Time was, when Canada was simply some British Commonwealth outpost to the North of the USA. It grew huge swathes of cereals, produced lots of Maple Syrup, and had nicely dressed Mounted Police.
These days it is regarded very differently. Whilst the USA is going through difficult times internationally, Canada has been advancing in leaps and bounds in the eyes of international observers. It has become a very desirable place to live, and Brits are now choosing it over Australia for re-location; which doesn't surprise me.
Immigration figures prove its popularity. Australia will accept just 160,000 immigrants annually until 2023, whilst Canada will take 340,000 permanent residents this year, rising in 2021 and 2022.
Both countries have been hugely popular with wander-lust Brits. They offer space, good life-styles, and are both family friendly. However, both countries have increasingly ageing populations and low birth rates. They both need young blood.
When I was younger, Australia was always seen as the sensible option for aspiring entrepreneurs and young professionals; Canada was seen as a little dull and old fashioned. These days things are very different. Whilst Oz retains its beach-babe image of surf, sea, and sand, Canada is seen as an advancing nation in finance, manufacturing, and science.
I'm now expecting to hear the word 'Canada' bandied about, much more than before.
Having said all that, I read that NZ still comes top of the list of countries to retire to (if they'll have you).
N.Z. suits me just fine thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt still seems to be top of the list.
DeleteCanada is popular with Greeks as well. I know a few who have spent half a lifetime there and made their fortune. But most of them come back here when they grow old.
ReplyDeleteI imagine its resurgence is partly due to its comparison with the USA. I wonder how many Americans are heading north of the border?
DeleteNone at the moment! Our order with the US is closed and most of us want it to stay that way until there is a vaccine! :-)
DeleteMy family emigrated to Canada in the 60s, they've all done extremely well there. Lovely country, loads of space and fresh air. However, on visiting a few years ago I did notice that Vancouver particularly seems to be populated mainly by Chinese people, very few locals to be seen nowadays. My family now live live on Vancouver Island which seems much as it was long ago.
ReplyDeleteI had a cousin who went there. He did extremely well. He became one of the country's top Physicians, and was an advisor to the government. Sadly it all came to an untimely end, at the hands of his next-door neighbour's drug-addled son. His widow and family still live in Vancouver.
DeleteCanada never seems very popular with locals these days, not much good comes out about Trudeau.
ReplyDeleteRose tinted glasses perhaps. A country always looks more appealing from abroad.
DeleteThat was what I was thinking.
DeleteOne good thing about watching yoootoooob videos is that you can follow people from all over the world and get a glimpse of what their lives are like. Sue, there is a van dweller based in Vancouver Island, he moves around quite a bit, Vancity Vanlife. I visit people through my computer. I know a Brit who has a smallholding in NZ, she writes on a forum. A friends family moved to Canada and are doing well for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI don't think France appears too often on 'Best places to Live' polls. I'm staying put anyway.
DeleteI'm not a huge Trudeau fan - but - the vast majority of us give full credit to all our politicians who have banded together to get through this pandemic with a clear message - lead by Science - money to keep individuals & businesses going - and information & rules that don't change on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteNowhere is perfect but general consensus here is - "Thank God we live in Canada" - especially in 2020.
This is certainly part of the sudden love for Canada; people are seeing her as a 'safe pair of hands'.
DeleteIt was the same in 2008 - our banks were properly regulated and we came through that financial crisis relatively unscathed - again - especially as compared to other countries.
DeletePeople seem to notice us during a crisis - and then ignore us the rest of the time - fine with me!
I find it interesting to hear different opinions about Canada. It's funny that nobody mentions the weather. Also, Canadians are quite particular about not being considered the same as Americans. It's a big country, and one province can be almost like a different country than another. We're nice, polite, patient, and have high taxes. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI remember my cousin saying that he could go skiing in the morning, and swimming in the afternoon. That sounded pretty good to me.
DeleteI was going to mention the weather. For the majority of Canada it is far too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. I had no idea what -35C would feel like. Winter, for me, was too long.
ReplyDeleteI found Sue G’s comment that there are few locals in Vancouver now interesting. Canada is a land of immigrants, there haven’t been many locals for centuries. A statistic for you 46% of Canada’s largest city was born outside Canada.
The expression 'New World' serves it well. At least a good percentage of your residents are there because they choose to be; not simply because they were born there.
