Canada VS Australia to live in?

[sworph]

I live in Brisbane, Australia, but my view is a little different to most.

Australia is very very expensive now compared to some years back when it was reasonably cheap, the cost of living has sky rocketed and having recently visited London and Europe I can confidently say it is more expensive and getting worse. Yes true you can live in Sydney and visit the wonderful harbour but its not cheap, I read somewhere its one of the most expensive cities in the world to live.

Being originally from Europe one thing I do miss are the seasons, yes Australia does have them sorta but nothing like those beautiful Autumn and Spring days you can experience in Europe and the UK.

The weather, well for me in Brisbane its beautiful in the winter around 18-25c, in the summer it can be hot and humid mid to low 30's, overall its a good place to live.

The wine is great but the beer not so good, food is also great but again expensive.

Never been to Canada so I can't comment.

[Nashy]

Yeah, cost of living is getting quite high. But there is still plenty to do on a low budget.

I made this thread years back on Neowin. A few pics are dead.

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/505273-australian-education-all-things-aussie

[Amarok]

Canada. I prefer their weather. I almost moved to Australia once. Their immigration process isn't that bad, or at least I didn't think it was. I guess I should say I've seen much worse.

[Soham]

That's not true in the slightest. We have tons of other cultures in Australia. Most Australians objections to "foreigners" are that they make no attempt to engage our society and segregate themselves away while claiming benefits etc..

If you want to live here, at least try and join the people you know :\ The one that irks people most is people not even trying to learn English.. Just makes your life harder :\

Also, ignore the bull**** in your homelands media about us beating up Indians. A couple of cab drivers were attacked for various things. Given so many of your expats end up driving cabs, it's fairly unsurprising a couple of them were Indian -_-

Sorry, I am a third generation Indian and 2nd gen Polish American. I have never visited India or Australia, that being said I have heard my neighbors says it is a racist and deeply divided country. I have never heard, how you guys about care about aboriginal saying positives stuff.

That's the biggest load I've ever heard, and I'm very sorry to hear you feel that way. Australia is extremely multicultural. Don't be put off by the minorities that every country on Earth have.

sorry, I don't have first hand knowledge of your country. If isn't true, then I am extremely sorry.

[Nashy]

There is no need to be sorry.

Unfortunately for Indians, and I don't want you to think it's everyone in Australia, because it most certainly isn't, A lot of people over here generalise, and because of Indian cab drivers, and Indian call centres providing, sometimes, very bad service, they label every Indian in a bad way.

In saying that, most of those people will happily be friends with an Indian and still say the same. I guess once you've lived here, and got used to how a lot of people are here, you will understand.

Eg. My housemate's partner of 7 years is Indian. And even she generalises in the way described above.

I'm not sure if this makes sense, it's hot, and the beers are quite cool.

[_I am Reptar]

Canada, for the weed.

[Nashy]

Canada, for the weed.

I wasn't going to bring it up, but it's friggin expensive in Australia.

[jimboh1]

"but Canada could end up getting dragged down by the US" What does that mean? Do you mean economically? If so, I'd say reconsider that... Canada has the strongest economy of the G8 countries and has done quite well coming out of the 2008 recession... but then again, I'm biased too! :D

[Amarok]

Canada, for the weed.

Two beautiful and friendly countries and it comes down to drugs? Weird.

[temple_treefrog]

I have lived in Vancouver, Canada and Melbourne, Australia and currently live in Sydney, Australia.

Vancouver was an amazing place to live. Very peaceful, great ski resorts, good night life scene, lots of beautiful Canadian women. I only lived there for a year but would love to repeat the experience some day.

Melbourne is a good place to holiday, great place to shop, lots of great federation-style achitecture. However the crime in certain areas is very bad (worse than any other Australian capital city) and it's not somewhere I would like to live again.

Sydney is great depending on the region you live. There are several different regions in Sydney which feature different culture, pros and cons. Ideally, anywhere close to the city will give you access to great beaches, 1000s of cafes/pubs/restaurants, heaps of good tourist attractions, locals are generally friendly (avoid the Western Sydney!) and the local industries are prosperous. It can be an expensive city to live in, but it depends on your lifestyle decisions, bargain hunting regarding shopping and real estate etc.

