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Visited from Australia, it's not a very liveable place. Super high rents, drug and crime problems in the streets. SUPER high cost of living and I found that there wasn't much community to get involved in.

I'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people

I'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people

I am glad someone is honest about the problem.\n\nI'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people like these girls.

Healthcare suddenly became a huge problem. Few young people can ever buy a house. even a garbage house can cost a million dollars in major cities. Pensioners cannot even just pay rent ($2,000 for a one bedroom) or their basic pension. Nobody has a good solution for the homeless. Billions of dollars are being sent to foreign countries for some reason. Many degrees outside of doctor or lawyer don't get people jobs.

The only reason immigration is so high is the current government want's them to keep them in power that Trudeau policies they believe make it easy to come to Canada then put fear that if you vote for any other leaders you'll be kick out but also to double or more housing and other cost of living so many bank CEO get get high profits and owner of rentals can rise rent even to unaffordable an who going to stop them

India brings a complete opposite religion, language and ideology to foreign countries. It’s the Indian the does not participate in community activities, and integrate into a true Canadian national identity. This refusal has ultimately resulted in Indian being discouraged and quickly blaming others for the problem they have. If rent in downtown Vancouver on the 25th floor is to expensive, maybe try moving to more rural communities in Canada, where costs are different in living. If you come from a poor punjab province in India whereas you’ve sold the farm to come , then don’t expect a downtown Toronto sky rise , 1500 square foot 17th floor underground heated parking, to be the dream destination of your vision. It’s comparable to moving from the punjab to downtown Delhi and expecting the same cost comparisons to the punjab. Unfortunately it’s not sad to see the Indian people go. Hopefully Canada will begin immigration of more cultural like minded people and more people that have religious alliances, than some completely opposite ideology than a Canadian nationalist.

I really feel for students who are scammed. But being an international students myself, and as a young adult, I did my research on the rent, job market, living costs of the city I was going to: Vancouver. I knew it wasnt gonna be easy from the get go, I struggled but dedicated to school and to my part time job. My personal experience was that most of these students do not focus on their assignments and rely on others to do their part. It was 10x more stressful and, sadly, my strategy to survive (and my friends’) school was to avoid doing school projects with students from one particular country. And worst yet, professors would turn a blind eye to this systemic situation cause I guess everyone was paying their tuition fees.

You have to see what happened around the world,without going too far , the USA have a big problem with homelessness, 100 times more than Canada , obviously Canada is only 10% of the American population, our system in the hospital are treated in accordance to the grade of injuries the more severe are look after before your broken arm, over someone hurt in a car accident , so the attention goes to the more serious issues, but still you get care regardless how long you been waiting , unlike the USA sent you home if you don’t have health insurance,credit card , or cash to look after your problem , they will direct you to the emergency were you can wait for hours behind dozens of people waiting to see a doctor, some people had died waiting to see a doctor, our system is not perfect but nobody will let you died because you have no insurance ,money , or credit card , \nWhy people are leaving the country , is because the cost of living has skyrocketing to the point of no return , if you can only work to pay your rent and eat poorly, but with no possibility to save for the future it’s a wasting time to stick around ,and the people coming to Canada will find our system is not perfect and the image of Canada is tannish , but only people with highly educated will find they pathway to a high standards of living if you can make over 90.000 dollars and 180.000 for working couples in high demand

