Close Reading

Listen as a minority person who is proud of my heritage but grew up here with immigrant parents who were given refuge in Canada, I can understand immigration. But...its getting out of hand, most of them are from India, most of them have homes in India and often return there for long vacations, These are not refugees or a diverse spread of peoples coming here. I am not hateful in any way but sometimes you have to tell it like it is, A lot of these people are not adapting to the culture here, why? Because most of them are grown already and are used to their own customs, with an ever increasing population now living here they don't really feel the need to learn or adapt because there are less regular Canadians. When I was in school it was already pretty multi-cultural and diverse although yes in my area there are less asians and black people, we had a lot of European(Serbian/Romanian) in particular. Now I go to the store and it's like 80% brown/Indian people lol, even my neighbors, most have moved out and more indian families are moving in. My city is expanding into like a mini Toronto when we can't even handle it, people cant even find jobs, people need all this other stuff, Its just too many all at once, crime rates have gone up over the last few years, this doesn't help anyone, immigrants either.

These Mexicans and Central Americans (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala) really make me realize how good we have it with legal immigration from Asia (India, Taiwan, Korea, Phillipines, Vietnam, and yes even China).

Yes!!!! I was in lecture halls filled with International students, not many Canadians in some of them, that was 2009-2010. And immigration, plus International students coming in more than ever. \nMy son in law said over 50% in his classes at Queens were International students. There were big efforts to recruit more from India. \nImmigration itself, is also out of control. We need a moratorium until we can catch up with infrastructure and homes for those who piled in by the millions this past decade.

Never compare a country with another. We are all educated immigrants who decided to immigrate over to Canada. Im from India, Canadians ive dealt with for my last 10 years are super friendly and sweet people. Yes as a Canadian now i love this soil, weather and i would not mind even giving my life for this country who has made my life better and given me all freedom to live my life the way i want.

Yes, of course Canada is. I am surrounded by immigrants in my neighbour and most of them don't even speak English. If I wanted to live in China or India, I would move there. It is unbearable.

Sir, Australian life far better than others developed countries. But Yes, country-side concept is true to help PR in Australia. Bro...their has an invisible policy( any body cannot prove it)which works through immigration policy, treating as country to country...As an Indian I had a good experience in Sydney...We Indian have a good chance to come back in India. Now Good going in India than Australia...but truth is our neighborhood's country people are not lucky like us nowadays. Indian should not be worried because now India, Australia and Canada are same, those are good country , no difference for life and money. 5 to 6 yrs Jabardast Paisa kamao and India bapas aayoo, now is the best policy.

When you will allow mindless, useless , people who ' fake oppression ' to get a PR , what else can happen ! Yes, I am talking about Sikhs ( punjab , India ). Most self prasing community in the world now 2% of your population and swelling at a blistering pace. Canada is doomed by its faulty immigration policies and vote bank politics of the liberals.

I’ve been living in Canada for 5 years now and I can surely say that Canada is loosing it’s beauty. It’s high time government filters the immigrants it’s taking in the country and it needs to focus more on quality rather than quantity ?\nI love Canada and I feel bad seeing it shaping itself in an ugly way. \nI came from India 5 years ago and I can say this was the best decision but at the same time I feel Canada needs to implement this things to new immigrants coming in:\n\n1) Blend in the local culture and enjoy it the way it is and not try to bring the same chaos and stupidity from back home country.\n\n2) More stricter laws against violators (rowdy immigrants)\n\n3) Once they land they should be given an etiquette lesson and good briefing about Canada whichever airport they are on.\n\n\n4) Better speak English at all times so that everyone can understand everything with clarity.\n(P.S: please don’t consider this racist as Canada has people from all round the world)\n\n5) Cultural festivals need to be celebrated in own space keeping in mind the privacy of others and be courteous to others making sure they’re not bothered.\n\n\n6) Not trying to force others to believe your way or follow certain religion etc and be respectful of others. \n\n\n7) Stop complaining and ranting about things they can’t control and not pollute the environment by being careless. \n\n\nI see a lot of my fellow people making mess of things his beautiful country and hence i hope Canada implements the above points so we can have a better and happy society. \n\nCanada is a land of opportunities and yes it has got some flaws in the system but that’s not what we can control. Hence live and love it the way it is?? \nWe need to be thankful we get clean water here, no floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions etc.\n\n\nThank you Canada ?? ??

I am an immigrant from India. I have been in California for almost 8 yrs. I feel California is quite better in terms of socialization because of very mixed and vibrant communities . And yes strangers just randomly greet and talk to each other on the streets. In fact when I first came to USA, I was surprised to see people just randomly greet each other on the streets..which truly I have never seen back in India. In India we have been taught from childhood never to talk to strangers. And the reality is there are winds of change back home in India too. I am not talking abt the villages. They are completely different case. But even people living in small towns are now preferring privacy. And no.. its not because of foreign returnees. Even people living there for generations now don't want to socialize. Even in India now we have to request kids to go out and play..which to me is a very disturbing thing . All of them just want to sit at home and play games on their smartphones. In fact I find kids in USA prefer playing sports or other activities more than the kids back in India. It actually depends which part of the country u live in.... doesn't matter India or USA .

Canada is what you make of it. You can arrive rich and end up poor and you can arrive poor and end up rich. In between that, you can have a great life that balances your needs. I’ve seen immigrants succeed simply because they see the opportunity in front of them . They worked hard in their own counties to stay just above the poverty line ,but when they apply that same effort here it pays off ten times greater. I feel that compared to a lot of immigrants, natural born Canadians come across as spoiled and a little lazy…we are. We haven’t had to struggle the same way someone from a poorer country might have. I’ve talked to people who’ve worked ten to twelve hours a day just to stay afloat. If you did that here you could make plenty of money to live and have some left over. As far as owning a house goes,yes it’s expensive . I feel that homeownership in any country is relatively expensive. Here is a tip; use that soaring home prices to your advantage. Houses are expensive but you can make a lot of money buying and selling. I recommend putting together a buyers group and share the house for a few years, then sell at a profit, buy a bigger house or two smaller houses.try to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and fix it up slowly . That house could double in value in five or six years in the Toronto market. This is nothing new of course ,the people from India and China seem to do this a lot here ,it drives up prices and profits. On the downside to this ,you are now part of the problem. As the housing prices are driven up the non wealthy can no longer afford to own a house . They are at the mercy of high rents with no rewards of ownership. They are caught in a cycle of hard work and (relative)poverty. This could also be you if you can’t keep up the house payments and are forced to rent.\nHow well you speak English is important but your native language is also useful here because Canada is half immigrants . As a Canadian that speaks only english (Irish descent)I have to say to all newcomers that I’m very impressed that you have learned a new language and that you may even speak more than two! Don’t be embarrassed about your abilities . I find that in my experience , Canadians do not look down on people just because they don’t know English. In fact ,I’ve known people that have lived here for decades and still know very little English. They are comfortable in their communities and they function just fine. Learn as much English as suits your needs and be proud of any gains you make.\nOutside of Toronto are other cities that you might consider when looking at southern Ontario.From my experience,most are generally the same, just not as big . There are large immigrant communities in London Ontario, Hamilton and just outside of Toronto where housing is just a little bit less expensive but the commute to work is probably longer. This is just my opinion but in the small towns there are less people of colour , (which is what people of no colour call everyone else . I wonder if I’m called a person of no colour in some other culture ? LoL ). That might make it harder for you to feel integrated ,if that’s what you want. I’m not saying that people from other cultures can’t make it in a small town , I’m just saying that it’s definitely not Toronto . Here, people of any nationality can feel like they have a place where they can belong . It seems that no matter where you are from ,there is a community already here that’s set up restaurants and stores and clothing shops and newcomer support systems. And if your from Portugal or China or India or Africa or the Middle East, there are large groups of your kin here that have established roots for generations and you probably know this already.\nToronto means meeting place and that becomes evident quickly. I was born here and it’s one of the things I love the most about my city. I’m not going to say that there isn’t systemic racism here ,the people of no colour still kind of keep the top position , but as we become a minority in a decade or so ,I hope that will shift to a broader spectrum. It’s certainly happening already. One good thing is that the police department tries to hire people of colour so that racialism may play a smaller role. We’re getting used to seeing our politicians more and more reflect their constituents.\nI have to talk about the weather. Because I’m from here I’m used to the extremes of minus thirty and plus thirty . Eventually you get used to it (somewhat). Dressing in the right clothes is important. Summer is easy , but winter is different. It’s trying to kill you. Spend the most that you can afford on winter cloths . If you can afford a quality parka you should get one. The hood can be drawn around the face and stay out of the wind.\nIf not ,think of layers with a outer layer that blocks the wind. We have things called long Johns that are basically full length thick cotton or nylon pants that go on under your pants and a pair of extra thick socks. Buy your boots to fit your thick socks. Try to get the best boots you can afford ,it’s something that you might spend a little extra for but never regret.\nAll in all we are a fairly organized and peaceful society. Most people are friendly and will give you a chance . We have a good social safety net here and you don’t have to be homeless or starving if you don’t want to. There are people and organizations set up to help ,that truly try to get people back on their feet. It’s a good investment that pays off in ways that matter for the quality of life in a big city. I’m not putting my American neighbours down when I say they do things differently. They have their ways ,we have ours. This is just something that we do because we’re trying to learn how to help those that society has discarded or can’t find their place. Sure we have one or two areas where the homeless have pitched tents and we have some resources for them if they want. Unfortunately The mayor recently forced a small camp to move from a very visible place to more scattered locations. There were social workers involved as well as protesters trying to protect them. I didn’t like that happening and I want to see even more resources dedicated to them ,but on the other hand ,we are trying to avoid something like what happens on the streets when it’s just ignored. When I see YouTube videos of the streets of Philadelphia I’m extremely saddened. I thank the lucky stars that I was born in Toronto Canada.\nFor all it’s pollution and expense and crowds ,I think it’s a great place to do almost anything your heart desires . For every ugly building there is a beautiful park ,for every honked horn there is a birds call , for every cold and dark day there is beautiful sunny one around the corner.

