If you have your sights set on the Great White North, it might be useful to know a bit about what living in Canada is really like! From the winters that never seem to end to moose gaining the right to vote (joking!), living in Canada will prove to be a familiar yet foreign experience. Read on to learn more details about Canadian culture, costs of living in Canada, and more. Sounds good, eh?
If you are planning on living in Canada, the best way to get started is to narrow down where in Canada you will be living. With such an enormous landmass of spread-out cities, Canada has many faces to know.
Plan on living in lush British Columbia where the cold never dares to enter? Or what about French-speaking Montreal? The adventure types might strike it out off the grid in the Northern Territories, but unless you can handle the deep freeze we suggest a bit of caution there.
For the rest, prepare yourselves for a friendly change of pace from the American rat race, as living in Canada is sure to be a familiar but down-to-earth experience.
Canadian culture will be like stepping into a pleasantly uncanny valley. Why is this? Canadian culture is closely linked with American culture, being almost the same (but different).
So what is Canadian culture like? Well, mildly accented and small town friendly. Besides sentences all ending with ‘eh?’, Canadians are more soft-spoken than their American counterparts. In addition, they tend to ‘beat around the bush’ of sensitive or impolite topics.
Besides these small idiosyncrasies, Canadian culture holds deep values of respect, equality, and safety. Expect Canadians to take great concern for each other (even if they are fans of rival ice hockey teams 😉).
But what about culture in Canada in ‘the grand sense’? Canada is known for being a hotbed of artistic, intellectual, and athletic talent.
Popstars like Justin Bieber and Drake are Canadian exports, as are comedians like the late Norm Macdonald. The controversial intellectual sensation Jordan Peterson was once professor at the University of Toronto, while Margaret Atwood of The Handmaid’s Tale competes for the title of most influential living Canadian author. Not too shabby!
Living in Canada can come with drastically different living costs, with much depending on where you live. Certain cities (like Toronto and Vancouver) have competitive housing markets which drive up property prices.
Moreover, each province applies sales and income taxes at their own rates, which will definitely influence your cost of living in Canada when it comes to groceries and consumer goods.
So what does an average family need for comfortable living in Canada? To give you an idea of the range, a family of four can live comfortably in Quebec City for $2,700 per month, while the same family in Vancouver might need $4,800.
Of course, lifestyle and extra splurges do not factor in here, so taking a look at the costs of your hobbies in Canada compared to the US is a smart way to make sure your lifestyle moves with you as smoothly as your possessions.
As if it were not clear yet already, there are a ton of benefits of living in Canada. Besides Canada’s universal healthcare, top-notch education system, plentiful job opportunities and progressive tax system, it is also a fun place to live!
For lovers of both natural landscapes and concrete jungles, living in Canada is a fit for every lifestyle. What is more, Canada also boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the world— certainly lower than the United States.
What is the catch? You guessed it… the cold. Nothing is perfect, right?
Planning a move to Canada? Then we can imagine that you will have plenty to arrange before packing up. Why not check out our full expat relocation guide for everything you need to know before moving to the Great White North? Or, check out the helpful articles linked below for further reading. Good luck!
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