I’ve been in Canada since July on a Working Holiday Visa.

In our media, Canada is always portrayed as a dream country. Yes of course, it’s beautiful here (Rockies, nature) but it also has a lot of downsides.

The quality of food is incomparable to my home country and the food prices are even higher here.

I thought rent prices back home were high, but here (except for small towns on the prairie), you have to share an apartment with 3 people and still pay the same amount as getting a 2-bedroom apartment alone back home.

Then 5 weeks of paid vacation + 11 paid holidays (weekends are generally free, there is no business open at Sundays), when you’re sick, you’re sick, but you still get paid.

Canadians are polite that is true, but what I’ve noticed is that people often make false promises just to be nice.

Making friends here as a foreigner is challenging and perhaps I’m homesick being on the other side of the world.

I’m considering abandoning everything and flying back home. While at first it was really nice here (especially the traveling in the summer), the drawbacks are becoming apparent.

Additionally, my education isn’t recognized here and honestly I don’t want to work at Tim Hortons or Walmart just to „survive“ and with much lower QOL than in Europe.

But on the other hand, I’m afraid of missing out if I fly back home now.

Idk what i should do :(

Any suggestions?

  • AromaAdvisor@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    As a former resident of Canada —- it’s a true hellscape culturally, economically, and environmentally. As much as people dump on the USA in this forum, it is much more difficult to make a comfortable life for yourself as a Canadian. I am so much happier in the US than I could ever be in Canada. Every time I visit Toronto again I am incredibly grateful to have left.

    Housing is expensive and overall low quality (lots without yards, cookie cutter housing, overpriced because there are no property taxes, high competition from foreign buyers), the urban environment is incredibly dull (the same 15 big box stores basically repeat every 1km in block manner), and on top of that you constantly have to live with the borderline propaganda about how much better Canadians have it than Americans.

    The parts of Canada where most of the jobs are (Ontario) are geographically worse than the Midwest of the US, and on top of that freezing cold 5-6 months of the year. There aren’t many activities for pleasure and it seems like people in Canada don’t understand the concept of “having fun.”