Canada from a different perspective

Whenever I would read articles about Canada, they would always be positive and colourful. So I created an amazing perception on this country. And then I moved to Canada (with the aim to call this country my home – yes) and my perception changed. Canada is not bad but there is somehow a lot of hypocrisy and contrast in this country. Here are a few examples:

Political correctness aka impaired freedom of speech
The Canadians say they are politically correct. Due to the sensitivity of most Canadians, there is a 99.9% chance that if you have an opinion on something, someone will find it offensive, racist or undesirable. The Canadians call it political correctness. For other westerners, it would be no freedom of speech.

Country of friendliness but not inclusiveness
Canadians are friendly and smiley. However, they are not particularly inclusive or actually interested in other people’s stories. Given such a great diversity in this country, there is a lack of cultural awareness and authentic foreign food (at least in Toronto).

Advanced country with not so advanced life
If you are from another western country and you move to Canada, it feels like you’ve moved 20 years back in the past. Lack of infrastructure, backward banking system and dated technology are things you’ll be dealing with on a day to day basis.

Country of new life with no job
Canada constantly welcomes new skilled immigrants yet the country somehow doesn’t provide any jobs for them. There is already a shortage of jobs for Canadians. It’s pretty common for an university educated Canadian to work in a coffee shop or restaurant.
I’ve met a lot of immigrants since my move to Canada who were engineers, doctors or lawyers in their home countries. They came to Canada and became admin clerks and taxi drivers. Canadian immigration says “we need skilled workers”, Canadian employers say “we need workers with experience and skills gained in Canada”.

Working culture that preaches innovation and practises red tape and rigidness
Canadian companies say they want innovation and efficient processes, yet they are risk averse and usually just watch what the US or the UK do and 10 years later they copy what these countries have done. The working culture in Canada is a a culture where employee loyalty (but not necessarily contribution) gets celebrated and promoted over employee capabilities. It’s a working culture with rigid rules and red tape, a culture in which good and young junior people have no career growth or prospects and so they silently stay and complain about their jobs as they have nowhere else to go while the not so good and old senior people stick around and wait for retirement.

Low paid jobs and high mortgages
The salaries in Canada are shockingly low when compared to the cost of living. A good salary in Toronto is considered to be anything in excess of C$100k. On a salary of C$100k (which is apparently a top 10% salary in Canada), you spend C$33k+ on taxes (not including RRSP pension contributions), C$24k on accommodation unless you are willing to share or spend 3 hours commuting to/from work, C$2,000 on utilities and bills and C$6,000 on bad food. If you want good food because you refuse to feed your body with bread with 25 ingredients or coconut water with added “natural” flavours, GMO or other north-American specialty food, then be prepared to spend three times more on your grocery shopping trips. A shoe-box condo in Downtown Toronto goes for C$450k. In order to buy such a condo, you need a deposit of at least 20%. The motto of Torontonians is “work for nothing, pay for everything”.

Work, work…and…work
I appreciate that my last comment relates mostly to Torontonians. But here goes. Whenever you meet someone new in Toronto, be prepared to have a very fruitful conversation about their work, your work and work in general. You see, work defines Torontonians, work is what makes Torontonians more interesting. Work normally tends to be the main (and usually the only topic) of your discussion with Torontonians. I’ve warned ya!