’s biggest economies in terms of GDP, and #22 in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking ahead of Germany, Austria, France, and many other developed countries.
Strong Banking System
Canada is one of the top three countries with the safest banks in the world. Canada has had only two small regional bank failures in almost 100 years. There are almost 90 banks, nearly 6,000 bank branches, and over 18,600 bank-owned ATMs across the country.
Multiculturalism
People of over 250 ethnic origins live in Canada, and around 40% of the total Canadian population are immigrants and their Canadian‑born children. Among the 20 most common ancestries are British Isles, French, German, Chinese, Italian, and East Indian origins.
Cons
The main drawbacks of living in Canada are high taxes and expensive real estate. However, if you work in Canada for a Canadian wage you’ll still be golden!
High Taxes
Taxes in Canada are high. Canada is one of the top 5 countries by tax revenue as a percentage of GDP. It also has one of the highest maximum combined marginal personal income and social security tax rates (53.5%) among the OECD countries.
Expensive Real Estate
Real estate in Canada is quite expensive with average house prices ranging from C$300,000 to C$600,000 in large cities. But that is nothing compared to Toronto and Vancouver where single-family homes cost C$873,100 and C$1,441,000 respectively. Also, Vancouver is one of the hottest real estate markets in the world.
Need for Car
If you are planning to live outside of Canada’s largest cities, a car is a truly indispensable thing as small towns have limited public transportation which is rarely convenient and is not very extensive. You will also need a car if you like to go on hiking trips, to spend your holidays and vacations in the mountains or by a lake.
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Note that your rights and obligations in Canada may be different depending on whether you are a permanent resident or Canadian citizen. Check these articles to find out more: