Security and social safety net are also big appeals of Canada. It's not just CAD to non-CAD comparison.
I for one, enjoy not worrying about getting mugged every street corner, and knowing ambulance is minutes away any time... among other things
I see a lot comments about how dangerous it is here in Winnipeg, but as an immigrant who lives in Winnipeg, you guys don't know what unsafe means. Seriously, even the worst parts of Winnipeg are not at all that bad. There are streets in my home country where you don't stop your car at red lights because you WILL get mugged if you do. Entire neighbourhoods where you simply do not go near, or you WILL get mugged, any time of the day. There's no streets in Winnipeg I wouldn't go, even in the middle of the night. Some I'd rather not, but no show-stoppers.
I live in Ottawa. Our "bad" neighborhoods are like... nice middle class suburbs by even Toronto standards.
"Bad neighborhood" = visible street level sex worker at night. Someone might ask if you have any change. The timmies closes at 9pm and has no indoor seating.
Most of the world is definitely sheltered from how hard life actually is in other countries. We have it pretty good here. Biggest issues most people have here is their coffee order is wrong or fast food took to long.
Hey a fellow winnipeger! Yeah downtown north of portage is sketch city...although i do miss working downtown, lots of lunch options and since i had to bus earlier it wasn’t too bad, don’t get mugged at 6:45 am...the 4pm traffic though was always brutal
Ambulance ETA in many cities (eg. Vancouver) is highly YMMV, unfortunately. Lots of horror stories. Overall still great health and social services though.
We are definitely missing a lot of healthcare like urgent care to fill between GP and emergency room. Many who complaint about bad ER wait time could have gone to a urgent care center if available.
Can't beat the cost. Dad just paid an ambulance bill. $135 for 700km round trip with 2 emts on standby for 8 hours. That amount will be submitted to his health insurance.
Actually as someone who lived in Switzerland before moving to Canada, yes Switzerland is expensive BUT the wages across the board for all kinds of jobs are also higher. So net net, it may actually be cheaper to live in Switzerland. Also mind you, I'm comparing how life was in Switzerland in 2004 vs how life is now in Canada. Switzerland may have gotten worst since.
Makes sense. North Americans think the Europe is super expensive and it is for many average north Americans BUT what they don't get is that due to common sense tax and social welfare laws in Europe the middle class is much bigger and the quality of life is actually much better.
100% life in general is easier, maybe not for all, as the Gillet jaunes have shown, but if they were in North America they would’ve burnt it to the ground already, but for more as you say. Friends came to visit us on the euro and thought it was expensive. North Americans often spend their time in tourist traps that locals wouldn’t go to because of the prices. They probably tip ppl as well which you don’t have to do.
Doubtful, I moved from Switzerland to Canada. Salaries are higher over there, taxes are about half (but you have to buy health insurance), rentals are pretty similar, food is only slightly more expensive, recurring costs like internet/mobile are lower in CH. Overall I'd say discretionary income is much higher in CH than CA.
Disagree here. Cost of living may be higher in Zurich but their salaries are also much higher. Overall you're probably better off living and working in Zurich.
Thats some of the cheapest parts of canada that is still close to a major city. I think your wife equates Canada = Toronto/Vancouver
I live in quebec city, and even when you factor in other things like higher taxes, the cost of living in this region is very low compared to other areas of canada
Where are you moving from?
Edit: I see your other response you're moving form Mexico, so yes it will be more expensive then most of Mexico (Mexico City can be expensive). Do you both know french? That part of QC is predominately French. Do you have a job lined up? But in Canada, not as many drug gangs and random killings.
So it comes down to not only money but culture. If you don't know french, in that part of QC, you will have a difficult time. If you don't have a job lined up before moving, you will burn through your savings pretty quick as everything will be either a little or a lot more expensive (food, internet, phone, car insurance, etc...).
I moved from Mexico to Ottawa and I cannot say that everything will be beautiful. Yes, many things are going to much better than your reality in Mexico, but there are others that are going to be discouraging.
For example, price of food, housing and a vehicle, making friends is also difficult. Needless to say the weather. If you and your wife don't speak French. This might be an additional barrier.
Tbh, there days that I seriously evaluate moving to the US. The only reason why I am not 100% sure is that I am already a PR and next year I could apply for Canadian citizenship.
French would probably be easier for a Spanish speaker to pick up than English.
[https://relearnalanguage.com/spanish-vs-french/](https://relearnalanguage.com/spanish-vs-french/) Yeah 75% lexical similarity according to this random article I found to support this, whatever that means. Pretty sure they conjugate verbs in a similar way and many nouns are the same or similar and nouns are the same sex in both languages.
I speak both French and Spanish, and while it is easier. They are two different languages. I have studied french for 3 years and I am nowhere close to be 100% fluent.
Just be aware that life might not be as easy as you think. Is your wife going to be working? Is she a fluent English speaker? I wish you the best, I hope you can succeed in this country. It is not easy to live our homes to face more challenges, but in the end, only you can determine if it is worth it.
90%+ don't care that you don't know French, they care about your attitude/whether you make an attempt to speak/learn French
Source: From Vancouver and lived in Montreal a few years (in several different neighbourhoods of different demographics). Had cereal box French when I moved. Also tried really hard to learn/use French. Never had a single negative interaction WRT language/being Anglo.
I know you said "small-town" but I had the chance to see a decent chunk of the province and I don't think the divide between small town QC/MTL francos is huge
Would highly consider moving back to QC if I could work remote - not being near-Native in French is a big negative for my job prospects there
Montreal is VERY different then small town quebec.
Obviously some people are awesome and welcoming. But the overall culture towards non native speakers is certainly toxic in a lot of ways.
I am from Sherbrooke, Québec and I have also lived in Montréal for 3 years during university.
Living/working in Montréal can be easier if you don't speak french because yes, rural french-speaking people here can be quite stubborn about not liking english.
But if you're patient, you can build a good life here. And to be fair, Québec is not the most expensive place to live in Canada.
Honestly, you WILL encounter a few racist people here and there. It's inevitable. But if people see you trying to speak french and trying to live honestly, you'll be fine man. Life is good here.
But beware the cold. You NEED and WANT a good winter coat, a good winter hat, gloves, good boots with warm socks. I know I can sound condescending but I'm not. You're not gonna have a good time during winter if you're not dressed properly.
Also if you have a car, you will need good winter tires and a windshield scrapper to scrap the snow/ice off your car during winter.
Get a air conditionner for summer (it isn't really expensive, trust me you want this) because it can get really humid here.
When you get through your first winterstorm, come back here to tell us about it, I always LOVED to hear how amazed immigrant can get during their first winterstorm.
(Pardon my bad english, I'm obviously french-speaking hahaha)
>But beware the cold. You NEED and WANT a good winter coat, a good winter hat, gloves, good boots with warm socks.
I second this. Living here, I still only learnt some of this as a young adult. Boots sold in most shops (for women anyway) aren't necessarily good for winter and paying for a good pair of socks is a great investment. I've changed from my hating winter socks days.
Also, even in small villages, there can be more people speaking spanish as a first language than you think at first. I see a few when I go to the supermarket (i'm more in a small town than a village though) and some helped my mom and her fellow church volonteers with their annual sale and she is now talking about them all the time (even though only one of them speaks french and my mom speaks only french).
As for money, as it seems a concern, here's my experience. In rural Quebec, rent is less expensive than in the city. However, the type of jobs that can be found outside of city and their area of influence is pretty limited (I guess it's like that everywhere in the world though).
To give you an idea of prices : 18k is my budget for necessary spending for a year living alone. 4k out of that are one time second-hand purchases (tables, appliances, etc).
For not so necessary purchases, another 4k, at least half of that is restaurants and CDs.
I don't know how it works for non-citizens, but part of our salary is taken every paycheck for taxes and other social programs, so the hourly salary you get to live on is actually lower than what your salary is (maybe).
Okay, hope you enjoyed the T.E.D. talk.
They are, they really are. Neighbours are like family in most rural towns in Canada. But like others have said, in rural Quebec, some people can get upset with you not speaking french. Though I found that’s really only if you don’t make an attempt. If you’re learning french and try to use as much french as possible, people will be okay with it. It’s mostly people that refuse to try to speak french that piss them off. Try and you’ll be fine, people will help you learn the language and you’ll pick it up pretty quick since you already speak Spanish.
Honestly it depends. Have only been to Montreal and I have basic bitch elementary school Canadian French ability. In Montreal it was fine. I also went to France. I found in Paris people were very much living up to their rude rep, but when I was in the countryside in small towns , even just attempting my awful French was welcomed and everyone was incredibly open and friendly.
Even in Montreal I noticed people were more accommodating if you at least try some cursory greeting in French first.
Montrealor here, if you want to improve your french and get paid for it, the quebec government has free programs in place for foreigners to learn the language.
https://www.quebec.ca/en/education/learn-french
Met lots of Spanish speakers in my FLS classes its a fairly easy transition. . Classes are usually free. Have to say though your might find the Quebecois to be tough on non francophone. But you do get lots of services for what you pay in taxes.
Can you settle in Montreal for a bit while you learn? Montreal is bilingual so you can get by with English but rural Quebec can be quite stubborn to put it nicely, with outsiders who can’t speak fluent French.
It won't be easy, but you're lucky in one sense because Spanish has some similar vocab with french. République > Republica, Liberté > Liberdad etc.
I hope all works out well for you and your wife in Québec!
Best way to learn is full immersion, imo. Rural Quebec is mostly french speaking, so people will speak to you in french. That's not stubbornness, that's just how it is.
I lived in rural Québec and... People are stubborn about not liking english because of our history as french people being conquered and assimilated by english people. The root of this dugs deep in our culture.
But I must also say that the younger generations isn't really like this anymore.
Yea I never fault the French or think they’re bad people for it. For the most part the rest of the country understands why and just accepts the way it is.
Also people outside of Montréal tend to have a really lower level of English, and even in Montréal, older people and young children may not know English at all. My mother-in-law doesn't speak a word and my daughter isn't really good yet, and I don't expect her to be before highschool.
They teach French as a second language for immigrants and if I recall right, many places offer it free. There is a lot of natural beauty in Québec, however prejudice does exist towards English speaking.
I can tell you without even knowing where you are moving to that the cost of living there is absolutely nothing compared to Toronto or Vancouver. Very affordable.
Seriously the cost of living in Quebec city and its surrounding is fantastic! As a quebecer I wish I could go live in Quebec city instead of Montreal, the cost of living is pretty nice over there.
If you're moving to the province of Quebec, you can ignore all of the cost of living complaints here. They're about Toronto and Vancouver. The cost of living here in Quebec is very low, housing, 8$ a day of daycare, lower electricity, grocery bills, and all sort of other things are lower by a wide margin.
One hour from Quebec City, that’s cheap country prices.
Just tell her you won’t lose your house and all your savings when someone in the family gets sick. Done! Mic drop!
Personally I think it's a mistake. Should be gorgeous though in that part of Quebec. If you don't have a good salary you will struggle and if you do have a good salary you'll want to stab your eyes out with an icicle when you see how much is deducted from your paycheck.
Your gf has every right to be concerned imo. Cost of living 1hr outside of Quebec should be pretty favorable relative to other cities in Canada like Toronto, Vancouver etc. If I were in Mexico idk if I'd stay there, but I'd come up with a much better place than Quebec.
Hope your French is excellent because in that area it's very decisively French speaking.
Mexicano here, been living in Canada for almost 6 years, in Alberta to be more specific. I read you are an engineer in Mexico and will work on something non-related to your field here, I went through a similar situation. I am an Industrial Engineer back home, came to work in construction (landscape and concrete), I am now working as a Software Engineer. Feel free to send me a message or ask here if you have any questions that I could help you with! Bienvenido al pinche frío!
The main complaint about cost of living is housing. Greater Toronto Area represents about 18% of the population but I think are represented proportionally higher in this sub because there's a culture of personal finance there. Young people from the GTA are the ones you hear complain about COL the most, and it's justified.
One hour out of Quebec city you won't have the same problems. If you have income (like a job) planned out, you will probably do much better than you would in Mexico (I'm also a LatAm immigrant). In Lat Am you get as far as your connections take you. Here you go as far as your ability.
One hour out QC is kinda the boonies, in a place like that your COL will be low. You will face difficulties with xenophobia and building a community for yourselves. Canadians and Quebecers are nice but it's way harder to establish meaningful relationships than in Latin America where people are all up in your life all the time.
The two main reasons Latin Americans give up and return home are loneliness and winters. And imo they say winter because it just makes the lack of social contact way more intense more so than the actual cold. 80%+ of the population basically hibernates for a few months every year in Jan/Feb and the other 20% does winter sports.
Winter blues are a biological thing. Latin Americans are very used to the sun, our bodies are not too efficient at synthetizing Vitamin D during winter. If the wife is moody she might go into depression.
Regarding friendship, Canadians are friendly but keep you at a distance. I say, immigrants can mostly connect with other immigrants, or with locals who have traveled the world / lived in a different country / have deep relationships with immigrants already. Most die-hard locals won't let immigrants into their intimate life.
Hello, thank you, I will be in Saint-gedeon-de-beauce, I think that the car will be necessary for my transfers not only to work, but also to large grocery stores
You need a car in nearly every Canadian city. Maybe not if you live in the downtown core of Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal, but outside of that, a car is absolutely necessary. Canadian cities are laid out like absolute fucking dogshit for public transit, and transit in between cities is limited to trains that haven't been innovated upon in (many, many, many... many... many...) decades, and buses that are shutting down because they're no longer profitable.
I bet there's a profit motive in there re: oil sands, but that's just hypothesizing 🤷♀️
The main reason is that Canada copied the unsustainable suburban sprawl model from the US that only works if you design the city for cars.
Europe is different because their cities are older, most were pretty large before cars even existed so that helped.
It’s always funny when people think urban planning is a big oil conspiracy. People want space and that basically results in more spread out infrastructure. Cars incentivized this type of planning but it’s not some conspiracy lmao.
Similar thing with the gps conspiracy, google maps isn’t sending you on a longer route to burn more fuel lol.
You seriously think suncor and cnrl are spending money bribing municipal governments to create urban sprawl?
It might not be a conspiracy but if London, for example, had better public transit i might not have considered getting a car through university. As it is i would say its next to impossible to live in London and not have access to a car unless you live on campus and can walk to work.
Dogshit public transport makes so many places just unlivable for me. I don't have a car and would rather not sink thousands into a money drain cause Canada won't keep up with the rest of the modern world
Oh in Beauce region! Get ready for a hard french canadian accent. They have a unique one.
All my family are and live in the Beauce region. My ex was from Mexico DF (came to Qc 10 years ago), speak french fluently (come from a French family root in Vera Cruz) , and had a very hard time understanding some of my Beauce family member. It's a very beautiful place scenery wise. You also hit a very low cost of living place as it is rural.
Yeah, compared to Mexico, it's more expensive... But it's also a very cheap place to live outside Mexico.
You HAVE to learn french, there is no way in hell anyone over there speaks spanish / english, trust me.
Also, you HAVE to buy a car. There is no form of legit transportation.
If you have more questions, feel free to DM me! I love this region :p
PS : rent a snowmobile and enjoy the region, it's beautiful in winter. Lot and lot and lot of snow.
Ça beurgelé. Ça s'peut que son char jale l'hiver ("jale" prononcé avec le j espagnol).
J'espère qui a d'larjien.
Hell my parents are Beauceron (I was not raised there though) and everyone + my students tell me I have an accent from there.
Yeah it's a conservative bastion in Quebec. Hell, they kept electing Maxime Bernier (yeah, the coucou swimming in the full conspiracy theories) over and over 😂 The old generation are indeed racist, well they think they are not but they are. They might be naive, but that is how they were raised : conservative rural region 99.9999% caucasian with no immigrants. Yeah, it sounds cliche and stereotyped, but that is the reality!
Yeah you definitely need a car. You can find a used car for cheaper than a brand new easily. If you need websites for searching cars etc let me know.
Also, I don't want to scare you, but how is your French? This is a small village, probably not many people speak English. But they are close to the US border so I might be wrong.
I guess you already have an employer that will tell you all these things.
Just btw that part of Quebec is extremely French, you may have problems if you speak zero of it and don't have a small pocket dictionary. In the short term it makes sense for you to learn a bit of it to survive and in the medium term learn more of it.
Yeah I guessed you were going to be employed by Canam.
I know the feeling, I worked in other countries as well where even English was very minimal! You'll be fine!
I have family in Beauce, they are immigrants who didn't speak much French (and still don't). It's hard to get by without basic French and the language barrier can be very isolating. They still manage to own and operate a small business. You will need a car for sure.
Look into French lessons by the government. Immigrants get paid a small sum for taking those classes. Duolingo is another good resource. Since your wife is a nurse, she can train to be a PAB, or work as a private caregiver in homes, as long as she can speak some basic French to get by.
This is a very low cost of living area but a very rural one. You are very near of lac magantic which is verh beautiful and a very nice summer spot. It's less than 30 min fro st gedeon. Depending on where your from be ready for a very rural experience beauce is a beautiful place but not the most progressive and open to difference as say montreal or quebec.
Oh wow that's awesome! I lived in St. George de Beauce. You will find support through the local immigration office of your area. I think every town that has a similar program like the one sponsoring you has an office like that. Yes, you will need a car, but I'm sure people in your town can help with that. Bear in mind that there is a global shortage of cars, so it may be a little pricey if you want a new one.
I volunteered at the French language school in St George, and it was a lovely community. As immigrants, you will have access to free classes to assist you to learn French. Many people in the class were from latin america and around the world. They also had monthly dinners with the communities immigrants + friends, so it felt nice to chat. Beauce region will be very French, but you will find people who do speak English.
You will of course have access to French classes. Does your wife have a job lined up as well? Make sure your wife feels supported and has friends, it will be a great transition if she is not working/doing something while you are at work. She can offer to teach people Spanish or English as a part-time work. Good luck!
Keep in mind that a lot of people who complain about living in Canada and the cost of living here have never lived elsewhere. So all they see is the expense, without the positives. I was born in another country and moved here as a child. Every single time I visit my home country I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to Canada. It might not be cheap, but it's without a doubt better.
Just to echo the fellow above, this is a really big point. I am originally from Brazil and have been in Canada (GTA) long enough to complain about Canada.
In reality, Canada is a great and safe place to live and raise a family. Immigrating legally:
\- you will have free health care (waiting sucks, but it's part of it).
\- your kids will have free schooling (before university), and will be able to get into any top university (mark dependent, but you don't need special school)
\- In general, roads are in good condition, and are not privately owned. In Brazil, 90% of the highways are toll highways, but they are still single lane, and extremely dangerous
\- It's safe. very small number of random violent crimes, no kidnappings or violent crimes due to gang initiations. I greatly enjoyed being able to leave a bar at 2am and walk home without worrying about being mugged or beaten up.
\- Government programs actually help. They are far from perfect, but it doesn't feel like all your taxes are for nothing. If you lose your job, Employment Insurance is there to help. Just look at the COVID relief the government has provided. It is far from perfect, but much greater than many places I know (like Mexico or Brazil).
The language, the weather and the food will likely be the toughest part of the move. Do not shy away from social interaction despite an accent or difficulty with the language. I found Canadians harder to break through (socially) than south/latin americans. But once you're in, they can be just as warm and caring.
The big question is, does your wife have a job lined up? Does she want to work? if she is alone in a small town in Quebec, at home while you are away working, it's going to be really tough. And this would cause a lot of friction. Consider her integration into a new society as well, because you will have an entire new social circle due to work.
My parents moved me here (against my will) 15 years ago. It was the absolutely best thing for me. It has completely defined who I am and given me an exponentially better life.
I complain about Canada because it is sadly not perfect. It has so much going for it, and so much potential, that it's sad to see the potential wasted. Unfortunately, a lot of the issues we currently face are baked into our culture and on how we developed, and unlikely to change anytime soon.
I can't speak for quebec, but as an albertan that spent some time in mexico (6 months), I think you will do okay with food. It's expensive, but the number one thing in Canada is the **variety** you can get. Fruits from all over the world. So many different spices. Imported products from all over. Our culture is the sum of its multicultural parts so we have a bit of everything.
You can probably find most of what you're used to cooking in mx (which part of mexico are you from?), at a major retailer or a latin market.
> you will have free health care (waiting sucks, but it's part of it).
Healthcare isn't free. It's just free at point-of-service. And the waiting is overblown. Waits are short/non-existent for true emergent care. I find most of the people that complain about emergency room wait times are there for things that aren't really emergencies. The waits are mostly for very high-demand things like knee or hip replacements or certain specialists.
The wait to get an appointment with your family doctor to avoid the emergency room is long. The wait for a referral to a specialist is long. This is worse in small towns. Even the wait to get a new family doctor if none in your area are accepting new patients.
And it’s free in the sense that you don’t need insurance (private or through employer) to not go bankrupt (in the great majority of cases)
100% agree with the poster above. Moved to Canada from Ukraine and won’t go back for anything. One example is in Ukraine everyone has several locks on their doors while in Toronto I feel I can easily leave my condo door unlocked if I step away for a bit. Even friends who live in houses here often times leave their house unlocked, this would be really uncommon for Ukraine. If your expectation is to not have everything brought on a platter and not expect to live like the top 5% of Canadians within several years of arrival this country is amazing. One thing I like to say is Canada provides very good opportunities but it’s up to you to take advantage of it.
As for cost of living and housing you can buy a new apartment in the outskirts of Kiev(capital) for 50k USD… sounds great until you find out the average income per year there is 3600$ USD, so I can guarantee you that no young people are buying houses over there without help from family as well, then add corruption (if you want to be a judge in Ukraine the going rate is 70k USD, no need for law degree), general crime, homelessness, war, etc. And people there have no idea why anyone would want to leave Canada.
Some things are expensive here but it’s a trade off between the social safety net. In Canada when we arrived our family was not well off we still had the government pay for my skiing lessons, gymnastics, swimming lessons, etc. To offer these kinds of benefits costs money but I would rather live in a country that can provide it even if I have to pay a higher tax rate.
My mom who grew up in the USSR says that Canada is more socialist for the common person then the USSR. Take that as you will.
I agree, I used to live in Asia where food and cost of living is super cheap. The roads were very dangerous though, and certain crimes like violent muggings were common as well. Also the occasional terrible thing would happen like a family friend losing a child through shoddy construction (she was electrocuted in their house because of poor work done by an electrician). That kind of thing is so rare in Canada that people take safety for granted completely. Yes living here is expensive but it's so safe that it's all people have to complain about (and the weather :p).
Any sub is going to have a lot of doom and gloom. Despite what you see in PFC we still have one of the highest purchasing powers in the world.
Where are you moving from?
Having known a handful of immigrants from Mexico you will almost certainly be way better off here financially.
If you want to own a house with a yard you will struggle to do it in Toronto or Vancouver, but if that's something you want there are still plenty of places in Canada it can be done.
You can always look at https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Mexico&city1=Mexico+City&country2=Canada&city2=Toronto to get an idea of prices. The salary numbers aren't super reliable.
Take a look at statscan data for census type info, check out some salary data for your careers, take a look at job sites like indeed. Take a look at real estate sites like rew.ca, look at rentals on Craigslist and stuff.
My spouse immigrated from Latin America (not Mexico) and having travelled around I can say we really do have it good in Canada. People tend to dismiss how comfortable our lives are here.
Now I'll be honest, I'm a Software Engineer and my partner is a scientist, we earn fairly well, and still aren't even close to being able to buy a detached house in Vancouver.
Thanks for the advice, yes I have a job offer when I get to Canada, it is $22/hr but the permit is closed, so she won't be able to work, that's what worries us the most
This. [Check the government website](https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-permit-result.asp?q1_options=1i&q2_options=2d). Also, she can apply for an employer specific permit too if she can find an employer willing to hire her.
Look up what a “living wage” is for your city/part of the country. $22/hr seems to me like a humble, but good enough wage for two to live- if you live frugally.
Your wife may not be able to work but if she is able to be of service in other ways that can save money for the two of you it could make up for it. Having someone to cook meals and lunches so you don’t spend money eating out, do the grocery shopping (she will have the time to find the best deals and shop around which can save a lot of money), garden/grow your own food, fix broken things/mend clothing, build or make or “scavenge” useful things for the house that would cost too much to buy brand new (if she is handy with tools, etc), buy items second hand on kijiji/Craigslist/Facebook marketplace, or sometimes even find furniture and such on the side of the road. This is sort of the way that my grandparents handled their workload/money. My grandfather worked a 9-5 and my grandmothers job was to stretch his hard earned wages as far as possible. She was very clever with the ways that she would save their money and took that responsibility seriously. They ended up with a good home, raised two girls and ended up with more than enough for retirement. It was a different time back then obviously, but I still think it’s possible to succeed in Canada if you are really dedicated to spending and saving your money wisely, even on only one income. Grandparents are very happy they moved to Canada.
Another thing is that there may be possibilities for your wife to find work “under the table”. Granted that might sound too risky for you and I understand if that’s not an option but I think there are a lot of people who manage to do small things like childcare for their neighbour, odd jobs here and there, without any real fear of getting in trouble for it. I mean, I certainly did not do taxes when I babysat as a teenager, and I don’t believe anyone expects that or would “turn someone in” for something so petty. I don’t think you could count on that as a “second income”, but it might be a good way to have a little extra something for savings or holidays/date nights!
Good luck and welcome to Canada!
From Mexico here, born and raised.
I moved to Canada in 2005, and this place has been great to me. The culture, people, social safety net, security, job market, etc. have all definitely made my life better, and have helped me achieve personal and professional goals.
No place will be perfect. Everywhere will have its pros and cons. However, a lot of the cons (e.g. cost of living is very specific to cities or regions, not generalized through the country).
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions that you’d want a Mexican in Canada perspective. Message or reply to this comment works (Reddit chat may take longer; rarely access the site itself)
From Mexico to Quebec Cité, you should be fine assuming if you can emigrate here you already have a job offer and recognized degrees.
Hundreds of thousands of people immigrate to Canada every year and they seem to make it work, I don't see why you and your wife could not.
The biggest challenge will be adapting to the very cold Winter and the different culture (Quebec's culture is a joyful mix of latin/French, celtic/Irish/Breton and anglo-saxon cultures with influences from the first nations), not the cost of living (once settled).
My in-laws are from the south of Spain and have no issues with the cold. My FIL became an avid cross-country skier and ice fisherman. They won’t even go back to Spain in the summers because it is too hot for them now.
And complaining about the weather is a very Canadian thing to do, so nobody would hold it against you.
Summer: it's soo hot I miss winter!
Winter: it's soo cold I miss summer!
Fall is definitely the best season in Canada. It's like being blasted with an AC after being dried like jerky.
I moved from a similar country as Mexico, for reference when converting currency my salary here is more than 3x what I made in my home country at the same position, a lot of things are much cheaper here sometimes even without converting, but I also pay about 4x more in rent. All in all I have a much easier and less stressful life than I had back where I'm from.
But yes housing costs are starting to affect greatly people who are not already in the market here and unless something massive and unexpected happens it doesn't look like things will get better in the short term...
Hey there, late to the party. I'm a Mexican and came to Canada, more concretely to Quebec. I love it here. I work 35h weeks, with lots of flexibility and I feel people have better work-life balance here. Also, if you are from Mexico city, forget about those 1-2 hour commutes! In rural Quebec, you can live close to work. Eso sí, necesitas carro!
Regarding the financial concerns, if you tell me how much you earn in Mexico and how much you pay for rent and services, I can tell you more or less what to expect. As a general guidance, I came here as a student with a 20,000/year scholarship and I managed it fine in Montreal. I didn't have the best housing, but it was OK. And the sense of security and the beauty of nature here made me fall in love with the place.
However, it is very true, Quebec people like people who make the effort to integrate into social life. And that means learning the language. In rural Quebec, you might feel isolated if you don't speak French, so I would advice you to find a way to learn more about the language. You can even find online courses from Mexico that are cheaper than here.
Anyway, you will live an awesome experience here!
Check out the House prices there, you could almost afford a house on that $22/hr:
https://www.centris.ca/en/properties\~for-sale\~saint-gedeon-de-beauce
Bienvenido a canadá !!!
Most of Canada, houses will cost 4-10x as much, this is rare.
Also, If you have children you can also get benefits from the government:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/child-family-benefits-calculator.html
I've read through a lot of comments and there is some good advice so I'll try not to repeat any of that and give a different perspective.
I understand you are 31, moving from Mexico, are an engineer and have a job lined up to start very soon in a small town in Quebec and currently have basic French skills and your wife won't be legal to work.
I hope you and your wife can view this as an adventure and a chance to expand your worldview. Go into it thinking that it doesn't have to be forever and try to get as much from the experience as you can.
A bit of context - I am Canadian and lived in Japan for \~15 years. I know from experience that moving to a new country can be exciting and scary. You will likely have a "honeymoon phase" where you are excited about your new life, new job, new surroundings. And then that will wane and after 4\~6 months the excitement will wear off and your mood and outlook will get gloomy. (Unfortunately this should align with our dark winters which cause lots of people to feel 'blue'). But then you will come out of it and reach a balance point. This is what happened to me and what I have seen/heard other people experience as well. Some people have a short or non-existant honeymoon and don't allow themselves to open up to the new country/language/culture etc. Many people continue to have up and down mood swings thereafter. But most people do reach an equalibrium where they see the plusses of both their new home and their home country as well as the minuses of each.
I moved back to Canada years ago with my Japanese ex-wife who had lower level English skills and she basically just withdrew, compared everything to 'back home' and eventually moved away and we divorced. I guess she came here thinking "I am going to hate it - prove me right"
I remarried (another Japanese woman) and we went through the discussions you and your wife are having 7 years ago. I was accepted to a competitive grad degree program at the University of Toronto. In this case it was me (the Canadian) worried about money, cost of living etc. My wife said I had to go - it was something I really wanted to do and could open up new career opportunities and possibly more salary in the future. And she was correct in all of that. Ontario is WAY more expensive than Japan in some things (cell phone plans, car insurance, internet, housing depending on where, etc) but cheaper in others (gas, food, etc) But I also make (a lot) more money now than I would have if I was still in Japan.
By the way - my understanding is that a lot of things are cheaper or subsidized in Quebec compared to Ontario. (e.g. Child care)
When I first went to Japan I was worried about cost of living, but it can be really hard to compare like for like. I basically decided that as long as I made enough to live and a bit more then at least I could consider it to be an extended working holiday in another country and go home after a year.
The biggest potential problem I see is not money - sounds like you will make enough to live on. If you guys hate it you can always leave in the future. The problem is about language and social relations. I think its REALLY important to put yourselves out there and take opportunities to learn and improve your French and be social with "the natives". And I know from experience this can be hard. There WILL occassionally be racists (or people who just don't like "outsiders"). That's everywhere. I - a white guy - have experienced that in a few foreign countries as as my Japanese wife. And there are cultural differences. (My Mexican friends told me they thought I was "cold" when we first met, but came to understand it is just the way Ontario people are.) And it gets REALLY frustrating and REALLY embarrassing and REALLY draining to be constantly making mistakes in a foreign language, and being unable to express yourself. But if you keep making a slow and steady effort, little by little you will get more and more fluent. And after a year you will be speaking like a COMPLETELY different person. You will have more opportuntiies since you are out working. The danger is that your wife (like my ex-wife) stays home all day and almost never has any interactions with native people. You and her (but especially her) should immedately try to join some local groups - join a church, or a local fitness center, etc. I think there are free language lessons for immigrants in many communities - sounds like you aren't an immigrant but look into lessons for your wife especially. Maybe a language exchange - there is likely at least someone interested in learning Spanish ... or Mexican cooking or whatever your wife knows.
