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As a native Canadian I totally understand your stand on winter and inflation. As a native Canadian I think we don't inform immigrants and outsiders that winter climate does to alot of people. There is a seasonal affective disorder (very prevelent) in my father's family and even my mother unfailing optimism get's like you fatigue at the very least. Kids love winter but yes as a adult or even a teen many people retreat and feel isolated. As for inflation, I do hope you find a country where the gouvernement(s) aren't denying the insanity that is going on. To be honest, after centuries of being a Quebec native, I have fantasized very heavily about moving myself because even with a good salary things each year since Covid-19 have become just terribly expensive and it affect primarily basic shelter and food needs. It's absurd! Good luck on your way settling where ever you will!

Assalamualaikum I am a Canadian expat (born in Ontario), that now lives on Lombok Island, Indonesia. Indonesia has the highest population of Muslims in the world. I married a Muslim man here and we live in a Muslim community in his village. I feel extremely safe in Indonesia and the cost of living is so inexpensive compared to Canada. I can no longer afford to live in my own country. I can understand you wanting to leave. I just wanted to hibernate in the winter too! Good luck with your journey and if you have any questions about Indonesia, please reach out to us.

Salaam... challenges of life are everywhere... I respect your decisions and feelings, but spreading the values of Islam as thought by prophet Muhammad is one thing your obligation as a Muslims.. I can see that both of you are knowledgeable about Islam ... for me, it's indeed a great challenge to educate your fellow Canadian about Islam... may Allah (swt) protect you. . Free Palestine ??

Salam aleikum, I am European who twenty years ago accepted Islam alhamdulillah. I was a student at university when I first met practicing Muslims and during my year abroad in Canada I got to experience the Muslim community and made the decision to accept the truth. It actually makes me sad to see that Canada goes down the way you described. I like the Canadian people and have beautiful memories from the time I spent there. \n\nAs a European Muslim I also started considering hijra. But my case is a bit complicated: I am the caregiver of my two parents who suffer from ALS and dementia ? As they are totally dependent on my presence, practically I cannot leave....but I also feel the negative things as you described them for Canada. With maybe one exception: our winters are milder and I enjoy our summer. When I travelled to Saudi ,Turkey and Morocco: I liked all of them, but the weather was just too much for me ?

Many Canadians are snobs they feel somehow entitled.... superior.... The country has no industry... Only real estate is the highest bubble in world... A country obsessed in English.... And Canadian experience!!!\n\nIn a world so much different yet Canadians have never changed their false image they carry off the superiority!!

For those of us who were born here and who go back generations in Canada , you know REAL Canadians, we stay through good and bad , if you are not one of these please do feel free to piss off out to somwhere else.

I cant blame you for the cold. I dont love the winter either. I moved back to the cold winter from the coast and boy do you get spoiled on either coast of canada for weather! I just dont like to be cold. If I could move to the USA, preferably texas. I would go. In terms of living costs, its sad how many canadians dont understand that places like BC and ON have been pricey for a long time. Its new in other provinces to be this expensive and AB, SK, MB, QC. While some of those provinces are more expensive than others, they're new to the super high prices and many refuse to recognize how ON and BC have been paying these prices far longer then inflation right now, which isn't new either. While I'm not muslim, I am LDS and we are not a favourite religion in society either. We get chastised all the time and nobody bats an eye. I've been insulted by employers, our church buildings have been set on fire. I still have to explain why my faith doesn't believe in working on sundays (as employers want that these days). I think some religions or non religious dont want to recognize what we get put through too. Even though we can relate to muslims in our own way. My faith enjoys serving communities with the muslims, I have worked with muslims and many are just the kindest people! The first president of our church got murdered and our people got chased within the USA and americans seem to believe that this doesn't happen in their own country but the same hate has and continues to happen in my faith. So I can understand, we face a lot of rejection when we speak about our faith. I can understand in my own way how you feel.

We've had a 300% increase in Canadians interested in moving to the U.S.! Many feel they have hit a peak in their career in Canada.

