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TOP EIGHT REASONS NOT TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA 8. Discriminatory and Dishonest Immigration System.

Anyone with $$$ can get landed immigrant status fairly easily. A lot of folks from Hong Kong have made their home in B.C. this way. In many cases immigrants are told where they must live as the paperwork is processed, this actually helps spread the immigration burden around a bit. Instead of everybody piling into Toronto and Vancover, some will wind up in Saskatcewan or northern Alberta. I think that system could work better here, rather than making California and Arizona bear so much of the cost and change. There are dying towns in Iowa that might just do fine with a bunch of new immigrants.

7. Out Of Control Cost Of Living.

As with the U.S., it depends completely on where you are. eating out in Vancouver was MUCH cheaper than Seattle. Rents in Edmonton are not staggeringly high. Cars cost more than the U.S., but not more than in Europe or the pacific rim.

6. Health Care Crisis.
There are definite problems here. The doctors tend to lord it over the patients. Some areas fare better than others, and there will always be some problems with a country with as much rural areas as Canada.

5. Very High Taxes.

High, but varies widely. Alberta has very low provincial taxes. Overall the prairie provinces overall tax bite is probably less than a typical coastal U.S. city (e.g. NYC, SF) when you throw in property taxes. All of the western countries have abuse problems with welfare.

4. Money Hungry Government.

And that is different from Europe and the rest of the Americas how??? The foreigners with money KNOW what they are getting... stability. The white farmer fleeing from South Africa knows he's not getting Utopia. He knows that he is buying access. It is still a big improvement for him.

3. No Culture.

When was the last time you had some 'Canadian' food? Well, Nanaimo Bars and Tortiere are wonderful treats made by my Canadian wife. Almost all the world's maple syrup comes from Quebec, and more apples come from Canada than the U.S. There certainly is a French-Canadian food tradition, and while its not Paris, it can hold its own against London. There are no Canadian traditions and there is no national identity. What does it even mean to call yourself a 'Canadian'. . .nothing really. People living in Canada, still identify themselves as to where they 'originally' came from.French-Canadians are a distinctive culture. You can see it as distinct from European, because it survives in the Acadians who were sent to the U.S. south. Many Americans also identify themselves by ethnic roots (e.g. Italians and Irish)

2. Worst Weather.

Canada is too large for that to be true. Vancouver Island has some of the best weather in the world, and the prairie provinces, though cold, are at least dry. If you have allergies and cannot deal with an Arizona summer, Alberta or Saskatchewan are better alternatives.

1. No Jobs.

Yes, coast to coast, there are no jobs.

That just isn't true. Canada's economy is largely based on raw materials (lumber, oil, mining etc.) Grande Prarie, Alberta has essentially full employment and guys out of high school can pull $100K+ if they are willing to work hard on dangerous oil rigs.

I am happy to be an American, and Canada is full of problems. The biggest problem, is that the liberals in Ontario and Quebec are calling the shots for Alberta and Saskatchewan. (oh, and Pierre Trudeau ruined the place) The writer's problem, to me, is that he is using the greater Toronto area as a synonym for Canada. Canada is not perfect, but my wife was home-schooled there (try that in Germany), gasoline is half the price that is in Europe (and not much above the U.S. with the stronger Canadaian dollar), if you do not have to be in a big city, land is cheap (my in-laws bought six acres outside of Grande Prairie for under 40K), all of the conveniences of big box stores are available (Wal-Mart, Zellers, Superstore, Safeway), and NUMBER ONE ADVANTAGE OF CANADA: You can get a toilet with more than 1.6 gal/flush!