DeleteIf Trump gets elected again, there will many US citizens who will be looking north to settle. Of course, with Covid being our #1 export, we will not be allowed in. Most people I know highly admire Trudeau. From what we see, he has done a better job with the virus, but who hasn’t.
ReplyDeleteIf only Canada was warmer!
In 1953 my father made a trip to Canada with the idea of buying a HUGE farm. He decided against. The distances were too great, and the idea of 'prairie farming' not to his taste.
DeleteThe distances are huge. Cro you are closer to eastern Canada than Vancouver is.
DeleteIt was a fantastic place to live, work and build a career but, after a while, the city life began to pale and I didn’t fancy the long winters as a retired person.
Interestingly I have friends from the Middle East whose family settled in parts of Canada and parts of the US. Those who settled in the US found it much easier to get on. Their home country experience and qualifications were more accepted in the US than in Canada, where “Canadian experience” was desired by employers.
The weather is all relative and as someone pointed out - we're so huge (second biggest country in the world) that it really does depend upon where you live.
DeleteVancouver & Victoria in the west are known for relatively mild winters - more rain than snow on the coast. The Prairies are very cold - Ontario differs widely - where I live we get off relatively easily because we are on Lake Ontario and that mitigates things for us. Montreal and the maritime provinces can get hit pretty hard with lots of snow!
But mostly people just get on with it.
By the way - New York & Boston can get much worse weather than us!
The real issue is the extreme range - from minus -26 with a howling wind in the winter to 35C with high humidity in the Summer. I'd rather have the cold weather any day.
My first husband and I went to Canada many times - we loved it. He always said that if he had been younger he would have considered selling the farm and moving there to farm.
ReplyDeleteSee above. Frankly I think he made a wise decision to stay in England.
DeleteMy family made the move to Vancouver in the 1960s. Towards the end of his life, my Father appeared to regret his decision. He left because of the Wilson Labour government and how, no matter how hard he worked, life wasn't improving.
ReplyDeleteI no longer live in Vancouver and rarely go there to visit. Housing is too expensive, the city changed after Expo 86, the handback of Hong Kong affected it.
Canada may be accepting more newcomers than Australia, but in all honest, refugees are included in the settlement numbers. Skilled tradesmen and professionals are still needed but can't make it through the hoops and hurdles.
Trudeau loves money and foreign investors. There was a scandal a few years back about him going to dinners with Chinese immigration lawyers in return for donations to the Liberal Party.
Every four years, we get threatened with an American influx. It never happens. Americans don't understand unions, universal healthcare and looking out for the greater good.
re you final para; I would have thought that with all that, plus the anti Trump feeling, than Americans would be desperate to head north.
DeleteMy partner would have probably emigrated from England to Canada in the 70s if not for the weather. "USA going through difficult times internationally"! Yes, you could say that.
ReplyDeleteThe weather is certainly still on the side of Oz. I think it makes a huge difference too.
DeleteDepends where you are in Oz. I wouldn’t want Darwin weather. Too hot and humid for me. The south is better.
DeleteTraveller, no I could not bear weather much north of Sydney.
DeleteI saw a hoary marmot in Canada.
ReplyDeleteWhen my children were at junior school here, one of the first words they learnt was the French for Marmot (Marmotte, I think). I never did get to see what they look like; I must make enquiries.
DeleteThere was once a competition for the best caption/title to get everyone to switch channel on TV and the winner was, 'Canada, Sleeping Giant of the North'.
ReplyDeleteI did hear that at a large meeting of publishers in London, they were asked what the worst possible title for a book would be. They all agreed that it would anything containing the word 'Canada'.
DeleteI have two Oxford educated British friends that moved to Canada first then to the US. At the time, they said it was easier to immigrate to Canada and move on to the US. Opportunities in the US are not what they used to be.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Hasn't America become 'Great Again'?
DeleteI might be flippant but I do think the Mounties look mighty fine in their uniforms.
ReplyDeleteTo add to all of the above. I grew up in Canada and returned here so my son could grow up here as well. It is a lovely place for children under 10 but, at least where we are, the secondary education isn't good enough and the drug problems are rampant. I'm also rapidly becoming very bored - almost no-one reads books, certainly not fiction, and I find the political correctness cloying, to understate the case. But it is very, very beautiful, the people are lovely and it's ideal for those who like the outdoor life. I never considered myself an active person until I broke my leg - and likewise I never really considered myself a cultivated person until I moved to rural British Columbia!
ReplyDeleteRural BC has always been a backwater. The smaller the town the stranger it gets.
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