Hope this small piece of info helps w your decision.

Sorry, I am a third generation Indian and 2nd gen Polish American. I have never visited India or Australia, that being said I have heard my neighbors says it is a racist and deeply divided country. I have never heard, how you guys about care about aboriginal saying positives stuff.

sorry, I don't have first hand knowledge of your country. If isn't true, then I am extremely sorry.

Really shouldn't comment without direct experience of a country. Racism is not something that exists only in Australia, and unfortunately divides are present in almost every country.

[basques]

I had to make the same decision 5 years ago. Been living in Melbourne for 4 years now, few months left to become a citizen. Probably one of the best things I did in my life. I'm a computer engineer and I lived in Germany and Czech Republic as an expat before moving to Melbourne. Never been to Canada, but met many cool Canadians.

Melbourne is expensive, but you make that much money. You can basically order everything from internet and as long as it's under $1000, there's no import tax. Awesome wine. Also in Melbourne you have the 4 seasons, in winter it drops to 4-5 degrees at night. Well obviously I miss the snow but it's still ok.

[sworph]

Awesome wine. Also in Melbourne you have the 4 seasons, in winter it drops to 4-5 degrees at night. Well obviously I miss the snow but it's still ok.

Yes been to Melbourne and you are right about the 4 seasons but all in the same day???? thats just weird!

[HardyRexion]

There is much less wildlife that can kill you in Canada... :shifty:

[chconline Veteran]

Car laws? I don't know what these are, I know the luxury car tax is one thing, but I don't understand what else is a problem.

Quite a number of things in my personal opinion. Your crazy licensing scheme (Like no turbocharged cars with a P license... honestly, modern cars aren't necessarily turboed to be even fast), you can't own radar detectors and laser jammers, etc. Actually with the 9 demerits and ~$1000 fine JUST FOR OWNING A RADAR DETECTOR (With your detector consificated, of course) is quite literally some of the most ridiculous laws I've ever heard. I can pretty much do a burnout in a school zone and speed 20km/h over and get caught and still be charged with less.

Meanwhille in 48 states in the US and 3 western provinces in Canada, owning these things are, funny to say, perfectly legal. And we don't have more accidents compared to Australia.

[Nashy]

Quite a number of things in my personal opinion. Your crazy licensing scheme (Like no turbocharged cars with a P license... honestly, modern cars aren't necessarily turboed to be even fast), you can't own radar detectors and laser jammers, etc. Actually with the 9 demerits and ~$1000 fine JUST FOR OWNING A RADAR DETECTOR (With your detector consificated, of course) is quite literally some of the most ridiculous laws I've ever heard. I can pretty much do a burnout in a school zone and speed 20km/h over and get caught and still be charged with less.

Meanwhille in 48 states in the US and 3 western provinces in Canada, owning these things are, funny to say, perfectly legal. And we don't have more accidents compared to Australia.

I don't know what state you base your laws on, but it's similar in QLD.

1. P platers can't drive. Simple. Don't give them turbos or V8's until they have learnt to drive. That's common sense, even if 4 and 6's can reach higher speeds.

2. They're illegal because speeding is illegal. I don't know what the fines for them in QLD are.

[temple_treefrog]

Your crazy licensing scheme (Like no turbocharged cars with a P license... honestly, modern cars aren't necessarily turboed to be even fast),

That is not true -- it is conditional and usually quite leanient for P plate drivers with a decent record.

I am on P-plate based license and own and drive a turbocharged Cruze 2011, which also has performance-enhancement modifications. The NSW government gave me approval in 48 hours.

I don't know what state you base your laws on, but it's similar in QLD.

1. P platers can't drive. Simple. Don't give them turbos or V8's until they have learnt to drive. That's common sense, even if 4 and 6's can reach higher speeds.

I love generalisations... I could talk about how dreadful every single car mechanic is in Queensland, because not a single car on the road in QLD has a working set of indicators.

