Advice on moving to Canada

[dazzlette]

Hello everyone! :wave:

Ok I kinda wanted to start this topic for while but well, I kinda was a little scared to. :shy: This is US/Canada ground. I feel rather small coming from a little red dot of an island called Singapore.

I'm gonna move to Edmonton in Alberta in August. My parents want me to do university there and live with my uncle and cousins etc. I even visited Canada for about 1.5 weeks just to see what it's like. It seems like a really beautiful place, with friendly people and lovely weather. What really struck me during my visit was how cosmopolitian a country Canada really is. When I arrived in Vancouver, there were so many Chinese in the airport, my mum thought we were in Hong Kong!! ( The people around us all happened to speak Canto)

To cut the long story short, could you people tell me more about Canada and the life there? Things I should expect or do before I go over? :?

[panda_shine]

I don't think you'll have to worry too much about moving to Canada because like you said Canada is a very beautiful place with nice and friendly people. Most of the main cities are really diversed and mulitcultural so I am pretty sure you'll be able to find a person who can speak Chinese if you ever do get lost or something.

I have been to Edmonton once but I don't exactly remember what it was like there.. but I just know Alberta is a quite cold compared to Vancouver (where I live) so be sure to bring lots of warm clothes with you :wink2:

[jakinni]

:excited: Wow dazzlette, we just keep having more and more things in common!

First welcome to Canada, I've never been to Vancouver or Edmonton, but I know Vancouver is similar to Toronto in the fact that it's very multicultural. Edmonton probably is as well since it's a big city. In that aspect I suppose it's very much like Singapore.

I think the thing about Canada is that is such a huge country so everything is kinda spread out. Maybe transportation is not as convenient, but then again you'll be in the city so it should be all good. There's the great outdoors, you can experience all seasons here. But I think the prairie provinces are quite cold compared to here in Toronto. I don't suppose you experience much snow in Singapore right? So be prepared for that.

Canadians pride themselves on being very friendly and diverse so I'm sure you'll have no problem fitting it. Hmm, I really don't know what else advice to give you. You'll be starting university and from personal experience since they're all publically funded, it's quite competitive here in Canada. I'm assuming you'll be going to UofA, I'm not too sure about the situation there or compared to my own school, but from some graduate school information I've read about it's quite competitive as well. In Canada the education is cheaper than the states and you'll get a more vigorous education in my opinion. But then thing is you have to work hard. Jia you!

Any other concerns feel free to ask! Once again, welcome!

[bethie_me]

I've been to Alberta before but never Edmonton but as panda_shine mentioned, it's quite cold there. You might need some time to get used to the winters. When I first moved here, I wasn't used to the cold at all. Alberta is very beautiful, much like Vancouver and I'm sure you'll enjoy your life there! I'm thinking about going to university in Edmonton as well when I grow up.

[dazzlette]

I don't think you'll have to worry too much about moving to Canada because like you said Canada is a very beautiful place with nice and friendly people. Most of the main cities are really diversed and mulitcultural so I am pretty sure you'll be able to find a person who can speak Chinese if you ever do get lost or something.


Thanks panda_shine! When I visited Canada, what really struck me was the fact that it's such a multicultural place. I always thought that since it's a Western country, it must be made up of majority Caucasians with the rest being a minority. I was really pleasantly surprised when I arrived in Vancouver to see all kinds of people mixing together. And haha I can't speak Canto.. I noticed that a lot of Chinese there speak Canto. But I can speak English, it's good enough right?

:excited: Wow dazzlette, we just keep having more and more things in common!

First welcome to Canada, I've never been to Vancouver or Edmonton, but I know Vancouver is similar to Toronto in the fact that it's very multicultural. Edmonton probably is as well since it's a big city. In that aspect I suppose it's very much like Singapore.

I think the thing about Canada is that is such a huge country so everything is kinda spread out. Maybe transportation is not as convenient, but then again you'll be in the city so it should be all good. There's the great outdoors, you can experience all seasons here. But I think the prairie provinces are quite cold compared to here in Toronto. I don't suppose you experience much snow in Singapore right? So be prepared for that.

Canadians pride themselves on being very friendly and diverse so I'm sure you'll have no problem fitting it. Hmm, I really don't know what else advice to give you. You'll be starting university and from personal experience since they're all publically funded, it's quite competitive here in Canada. I'm assuming you'll be going to UofA, I'm not too sure about the situation there or compared to my own school, but from some graduate school information I've read about it's quite competitive as well. In Canada the education is cheaper than the states and you'll get a more vigorous education in my opinion. But then thing is you have to work hard. Jia you!