No surprise there, \n\nCanada is NOT attractive to migrants anymore due to multiple reasons.\n\nSoon a 1 bedroom apartment will probably cost 5000$/month for rent in the Major Cities making it impossible to settle here for newcomers.\n\nThe healthcare system has serious problems due to a lack of Doctors and Nurses who left for better paying jobs in US or Europe.\n\nIf you need immediate Specialist care you will probably have to pay hundreds of dollars just to see someone in the Private sector because the Public Health System has huge waiting lists and is understaffed.\n\nYou won’t be able to get a Government Family Doctor because the remaining ones have thousands of patients already so they’re swamped.\n\nYou can wait even 10 years for a Family Doctor and still won’t get one.\n\nYou can’t be bumped up on waiting lists for Doctors or Specialists even if you are in a critical condition because you aren’t a Celebrity / Politician / Millionaire.\n\nOnly those with a lot of money, status, power get immediate medical attention in case of an emergency.\n\nMost of the traditional medical costs like and eye exam, treating an ingrown toe nail, Physiatrie treatment are NOT covered by the Provinces anymore so you will have to pay out of pocket hundreds of dollars again.\n\nSome Provinces are already copying the US healthcare system which is 100% Private and for profit so don’t be surprised if you you’re gonna have to pay even for an infusion.\n\nThe minimum wage is only 15$/hour in most provinces when in reality you need at least 40$/hour to survive the ridiculous cost of living.\n\nYour typical salary will go 45% to taxes and 45% to rent leaving almost nothing for food / bills / gas / insurance etc. \n\nYou will struggle to make ends meet and possibly starve a week or two every month just to say that you’re “Canadian” \n\nThat is the sad reality but Canada is in a deep hole right now.\n\nUK is in a similar situation too.

Mortgage interests ,rent,insurance,telephone bills,repair costs

Inflation is unbearable everywhere esp in Europe and North America, a pack of Palak cost 2.99$ while in India you can get it for 10rs ! Eggs are over 200rs for a dozen, milk is over 100rs a liter, rent is 1.5 lak/month for a 2 bhk etc etc

Canada is not anymoore dreamland.High and permanently increased cost of living(rent,food),and salary for job,inadecuate to cover cost of living.This are NOT the same country,that i found emigrated to the Canada 35 years ago.

Canada is a great country I have be here for over half a century raised my family. The culture has changed with the times with Govt Policies put the test resulting in skyrocketing COL like food rents housing costs etc and lack of it not making Canada desirable at this time. The Cap on Foreign Students represents a \nCooling Off period for Canada which will prove beneficial in the coming years. All Indian and Foreign Students have been productive constructive ambitious and disciplined who all made a positive contribution to Canada. Times have changed and Govts will also Change with time. Keep up the good work at BBC.

Job market is sluggish, Salary not comparable with US, House Rent are so high, buying a house is a distant dream, inflation is high, education standard is poor kids learn more of LGBTQ+ than math or science, infrastructure not spread out like US, concentration is only in Toronto and within 20 km radius, high cost of living for eg. ridiculus auto insurance premiums, groupism & racisim. I dont think people blend in, healthcare serious wait times. I know no country is perfect but Canada lost its charm in recent times because of politics like in India. Overall US is still better but has its own problem like mass shooting & rising cost of living. If you get lucky US is the right option for now compared to europe.

Quick summary of video:\n\nGeneral Sentiment in Canada \n-Over half of Canadians are angy about the country's management, and two-thirds feel it's deeply broken. \n-Economic worries with decline in quality of life are prevalent.\n \nHousing Crisis \n-Canada faces one of the world's least affordable housing markets like USA \n-Property values have doubled in the last decade, making home ownership and rent unaffordable. \n-Local governments' reluctance to increase housing stock exacerbates the crisis.\n \nEconomic Challenges \n-Canadians face high costs for groceries, banking fees, cell phone charges, and air travel. \n-Monopolies dominate industries, resulting in inflated prices and decreased competition. \n-Canada's wealth relies heavily on commodity exports, leading to a shortage of well-paid jobs.\n \nDecline in Public Services \n-Despite its reputation, Canada's public services, particularly healthcare, have declined. \n-Canadians increasingly feel they won't receive proper medical care in emergencies. \n-Canada's healthcare system ranks poorly compared to other OECD countries.

All of Canada is totally fcked, for such a big country they for sure don't have enough real estate for people to live. I remember back in 90's the rent for nice 2 bedroom apt was 400 here in Kitchener, that was 40% of the full time minimum wage at the time, according to same minimum wage percentage now, the 2 bedroom here cost 2500$, so that means that full time earnings at minimum you can't even cover your rent.