This is a pretty misleading video.\nYes, our minimum wage went up to $14/h compared to the rest of Canada, however keep in mind it had to accommodate to the cost of living. You're lucky if you can even find a LEGAL small 1 bedroom basement for $800/month. Its not common. \nA car? Brampton has the highest insurance premium in all of Canada. \n\nDon't get me wrong. I LOVE Canada, I couldn't see myself living anywhere else because it is my home. \nHowever, when you compare it to india, in India you're only paying for electricity, gas, and food that you need to buy at the grocery store. \nBut if you really needed to budget and save money, food is LITERALLY growing in your backyard! All the veggies, fruits, etc. You just need to buy the grains and proteins! \n1.5 lakhs sounds great per month. But 1.5 lakhs is realistically not enough to live in Canada. \n\nDon't believe me? Google cost of living in Canada. Google how much a family of 4 would need to make to survive per month in Canada. Also, make sure to check out CANADIAN WEBSITES for this data. (.ca sites or try Global News or CTV news since they have this data)\n\nThe problem is everyone that comes to Canada always comes only to one area which is usually Toronto! However this makes the cost of living go up to accommodate this many people. Compared to Regina, or St. John's not many people immigrate there! It is a smaller city compared to Toronto but at least it's more affordable.\nDo you're research before coming here. Find out whats the best situation for YOUR FAMILY and what YOU can afford. \nCanada is a beautiful place, and yes, Brampton does have a lot of the Punjab culture, but don't be fooled. Be prepared when you come to Canada so you don't have such set backs once here. \n\nHope this helps!!