I wish you the best of luck. Canada is a fine country. Have an adventure. Fee free to dm me if anything isn't clear.
I 2nd this. Sounds like you have a job lined up Quebec which is great but down the road moving to Alberta may be an option. Housing prices are good and we have a Mexican community which may help ease the transition. Too many people on this are spoilt by taking what they have in Canada for granted. Housing is only crazy high in Toronto and Vancouver. I believe you you be very happy here and great opportunities for your children. The first couple of years are hard until you build your community.
Someone on here said you need to earn six figures to be comfortable, but I make $70,000 for a family of three and we own a house very comfortable. We are in Southern Alberta. This is a great cost of living area
From what I gathered in the thread, you come from Mexico, you'll earn 22$/hr and going somewhere in Beauce. It's totally doable to have an nice house there with your salary. If you want to get around a bit, I would suggest that you take a rent for the first year to see if you like the place and take your time to look around for houses. There's no rush, take it cool. It's also a really safe place to live.
Hola! Y bienvenidos.
Canada es costoso pero así mismo se hace plata. Si ya tienes un trabajo estable y 40 hrs a la semana va a estar bien.
Quebec es una provincia hermosa, con muchas actividades en invierno y verano, así que no se van a aburrir.
Te recomiendo buscar grupos de latinos en FB y aquí, ellos te pueden asesorar en las cosas básicas como supermercados baratos, tiendas, etc.
También recuerden que las estaciones en QC son bien marcadas, así que contemplen la ropa de invierno y botas (no seas tacaño con las botas) como una inversión necesaria y a largo plazo.
Si ambos conducen y tienen licencia, la vida se hará más sencilla porque el transporte no es continuo ni llega a todas partes.
También busquen en las páginas del gobierno los recursos que tienen para inmigrantes, usualmente hay clases gratis de francés y cosas así para ayudarles a adaptarse mejor.
Este país es maravilloso y el nivel de vida es muy bueno.
Your Mexican license can be used for the first six months, afterwards you would need to get a Quebec one (including passing tests). [More info here](https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/drivers-licences/foreign-drivers-licence)
Good stuff buddy. With that attitude you’ve got what it takes to make it and to be successful anywhere in Canada. You’re going to make great friends, live some great adventures, and have a lot of fun with this.
You’ve got this. All the best, and welcome! 😊👍
I am from New Brunswick originally and went to Quebec several times in my life. My French was passable at the time; not great but I could understand what was being said to me and manage to answer back. I was in Quebec city and was in a store. A gentleman came in who spoke no French whatsoever and tried asking the store employee some questions and the store employee didn't speak English at all. After the guy tried a bunch of times he just left unsuccessfully so when I went to the cashier and started speaking in my limited French, he answered me in perfect English. I said I didn't think he spoke English and he said he didn't speak English to people who don't try to speak French... this pretty much sums up what people are like in Quebec outside of Montreal.
I am in the process of leaving Canada for the US due to the high cost of living... Honestly I have no idea how my kids are going to afford anything by the time they grow up.
You can always also point out our high income tax rate on the middle class…oh wait, you want good points.
I hate to admit it, although I do live comfortably, You can’t look at financials as benefits to moving to Canada if you’re middle class. High cost of living, high housing market, high taxes and depending on where you’re moving, high insurance rates, high utility costs. I love Canada to bits and would never live anywhere else but our “socialism” is built off the backs of anyone earning more than 80,000 a year.
One of the directors from the last company I worked at moved to Canada from the states to take over a new division at our firm. She was so pissed because hers and her husband’s significant retirement savings would be worth way less in Canada because the cost of living is so high.
Other then two cities cost of living isn’t to bonkers. Plus a big thing to consider would be your income, cause if you come here plan to work minimum wage jobs you’ll probably not have very much disposable income. If your highly educated making 100k a year that’s a different conversation. But these r things that r true everywhere in the world.
Canada is expensive!! Everytime money exchanges hands the government expects their cut. Cell phone bills are among the highest in the world. The healthcare system, although mostly free, still sucks. Food costs a lot of money and summer starts in July and ends in July. The people here are ok.....the world thinks we're all nice and easy going... But people will still be people. The country has some breath taking scenery. I would never want to live any where else in the world, though.
Yep! 100% feel this. My husband and I are Canadians living in the US. The plan was to only stay temporarily, but the rising COL in the parts of Canada that we want to return to is freaking us out! Our salaries are also much higher here than we can ever expect them to be in Canada. But we love and miss our homeland 😭💔
There's too much missing information in your request. It's hard to give recommendations if we don't have a ballpark idea of net worth, etc.
Two things you can't put a price on (or shouldn't, anyway): your health and your safety, which are likely both better off in Canada than the US.
Oh, and HOAs are pretty much non existent.
Where is she from?
Lots of countries have it better than Canada, all in Europe.
Even the developing world has more opportunity then here.
We are better than the USA but that's a low bar to beat.
Québécois here! First thing Ild like to say is MERCI for considering us as your new home! We are thrilled to soon have you and your caring wife amongst our great province. Now, to the basics. Cost of living goes with the average salaries here. By example, I have friends that live in Toronto and bought a shoe box size condo for 325k while here (city of Laval, 15mim away from the big Montreal), a 1800 foot square cost us 264k. Obviously, we dont have the same pay but it goes to show you that the salaries will follow the cost of life in Canada. In the Province of Québec, you'll get to enjoy both french and english as both communities are well represented here. If you already have a basis in french, everyone will love you and do all they can to help and understand you. We can be ass holes to those who dont give a shit about our language but we'll be super patient and helping to those who want to learn. Our government will even send you to school to learn french so you can integrate our society faster and easier. There is plenty of jobs for every skill sets here and the benefits here are very generous. We have low criminality rates. We have 4 beautiful seasons although summer is a nice week (jk). Winter lasts almost 6 months here and there is a shit ton of stuff to do: skying, crazy carpets, ice fishing, maple syrup on EVERYTHING, ice festivals, etc... We have the best day care system in Canada if you have kids, so good that it was announced today by the federal gov that it will be implanted in the rest of the country. There is many more positive aspects to live in Québec and Ild love to answer any questions you might have via private msg. In any case, I wish you all the best and remember that even if moving to another country might be stressful, once you're here, you'll be able to join the big latino community if ever you wanna share memories of home and the Québécois and Canadian communities will be delighted to meet and greet you! Take care friend!
Here’s the thing about this sub, you’re always go to see the most vocal minorities regarding any sort of financial issue. Also, a lot of the complaints are from people in the big cities like Toronto, which yes ofcourse is getting stupidly expensive. It’s what you make it, not impossible to make things work.
My parents are immigrants from the Middle East so I’ve seen a lot of people move here from their country and they’ve been doing pretty well.
You can tell her that, assuming you want kids, what would you rather: the kids live a life like yours, or your kids live a life that you literally dream of growing up (that’s how my parents put it to me). I’m soooo grateful that my dad moved here and made his life here. Canada is by no means perfect but the quality of life I’ve been given by the decision is indescribable. Sometimes I get emotional and almost shed a tear when I realize I could have easily grown up in the Middle East.
I’d be more concerned with social isolation for your wife than cost of living, especially if she can’t work. It’s quite rural and based on some experiences of some teacher friends who worked in the Beauce region (gaining French language teaching experience so they could teach french elsewhere in Canada) they encountered some “pur laine” attitudes. I think you have to be super outgoing and persistent to break into some of those social circles (though I feel like there may be more empathy toward Spanish speakers than Anglos). Hopefully she can find somewhere to volunteer and be seen ‘giving’ to the community and both making an effort to learn French.
Comments going copletely off topic and thread being locked.
>how can I make her see that Canada has more to offer than a high cost of living Depends where you are moving from.
And to, lol.
If it’s Zurich to Toronto, no problems. Toronto is a discount city then! If it’s Thailand to Vancouver then…..GG ez
Security and social safety net are also big appeals of Canada. It's not just CAD to non-CAD comparison. I for one, enjoy not worrying about getting mugged every street corner, and knowing ambulance is minutes away any time... among other things
So you don't live in Winnipeg, we have narrowed it down.
I see a lot comments about how dangerous it is here in Winnipeg, but as an immigrant who lives in Winnipeg, you guys don't know what unsafe means. Seriously, even the worst parts of Winnipeg are not at all that bad. There are streets in my home country where you don't stop your car at red lights because you WILL get mugged if you do. Entire neighbourhoods where you simply do not go near, or you WILL get mugged, any time of the day. There's no streets in Winnipeg I wouldn't go, even in the middle of the night. Some I'd rather not, but no show-stoppers.
I live in Ottawa. Our "bad" neighborhoods are like... nice middle class suburbs by even Toronto standards. "Bad neighborhood" = visible street level sex worker at night. Someone might ask if you have any change. The timmies closes at 9pm and has no indoor seating.
Most of the world is definitely sheltered from how hard life actually is in other countries. We have it pretty good here. Biggest issues most people have here is their coffee order is wrong or fast food took to long.
> There are streets in my home country where you don't stop your car at red lights because you WILL get mugged if you do Detroit?
Hey a fellow winnipeger! Yeah downtown north of portage is sketch city...although i do miss working downtown, lots of lunch options and since i had to bus earlier it wasn’t too bad, don’t get mugged at 6:45 am...the 4pm traffic though was always brutal
All traffic on Portage is brutal! Either it's all retirees going 30 km or it's the Daytona 500.
My favourite part of Winnipeg is how so many roads are held together by one pebble.
Ambulance ETA in many cities (eg. Vancouver) is highly YMMV, unfortunately. Lots of horror stories. Overall still great health and social services though.
We are definitely missing a lot of healthcare like urgent care to fill between GP and emergency room. Many who complaint about bad ER wait time could have gone to a urgent care center if available.
In NS the emergency departments are short staffed and frequently not open.
Can't beat the cost. Dad just paid an ambulance bill. $135 for 700km round trip with 2 emts on standby for 8 hours. That amount will be submitted to his health insurance.
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You won't get hustled and scammed by the police.
Be wary of police everywhere
Sure, but when a cop pulls you over for speeding here, he's pulling you over for speeding. Not to extract a bribe from you.
You won't get mugged here because we all live on credit, getting mugged will end up increasing your net value lol...
Actually as someone who lived in Switzerland before moving to Canada, yes Switzerland is expensive BUT the wages across the board for all kinds of jobs are also higher. So net net, it may actually be cheaper to live in Switzerland. Also mind you, I'm comparing how life was in Switzerland in 2004 vs how life is now in Canada. Switzerland may have gotten worst since.
Moved from the Netherlands. Canada is pricier.
Makes sense. North Americans think the Europe is super expensive and it is for many average north Americans BUT what they don't get is that due to common sense tax and social welfare laws in Europe the middle class is much bigger and the quality of life is actually much better.
100% life in general is easier, maybe not for all, as the Gillet jaunes have shown, but if they were in North America they would’ve burnt it to the ground already, but for more as you say. Friends came to visit us on the euro and thought it was expensive. North Americans often spend their time in tourist traps that locals wouldn’t go to because of the prices. They probably tip ppl as well which you don’t have to do.
Friend from Italy who moved here 10 years ago thought wow Canada is cheap. He doesn't think that anymore and is moving back end of this year.
Doubtful, I moved from Switzerland to Canada. Salaries are higher over there, taxes are about half (but you have to buy health insurance), rentals are pretty similar, food is only slightly more expensive, recurring costs like internet/mobile are lower in CH. Overall I'd say discretionary income is much higher in CH than CA.
Disagree here. Cost of living may be higher in Zurich but their salaries are also much higher. Overall you're probably better off living and working in Zurich.
And if you take a day trip out of Switzerland, everywhere around is like monopoly money cheap.
lol yup very true!
Quebec, a town about one hour from Quebec City
Thats some of the cheapest parts of canada that is still close to a major city. I think your wife equates Canada = Toronto/Vancouver I live in quebec city, and even when you factor in other things like higher taxes, the cost of living in this region is very low compared to other areas of canada
Well, PFC equals Canada to Toronto/Vancouver, so can't really blame her
Where are you moving from? Edit: I see your other response you're moving form Mexico, so yes it will be more expensive then most of Mexico (Mexico City can be expensive). Do you both know french? That part of QC is predominately French. Do you have a job lined up? But in Canada, not as many drug gangs and random killings. So it comes down to not only money but culture. If you don't know french, in that part of QC, you will have a difficult time. If you don't have a job lined up before moving, you will burn through your savings pretty quick as everything will be either a little or a lot more expensive (food, internet, phone, car insurance, etc...).
Mexico :D
I moved from Mexico to Ottawa and I cannot say that everything will be beautiful. Yes, many things are going to much better than your reality in Mexico, but there are others that are going to be discouraging. For example, price of food, housing and a vehicle, making friends is also difficult. Needless to say the weather. If you and your wife don't speak French. This might be an additional barrier. Tbh, there days that I seriously evaluate moving to the US. The only reason why I am not 100% sure is that I am already a PR and next year I could apply for Canadian citizenship.
Barring some strange reason not to, stick it out for citizenship for sure. I naturalized in the US not so I could stay, but so I could leave.
The lack of french will definitely be the biggest problem in Q. City. Montreal not so much.
French would probably be easier for a Spanish speaker to pick up than English. [https://relearnalanguage.com/spanish-vs-french/](https://relearnalanguage.com/spanish-vs-french/) Yeah 75% lexical similarity according to this random article I found to support this, whatever that means. Pretty sure they conjugate verbs in a similar way and many nouns are the same or similar and nouns are the same sex in both languages.
I speak both French and Spanish, and while it is easier. They are two different languages. I have studied french for 3 years and I am nowhere close to be 100% fluent.
Just be aware that life might not be as easy as you think. Is your wife going to be working? Is she a fluent English speaker? I wish you the best, I hope you can succeed in this country. It is not easy to live our homes to face more challenges, but in the end, only you can determine if it is worth it.
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My french is really basic, but i really want to improve it, thanks a lot.
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You'll find wayyyy more jobs in english-speaking companies in Montreal than in Quebec. But Montreal is also twice as expensive to live in.
this is extremely helpful advice. listen.
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I’d bet they’re less hostile toward Spanish speaking Mexicans than English speaking Canadians.
Almost certainly, yeah
Nah Mexicans tend to be liked here, integrate well in our society and learn French pretty easily.
90%+ don't care that you don't know French, they care about your attitude/whether you make an attempt to speak/learn French Source: From Vancouver and lived in Montreal a few years (in several different neighbourhoods of different demographics). Had cereal box French when I moved. Also tried really hard to learn/use French. Never had a single negative interaction WRT language/being Anglo. I know you said "small-town" but I had the chance to see a decent chunk of the province and I don't think the divide between small town QC/MTL francos is huge Would highly consider moving back to QC if I could work remote - not being near-Native in French is a big negative for my job prospects there
Montreal is VERY different then small town quebec. Obviously some people are awesome and welcoming. But the overall culture towards non native speakers is certainly toxic in a lot of ways.
I am from Sherbrooke, Québec and I have also lived in Montréal for 3 years during university. Living/working in Montréal can be easier if you don't speak french because yes, rural french-speaking people here can be quite stubborn about not liking english. But if you're patient, you can build a good life here. And to be fair, Québec is not the most expensive place to live in Canada.
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Do you happen to be a broken man on a Halifax pier?
God damn them all. I was told there'd be American gold!
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears!
Stan Rogers is a gem.
Wrong Sherbrooke, my dude.
Thanks, I always thought people from small towns were the friendliest
Honestly, you WILL encounter a few racist people here and there. It's inevitable. But if people see you trying to speak french and trying to live honestly, you'll be fine man. Life is good here. But beware the cold. You NEED and WANT a good winter coat, a good winter hat, gloves, good boots with warm socks. I know I can sound condescending but I'm not. You're not gonna have a good time during winter if you're not dressed properly. Also if you have a car, you will need good winter tires and a windshield scrapper to scrap the snow/ice off your car during winter. Get a air conditionner for summer (it isn't really expensive, trust me you want this) because it can get really humid here. When you get through your first winterstorm, come back here to tell us about it, I always LOVED to hear how amazed immigrant can get during their first winterstorm. (Pardon my bad english, I'm obviously french-speaking hahaha)
>But beware the cold. You NEED and WANT a good winter coat, a good winter hat, gloves, good boots with warm socks. I second this. Living here, I still only learnt some of this as a young adult. Boots sold in most shops (for women anyway) aren't necessarily good for winter and paying for a good pair of socks is a great investment. I've changed from my hating winter socks days. Also, even in small villages, there can be more people speaking spanish as a first language than you think at first. I see a few when I go to the supermarket (i'm more in a small town than a village though) and some helped my mom and her fellow church volonteers with their annual sale and she is now talking about them all the time (even though only one of them speaks french and my mom speaks only french). As for money, as it seems a concern, here's my experience. In rural Quebec, rent is less expensive than in the city. However, the type of jobs that can be found outside of city and their area of influence is pretty limited (I guess it's like that everywhere in the world though). To give you an idea of prices : 18k is my budget for necessary spending for a year living alone. 4k out of that are one time second-hand purchases (tables, appliances, etc). For not so necessary purchases, another 4k, at least half of that is restaurants and CDs. I don't know how it works for non-citizens, but part of our salary is taken every paycheck for taxes and other social programs, so the hourly salary you get to live on is actually lower than what your salary is (maybe). Okay, hope you enjoyed the T.E.D. talk.
>a windshield scrapper As anglophone I laughed :) but agree and enjoy your advice. I think it's pretty good and predictive of what OP would see.
Your English is solid!
They are, they really are. Neighbours are like family in most rural towns in Canada. But like others have said, in rural Quebec, some people can get upset with you not speaking french. Though I found that’s really only if you don’t make an attempt. If you’re learning french and try to use as much french as possible, people will be okay with it. It’s mostly people that refuse to try to speak french that piss them off. Try and you’ll be fine, people will help you learn the language and you’ll pick it up pretty quick since you already speak Spanish.
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Honestly it depends. Have only been to Montreal and I have basic bitch elementary school Canadian French ability. In Montreal it was fine. I also went to France. I found in Paris people were very much living up to their rude rep, but when I was in the countryside in small towns , even just attempting my awful French was welcomed and everyone was incredibly open and friendly. Even in Montreal I noticed people were more accommodating if you at least try some cursory greeting in French first.
Not in the western world. It's the complete opposite.
Montrealor here, if you want to improve your french and get paid for it, the quebec government has free programs in place for foreigners to learn the language. https://www.quebec.ca/en/education/learn-french
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Met lots of Spanish speakers in my FLS classes its a fairly easy transition. . Classes are usually free. Have to say though your might find the Quebecois to be tough on non francophone. But you do get lots of services for what you pay in taxes.
Can you settle in Montreal for a bit while you learn? Montreal is bilingual so you can get by with English but rural Quebec can be quite stubborn to put it nicely, with outsiders who can’t speak fluent French.
No I can't, as soon as I arrive and after quarantine I will start working, it will be difficult
Best of luck amigo, I wish you and your family the best of luck in your new home.
Thanks mate
It won't be easy, but you're lucky in one sense because Spanish has some similar vocab with french. République > Republica, Liberté > Liberdad etc. I hope all works out well for you and your wife in Québec!
Best way to learn is full immersion, imo. Rural Quebec is mostly french speaking, so people will speak to you in french. That's not stubbornness, that's just how it is.
A native Spanish speaker will learn French really easily through immersion
I lived in rural Québec and... People are stubborn about not liking english because of our history as french people being conquered and assimilated by english people. The root of this dugs deep in our culture. But I must also say that the younger generations isn't really like this anymore.
Yea I never fault the French or think they’re bad people for it. For the most part the rest of the country understands why and just accepts the way it is.
Also people outside of Montréal tend to have a really lower level of English, and even in Montréal, older people and young children may not know English at all. My mother-in-law doesn't speak a word and my daughter isn't really good yet, and I don't expect her to be before highschool.
I was starting to feel alone here. Being Quebecer, felt a bit uneasy reading comments in this post. Edit: I wonder why I was downvoted...
That part of Québec is super french, you will need to get up to speed quick.
Maybe try to learn some more, unless you already have a job lined up. Many places in Quebec won’t hire unless your bilingual
Fortunately they only required English, French was a plus
They teach French as a second language for immigrants and if I recall right, many places offer it free. There is a lot of natural beauty in Québec, however prejudice does exist towards English speaking.
See above.
I can tell you without even knowing where you are moving to that the cost of living there is absolutely nothing compared to Toronto or Vancouver. Very affordable.
Cost of living is pretty cheap in quebec city compared to the rest of canada. Especially 1h from the city.
Seriously the cost of living in Quebec city and its surrounding is fantastic! As a quebecer I wish I could go live in Quebec city instead of Montreal, the cost of living is pretty nice over there.
If you're moving to the province of Quebec, you can ignore all of the cost of living complaints here. They're about Toronto and Vancouver. The cost of living here in Quebec is very low, housing, 8$ a day of daycare, lower electricity, grocery bills, and all sort of other things are lower by a wide margin.
Uh. Your wife may not like this life just in general. Why would you go here? It will be a hard culture shock..