It's so sad, because it is such a huge, beautiful country. And you know, in the USA, we grew up watching things, and reading things, etc that weren't even Amercian, but Canadian, and mostly not knowing it. So many beloved things from Canada. We did also feel like they were happier, and more pleasant than we were. But I have many friends up there, from all Provinces, and they all have the same complaints. Thing is, they are the same complaints about the USA also, but just things like crime in the USA is notably worse....I used to live in the UK also, and that was better, but still not brilliant. The west as a whole is falling apart, and there are reasons for that, reasons that are being mostly ignored, so it will only get worse I'm afraid, unless we start demanding that they know longer be countries that cater to only the rich. Where only the rich can thrive.

Is there ANYTHING in Canada that isn't broken right now ? I feel for the Police and Immigration officials trying to process so many people, but the tide of negativity from so many Canadians on YT is incredible. We are faced with many of the same problems here in Australia, particularly on our East Coast, but I don't see the exodus of people who were born here. Interesting times ahead.

Canadian employers and often hiring managers are very very conservatives and risk adverse. Both as someone who grew up here, worked abroad and came back, the whole process for getting a job (as well as seeing how my colleagues behave as hiring managers / HR), it feels we are decades behind most countries in how we hire. \n\nIf not for my previous Canadian experience before going abroad, it would've been much harder for me to get any employment here. Moreover hiring managers are insanely close minded relatively, I've had countless discussions with people who would rather go with a worse candidate that they know from previous or referral than someone who's obviously more qualified / knowledgeable. It's also possible that the hiring managers have no confidence in their own ability to gauge skills (long LONG rant in this regard...), so they always prefer to go the safest route (for themselves) rather than take any risk on someone who's more skilled.\n\nCanada is (well.. used to, 10 years+ ago) great to live but it's horrendous to make a living.\n\nwith everything going to a shitshow over last decade... we can't even have the first half of that sentence anymore. I now fully expect my kids to leave the country when they look for work and it's probably best for their careers / entrepeneurships (ANOTHER part canada is just hostile to SMBs).\n\nTransportation... yeah, anyone who's lived abroad will consider Canada public transport to be very very low tier. however, you tell that to life time Canadians and they'll be super offended, aggressively defensive how great it is, etc.

What do these recruiters look like? I’ll put money on them not being white, black or East Asian. This feels like brown on brown crime. So don’t get mad at Canada get mad at the immigrated new canadian Indian nationals.

As a Canadian I feel we all need to stay and fight for our Country. And by that, I mean educating those around us as to why we should vote against certain political views ie: communism/marxism and socialism, as we see being practiced by the Liberals and ndp. Vote for those who respect Canada's Traditions and Values and our National Identity. None of us want to live in a Post-National State, as Trudeau promised when he was elected!! Vote for those who believe in Freedom for all Citizens. We are still a Democracy and everyone's vote counts! Stay with us and Vote!

All of this shenanigans for migrants from across the world especially Muslims ,make me feel sorry for one sector of Canadian society who are always forgotten, never given any mention or notice about their wellbeing, and those people are the NATIVE CANADIANS...they should be the ones to first & foremost have a say about what is happening in Canada afterall they are the original & first people of that land...but sadly they have been neglected for such a long time by the White political establishment...I wonder what they have to say about the state Canada is in right now....what they think about the Muslim immigrants whom their government is taking much a care of.

lol...I left Canada 12 years ago...Canada is not moving forward, very little industries to choose, very little roles and positions to offer, the work culture is slow, lazy and dumb in general. Cost of living and tax is high. The government is not open to welcoming more outside investment or allow more companies into Canada. \nAnd having Trudeau as the PM makes everything just worse... \n\nThe only reasons I would go back to Canada, for a vist only, is because of the fresh air and trees and quietness. And maybe some food that I like...and to see my family. But that's all.....I moved back to Hong Kong, and then explored opportunities in mainland China as well. Honestly, after my experience back in Hong Kong it felt like Canada is at least 20 years behind. And after exploring mainland China, it feels like Canada is 40 years behind. \n\nSo yea, no plans to move back to Canada.....because even elderly homes in China now provides really high quality service compare to the ones offered in Canada, you would feel like the Canadian elderly homes are a prison for old people.

I am a Canadian citizen who moved to Bangkok, Thailand, 26 years ago as I had a professional job there. At that time, I was attracted by the Thai culture, the weather and the quality of life. I have been married to my beautiful Thai wife (S.E. Asian ladies are stunning?) for 23 years and we have two grown up children (one is studying in Canada!). I feel that I have more personal freedom in my daily life here, under a military government, than I would in Canada. There is also fast fibre optic internet, reasonably priced phone plans, the low cost of living (I bought an apartment after the 1997 financial crisis), affordable and world class private hospitals. I have learned the language and this is the perfect country for me to retire in. I could not clearly see the future years ago, but I asked myself, where do we think the future is? With creditor nations or with debtor nations? I am so glad that I made the decision to leave Canada in 1997!