Toronto resident here. I do agree with everything that Alina pointed out. Those thing exist. But the only REAL problem is the high cost of rent. It now equals and even surpasses the cost of a mortgage. If the rent problem were resolved, and they can do this by simply building more housing (which they are now starting to do - with government programs and incentives), then most of these problems Alina reported on would recede or disappear completely. \n\nAlso, the homelessness is not visually worse than anywhere else I've visited. Homeless encampments are visible in every city I've been too. However, in Toronto, a LOT of homeless people come from other parts of Canada. \n\nThe violence that Alina referred to was just a snapshot in time. She made her video around 4 months ago, and at that time there were several truly shocking incidents on the subway (which even made international news). Those incidents have not continued. The subway system, and Toronto, is still a very, very safe city. We are the third largest city in North America, after LA and NYC, and we had something like 50 homicides last year. Chicago has like 500. Just by way of example. \n\nI love Toronto, even though it is very expensive to pay rent here. But there is so much to offer that I wouldn't consider living somewhere else. Not a chance. It's great that you can live somewhere else if you work remotely, but when you're not working, what do you do?...Toronto is safe, clean (except in tourist season), with limitless opportunities for career and lifestyle. Wouldn't live anywhere else.

You are mostly giving false information about the state of affairs in Canada. This is the worst time in the history of our country. We are being invaded with legal illegal immigration. The federal government is actively replacing the old stock Canadians with non white immigrants essentially changing the tge Canadian culture and value system. Crime and homelessness is rampant in every city and town across the country . There is a very serious housing crisis as i speak. The country is short upto 4 million homes driving up the price of real estate and rental housing. For example where i live in British Columbia a 1 bedroom apartment rents for $2200 per month for a 50 year old apartment. It costs about $100 dollars for a single bag of groceries. It costs about $4000 dollars per month just to exist. All of that and our government has gone the way of socialism and our rights and freedom are being removed at an alarming rate.

Australia, same thing ,the average house out of reach unless you earn big$$$, population boost with lack of infrastructure and homes, rent sky-rocketing, even rentals are hard to get 1%vacancy in big cities. Feel sorry for the young people. Governments sold all the tax payers utilities that employed many people and keep the costs of essentials down. Many politicians sitting on big company boards after they retire. The same companies the government made rich. Going downhill, sad . Desperate times ,Desperate measures that's the road we are heading down.

View the cost of renting that will never happen for me

I agrre with you, you are a very young man so good that you did take the right steps to move out as it was too oppressive depreesing to be in Canada, i have heard there is more places which are better countries like Morocco, Spain, Dubai, Thailand, Mexico is good also, and rest of Europe is nearly the same rabbit hole as Canada very high insane living costs, insane taxes, insane energy bills, it is like working like relentless for rent and living costs and still not enough, it is a big scam, a deception, which lots of people are not maybe aware of ? Most are like brainwashed and distorted like robots, it is crazy madness , well im glad to hear that you got wisdom and intelligence that you done what was right thing and to live there where you can have peace and be happy

As a Canadian, stay the hell away at this point in history, you would be shocked at the cost to live here. There is a massive housing shortage right now, so of course, the rent, and real estate is completely unrealistic now. The cost of literally everything is driving through the roof right now. If you are thinking of coming here, I would wait a few years till we get this mess sorted out.

I LOVE Toronto. But would never live there. I keep it as a weekend destination a couple times per year to soak in the vibes, meet the amazing people and enjoy the cuisine. I flat out refuse to pay that much for rent, considering I own a house a few hours away and my mortgage is less than half the rental cost for the average Toronto one bedroom. I really hope they can successfully tackle these problems because the city really is incredible.

Great Video ?thank you for the info. It was very informative. I was born and raised in Toronto .I do believe this could be a post covid situation of high cost living/high rents. I also think in roughly 4 years or so it should change.Example costs will go down.

In a press conference that the Bank of Canada held recently they all but blamed the rising housing costs, particularly rent, on the flood of immigration that the current administration is allowing. If they are going to admit these many foreign students then colleges and universities need to use the extra income they are enjoying from the influx of foreign students to provide housing for them.

International students ARE NOT driving up home prices or rent...that's a supply/demand issue (plus the lack of control government has on landlords and how much they can charge for a specific unit) and it's also a foreign buyer issue (yes Chinese foreign buyers, who buy homes in Canada but never move-in and use it as the home as a savings account). Not the international students problem, when the government of Canada DEMANDS THESE STUDENTS NOT WORK FOR MORE THAN 20 HOURS A WEEK and then watches them struggle to pay for rent (and therefore have to live 2 or 3 to a room)...yeah, don't blame the students. BLAME THE GOVERNMENT for bringing these students here, handicapping them by limiting their work hours (minimum wage at that) and then turning around and blaming them for why homes are ridiculously expensive and rent is unaffordable. Yeah, don't blame the government for it's inability to build homes...don't blame the government, instead, blame the minimum wage international student...it's going to be interesting if this actually brings DOWN rent prices and home costs. Which it won't, at which point, the government is going to be pointing fingers at someone else. Like they always do. LOL.

As a realtor in London, I agree that we feel the pressure on our rental market. Rent has increased dramatically in the past 5 years. Growing families that rent are choosing to live with less space and stay where they are to keep costs down. rents could more than double by going to a new home (depending on how long they have lived in their current hime and the larger unit they will then move to.) I love our international students and support many of them find housing, but it doesn’t take away from the crisis we see. Since Covid our homeless population has exploded along with surrounding communities like St. Thomas and Woodstock.

Post secondary institutions love foreign students. They charge waaaaay more and make that much more.\nThe response against more foreign students by liberal media is the threat that your tuition will go up with limits on foreign students.\nWhat about spaces? For every foreign student there's one less space for Canadian students.\nHousing is the biggest issue today.\nPrevious to Trudeau, the issue was the cost of detached homes in big cities going up but today it's insane rental costs across the board that no one can afford.\nI have been dumb founded as to why after decades of predictable increases and stock suddenly, year after year, cost went up dramatically as stock dwindled.\nI see the same places available, no one's tearing down masses of cheap 70s built rentals so what happened?\nThen I saw the immigration numbers. Canadians aren't having kids so who is taking all this housing? It has to be immigration.\nClearly, it's time to turn the taps down and allow housing stock to catch up.\nThe ripple effect is that no one can work an entry level job in the city. Who can afford a minimum $1000 month on minimum wage? Even at $20 hour, everyone is hiring but no one is filling positions in cities where there's nowhere to rent. Even these way over priced rentals, a bedroom in a run down house has line ups to rent at $800 month.\nThe only people accessing affordable housing are people on the street or on disability who qualify for it. Low income workers are the most screwed class of people especially if single.

The world is changing for greed...I used to rent an apartment 7 years ago in the centre of Madrid for 600€ per month, now it would cost around 1200-1300€, and salaries have barely improved since then. It is frustrating.

Immigration is less integral to the economy than we think. A trivial increase GDP growth wage growth, is meaningless when housing costs can go up 20% per year. Even other costs are going up because retailers rent is so damn high. I have a family member who is dying because of healthcare backlogs and i have untreated injuries right now because the doctor told me it would be a 6 month wait for a cat scan. Im scared for the future, but at least they gave us MAID .

All of the reasons except for #2 and #7 are due to the liberal government policies in BC. For example #3 is a rising issue because they changed how the drug laws were enforced by the police about 20-30yrs ago. Not arresting open drug use in public like they should be as an example. Now they have stores you can buy cocaine in BC. Abusing drugs and homelessness and random violence all go hand in hand.\n\nThe cost of rent in BC is due to foreign home/property ownership getting absolutely out of control. No meaningful rules or regulations to slow this down have been made. The population growth talked about is the unsustainable immigration the Trudeau government has been doing for the past 5 years.

Ok so this isn't going to be very popular... but let me posit a hypothesis: the rising housing costs might indicate that the city is doing something right, because people are willing to pay more to live there. Supply and demand, right?\n\nI bought a couple of condos within last 10 years. They nearly doubled in value. I'm renting them out at 2300 and 2400/mo; used to be 1500~1800 only a few years ago. They're paying for themselves and then some. It's amazing. Things are great from my perspective.\n\nIf enough people decide that the current housing price isn't worth it and move, the prices should come down. I doubt it'll happen though. QE injected s**t ton of money into global financial system and this phenomenon is worldwide.