[Japlabot]

I know Australia has droughts to deal with

Australia is not in drought anymore. When we were in drought it did not have an effect on our everyday lives in capital cities, only water restrictions like not being able to water your lawn every day or wash your car with a hose using the city's water supply (use a bucket instead). Food prices were not that bad. The only the problem was when the price of bananas went through the roof, but that was because of a tropical cyclone not because of drought.

[monkey13]

Australia for me.

Was there for a while (Adelaide, Sydney and up he gold cost a bit). Everyone is so nice. I was the standard suspicious brit at first. People talk to you when you go in shops or you are doing things and at first I was very dismissive of it and kept thinking "What are you after". Then I just worked out that they were all just relaxed. Then I relaxed.

The Mrs was just laughing as at the end I was practically turning Aussie. People would ask me how I was doing and I would say "Beautiful" No idea why. Soon as I came back here it stopped. I just found it to be infectious over there.

Plus the diving, plus the weather, plus the fact that both me and the Mrs would get paid twice as much and be able to have a bigger house with a pool and things. If it wasn't for other stuff tying me to the UK I would move in a heartbeat. We'd have no problem getting visas.

All right I have never been to Canada but it would have to be impossibly good to beat Australia.

[lemonbear]

Canada...even though I'm from Australia.

[Nashy]

That is not true -- it is conditional and usually quite leanient for P plate drivers with a decent record.

I am on P-plate based license and own and drive a turbocharged Cruze 2011, which also has performance-enhancement modifications. The NSW government gave me approval in 48 hours.

I love generalisations... I could talk about how dreadful every single car mechanic is in Queensland, because not a single car on the road in QLD has a working set of indicators.

Of course it's a generalisation. P Platers are learning to drive. They need to learn before they should be unleashed into stupid fast cars.

Oh, and all the mechanics in my UltraTune store check and replace any bulbs that are out.

[temple_treefrog]

Of course it's a generalisation. P Platers are learning to drive. They need to learn before they should be unleashed into stupid fast cars.

Oh, and all the mechanics in my UltraTune store check and replace any bulbs that are out.

It was a joke. I was hinting that all QLD drivers are crap. :p

[ozgeek]

I was born and lived in Central Queensland, Australia all my life and I'm now 30 year old. We had minor drought issues but it's not major. Not 100% of Australia have drought issues. Some areas are rich in resources, even those in the outback (they get the water from the basin which is under the land.

Only the areas between Sydney and melbourne gets snow. all the rest doesn't get snow. I have never seen snow yet but we do get torrential rains and cyclones infact December to March are when we get good rain. Some years, we don't get much but others like the floods last year. If you are up in Queensland, it is cool (unlike what people think of Australia as dry and hot which is not always true). We do have winter which has temps as low as -5'C (my area)

Everything here is expensive compared to the other countries. We have capped internet, though some isps are now selling unlimited broadband, it is still expensive. We do not have problems with food unless we experience our own disasters. But we balance it out by having a higher income salary than some other countries.

What you hear about dangerious animals here is very sterotypical. As long as you exercise caution, you won't have any problems. I'm sure other countries have their own problems of dangerious animals. Even if you do get bitten or stung, we have best health care. I know because my parents works for the health dept of qld government. Death from those animals are extremely rare. You would have to be very stupid to get bitten or stung.

We drive on the left side of the road and the driver sits in the seat right side of the car. If you see so many 4WDs (what USA call SUV), don't complain because they are extremely popular espeically out in the bush or outback.

I do not know about immigration and Canada as I have never left Australia.

Remember that Sydney is NOT the only city in Australia, there are thosounds of other towns and regional cities that do really well. I live near Rockhampton and I get everything I need from there. What I can't get from there can be ordered online.

So Australia is not so bad and I really enjoying living here. Just most of the ups and some downs just like all the other countries.

[nukenorman]

Thanks everyone your for your thoughtfull imput. Have learned alot.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

So when are you moving to Antarctica?

[articuno1au]

And that's the ballgame gents :p

Well played Muhammad :p