I am an immigrant from India. I like Canadians but feel bad about the present situation in Canada. I sincerely hope Canada is able to put a stop to this bad situation and turns the economy around towards positivity.Every single person in Canada should work towards this goal no matter where we are in Canada.

Many of the issues you bring up are the same here, but I am willing to deal with those over the impending chaos we are seeing down here. I am an American living close to the border in Buffalo, but I am considering a move to Canada due to the political climate down here. I would rather pay a little more in taxes & gas than deal with the Christian Taliban we are heading for. The Canadian housing market can be fixed, food prices can come down, but once you start losing rights, it's time to consider your options. When I (a straight white guy in his 50's) can see the writing on the wall, it's getting close to time. That being said, living in a state (New York) that will fight the incoming stripping of our rights, will buy us a few years. I can deal with all the other things (high housing costs, soul crushing medical debt, overpriced college, & out of control gun violence), but we are way too close to a civil war for my comfort. I travel up and down the east coast and don't believe what they are saying, we are way too close to a pre-WW2 Germany situation for anyone to feel safe. The amount of gun owners threatening violence is very concerning.

Canada has the same problem as the United States: wrong kind of politicians elected. Like the U.S., most Canadians consider themselves compassionate liberals and thus feel obligated to vote for said, compassionate liberal politicians. The problem is, for Canada and the U.S., these compassionate liberal politicians don't know how to run the nation's economy except to run it further into the ground. And when the problems get really bad, the solution is always, raise taxes because liberal politicians are either Marxist Socialist and believe the citizenry are obligated to pay higher and higher taxes for more government intervention, meaning, interference, in most cases.\n Whenever Canada does get around to voting in a conservative prime minister and government, the Canadian mass media immediately goes on a years-long negative campaign of deliberately undermining the government in the eyes of the Canadian People, demeaning them as inept and uncompassionate and comparing them to fascists. Eventually the Canadian People get so distressed they have to vote back in the liberal party. And then the same happens again.\n I'm just glad our Canadian brothers are not blaming the U.S. government or the CIA, but instead are clear-headed and courageous enough to blame their own government and past legislations and laws that do the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen, level the playing field for all Canadians.\n I'm reading about the outrageous pricing of Canadian housing and am astonished. But one YouTuber explained this about his Canada. Everyone in Canada wants to squeeze into the few, concentrated urban areas that concentrate business, finance, manufacturing, job opportunities, et al. As it happens, these areas are too few and far between. So what ends up happening is geographical overpopulation, despite Canada having a total population of around 32 million souls. People in California can certainly understand this phenomenon. You can purchase a 3-bedroom house out in California City, which is near the Mojave Desert, for $176,000, but there's nothing out there to make it worthwhile living there. Conversely, a tiny, 3-bedroom home in Torrance, Los Angeles, was selling for $800,000 in 2018. \n As realtors put it this way all the time, location, location, location!\n I'm going to pass on commenting on Canada's National Health Care. I've read criticisms from native Canadians on the Internet. As Canadians, they're entitled to say whatever they want about their country. If I, a Yank, open my big mouth, I'm going to get trolled by a hundred angry Canadians defending their National Health Care as the world's greatest socialized medical care. Health Care is already expensive enough in the U.S. Most people get it through their employer, which pays a part of it. But employees' monthly deductions for health insurance have been growing steadily over the past 30 years to where it's now a huge chunk out of one's monthly paycheck.

The thing about Canadian experience is so true, even for Canadians that live abroad and then come back. I spent my 20s living in Japan and when I moved back to Canada I had such a hard time finding a job because all of my experience from the past decade was overseas. It’s taken me about 6 years to get stable footing here again but the rising cost of living still has be feeling a bit uneasy at times.

Even if it's not perfect, at least they have healthcare. If I were Canadian I wouldn't be in pain, unable to do what I love and feeling like a shell of myself. I might need to wait a while but I'd get the surgery I need eventually

The North's called it's sons to it's side boys\ntheir sowing the maple leaf on the flag now\nwe must all prepared to fight \nfor a cause we feel is right\n& join the fascist pornstars near and far\n\nchina can't understand are way of life boys\nraised all them import prices in the canadian terrorists\nthe knowledge that they lack is there ain't no cotton if there ain't no crack\n& that gives the reason to be succeed \n\ncome ah way from the factories and plantations\ncome away the shores and docks on the sea\njoin under the flag with your french loafers and your bags\nwe got to break ties with communist china to be free\n\nsense Mao got elected there ain't no choice boy \nwe showed um what we meant when gas prices fell\n& if they trie to raise um back \nfor a cause to get sweet tit of china back\nthe good lord know we're going to give um hell\n\ncome ah way from the factories and plantations\ncome away from the shores and docks down by the sea\njoin under the flag with your french loafers and your bag\nwe got to break ties with communist china to be free\n\nin the year of our lord 2023, china imports were 73% of the canadian market share. with no other supply chain to shop from the communist set prices for canadians. shops were forced to cut employees and marking up prices everywhere , cutting sale signs up in stores, and brooding at shipping docks like vultures... Lord they made everybody suffer.

Canadians feel so inferior to Americans. They love comparing themselves with Americans meanwhile Americans dont even care about Canada.

Just imagine how priced out actual Canadians feel.

No offence to new immigrants but if you came here past 2018 you should not be allowed to buy a house until house prices get back to sane levels. I was born in raised in a small town surrounded by farmland in Ontario and the average cost of a home is now 700k. 20 years ago it was 150k. No one I grew up with can afford a home, I'm sorry but Canadians first. Other countries seem to care way more about their own people waaaay more than here. I feel like Canadians are constantly the ones who just have to suck it up. Its absolutely nonsense. Either something has to happen or I, and many Canadians in the same position will leave. Canada sucks at the moment, do not come here! Almost everyone I talk to who is born here agrees, lib, con, ndp, doesn't matter what political party they usually vote for, they want immigration to stop, and homes to be built. We're at the breaking point.

I do agree that we need to normalize and promote a simple lifestyle where non essential consumption is discouraged. I am living in a two bedroom place only 546 square feet and it’s too much! A few months ago I ended up getting a roommate so the place wouldn’t feel so empty. This woman had no other options and likely would have been homeless had I not taken her in. I think Canadians need to help each other a lot more, rather than looking to the government and the crime minister. Their high taxation and uncontrolled deficit spending is the main cause of our economic woes.

As a canadian born here and raised by first gen immigrants this is true. Parents came from poorer countries and came to Canada for peace and to be better off financially. They worked hard and made sure I would live a better life then them by focusing on school and getting a good paying job. Fast forward, I graduate university landed a good job and am still struggling in this country. Feels like deja vu now Im considering moving countries for the same reason my parents did.

Here in America most folks seem to feel a sense of decline and negativity towards the country and who we are. But a little bit of positive energy sometimes gets through. \nBut Canada? Man I never see any Canadian happy to be Canadian atm lol. This is just my personal observation, of course. But sometimes Canada sounds worse than the US.

My family came to Canada 5 years ago. The main reason was because my dad had been busy setting up a branch of his European company here for two years. He wanted to launch this new branch and then retire early. Canada as he knew it was a good option for him to do this. We even had a house long before we came to Canada. And we now live on the west coast of Canada. \n \nFor us, the transition to feeling at home here wasn't particularly difficult. We also had enough experience of what it was like to live in other countries. Canada actually turned out to be a very easy country to quickly settle in. \n \nI've heard that Canadians can be reserved, but my personal experience is completely different. \n \nNevertheless, I got to know fellow immigrants who didn't find it easy to get started in Canada. In my experience, they were not very or only rudimentarily informed about what to expect in Canada. Their expectations were very high and they failed because of the reality of everyday Canadian life. \n \nOthers had similar experiences, but they persevered and ultimately arrived in Canada. Some of my fellow students are international students who are also considering leaving the country because Canada doesn't offer what they were hoping for as a better life here. \n \nThe reasons are really too individual in nature to really generalize. I think there should be a lot more help given to people who are struggling with their fate in Canada, because there are enough programs that they could take advantage of but that they never hear about. \n \nUltimately, it may help if someone just listens to them and perhaps has some advice, no matter how vague it may be. Those who finally arrive in Canada after years of a long odyssey and find this country something like home are, in my opinion, those who never gave up.

0:28: ?? Many Canadians feel deeply pessimistic about the economic situation and quality of life in Canada, despite its reputation for safety and prosperity.\n0:56: BetterHelp, a platform connecting individuals with licensed therapists, was mentioned as a potential solution for those seeking therapy.\n3:46: ? Canada is facing a housing crisis with skyrocketing home prices and unaffordable rent, making property ownership out of reach for most people.\n4:14: In Toronto, the average resident spends 120% of their income on rent, and in Vancouver, a minimum income of $250,000 is needed to qualify for a mortgage.\n4:35: Canada now has the highest household debt-to-income ratio in the world, making property ownership only possible for those with exceptionally high income.\n7:12: ? Canada's overprotectiveness has led to a lack of competition, resulting in monopolies and limited global success for Canadian corporations.\n7:59: Canada's wealth is based on exporting commodities, leading to limited global success for Canadian corporations.\nRecapped using Tammy AI

I don't want to live in a WEF prison. I won't move there even if the Canadian government pays me. I feel sorry for my fellow South Africans that move there. Get little Swaups g-string out of the prime leadership and I think that it will be a wonderful country to live in.

I don't want to live in a WEF prison. I won't move there even if the Canadian government pays me. I feel sorry for my fellow South Africans that move there. Get little Swaups g-string out of the prime leadership and I think that it will be a wonderful country to live in.

Born in Canada, I left Canada 10 years ago for SE Asia. Canadian Salary was good but after Tax and poor exchange rate, Purchasing power is no good, Work life balance feels like slavary. Weather is harsh. I wouldn't want my kids exposed to the school and social system. \n\nSocial justice and westeren guilt has gone wild.\n\nAlot of people seemed unhappy.\n\nMarriage laws made me SWARE to stay single / Marry abroad.\n\nThere are however plenty of good things about Canada too of course.\n\nI may return if we get a sensable goverment someday.

I am Canadian, born and raised in Canada. I strongly feel the problem with this country is woke liberal policies. Which don't work and has eroded the quality of life in Canada. The Liberal party of Canada is no more, they have taken a radical swing to the woke left and are now more Marxist leaning which in my opinion broke Canada. The Canadian government is led by a prime minister who is grossly on qualified for the job of Prime Minister and who's policies are solely responsible for the housing crisis, Food inflation, and deficit spending causing inflation. I feel it will take decades to on do the damage these woke policies have inflicted on Canada.

as i feel , canadians are not friendly like i heard before ?

Canadians need to stand up more to the indian community thats bullied their way into this great nation. Knife attacks are on rampant, harassing women is more rampant especially in major cities.. \n\nIf you feel the need to bring your toxic behavior to this country, stay home.

I was never an immigrant. Born in Canada probably 6th or 7th generation Canadian. And I'm sure I am not alone when you here the struggles we had. Do those immigrants think they should have everything just given to them. Well it seems that way and Canadians are starting feel that this is enough of the whining and complaining about their struggles. Shouldn't have come here thinking that everything is free.

Our banks offshore our high tech jobs, broken windows and protests in our cities on issues from their homeland, our educated children leave the country for a better life, drugs, guns and homelessness on our streets. How stupid are Canadians to continue filling this Trojan horse? You can't blame it all on the politicians, your average Canadian wants to feel their government will take care of them, like a parent from cradle to grave. Pretty stupid.

It's almost like, 75% of Canadians understand, what it is to be Canadian, and what it is to be a political tool. Diversity has never made a single thing better, in the history of forever, aside from your ESG score.\n\nMaybe go back to more controlled immigration, that address specific needs of the country, aside from, winning liberal points with the WEF. \n\nP.S. Idgaf if my comment hurts your feelings.

I have had ZERO faith in the common sense of the Canadian public over the past decade or so, but this makes me feel good. Could there be a common sense revolution in the western world around the corner? I doubt it, but there is a glimmer of hope shining through.

I'm leaving because I want to start a family and Canadian women are giant zeros for starting families. I have dated too many women in this country, it's crazy, I never thought I'd be that guy but I cannot find a decent woman I'd marry here. 50% of the women are infertile or have uterus problems. 35% are on SSRI's or psyche meds. I'm only dating fit decent looking women, and the pool here isn't that big because so many women are obese and refuse to exercise or eat properly. The weather is terrible too. The politics are awful too. It's become so expensive. The tax money is wasted, you get very little value for your taxes. Canada feels like a slave colony that they stuff gullible immigrants into, and hope they can trap them.

I feel like I wasted my life moving to Canada too. It's really sad and contributes to my depression. Here, even Canadian graduates struggle to get a job in their field. Underemployment is alarmingly high for a developed country.

Immigrants aren’t the only ones feeling this, you should be reporting all Canadians

Am suppose to feel bad for immigrants when we as Canadians can’t afford to live in our own country!!! ??? most Canadians can’t afford house’s!!

Canada-\n\n It's not highly educated immigrant... they are English speaking labourer who come with hope no good industry nor high paying jobs... Timmy's and warehouse labor.. \n\njust a English test?\n\n The skill the talent run south as the system is unwelcoming as hypocrisy and superiority is embedded in system!\n\nFor far too long, too many people arriving in Canada have been funnelled toward dead-end jobs .\n\nThis is the definition of modern day hypocrisy and superiority!\n\nOECD estimates-By 2050, we will no longer qualify for the G7 and could find our standard of living in the range of Spain and Greece, rather than the U.K. and France.\n\nIn Canada Canadian. Experience is required - a false claim because of which talented skilled technology driven people never stay for long...\n\n\nThe world does not value Canada because Canada itself feels it's superior; somehow!!

Canadian here.\n1) I love gloomy days too! Winter is the best! \n2) All your criticisms (job-searching, health care, housing costs) apply to average Canadians too -- it has got much worse here in the past fifteen years, especially the past five years.\n3) I am sorry to hear your view on freedom-loving Canada. I think there is a culture war playing out and the core issues have not been solved yet. I think average Canadians love their freedom!\n4) Now that you say it, yes it is hard to make friends here. We are introverted and reserved people with those we don't know. But behind closed doors, I think we are quite loud and rowdy. We simply do not want to hurt anyone's feelings :)

You have tried to explain very well the initial struggle faced by new immigrants. This does take years and sometimes decades to settle down properly in a new country for first generation. First generation Indians try to save as much as they can while cutting corners. Things have relatively become much easier as there are plenty of jobs for those who have professional degrees and substantial experience. I personally found Canadian bachelor of engineering was far superior than masters of computer science in USA. I enjoyed spending four years in downtown Toronto while full time studying in late 80’s before moving back to USA. Someone else mentioned here in previous thread that all of their friends are much better off in India. I feel more or less the same way in spite of having three engineering degrees and 40 years experience. I am strong believer in Karmas, your destiny will take you where you’re supposed to be. Good luck to your viewers.

I mean i am a mechanical engineer and i left canada after 10 years. No one can afford houses in Canada. I feel pity for my fellow Canadians.

There are just too many immigrants being let in. I’m shocked at the amount of international students at my college. I feel like its almost 90% are international students trying to get PR and some of them can barely write properly. The quality of work being put out by the students makes me question the integrity of schools. So many of them don’t care about what they’re studying and put minimal effort. All they want is PR. They are not willing to adopt Canadian values and I see people pushing and shoving to get on public transport instead of being civilized. I think immigrants from 30 years ago were a different group. Most were refugees and wanted a better life and were willing to adapt to Canadian culture and adopt new values. But nowadays, the mass of immigrants coming in are very different. Many of them are wealthy and are here not to make a better life for themselves and contribute to Canada. They are here to get PR in order to get Canadian benefits as its much better than their own countries. Some want to be able to move to the US later on. They’re taking advantage of the system and it’s f*cking the country.

1) Toronto is poor value. Getting housing of any kind (buying or renting) is stupidly expensive. And the quality you get for the price is lousy. Especially the newer builds, which are just thrown up as quickly as possible and sold to investors. Policy measures generally all seem to serve to just inflate the price of housing further. The occasional lip service given to affordability is amusing, but ultimately sad. There are lots of people who really do not want the housing bubble to pop. They will fight against it with all they have.\n\n2) It has become kind of boring. There is lots to do if you have money, but it’s harder to find entertainment on a budget. Even the free stuff like parks are filling up. Stuff like sporting events, eating out, going out is very costly across the board. Even the “cheaper” stuff is expensive. It seems like a lot of local culture is disappearing. Even the cool neighbourhoods are filling up with the same chains. I think the high commercial rent and bureaucracy is deflating a lot of would-be entrepreneurs. Most landowners seem to just be banking on cashing out their land for condos.\n\n3) Canada overall has a high cost of living compared to salaries. In the US you can find lower cost of living areas that still give you a real city experience. And in Europe you can be poor but still live a decent, if no frills, life. In Canada the basic necessities are all expensive. Phone bills, grocery bills, rent, insurance are through the roof. Domestic travel is expensive. And the dollar sucks if you want to travel abroad. Health care is free but good luck finding a family doctor or waiting 8 hours in the ER these days. It’s expensive to be poor, or even middle class.\n\n4) Most of the Greater Toronto Area, outside the core, is soulless suburbs with awful transit - very “American” except with worse traffic congestion. You will need a car, which is another huge cost. Row upon row of old cookie cutter suburbs with the same crappy houses. Good luck walking anywhere, and if you do you will need to walk down boring, treeless arterial roads with cars zooming past right beside you, and cross giant eight lane intersections that were never built for humans on foot. In a rainstorm or on a fall evening you have to be really careful not to be run over by aggressive drivers.\n\n5) It is hard to raise a family in an apartment here. You can do it but it’s not very easy, and also you are still kind of judged for it. Lots of young people are feeling stuck and are deferring or avoiding starting a family. Buying any type of house, even a basic townhouse, requires pledging your soul to a bank by taking a massive mortgage with eye watering debt in a volatile market. But few apartment buildings have the kind of sensible gentle density, the family unit sizes and the common amenities, like little courtyards with jungle gyms, that you might find in Europe. No one ever contemplated that anyone would ever desire to raise kids in an apartment. It’s just a cultural thing that has worked its way into how things are planned and designed.\n\n6) The transit system is ok by North American standards but awful by international standards. There are only two real subway lines, one stub line, one line that is permanently out of service after a derailment, and another line that was supposed to open a couple years ago but still has no date for opening. The subways go out of service frequently, sometimes for the dumbest reasons, and then it is a zoo of shuttle buses. The streetcars are nice but so slow. The buses are fine if you find yourself dreaming about riding a daily herky jerky rolling tin of sardines. They are building a lot of transit but it will take decades to get done.\n\n7) There is still a lot of cool multiculturalism and opportunities to experience different foods and cultures - one of the best things about Toronto. Increasingly though it seems to be losing the fun vibe of the 90s, when everyone celebrated each other’s backgrounds and was chill. It seems the immigration is not as broad based anymore and also people are importing a lot of their “old country” grievances here. The immigration system also kind of preys on people abroad by selling them a false fairy tale, so they end up dejected when they arrive and see how things really are.\n\n8) This one might be controversial but it’s kind of an ugly city. There’s nothing particularly of historical meaning or value. Some of the older neighbourhoods are kind of nice, but the last 25 years they have only built giant glass skyboxes, one after another. There aren’t the cool “missing middle” walkups like in NY, Chicago or Montreal (or even LA). There are very few buildings with much architectural character. Some of the buildings they deem “heritage” here are an embarrassment.\n\n9) For safety, honestly on this score I think Toronto is not bad. There are not too many real “ghettos” and it’s night and day compared to much of the US. With that said, there is more vagrancy and social issues these days, with tents and such. It’s very sad but the shelters are full, lots of homeless go into the libraries, parks and transit system. It does make it harder to enjoy these public amenities safely. It is nowhere close to Europe where you might let your kids run free around town. Canadian parents still helicopter their kids and the place again is not designed to really be safe for kids, in the same way as Europe.\n\n10) Finally, a bit of a double edged sword. Toronto had a lot of youthful energy - people coming here from all over. It is definitely not as sleepy as many parts of the world. With that said, it is becoming a bit of a transient place (minus the world class experiences like London or NY). If you are from elsewhere you might find it hard making and keeping friends. I’ve seen lots of people struggle because it’s is hard to build a strong social network. We have a very “shallow” culture here - people are extremely polite but not overly warm and hospitable. We treat one another kind of like neighbours - meaning we’d like to have a cordial, drama-free coexistence and otherwise kind of stick to ourselves.