I'm planning to leave to . Mainly rent costs, and food is crazy high.

justin and the liberal government has changed Canada so much for the worst in the last 8 years. It has seriously gone down. infrastructure breaking down, tent cities all over the place, many closed businesses, Increased killings and shootings, cost of living, rent skyrocketing, inflation in this country Carbon TAX that just utterly kills you, while not knowing what they do with that money. Canada / Toronto is a dumpster right now.

here we go: \n1- increasing violence in major cities\n2- Lack of services (Daycare, babysitters, doctors, etc)\n3-COST of living \n4-Rent (not only expensive but hard to find available options)\n5- Weather\n6- Very hard to get a decent job (that provides just enough for basic needs)

This is all of Canada, cost of living going through the roof, basic needs, food, rent, Gas increasing by as much as 22% in just the past 2 years. Tent cities in the parks for the fist time ever in my 60 years. And now its winter and January and we have people dying in the street from a lack of shelter and the cold in 2024 ... my God.

I lived in Toronto for almost 25 years but moved to Berlin, Germany, a few months ago. I found the last few years to be really sad and also scary. There is such a huge mental health crisis. The TTC is not very safe feeling. I have friends there who travel with dog or bear spray in their purses. The cost of rent is definitely a huge issue. A lot of friends can never move into a new place and I don't know anyone there who can afford to actually buy a home.\nThe positives are the food options (groceries and restaurants - some of the best in the world), the nice social life, so many things to see and do around the city, and the various beaches and islands.\nThe city is definitely looking uglier and uglier, though, with all of these boxy, glassy condo towers and now with Ford doing things like turning public space into a foreign-owned inaccessible spa.

Let me save some time for you...3 reasons she mentioned Toronto is not good:\n1- High cost of rents\n2- Raising random crime to random people\n3- High cost of living compared to income\n\nThese problems exist in every city and every country, not just Toronto. Stop creating hate and propaganda against Toronto. (I live in Toronto, and I have been to 30+ countries around the world)

I lived in Western Europe, Japan and at the moment, Canada. I lucked out getting a well paying job in Vancouver when I moved back a few years ago and my average tax rate is actually the exact percentage you stated in the video - 28%, which includes income tax, pension and employment insurance. I'm actually doing better in terms of quality of life now but I do miss being able to travel around Europe for cheap. (e.g., quick train ride to Paris for the weekend) Now, I take cheap flights (e.g. Flair Airlines) to Mexico instead.\n\nJust to state some data points: when I was in Europe, I paid a total average of 39% income tax on a lower salary than I have right now in Canada. Things like utilities (e.g., gas/electricity), restaurants, certain grocery items and electronics (e.g., iphone/PS5/computers) were significantly more expensive because European VAT (inclusive) is usually 20%+. \n\nI don't have the exact numbers but on average I believe I was paying 70 - 90€ ($100 - 130 CAD) just for electricity each month for a small flat, but I am now paying $30 - 50 CAD for a decent sized 1 bedroom. I believe my housing gas bill was about the same or possibly a bit more. In addition, automobile gas prices were much higher (about $2€/L on average which is $2.90 CAD/L) and I think they could go even higher right now. \n\nHowever, rent is definitely more expensive in Vancouver, but I believe that is true for many West coast cities in North America. Right now I'm paying $2300 CAD a month for a 1BR, and I split that amount with my partner. In comparison, it would have been about €1300 ($1900 CAD) for something similar in the city where I was living previously. In a more expensive city (e.g. Amsterdam) a 1BR would easily cost €1800+ ($2650 CAD).\n\nFor me, the difficulty of making friends in my late 20's stays about the same. I think it is difficult to make new friends after graduating from school, and you have to put yourself out there by joining groups and events. (e.g. Meetup or volunteering?)