Any other concerns feel free to ask! Once again, welcome!

jakinni, looks like we should be buddies on this forum!! :hugz: I feel really excited about going over to live in Canada too. It'll really be an amazing change of lifestyle. I can't wait to experience the 4 seasons and watch it snow!! :excited: I've never seen it snow before, though I've seen snow on the ground. (But that wasn't very nice, it was brown and dirty. :rasp: ) Hehe this may seem like a stupid question, but how exactly should I dress to protect myself from the cold?

Just a question on transportation, would I need to learn how to drive and get a car there? The transport network over there seems pretty good in general.

and yup, I'm going to the U of A!! I actually have a cousin doing medicine there but he's much older than me (I think 6 years!) How does U of A rank in Canada anyway? Why do you say the education in Canada is more vigorous than the States? I'm going there cos the fees aren't as steep as other places and my uncle is there to 'take care of me'.

Anyway are there many cases of racism in Canada? I know that in the States and in Australia it's pretty bad in some parts.

btw, how cold is it exactly in Vancouver or Toronto? I'm just curious. Edmonton's weather is pretty extreme I heard.

[jakinni]

:excited: Your Joe avatar! You know although I kinda remember seeing it before this post, but somehow it never registered in my head. :wacko::laughing:

To protect from the cold, no real secret, just wear more clothes! :laughing: Wear a lot of layers, sweaters, fleece, and thick down feathered jacket. Though it may be fashionable to wear the shorter ones, it's sensible to get a full length one. Of course, very important are hats, most of the heat leaves through your head. So I say nice winter hat and thick scarf is very important. I can never understand people who wear thick jacket but no scarf, the neck is all empty, all the cold air can get in and warm air out. And last but not least, nice pair of insulated gloves or mittens.

Here in Toronto, you can get around fine without a car, though it may be a little expensive the public transportation, but the trade off is you don't have to sit in the congestion of highway traffic. I don't know about Edmonton, but I'm assuming any big city in Canada the public transportation should be sufficient to get around. Also you have to consider how far away you're living from the school. Usually universities always have easy accessibility to transportation or are downtown. But getting your license in Canada is always a good backup. You may want to travel farther since there's much land.

You can go to here http://www.macleans.ca/universities/index.jsp to find out about university rankings in Canada every year. I say Canadian education is more vigorous because I think the program is overall harder. It's all about supply and demand, there's fewer schools in Canada, especially since they're publically funded and therefore cheaper, the competitiveness to get in and to get to higher levels naturally increases as well. Think of the US with so many universities and so many of them being private and therefore much much more expensive, as long as you have decent grades and money you can get in. Many students can't get into med or whatever school after graduation in Canada because of this and so they go to the US and almost always are accepted somewhere, just have to fork out more money. The high emphasis on GPA in Canada is one of the disadvantages Canadian students have in their own country, especially since the undergrad is already quite hard already. Haha, I'm off on a tangent, it's just something people ALWAYS complain about here at my school, so I'm used to rambling off about it.

I have to say there's not much blatant racism here in Canada. I personally have experienced very few. Perhaps people still like to stick to their own groups and maybe there are prejudices that are unavoidable, but mostly people still get on well with each other and no outward hostilities. People are genearlly very accepting of differnt cultures because afterall, the majority of Canadians are immigrants so why should one feel more superior than another?

In the winter in Toronto, it can get up to about -20 Celsius plus windchill which can mean -30+. It's colder in Edmonton so beware! But in the summer it also gets up to 30+ C here in Toronto, so it's not all cold.

[OLive_aNN]

Hi!
I'm gonna move to Hamilton, Ontario this Aug to continue my studies. I'm planning to buy a notebook there but my friend (who stays in Vancouver) said that the tax is very high (14%) so I better buy a notebook here (in Indonesia).
Er... is it true that the tax is very high? Or is it just in Vancouver?

Thanks. =)

[¤ . 2 . o . o . 2 . ¤]

Hi!
I'm gonna move to Hamilton, Ontario this Aug to continue my studies. I'm planning to buy a notebook there but my friend (who stays in Vancouver) said that the tax is very high (14%) so I better buy a notebook here (in Indonesia).
Er... is it true that the tax is very high? Or is it just in Vancouver?

Thanks. =)

Hey OLive_aNN! The taxes in Canada are different in each province (at least I think) but in Ontario it's 15%. I have heard that Vancouver shopping is more expensive then in T.O/Ontario but I don't know for sure. But buying notebooks hmm... they're all pretty cheap right now since it's about back to school time but if you buy it another time, they're pretty pricy (also depending on the brand).

Well I hope that helped and I also hope you enjoy your stay here!

[Pugwash]

Wow Dazzy, I never knew you were coming to Canada.

