I saw this post on quora and I think it has a few truths to it.
I am glad you asked that question because while Canada presents itself to the World and to prospective immigrants as the perfect place to live, World with the best life standards, very little if any is mentioned about the disadvantages. People go with very high expectations and after a while a lot feel disappointed and/or misinformed.
-I agree with the person who said that Canadians are polite but politeness s not equal to friendliness. Saying sorry when they step on your toe is one thing and being approachable is another thing. Canadians are private. Waaay too private. Especially in big cities, people approaching each other and talking to each other in a public place is so freakin’ unusual. For someone to strike a conversation with you in the bus or subway they must be abnormal or mentally sick. You would probably feel more scared than entertained when and if it happens. I used to live in an apartment building where people would not even say hi or smile at each other in the elevator, and they weren’t total strangers. They were neighbours!
-The country is too big for its population which makes everything costly. Shipping, transportation, building roads, telecommunication networks, transmission lines..etc. If Canada were this size of France it would have worked a lot better.
-I think Canadians are not united or harmonious enough as I would expect people from the same country to be. People from outside Toronto hate Toronto dearly. Quebeckers don’t like the rest of Canada and don’t feel belonging. They have a special mutual hatred with Albertans though. These two are always bickering and calling each other names, and generally speaking provinces are always fighting over money, over their share of the federal budget or aid, over conflicting interests. You will find a province that is pro-oil, another is totally anti-oil and wishes to shut down the whole industry, and this pattern repeats…. Add to that the language wars between Anglophones and Francophones and you will start to see a darker side
-The economy is small. Job creation is weak and jobs are hard to find except for a couple of places that are booming, and those places change over time. When a city or a province is going through a boom phase lots of people will flock to it from the rest of Canada to find work. At one point Calgary was one of these centers. The influx of people from other areas was crazy. The housing and infrastructure could not keep up with all the newcomers. Now with the oil prices so low Calgary is losing population so fast. Canadians seem to be in a perpetual state of moving for work. It is very normal to have to move to another city or province to find a job, any job. I am not talking about a big promotion or a fantastic offer. Some people move hoping to find an entry level job or even a job in retail or fast food. Some places are worse than others. Montreal is probably one of the worst job markets on Earth. It is not uncommon in Montreal to be jobless and searching for work for a year or two. I know many people who kept looking for that long.
What adds salt to injury is the infamous lie that new immigrants are told, that they cannot find a job mainly because they lack the ”Canadian Experience”. The poor fellows actually believe it and think there is something wrong with them just because they acquired their skills outside Canada and then a decade or so later they get to realize that this is just an excuse, a cover up for the slow job market. Been there, done that. In reality though, when there is a strong demand for a certain field everyone gets hired, and the first person through the door gets a job offer, having the so called Canadian Experience or not.
-Canadians find their identity in their diversity and multiculturalism and they are happy and proud about it but for me it sounds like an oxymoron. It is like saying “what we all have in common is that we are all different” I think that the country does not have a special flavor or distinct culture. It feels to me more like a shelter where people come from all over the world seeking to escape poverty, conflict or improve their lives in a way or another and they just live together and co-exist but nothing really unites them other than, like I said, diversity. There isn’t really that much sense of nationalism or patriotism, there isn’t really such thing as a national food unless you consider Poutine to be one, or a national costume unless you expect a Hockey Jersey to be one
-The country is not so ambitious. They don’t seek the first place economically, technologically, in the military, in politics, arts, education or anything, and it isn’t known or famous for anything. Not even for something as small as Cheese like France, Chocolate like Belgium or Flowers like the Netherlands. They are perfectly happy with 10 medals or so in the Olympics while a country like Australia with less population usually reaps more than double that number. They are perfectly happy and proud that University of Toronto is ranked #32 in the world but will never seek to be in the top 10 or God forbid top 3. Most of the ambitious and excellent Dentists, Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers end up moving to the states or somewhere else not only because of the money but because they cannot keep up with the mediocrity.
-The weather is not made for human beings but for polar bears.
Footnote:
I think I have to remind some commentators on my answer that the original question was not about evaluating life in Canada in general (the good Vs the bad) or comparing Canada to other countries. If you ask what is a negative thing about a Mercedes Benz I would definitely say “The price”. That does not make Mercedes an inferior car.
I am glad you asked that question because while Canada presents itself to the World and to prospective immigrants as the perfect place to live, World with the best life standards, very little if any is mentioned about the disadvantages. People go with very high expectations and after a while a lot feel disappointed and/or misinformed.
-I agree with the person who said that Canadians are polite but politeness s not equal to friendliness. Saying sorry when they step on your toe is one thing and being approachable is another thing. Canadians are private. Waaay too private. Especially in big cities, people approaching each other and talking to each other in a public place is so freakin’ unusual. For someone to strike a conversation with you in the bus or subway they must be abnormal or mentally sick. You would probably feel more scared than entertained when and if it happens. I used to live in an apartment building where people would not even say hi or smile at each other in the elevator, and they weren’t total strangers. They were neighbours!
-The country is too big for its population which makes everything costly. Shipping, transportation, building roads, telecommunication networks, transmission lines..etc. If Canada were this size of France it would have worked a lot better.
-I think Canadians are not united or harmonious enough as I would expect people from the same country to be. People from outside Toronto hate Toronto dearly. Quebeckers don’t like the rest of Canada and don’t feel belonging. They have a special mutual hatred with Albertans though. These two are always bickering and calling each other names, and generally speaking provinces are always fighting over money, over their share of the federal budget or aid, over conflicting interests. You will find a province that is pro-oil, another is totally anti-oil and wishes to shut down the whole industry, and this pattern repeats…. Add to that the language wars between Anglophones and Francophones and you will start to see a darker side
-The economy is small. Job creation is weak and jobs are hard to find except for a couple of places that are booming, and those places change over time. When a city or a province is going through a boom phase lots of people will flock to it from the rest of Canada to find work. At one point Calgary was one of these centers. The influx of people from other areas was crazy. The housing and infrastructure could not keep up with all the newcomers. Now with the oil prices so low Calgary is losing population so fast. Canadians seem to be in a perpetual state of moving for work. It is very normal to have to move to another city or province to find a job, any job. I am not talking about a big promotion or a fantastic offer. Some people move hoping to find an entry level job or even a job in retail or fast food. Some places are worse than others. Montreal is probably one of the worst job markets on Earth. It is not uncommon in Montreal to be jobless and searching for work for a year or two. I know many people who kept looking for that long.
What adds salt to injury is the infamous lie that new immigrants are told, that they cannot find a job mainly because they lack the ”Canadian Experience”. The poor fellows actually believe it and think there is something wrong with them just because they acquired their skills outside Canada and then a decade or so later they get to realize that this is just an excuse, a cover up for the slow job market. Been there, done that. In reality though, when there is a strong demand for a certain field everyone gets hired, and the first person through the door gets a job offer, having the so called Canadian Experience or not.
-Canadians find their identity in their diversity and multiculturalism and they are happy and proud about it but for me it sounds like an oxymoron. It is like saying “what we all have in common is that we are all different”
I think that the country does not have a special flavor or distinct culture. It feels to me more like a shelter where people come from all over the world seeking to escape poverty, conflict or improve their lives in a way or another and they just live together and co-exist but nothing really unites them other than, like I said, diversity. There isn’t really that much sense of nationalism or patriotism, there isn’t really such thing as a national food unless you consider Poutine to be one, or a national costume unless you expect a Hockey Jersey to be one -The country is not so ambitious. They don’t seek the first place economically, technologically, in the military, in politics, arts, education or anything, and it isn’t known or famous for anything. Not even for something as small as Cheese like France, Chocolate like Belgium or Flowers like the Netherlands. They are perfectly happy with 10 medals or so in the Olympics while a country like Australia with less population usually reaps more than double that number. They are perfectly happy and proud that University of Toronto is ranked #32 in the world but will never seek to be in the top 10 or God forbid top 3. Most of the ambitious and excellent Dentists, Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers end up moving to the states or somewhere else not only because of the money but because they cannot keep up with the mediocrity.
-The weather is not made for human beings but for polar bears.
Footnote:
I think I have to remind some commentators on my answer that the original question was not about evaluating life in Canada in general (the good Vs the bad) or comparing Canada to other countries. If you ask what is a negative thing about a Mercedes Benz I would definitely say “The price”. That does not make Mercedes an inferior car.