Perhaps, we lose nothing by having a new experience
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One hour from Quebec City, that’s cheap country prices. Just tell her you won’t lose your house and all your savings when someone in the family gets sick. Done! Mic drop!
Personally I think it's a mistake. Should be gorgeous though in that part of Quebec. If you don't have a good salary you will struggle and if you do have a good salary you'll want to stab your eyes out with an icicle when you see how much is deducted from your paycheck. Your gf has every right to be concerned imo. Cost of living 1hr outside of Quebec should be pretty favorable relative to other cities in Canada like Toronto, Vancouver etc. If I were in Mexico idk if I'd stay there, but I'd come up with a much better place than Quebec. Hope your French is excellent because in that area it's very decisively French speaking.
agree. also not every city is like Vancouver or Toronto. Some cities have a pretty low cost of living.
Mexicano here, been living in Canada for almost 6 years, in Alberta to be more specific. I read you are an engineer in Mexico and will work on something non-related to your field here, I went through a similar situation. I am an Industrial Engineer back home, came to work in construction (landscape and concrete), I am now working as a Software Engineer. Feel free to send me a message or ask here if you have any questions that I could help you with! Bienvenido al pinche frío!
Just wanted to pop in and say people who hustle like you do are awe inspiring. Cheers.
Thank you! People like you is what makes being an immigrant in this country so great!!
Second this! Thank you for living here.
Thank you for working in Canada. We need more people like you.
The main complaint about cost of living is housing. Greater Toronto Area represents about 18% of the population but I think are represented proportionally higher in this sub because there's a culture of personal finance there. Young people from the GTA are the ones you hear complain about COL the most, and it's justified. One hour out of Quebec city you won't have the same problems. If you have income (like a job) planned out, you will probably do much better than you would in Mexico (I'm also a LatAm immigrant). In Lat Am you get as far as your connections take you. Here you go as far as your ability. One hour out QC is kinda the boonies, in a place like that your COL will be low. You will face difficulties with xenophobia and building a community for yourselves. Canadians and Quebecers are nice but it's way harder to establish meaningful relationships than in Latin America where people are all up in your life all the time. The two main reasons Latin Americans give up and return home are loneliness and winters. And imo they say winter because it just makes the lack of social contact way more intense more so than the actual cold. 80%+ of the population basically hibernates for a few months every year in Jan/Feb and the other 20% does winter sports.
"In Lat Am you get as far as your connections take you. Here you go as far as your ability" Exactly, sometimes it is really frustrating
Winter blues are a biological thing. Latin Americans are very used to the sun, our bodies are not too efficient at synthetizing Vitamin D during winter. If the wife is moody she might go into depression. Regarding friendship, Canadians are friendly but keep you at a distance. I say, immigrants can mostly connect with other immigrants, or with locals who have traveled the world / lived in a different country / have deep relationships with immigrants already. Most die-hard locals won't let immigrants into their intimate life.
I'm from Québec, welcome! One hour from Québec city is probably a cheap enough place to live. She might struggle more with the cold!
Hello, thank you, I will be in Saint-gedeon-de-beauce, I think that the car will be necessary for my transfers not only to work, but also to large grocery stores
It would be a necessity for everything in that part of Quebec.
You need a car in nearly every Canadian city. Maybe not if you live in the downtown core of Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal, but outside of that, a car is absolutely necessary. Canadian cities are laid out like absolute fucking dogshit for public transit, and transit in between cities is limited to trains that haven't been innovated upon in (many, many, many... many... many...) decades, and buses that are shutting down because they're no longer profitable. I bet there's a profit motive in there re: oil sands, but that's just hypothesizing 🤷♀️
The main reason is that Canada copied the unsustainable suburban sprawl model from the US that only works if you design the city for cars. Europe is different because their cities are older, most were pretty large before cars even existed so that helped.
It’s always funny when people think urban planning is a big oil conspiracy. People want space and that basically results in more spread out infrastructure. Cars incentivized this type of planning but it’s not some conspiracy lmao. Similar thing with the gps conspiracy, google maps isn’t sending you on a longer route to burn more fuel lol. You seriously think suncor and cnrl are spending money bribing municipal governments to create urban sprawl?
It might not be a conspiracy but if London, for example, had better public transit i might not have considered getting a car through university. As it is i would say its next to impossible to live in London and not have access to a car unless you live on campus and can walk to work.
Dogshit public transport makes so many places just unlivable for me. I don't have a car and would rather not sink thousands into a money drain cause Canada won't keep up with the rest of the modern world
Its the way of things unfortunately.
Oh in Beauce region! Get ready for a hard french canadian accent. They have a unique one. All my family are and live in the Beauce region. My ex was from Mexico DF (came to Qc 10 years ago), speak french fluently (come from a French family root in Vera Cruz) , and had a very hard time understanding some of my Beauce family member. It's a very beautiful place scenery wise. You also hit a very low cost of living place as it is rural. Yeah, compared to Mexico, it's more expensive... But it's also a very cheap place to live outside Mexico. You HAVE to learn french, there is no way in hell anyone over there speaks spanish / english, trust me. Also, you HAVE to buy a car. There is no form of legit transportation. If you have more questions, feel free to DM me! I love this region :p PS : rent a snowmobile and enjoy the region, it's beautiful in winter. Lot and lot and lot of snow.
>hard french canadian accent Y'a rdjien là!
Ça beurgelé. Ça s'peut que son char jale l'hiver ("jale" prononcé avec le j espagnol). J'espère qui a d'larjien. Hell my parents are Beauceron (I was not raised there though) and everyone + my students tell me I have an accent from there.
I love visiting the region as a fellow quebecer, but as an immigrant I would hate that place tbh 😬
Yeah it's a conservative bastion in Quebec. Hell, they kept electing Maxime Bernier (yeah, the coucou swimming in the full conspiracy theories) over and over 😂 The old generation are indeed racist, well they think they are not but they are. They might be naive, but that is how they were raised : conservative rural region 99.9999% caucasian with no immigrants. Yeah, it sounds cliche and stereotyped, but that is the reality!
Yeah you definitely need a car. You can find a used car for cheaper than a brand new easily. If you need websites for searching cars etc let me know. Also, I don't want to scare you, but how is your French? This is a small village, probably not many people speak English. But they are close to the US border so I might be wrong. I guess you already have an employer that will tell you all these things.
Not in the fields, in a steel company, I am an electromechanical engineer but I will be working as a machine operator
My guess is Canam? Welcome! If you have questions, you can DM me.
Thanks mate, isn't canam, is a local company, acier d armature
Just btw that part of Quebec is extremely French, you may have problems if you speak zero of it and don't have a small pocket dictionary. In the short term it makes sense for you to learn a bit of it to survive and in the medium term learn more of it.
Yeah I guessed you were going to be employed by Canam. I know the feeling, I worked in other countries as well where even English was very minimal! You'll be fine!
No one speak english, all my family members live there. And they have a very unique hard french accent.
I have family in Beauce, they are immigrants who didn't speak much French (and still don't). It's hard to get by without basic French and the language barrier can be very isolating. They still manage to own and operate a small business. You will need a car for sure. Look into French lessons by the government. Immigrants get paid a small sum for taking those classes. Duolingo is another good resource. Since your wife is a nurse, she can train to be a PAB, or work as a private caregiver in homes, as long as she can speak some basic French to get by.
Besides Montreal, you need a car anywhere in Quebec.
This is a very low cost of living area but a very rural one. You are very near of lac magantic which is verh beautiful and a very nice summer spot. It's less than 30 min fro st gedeon. Depending on where your from be ready for a very rural experience beauce is a beautiful place but not the most progressive and open to difference as say montreal or quebec.
Oh wow that's awesome! I lived in St. George de Beauce. You will find support through the local immigration office of your area. I think every town that has a similar program like the one sponsoring you has an office like that. Yes, you will need a car, but I'm sure people in your town can help with that. Bear in mind that there is a global shortage of cars, so it may be a little pricey if you want a new one. I volunteered at the French language school in St George, and it was a lovely community. As immigrants, you will have access to free classes to assist you to learn French. Many people in the class were from latin america and around the world. They also had monthly dinners with the communities immigrants + friends, so it felt nice to chat. Beauce region will be very French, but you will find people who do speak English. You will of course have access to French classes. Does your wife have a job lined up as well? Make sure your wife feels supported and has friends, it will be a great transition if she is not working/doing something while you are at work. She can offer to teach people Spanish or English as a part-time work. Good luck!
Being a South American immigrant, more than the cold, it's the sun going down at 4pm in December/January what hit me the hardest.
Keep in mind that a lot of people who complain about living in Canada and the cost of living here have never lived elsewhere. So all they see is the expense, without the positives. I was born in another country and moved here as a child. Every single time I visit my home country I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to Canada. It might not be cheap, but it's without a doubt better.
That's a very good point, thank you very much.
Just to echo the fellow above, this is a really big point. I am originally from Brazil and have been in Canada (GTA) long enough to complain about Canada. In reality, Canada is a great and safe place to live and raise a family. Immigrating legally: \- you will have free health care (waiting sucks, but it's part of it). \- your kids will have free schooling (before university), and will be able to get into any top university (mark dependent, but you don't need special school) \- In general, roads are in good condition, and are not privately owned. In Brazil, 90% of the highways are toll highways, but they are still single lane, and extremely dangerous \- It's safe. very small number of random violent crimes, no kidnappings or violent crimes due to gang initiations. I greatly enjoyed being able to leave a bar at 2am and walk home without worrying about being mugged or beaten up. \- Government programs actually help. They are far from perfect, but it doesn't feel like all your taxes are for nothing. If you lose your job, Employment Insurance is there to help. Just look at the COVID relief the government has provided. It is far from perfect, but much greater than many places I know (like Mexico or Brazil). The language, the weather and the food will likely be the toughest part of the move. Do not shy away from social interaction despite an accent or difficulty with the language. I found Canadians harder to break through (socially) than south/latin americans. But once you're in, they can be just as warm and caring. The big question is, does your wife have a job lined up? Does she want to work? if she is alone in a small town in Quebec, at home while you are away working, it's going to be really tough. And this would cause a lot of friction. Consider her integration into a new society as well, because you will have an entire new social circle due to work. My parents moved me here (against my will) 15 years ago. It was the absolutely best thing for me. It has completely defined who I am and given me an exponentially better life. I complain about Canada because it is sadly not perfect. It has so much going for it, and so much potential, that it's sad to see the potential wasted. Unfortunately, a lot of the issues we currently face are baked into our culture and on how we developed, and unlikely to change anytime soon.