Anyways, tax is pretty rough in Canada but then again, I wouldn't recommend buying a notebook in stores like BestBuy or FutureShop. I'd rather buy them online because you'd save money while getting a better deal. Besides, Dell only offers online. :)

[panda_shine]

Hi!
I'm gonna move to Hamilton, Ontario this Aug to continue my studies. I'm planning to buy a notebook there but my friend (who stays in Vancouver) said that the tax is very high (14%) so I better buy a notebook here (in Indonesia).
Er... is it true that the tax is very high? Or is it just in Vancouver?

Thanks. =)


Olive^^, actually Vancouver's tax is 14.5% :wink2: And I would probably recommend buying a notebook in Indonesia^^.

[x_tina]

OLive_aNN: In Ontario, we have 15% tax but there are ways to get around that. If you go to the smaller stores you may be able to bargain with them for a lower price. Also, if you pay cash you may not have to pay the tax since the store doesn't have to report the sale. You could buy a notebook in Indonnesia but the plug outlet may be different so it might not even work here. I'm not positive about this but I know when I go back to Malaysia or Singapore I have to use my cousin's hair dryer since mine won't work.

dazzlette: Welcome to Canada first of all!!! The cold might be a real shocker for you.. especially in Alberta. The weather can go from a sunny day in the morning to a blizzard in the afternoon in just a split of a second. But despite all this, there are many fun activities to do... snow boarding, skiing, speed skating, hockey plus every year there's the Calagary stampeed. And there's the Edmonton Mall - there's a amusement park inside... There's also a Singaporean-Malaysian-Bruneian association there with many international students like yourself... so if you ever need any help, or get home sick there are lots of people to turn to. My cousins are a part of the association so if you like, I could probably find out more information from them and pass it on to you.

As far as racism goes.... there are some ignorant people but the overwhelming majority is NOT! so there shouldn't be anything for you to worry about.

[fortesquieu]

oh man, I was in Vancouver for almost 2 years, n i love it so much! Right now, i've moved to Oklahoma, which is like hmm... comparing to Vancouver. hehe

[lisaki]

Hey I moved from the states to Canada and let me tell you something I don't want to leave anymore. Canada is very multicultural, people don't suppress you culturally and they accept the way you look and your cultural very easily (in the u.S. I had huge problem with racist jack a**es who kept on calling me Chink and being mean to me because I was Chinese). Canada's quite beautiful, the education system is pretty good but university wise the best ones are in Ontario, then there's Dalhousie and also University of BC but canada's top two are probably Queens and University of Toronto. toronto's probably the best place to live in CAnada, it was voted by international panel (I think U.N.) as the most livable place in the world. Even though Toronto is big, it's not dirty and not messed up like most of the bigger cities in the U.S. is. Well I know ALberta's economy is going well and taxes are much more fair there. However, realize that there's an extremely strong American influence there. As much as Canadians thinks Americans are very very dumb, Canadians need them to live not true vice versa. Well welcome to Canada and good luck with everything.

[timeless]

I moved from Taiwan to Canada when I was young. I live in Calgary, which is a few hours south of Edmonton. There's almost one million people living in it, and it's the second fastest growing city (Toronto's the first). As everyone says, Canada has a lot of nice people. When we first came here, when you went walking outside, everyone would say hi to you. Now, it's a little bit more busier, but still good. Oh yeah, the tax in Alberta is 7% GST. My sister is thinking of going to U of A, and it's one of the top universities in Canada. I agree with lisaki. Canada is indeed a really multicultural place. I've been to places like New York and Los Angeles, and the Canadian atmosphere is much slower than the US. So good luck moving here! :)

[ShuiMei]

Yeah, there's no PST in Alberta since the province is so damn rich from the oil sands XD

[envy_me]

i used to live in edmonton.. and since singapore is hotter than canada.. be prepared for SUPER COLD. it can be minus 20 degrees.
when i was little i could literally drown in the snow. -___-
overall.. nice place. gets boring though but housings is cheap and you only need to pay one tax. its a cheap place to live.

i live in vancouver now though.. i prefer here better.
more fun, more exciting and more multicultural. yes.. there are ALOT of asians here.. its a bit expensive living here though? otherwise i would advise you to live here.

either way.. doesnt matter where in canada you live.
its a great place to live. safe and peaceful. plus you have great scenaries too

[star_light]

Hey! Just want to welcome a soon to be, fellow Canadian! :-) Don't stress about moving here! You'll be fine! If your coming from Singapore...hmm, yes be prepared to be FROZEN! Just get ready like your thickest jacket and stuff. Singapore is soo hot! Its also very multicultural here too, so you'll meet people from around the world!! :happy: The education system here is pretty good. Especially if you're in those enchanced programs or whatever. I wish you the best of luck! :wink2: