I definitely require high speed internet access. Other than that, I could use some help! EDIT: Mountains are not a deal breaker. Water would be nice, but sea level rise is a concern.
EDIT: Oh, Come ONNNN!!!
Canada’s about to elect our own right wing version of Trump. So if you’re looking to escape that by moving here… don’t be too optimistic.
BC almost went conservative provincially in the last election. Alberta and Saskatchewan are batshit insane conservative. Manitoba used to be but they’ve gone centre left. Ontario conservative corporate. Quebec… I’m not going to touch that one. And then the east which I don’t have a ton of feedback on personally.
Québec: the only province expected to NOT vote conservative in the next federal elections. Also the province expected to vote for a center-left government for the next provincial elections. But go on I guess…
Interestingly, all of my heritage on my mother’s side is French Canadian. Unfortunately, the last one born there, according to the family history I could find was prior to 1900, so that probably doesn’t really help me much at all.
There was a huge exodus at the time with French education becoming illegal in some provinces and French Canadians not being allowed to work (similar to what happened to the Irish), my grandfather learned he was born in the USA when he got his passport at 65 y.o., his parents just came back while he was an infant and they never talked about the years they had spent in the USA to work.
Just invent a bunch of racist stuff towards the French Canadian minority and you’ll have an idea what most Anglo Canadians think of Quebec for daring to protect the French Canadian culture.
Ever heard of Lord Durham? You would believe the guy is a freaking hero to them.
All of canada seems to be shamed for trying to protect its culture to be fair. The government actively tries to guilt trip us
In the 1970s there was a domestic terror group who wanted to separate from Canada so bad they started assassinating politicians and our current PM’s dad, who was also PM at the time, had to call in the army.
Their provincial politics are confusing because it’s not liberal/conservative spectrum - you also have to throw in the Quebec nationalists too. Like their ruling provincial party right now is conservative + Quebec Nationalist to the extreme that businesses must provide public advertising/public facing services in French only.
The CAQ (ruling party) are NOT extreme separatists, and the law 101 that has french be prioritized in public advertising and facing services has been passed in 1978 to protect our cultural heritage. Otherwise yeah politics are spicier because of the separatist background which is still an ongoing question, but the whole thing still takes place on a very recognizable pattern of centre right liberals, conservatives, and libertarian-ish parties, with the occasional left leaning but still center crew.
“they started assassinating politicians”
One of them, not intentionally, and they took full credit for it as if they had intentionally murdered him. They kidnapped a second one that didn’t die.
Quebec Nationalist to the extreme
The current ruling party is Federalist and no more nationalist than any other provinces’ party in the way they act with the federal government and in the way they act towards people of other culture, in other provinces they just do it covertly.
businesses must provide public advertising/public facing services in French only.
That’s false, advertising must be in French first and French service must be available but nothing keeps businesses from offering service in any other language they want.
If all your knowledge of Quebec comes from the racists on /r/Canada you can just keep your opinion to yourself.
Little did you know that the separatist movement is largely a left-wing one, driven mainly by the PQ (center-left) and QS (left). The center-right (CAQ, PLQ) and right (Conservative) parties oppose the separation of Québec and want to stay in Canada.
You seem to think that we are some kind of crazy schizos that want to eliminate every foreign person around, and its absolutely false. We just want to be able to keep our language and culture alive. 8M people in Québec vs 400M in Canada + USA, and the rate of french-speaking people is declining at an alarming rate. Think about that for a second. All the people saying we are racists and whatnot don’t seem to realize that being a minority is not reserved for people with dark enough skin colour. In the end, you are the racist ones, trying to assimilate us for 400 years. Bunch of hypocrites.
There’s right wing and then there’s MAGA. Have you read up on Project 2025? Is abortion legal in Canada?
Pollievre is a snivelling rat man, but anyone who claims he’s equivalent to Trump needs to turn off their screens
Hah for now it is….
You also have Danielle Smith (Alberta Premier) cozying up to Tucker Carlson, Poilievre (National Conservative Party leader) and the convoy, India and Russia.
And GOP operatives who coincidentally, I’m sure, also supported the convoy.
Canadian right wing influencers caught up in the Russian payment scandal.
I don’t believe for a second that Pierre and elements of the federal conservative party wouldn’t want to get rid of our rights in Canada. It’s just unpopular to say that part out loud.
Accessible abortion rights will almost certainly be back on the chopping block next election.
I don’t think we’ll have it nearly as bad as America because our political system works a bit differently but the conservative leader/party definitely have the hallmarks of trumpism with white nationalism, climate change denying, anti-women and anti-trans issues. They’re going to play the same “we’re better for the economy” game as well.
It you’re leaving for progressive reasons, Alberta is north Texas. BC is pretty progressive, although I don’t know how they lean outside of metros. I have my suspicions though.
Small town and rural BC is very close to Alberta. They got a bulk deal on Fuck Trudeau stickers for their trucks.
I mean, honestly, that’s true for the entire country.
Alberta is nothing like Texas. Alberta is largely an atheist population for one thing
But the Christfuckers we do have are obnoxious and loud enough to make you think otherwise
Not really. I grew up in rocky mountain house. One of the most conservative ridings in all of canada, and I grew up surrounded by atheism for the most part. It’s way more atheist now compared to then as well
If you want to be near mountains, want affordable living and are progressive, Lethbridge, AB may be your best bet. The landscape there is a bit weird. Looks kind or like Iceland or something. Super hilly with big valleys and very few trees outside or the city, but definitely not a big city vibe like you’d find in Edmonton or Calgary.
Pretty mild climate too.
But the Alberta government is fucking idiotic, so I can’t say what will happen in the future with healthcare and human rights.
Most of western Canada is right-wing. Especially Alberta and Saskatchewan. Outside of Vancouver (where living is beyond unaffordable for most), BC is also pretty conservative, albeit less overall I’m sure than Alberta. The tricky part is that quality of life is quite good in Alberta. Housing is affordable and we’re the least taxed province, so if you can live with the occasional stupid hick with a “FUCK TRUDEAU” flag or decal, life is pretty good here. It’s really your only affordable option if you want to live near the mountains. Otherwise the Appalachians do extend into the eastern maritime provinces. Jobs are just extemely scarce and often seasonal out that way.
I immigrated from Michigan back in 2017. I’m very left-wing and so is my wife who has lived here her entire life. The province nearly flipped last election so things have been improving on that front, and you’re certainly not going to be the only leftist around. Well, unless you move to a small town or Grand Prairie or Fort Mac.
Lethbridge and Edmonton are the most left-leaning places in the province. Edmonton, however, is fucking huge… So you’re not getting away from the city up that way.
There is no escaping the right-wing brain rot. It’s everywhere now. 2016 spread into Canada like wildfire. But when I came here my life improved tenfold. I make three times what I did back home for the same line of work (retail/produce management). I have healthcare, a daughter, bought a home with my wife this summer. It’s a million times better than the States, but we are looking down the barrel of gun. I wish you the best on your immigration, and I hope you’re as happy here as I am, wherever you wind up.
The thing about Alberta is that they consistently elect the most hardcore right wing crazies in all of Canada.
And they also consistently elect genuinely progressive, openly socialist governments of the kind you imagine Bernie Sanders might run.
There are no middle of the road centrists in 'Berta. You’re either a frothing mouthed “Jewish Space Lasers” kind of crazy, or you’re a proud union member ready to give everyone UBI and free education.
The latter tend to be found more in the cities, as always.
Unfortunately the former seem to have the edge overall in elections.
So, politically, it’s definitely not a great environment, but culturally you’d actually find a lot of like minded folks there. The problem is that right now you’d probably spend your time hanging out with those like minded folks grumbling about your QAnon premier as she sells off the entire healthcare system and deletes sex education from schools.
Consistently?
Alberta has had one NDP government in the past 50 years, all other governments were conservative and if we count the social credit before that is close to 100 years with conservatives in power.
This. An American left-winger still can seem right wing to many Canadians. Our right has been taking more and more pages from the religious right, and corporations are getting a stronger and stronger foothold up here, but even now, we are significantly less religious than Americans.
Moving from west to east, BC is a slightly leftist government at the moment. It’s notorious for being insanely expensive. It has mountains and the pacific coast. Beautiful landscapes. I have had family there, and I have visited a few times. My dominant impression was rain.
Alberta will give you city, mountains, and decent internet, but has a growing anti-LGBTQ+ movement happening. Still lots of great people, and insanely beautiful scenery. I was born in Alberta, have great friends in Calgary, and have visited many times.
Saskatchewan is wide open prairie for the most part, with a couple of small cities, a few tiny cities, and a similar right, fundamentalist movement in power. In Saskatchewan you can see forever. If you love space, it’s amazing. I grew up alternating between Saskatchewan and Ontario (mother in Regina, father in Mississauga), and spent a lot of time on my grandparents farm. I have family in Regina, Saskatoon, and some of the small towns, and friends in places like North Battleford.
Manitoba is currently a more leftist government provincially, a mix of plains, rivers, lakes, and forests. There’s a lot of racism against First Nations, the capital city of Winnipeg is pretty diverse, but a bit stratified. The other cities in Manitoba are a bit smaller, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much about them. I currently live in Manitoba.
Ontario has a very pro-corporate government. Depending on what part of the province you pick, you could be in wilderness, small town, cottage country, or metropolis. My brother and sisters live in Oakville, Mississauga, and Toronto. I lived in downtown Toronto and studied at The Second City, which was a blast. I can’t tell you anything about Ottawa, another city in Ontario, but I’m sure others on here can help you out.
I’ve sent some time in Montreal, but not really any other parts of Quebec. I loved Montreal, but as basically a tourist, I can’t tell you much about there. Others have already said a fair bit about Québec.
I spent time in New Brunswick when I served in the military. My exposure to nonmilitary people was limited to Fredericton primarily. Beautiful city, friendly people. My dominant memories are of forests, so I can’t tell you much more than that.
For the rest of the maritimes I can’t tell you much, I’m sorry to say. I also don’t have any firsthand knowledge of our northern territories.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan get cold, really cold, in the winter. We’re proud of handling it to the point of being a bit blasé about it, but we do get radio warnings sometimes about how many seconds it will take on a given day for exposed skin to freeze.
Most major Canadian cities have at least one university, so education is available, if you have kids.
Keep in mind, Canada is very big. In a good car traveling the highway speed limit of 100 km/h, or a little over 60 mph (to forestall the joke about bad cars), it takes 21+ hours to drive from the Toronto area to Winnipeg, another 6 hours to drive to Regina, another 7 to drive to Calgary, and another 10-11 hours to drive from Calgary to Vancouver. In the other direction, it takes almost 6 hours to drive from Toronto to Montreal, 8 hours to drive from Montreal to Fredericton, and about 23 hours from there to St. John’s, in Newfoundland. All told, according to google maps, it would take 78 hours to drive from St. John’s to Victoria, and that’s just covering the east to west.
So you’re looking at a lot of different ecosystems and sub-cultures to choose from.
What are your priorities?
Oh that’s easy. They’ll be destroyed by a party that can’t lose an election.
The UCP just introduced the most extreme anti-trans legislation in North America. They have been methodically and relentlessly destroying public healthcare, and handing private contracts to their friends. Education has been revamped with a curriculum that explicitly promotes oil and gas production, denies the harm of residential schools, and encourages rote memorization over comprehension. Oh yes, and public charter schools. They’ve recently started to make inroads on ultimately banning abortion.
And they’ll get reelected, over and over again.
How much money do you have?
The only affordable places left are absolute shitholes
If money is no object, move to Victoria
You’ll still need a work permit to work in Canada, even for a US company remotely. So hopefully you’re up to speed on that process. In terms of where to live, there are some places in BC outside major cities that are affordable. Might be worth taking a road trip around to check some out
I’m in the midst of the process. Road Trip Sounds good. How’s the weather in BC in December? 🤭
I don’t know about Canada but, for example here in Japan, a work visa requires a japanese company sponsoring and being the primary employer. I think some kind of digital nomad thing is in the works, but that wouldn’t be long-term.
Edit: looks like OP is trying the company transfer route as their company has branches there. Just something to think about for others thinking of moving around the world.
Will you be able to work remote from Canada?
That’s enough money to live basically anywhere. 90k usd is a lot more money than most people make in Canada.
If I could live anywhere and work remote it would probably be Masset, Ucluelet, Nelson, or maybe Whitehorse if you don’t mind the cold. Victoria if you really want city
I lived in Anchorage for 3 years. I am down with cold! 🤣 We have offices and employees all over the world, so that should not be an issue.
In Toronto or Vancouver, you’d be a peasant.
In Winnipeg, you’d be a king.
Don’t come to Canada. If I was able to leave this country, I would. We have so many of the same problems as the US. I would go to Europe
I would go to Europe
Lol, as if the right isn’t on the rise pretty much everywhere and WW3 is brewing in our own back yard…
Capitalism is decaying in to fascism globally and rapidly. Wherever you go in the world, you WILL be up against varying levels of the same bullshit, and while I understand less bullshit is easier to live with, without active resistance, it becomes more bullshit real fucking quick, and you’ll be back where you started.
You did not read the article. This is WAY beyond being a dumb redneck. This is systematic dismantling of our entire system of government, to maintain the oligarchy and ruling class in perpetuity.
Not surprising. Canada has a legacy of sheltering shitbirds, so they’ve been around a while. Canada took in the Confederate leaders after the civil war. Jefferson Davis was allowed to live his life in comfort in Toronto after he betrayed his country. Canada along with Britain even aided the Confederacy by providing them with a fleet and supplies.
If you go to Southern Ontario, you find plantation style homes that were built by the Confederates after they came here.
Yes, USA is in a for a really bad time, and Canada definitely looks better in comparison. And while it is, as a Canadian I still fantasize about trying to move to europe. Grass is always greener.
Just don’t expect to escape all the nonsense automatically by coming here because for all we know we’re just lagging behind a few years. I have had the disspointing experiences of finding some of my Canadian friends were in favour of the Trump victory.
And then the housing prices.