New Zealand is in the same boat. High cost of living, high rents, house prices are way too high. Think these problems are world wide. We also opened the door to a particular country to come in and buy up properties due to incompetent governments.

You will live well anywhere in the world if you have money or a good source of income. All the Canadian ex-pats living abroad have either money (they made here), real estate that they can sell or rent to have income from here, a Canadian pension or a willingness to live in the forest/off-grid, as many videos show. No place is affordable for the people living there, and that's why many immigrants still leave their countries and come here. For example, many Canadians move to Mexico, while many Mexicans are moving here. Canadians still have it good, believe me!! I travel and see. Yes, we have many challenges with housing and the high cost of living like BIG cities worldwide do. So, people saying they will leave Canada are still privileged people.

Houses cost over 1 million dollars for a crap shack and rent is 2400 dollars for a 1 bedroom apartment in a crappy neighborhood and there are no good paying jobs and the weather is dreary and winter lasts over 8 months

The whole reason why rent and everything costs so much in a city like Toronto... IS BECAUSE OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES. GET RID OF ALL THOSE AND EVERYTHING WILL COST MUCH LESS. DUH! SIMPLE ECONOMICS: 098.

It is ironic that these immigrants are complaining about the high cost of living, including high rent. Well, if they had not come in droves into Canada, the rental price would be half what it is now. If they had not come into the country and bought up every detached home, the prices of these detached homes would be one third what they are. Well, now they are leaving. That would be the solution for the high cost of living. Thank God they are complaining and leaving.

We came to Canada in seventies, and it takes at least 5 to 8 years to settle here. These days, people are doing well in India. There is no need to move here. Canada has also changed a lot. I know people who came to Canada returned to india after 5 months. Not once twice. They came back and are well settled. I will say if people are doing good in India and have a big circle of family and friends in India. Then they won't be happy here. Finding a good job takes years in some case. It's your luck too if you find a decent job then you will be ok. The worst thing here is long winter. You get tired of cold and snow. Now the cost of living is very high, renting or buying a house is very expensive. In the end, most people make it.

Really it's amazing Now live in Canada it's not easy Just renting 3 bedrooms house cost you close to 2500 to 3000 per month

When I contemplated moving to Canada I really wanted to move to Toronto because a friend of mine who lived there really hyped it up and I was extremely impressed with its diversity. but as I got to know Toronto via talking to my friend every day and seeing how she struggled to pay rent and her bills I became more and more turned off by the ridiculous cost of living. Also, the fact that they don't even have unlimited data plans just boggles my mind.

People have to stop using rental prices in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. That's like Americans using rental costs in Bel-Air California or Manhattan as an example of what rent costs in America. It's not a realistic portrayal of rental costs. \nHere in Quebec the the annual tax rate is between 26.53% and 53.31%, depending on income. Then you have to consider all the socialist programs that you are forced to pay into, which also sucks up a significant amount on your weekly salary. After that, you must consider that you pay 15% sales tax on almost everything. It's safe to say that half of your yearly earnings, give or take, are taken in taxes and socialized programs. As for salaries, less than 20% of the Canadian population make a 6 figure salary. We're not talking about household income. I am talking about individual income. You're not going to become rich here in Canada! The majority of people who do become rich leave Canada to avoid taxation. Canadians live a life of debt. You will live just balancing your debt to make sure it doesn't get out of control Few Canadians have money in savings without debt. The ones who do have money saved, most of them have debts on top of their savings which is counterproductive in my opinion.

Such a good video. Canada used to be so affordable, and such an amazing place to live, it's sad that this is all changing... : (\n\nI do have to point out, though, that the tax rate in Canada is the same as in most of Western Europe (30 to 60%) and the ratio between salary and cost of living is similar. It's pretty normal, in France, Italy and Spain to spend half of your salary on your rent/mortgage, some people even spend more than that. (The average salary in France is about 2,000€ or sometimes even less and the average rent for a 1 bedroom in big cities is about 1000€. In Spain, the aberage salary is about 1,000€ but rents are 600€ per month or more...).