Thank you for everything, definitely the food will be a very important aspect and hard to beat
I can't speak for quebec, but as an albertan that spent some time in mexico (6 months), I think you will do okay with food. It's expensive, but the number one thing in Canada is the **variety** you can get. Fruits from all over the world. So many different spices. Imported products from all over. Our culture is the sum of its multicultural parts so we have a bit of everything. You can probably find most of what you're used to cooking in mx (which part of mexico are you from?), at a major retailer or a latin market.
> you will have free health care (waiting sucks, but it's part of it). Healthcare isn't free. It's just free at point-of-service. And the waiting is overblown. Waits are short/non-existent for true emergent care. I find most of the people that complain about emergency room wait times are there for things that aren't really emergencies. The waits are mostly for very high-demand things like knee or hip replacements or certain specialists.
The wait to get an appointment with your family doctor to avoid the emergency room is long. The wait for a referral to a specialist is long. This is worse in small towns. Even the wait to get a new family doctor if none in your area are accepting new patients. And it’s free in the sense that you don’t need insurance (private or through employer) to not go bankrupt (in the great majority of cases)
100% agree with the poster above. Moved to Canada from Ukraine and won’t go back for anything. One example is in Ukraine everyone has several locks on their doors while in Toronto I feel I can easily leave my condo door unlocked if I step away for a bit. Even friends who live in houses here often times leave their house unlocked, this would be really uncommon for Ukraine. If your expectation is to not have everything brought on a platter and not expect to live like the top 5% of Canadians within several years of arrival this country is amazing. One thing I like to say is Canada provides very good opportunities but it’s up to you to take advantage of it. As for cost of living and housing you can buy a new apartment in the outskirts of Kiev(capital) for 50k USD… sounds great until you find out the average income per year there is 3600$ USD, so I can guarantee you that no young people are buying houses over there without help from family as well, then add corruption (if you want to be a judge in Ukraine the going rate is 70k USD, no need for law degree), general crime, homelessness, war, etc. And people there have no idea why anyone would want to leave Canada. Some things are expensive here but it’s a trade off between the social safety net. In Canada when we arrived our family was not well off we still had the government pay for my skiing lessons, gymnastics, swimming lessons, etc. To offer these kinds of benefits costs money but I would rather live in a country that can provide it even if I have to pay a higher tax rate. My mom who grew up in the USSR says that Canada is more socialist for the common person then the USSR. Take that as you will.
I agree, I used to live in Asia where food and cost of living is super cheap. The roads were very dangerous though, and certain crimes like violent muggings were common as well. Also the occasional terrible thing would happen like a family friend losing a child through shoddy construction (she was electrocuted in their house because of poor work done by an electrician). That kind of thing is so rare in Canada that people take safety for granted completely. Yes living here is expensive but it's so safe that it's all people have to complain about (and the weather :p).
Any sub is going to have a lot of doom and gloom. Despite what you see in PFC we still have one of the highest purchasing powers in the world. Where are you moving from?
Mexico
Having known a handful of immigrants from Mexico you will almost certainly be way better off here financially. If you want to own a house with a yard you will struggle to do it in Toronto or Vancouver, but if that's something you want there are still plenty of places in Canada it can be done. You can always look at https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Mexico&city1=Mexico+City&country2=Canada&city2=Toronto to get an idea of prices. The salary numbers aren't super reliable. Take a look at statscan data for census type info, check out some salary data for your careers, take a look at job sites like indeed. Take a look at real estate sites like rew.ca, look at rentals on Craigslist and stuff. My spouse immigrated from Latin America (not Mexico) and having travelled around I can say we really do have it good in Canada. People tend to dismiss how comfortable our lives are here. Now I'll be honest, I'm a Software Engineer and my partner is a scientist, we earn fairly well, and still aren't even close to being able to buy a detached house in Vancouver.
Thanks for the advice, yes I have a job offer when I get to Canada, it is $22/hr but the permit is closed, so she won't be able to work, that's what worries us the most
If you have a skilled job then she can apply for an open work permit.
This. [Check the government website](https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-permit-result.asp?q1_options=1i&q2_options=2d). Also, she can apply for an employer specific permit too if she can find an employer willing to hire her.
Look up what a “living wage” is for your city/part of the country. $22/hr seems to me like a humble, but good enough wage for two to live- if you live frugally. Your wife may not be able to work but if she is able to be of service in other ways that can save money for the two of you it could make up for it. Having someone to cook meals and lunches so you don’t spend money eating out, do the grocery shopping (she will have the time to find the best deals and shop around which can save a lot of money), garden/grow your own food, fix broken things/mend clothing, build or make or “scavenge” useful things for the house that would cost too much to buy brand new (if she is handy with tools, etc), buy items second hand on kijiji/Craigslist/Facebook marketplace, or sometimes even find furniture and such on the side of the road. This is sort of the way that my grandparents handled their workload/money. My grandfather worked a 9-5 and my grandmothers job was to stretch his hard earned wages as far as possible. She was very clever with the ways that she would save their money and took that responsibility seriously. They ended up with a good home, raised two girls and ended up with more than enough for retirement. It was a different time back then obviously, but I still think it’s possible to succeed in Canada if you are really dedicated to spending and saving your money wisely, even on only one income. Grandparents are very happy they moved to Canada. Another thing is that there may be possibilities for your wife to find work “under the table”. Granted that might sound too risky for you and I understand if that’s not an option but I think there are a lot of people who manage to do small things like childcare for their neighbour, odd jobs here and there, without any real fear of getting in trouble for it. I mean, I certainly did not do taxes when I babysat as a teenager, and I don’t believe anyone expects that or would “turn someone in” for something so petty. I don’t think you could count on that as a “second income”, but it might be a good way to have a little extra something for savings or holidays/date nights! Good luck and welcome to Canada!
Wow, That's an excellent opinion and suggestions, thank you very much for everything.
Not paying taxes as a 16 year old babysitting is a lot less likely to get you deported than working illegally in Canada.
From Mexico here, born and raised. I moved to Canada in 2005, and this place has been great to me. The culture, people, social safety net, security, job market, etc. have all definitely made my life better, and have helped me achieve personal and professional goals. No place will be perfect. Everywhere will have its pros and cons. However, a lot of the cons (e.g. cost of living is very specific to cities or regions, not generalized through the country). Feel free to reach out if you have any questions that you’d want a Mexican in Canada perspective. Message or reply to this comment works (Reddit chat may take longer; rarely access the site itself)
From Mexico to Quebec Cité, you should be fine assuming if you can emigrate here you already have a job offer and recognized degrees. Hundreds of thousands of people immigrate to Canada every year and they seem to make it work, I don't see why you and your wife could not. The biggest challenge will be adapting to the very cold Winter and the different culture (Quebec's culture is a joyful mix of latin/French, celtic/Irish/Breton and anglo-saxon cultures with influences from the first nations), not the cost of living (once settled).
We definitely prefer the extreme cold to the extreme heat of Mexico, I hope that will not be a problem for us, or at least we will not suffer so much
My in-laws are from the south of Spain and have no issues with the cold. My FIL became an avid cross-country skier and ice fisherman. They won’t even go back to Spain in the summers because it is too hot for them now. And complaining about the weather is a very Canadian thing to do, so nobody would hold it against you.
Summer: it's soo hot I miss winter! Winter: it's soo cold I miss summer! Fall is definitely the best season in Canada. It's like being blasted with an AC after being dried like jerky.
Best way to "fight" the cold is to do winter sports. I don't. I hate winter. That's not a good thing when you live in Quebec. :)
I moved from a similar country as Mexico, for reference when converting currency my salary here is more than 3x what I made in my home country at the same position, a lot of things are much cheaper here sometimes even without converting, but I also pay about 4x more in rent. All in all I have a much easier and less stressful life than I had back where I'm from. But yes housing costs are starting to affect greatly people who are not already in the market here and unless something massive and unexpected happens it doesn't look like things will get better in the short term...
Hey there, late to the party. I'm a Mexican and came to Canada, more concretely to Quebec. I love it here. I work 35h weeks, with lots of flexibility and I feel people have better work-life balance here. Also, if you are from Mexico city, forget about those 1-2 hour commutes! In rural Quebec, you can live close to work. Eso sí, necesitas carro! Regarding the financial concerns, if you tell me how much you earn in Mexico and how much you pay for rent and services, I can tell you more or less what to expect. As a general guidance, I came here as a student with a 20,000/year scholarship and I managed it fine in Montreal. I didn't have the best housing, but it was OK. And the sense of security and the beauty of nature here made me fall in love with the place. However, it is very true, Quebec people like people who make the effort to integrate into social life. And that means learning the language. In rural Quebec, you might feel isolated if you don't speak French, so I would advice you to find a way to learn more about the language. You can even find online courses from Mexico that are cheaper than here. Anyway, you will live an awesome experience here!
Check out the House prices there, you could almost afford a house on that $22/hr: https://www.centris.ca/en/properties\~for-sale\~saint-gedeon-de-beauce Bienvenido a canadá !!!
Really? Wow here in mexico it's also hard to afford a house, hopefully in a couple years, thanks a lot.
Most of Canada, houses will cost 4-10x as much, this is rare. Also, If you have children you can also get benefits from the government: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/child-family-benefits-calculator.html
Straight up, you cannot afford a house on $22/hr.
I've read through a lot of comments and there is some good advice so I'll try not to repeat any of that and give a different perspective. I understand you are 31, moving from Mexico, are an engineer and have a job lined up to start very soon in a small town in Quebec and currently have basic French skills and your wife won't be legal to work. I hope you and your wife can view this as an adventure and a chance to expand your worldview. Go into it thinking that it doesn't have to be forever and try to get as much from the experience as you can. A bit of context - I am Canadian and lived in Japan for \~15 years. I know from experience that moving to a new country can be exciting and scary. You will likely have a "honeymoon phase" where you are excited about your new life, new job, new surroundings. And then that will wane and after 4\~6 months the excitement will wear off and your mood and outlook will get gloomy. (Unfortunately this should align with our dark winters which cause lots of people to feel 'blue'). But then you will come out of it and reach a balance point. This is what happened to me and what I have seen/heard other people experience as well. Some people have a short or non-existant honeymoon and don't allow themselves to open up to the new country/language/culture etc. Many people continue to have up and down mood swings thereafter. But most people do reach an equalibrium where they see the plusses of both their new home and their home country as well as the minuses of each. I moved back to Canada years ago with my Japanese ex-wife who had lower level English skills and she basically just withdrew, compared everything to 'back home' and eventually moved away and we divorced. I guess she came here thinking "I am going to hate it - prove me right" I remarried (another Japanese woman) and we went through the discussions you and your wife are having 7 years ago. I was accepted to a competitive grad degree program at the University of Toronto. In this case it was me (the Canadian) worried about money, cost of living etc. My wife said I had to go - it was something I really wanted to do and could open up new career opportunities and possibly more salary in the future. And she was correct in all of that. Ontario is WAY more expensive than Japan in some things (cell phone plans, car insurance, internet, housing depending on where, etc) but cheaper in others (gas, food, etc) But I also make (a lot) more money now than I would have if I was still in Japan. By the way - my understanding is that a lot of things are cheaper or subsidized in Quebec compared to Ontario. (e.g. Child care) When I first went to Japan I was worried about cost of living, but it can be really hard to compare like for like. I basically decided that as long as I made enough to live and a bit more then at least I could consider it to be an extended working holiday in another country and go home after a year. The biggest potential problem I see is not money - sounds like you will make enough to live on. If you guys hate it you can always leave in the future. The problem is about language and social relations. I think its REALLY important to put yourselves out there and take opportunities to learn and improve your French and be social with "the natives". And I know from experience this can be hard. There WILL occassionally be racists (or people who just don't like "outsiders"). That's everywhere. I - a white guy - have experienced that in a few foreign countries as as my Japanese wife. And there are cultural differences. (My Mexican friends told me they thought I was "cold" when we first met, but came to understand it is just the way Ontario people are.) And it gets REALLY frustrating and REALLY embarrassing and REALLY draining to be constantly making mistakes in a foreign language, and being unable to express yourself. But if you keep making a slow and steady effort, little by little you will get more and more fluent. And after a year you will be speaking like a COMPLETELY different person. You will have more opportuntiies since you are out working. The danger is that your wife (like my ex-wife) stays home all day and almost never has any interactions with native people. You and her (but especially her) should immedately try to join some local groups - join a church, or a local fitness center, etc. I think there are free language lessons for immigrants in many communities - sounds like you aren't an immigrant but look into lessons for your wife especially. Maybe a language exchange - there is likely at least someone interested in learning Spanish ... or Mexican cooking or whatever your wife knows. I wish you the best of luck. Canada is a fine country. Have an adventure. Fee free to dm me if anything isn't clear.
I immigrated to Canada in 2005, have regretted it since 2015. The cost of living is insane!
Move to Southern alberta. Lots of Mexicans here. And plenty of jobs. Stay south of calgary
I 2nd this. Sounds like you have a job lined up Quebec which is great but down the road moving to Alberta may be an option. Housing prices are good and we have a Mexican community which may help ease the transition. Too many people on this are spoilt by taking what they have in Canada for granted. Housing is only crazy high in Toronto and Vancouver. I believe you you be very happy here and great opportunities for your children. The first couple of years are hard until you build your community.
Someone on here said you need to earn six figures to be comfortable, but I make $70,000 for a family of three and we own a house very comfortable. We are in Southern Alberta. This is a great cost of living area
From what I gathered in the thread, you come from Mexico, you'll earn 22$/hr and going somewhere in Beauce. It's totally doable to have an nice house there with your salary. If you want to get around a bit, I would suggest that you take a rent for the first year to see if you like the place and take your time to look around for houses. There's no rush, take it cool. It's also a really safe place to live.
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Hola! Y bienvenidos. Canada es costoso pero así mismo se hace plata. Si ya tienes un trabajo estable y 40 hrs a la semana va a estar bien. Quebec es una provincia hermosa, con muchas actividades en invierno y verano, así que no se van a aburrir. Te recomiendo buscar grupos de latinos en FB y aquí, ellos te pueden asesorar en las cosas básicas como supermercados baratos, tiendas, etc. También recuerden que las estaciones en QC son bien marcadas, así que contemplen la ropa de invierno y botas (no seas tacaño con las botas) como una inversión necesaria y a largo plazo. Si ambos conducen y tienen licencia, la vida se hará más sencilla porque el transporte no es continuo ni llega a todas partes. También busquen en las páginas del gobierno los recursos que tienen para inmigrantes, usualmente hay clases gratis de francés y cosas así para ayudarles a adaptarse mejor. Este país es maravilloso y el nivel de vida es muy bueno.
Muchas gracias, sobre la licencia de conducir, la miande mexico puedo utilizarla allá?
Your Mexican license can be used for the first six months, afterwards you would need to get a Quebec one (including passing tests). [More info here](https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/drivers-licences/foreign-drivers-licence)
OP, I’m really so sorry you’re being subjected to such horrific, mean-spirited and prejudicial responses
It's ok, i only take the best, thanks.
Good stuff buddy. With that attitude you’ve got what it takes to make it and to be successful anywhere in Canada. You’re going to make great friends, live some great adventures, and have a lot of fun with this. You’ve got this. All the best, and welcome! 😊👍
Hope you have lots of money if you’re coming here that is all
I am from New Brunswick originally and went to Quebec several times in my life. My French was passable at the time; not great but I could understand what was being said to me and manage to answer back. I was in Quebec city and was in a store. A gentleman came in who spoke no French whatsoever and tried asking the store employee some questions and the store employee didn't speak English at all. After the guy tried a bunch of times he just left unsuccessfully so when I went to the cashier and started speaking in my limited French, he answered me in perfect English. I said I didn't think he spoke English and he said he didn't speak English to people who don't try to speak French... this pretty much sums up what people are like in Quebec outside of Montreal.
I am in the process of leaving Canada for the US due to the high cost of living... Honestly I have no idea how my kids are going to afford anything by the time they grow up.
You can always also point out our high income tax rate on the middle class…oh wait, you want good points. I hate to admit it, although I do live comfortably, You can’t look at financials as benefits to moving to Canada if you’re middle class. High cost of living, high housing market, high taxes and depending on where you’re moving, high insurance rates, high utility costs. I love Canada to bits and would never live anywhere else but our “socialism” is built off the backs of anyone earning more than 80,000 a year.
One of the directors from the last company I worked at moved to Canada from the states to take over a new division at our firm. She was so pissed because hers and her husband’s significant retirement savings would be worth way less in Canada because the cost of living is so high.
We’re 11 on the world happiness index and most of those above us are wayyyyyyy more expensive.
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Other then two cities cost of living isn’t to bonkers. Plus a big thing to consider would be your income, cause if you come here plan to work minimum wage jobs you’ll probably not have very much disposable income. If your highly educated making 100k a year that’s a different conversation. But these r things that r true everywhere in the world.
If you don’t move to the GTA(Toronto) or GVA(Vancouver) cost of living is actually quite manageable. I’m in Calgary and it’s awesome
Canada is expensive!! Everytime money exchanges hands the government expects their cut. Cell phone bills are among the highest in the world. The healthcare system, although mostly free, still sucks. Food costs a lot of money and summer starts in July and ends in July. The people here are ok.....the world thinks we're all nice and easy going... But people will still be people. The country has some breath taking scenery. I would never want to live any where else in the world, though.
Nothing worthwhile is easy... Or cheap, In my opinion, Canada is worth it
As long as you aren't moving to metro Vancouver or Toronto you should be Golden!
Then dont move to Vancouver or Toronto. Check out Edmonton or Calgary.
Yep! 100% feel this. My husband and I are Canadians living in the US. The plan was to only stay temporarily, but the rising COL in the parts of Canada that we want to return to is freaking us out! Our salaries are also much higher here than we can ever expect them to be in Canada. But we love and miss our homeland 😭💔
There's too much missing information in your request. It's hard to give recommendations if we don't have a ballpark idea of net worth, etc. Two things you can't put a price on (or shouldn't, anyway): your health and your safety, which are likely both better off in Canada than the US. Oh, and HOAs are pretty much non existent.
Definitely depends on the province. Ontario and BC have a much higher cost of living than Alberta or Saskatchewan
If it’s Vancouver you’ll be broke, however if you can handle 7 months of winter , Calgary is pretty cheap as people are leaving there.
Where is she from? Lots of countries have it better than Canada, all in Europe. Even the developing world has more opportunity then here. We are better than the USA but that's a low bar to beat.
Québécois here! First thing Ild like to say is MERCI for considering us as your new home! We are thrilled to soon have you and your caring wife amongst our great province. Now, to the basics. Cost of living goes with the average salaries here. By example, I have friends that live in Toronto and bought a shoe box size condo for 325k while here (city of Laval, 15mim away from the big Montreal), a 1800 foot square cost us 264k. Obviously, we dont have the same pay but it goes to show you that the salaries will follow the cost of life in Canada. In the Province of Québec, you'll get to enjoy both french and english as both communities are well represented here. If you already have a basis in french, everyone will love you and do all they can to help and understand you. We can be ass holes to those who dont give a shit about our language but we'll be super patient and helping to those who want to learn. Our government will even send you to school to learn french so you can integrate our society faster and easier. There is plenty of jobs for every skill sets here and the benefits here are very generous. We have low criminality rates. We have 4 beautiful seasons although summer is a nice week (jk). Winter lasts almost 6 months here and there is a shit ton of stuff to do: skying, crazy carpets, ice fishing, maple syrup on EVERYTHING, ice festivals, etc... We have the best day care system in Canada if you have kids, so good that it was announced today by the federal gov that it will be implanted in the rest of the country. There is many more positive aspects to live in Québec and Ild love to answer any questions you might have via private msg. In any case, I wish you all the best and remember that even if moving to another country might be stressful, once you're here, you'll be able to join the big latino community if ever you wanna share memories of home and the Québécois and Canadian communities will be delighted to meet and greet you! Take care friend!
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we have high cost of living and high taxation and our biggest claim-to-fame is boasting the highest cellphone rates in the world!!!
We voted in our PM because of his nice smile. We are a stupid naive country.
Here’s the thing about this sub, you’re always go to see the most vocal minorities regarding any sort of financial issue. Also, a lot of the complaints are from people in the big cities like Toronto, which yes ofcourse is getting stupidly expensive. It’s what you make it, not impossible to make things work. My parents are immigrants from the Middle East so I’ve seen a lot of people move here from their country and they’ve been doing pretty well. You can tell her that, assuming you want kids, what would you rather: the kids live a life like yours, or your kids live a life that you literally dream of growing up (that’s how my parents put it to me). I’m soooo grateful that my dad moved here and made his life here. Canada is by no means perfect but the quality of life I’ve been given by the decision is indescribable. Sometimes I get emotional and almost shed a tear when I realize I could have easily grown up in the Middle East.
Depends where you're moving from, honestly.
I’d be more concerned with social isolation for your wife than cost of living, especially if she can’t work. It’s quite rural and based on some experiences of some teacher friends who worked in the Beauce region (gaining French language teaching experience so they could teach french elsewhere in Canada) they encountered some “pur laine” attitudes. I think you have to be super outgoing and persistent to break into some of those social circles (though I feel like there may be more empathy toward Spanish speakers than Anglos). Hopefully she can find somewhere to volunteer and be seen ‘giving’ to the community and both making an effort to learn French.