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…
I like Quebec but it is preferred to learn French (I am horrible at spoken languages, I’m having enough trouble with English let alone another language) and I don’t like their secession movement.
The east coast has some very affordable housing especially compared to Ontario and BC. For example, there are suburbs or small towns within 30 minutes or less from Moncton and Halifax. Gives access to city resources without having to live in the city.
That Pierre Poilievre is such a walking red flag. The way he talks down to journalists is very telling of his personality. Dude rolls his sleeves up and smiles in ads but he’s unhinged
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.
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
He is, but the same forces that are pushing project2025 and are puppetering Trump are also active in the CPC.
You’re talking about the guy who said he’d use the notwithstanding clause? Sure, maybe you like the idea of longer sentences for criminals, but I would still question whether you should love that more than respecting the constitution.
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.
I mean, Pierre already said he’s going after porn, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
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.
Manitoba always gets political whiplash every few election cycles. Fortunately, we just entered the NDP cycle after almost a decade of PC horrors.
Quebec… I’m not going to touch that one.
Yeah you should have just not mentioned it and not replied a second time instead of telling lies.
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.
Yeah, that is what I assumed
This is very helpful, thank you. I am super liberal.
You’re going to want to stick to cities for the most part.
Good luck :)
Vancouver area is nice, but goddamn expensive. Love it here, but the I have no economic prospects.
Lol the NDP only won by like 20 votes this election so not as progressive as you’d think. Also our NDP is still center left so not that progressive at all.
Alberta is nothing like Texas. Alberta is largely an atheist population for one thing
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.
Hmm, the others are saying Alberta is right wing
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.
Alberta is the most taxed province as far as income tax though I think
It’s one of the least taxed and there’s no provincial sales tax
https://www.nerdwallet.com/ca/personal-finance/provincial-tax-rates
Yeah, no sales tax, but high income tax. You’re paying tax - just in a different form.
…
Did you read what I said and checked the website? It has one of the LOWEST income tax in Canada AND no sales taxes. That’s not even taking the basic exemption amount into consideration, with Alberta having the highest!
It doesn’t have high income taxes by any sane metrics. You can compare to US States where the government provides no services to the population at all but then people are just paying even more to the private sector instead.
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.
Sorry, what I meant by that is that individual voters either vote for one or the other. I wasn’t referring to the overall state of who actually wins. But I get that that wasn’t clear at all from how I phrased it.
Ah ok, I reread it, you were talking about municipal government. Yeah, sadly municipalities can’t do much if the provincial government gets in their way and with first past the post and electoral districts… Well, conservatives win Alberta 95% of the time!
Compared to US it’s nothing lol
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?
Go to any Canadian news website and search Danielle Smith.
She is Alberta’s premier (equivalent to a US governer).
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.
Always windy
60km/hr all the damn time…
How much money do you have?
The only affordable places left are absolute shitholes
If money is no object, move to Victoria
Let’s say I make $90k US dollars a year, and I work remote
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? 🤭
Like Washington but colder
Actually, like Washington but warmer and drier - global warming has really transformed the area.
Rainy on the coast but roads in the interior can get dicey if there’s snow. Stick to major highways.
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.
Yukon is a very special place to say the least. Think Alaska but with extreme friendliness and a left wing attitude.
We have offices and employees all over the world, so that should not be an issue.
Have you considered talking with your managers and asking them for overseas transfer?
Honestly, Manitoba may not be a bad choice for you (unless the no mountains thing is a deal breaker).
- left leaning government for at least another three years
- $120k CAD salary will be very comfortable anywhere in the province
- cold as balls half the year (since you’re okay with cold)
- lots of farmland for locally grown food
In Toronto or Vancouver, you’d be a peasant.
In Winnipeg, you’d be a king.
A year might work or would be nice. Barring any catastrophic tsunami’s or hurricanes. After that, I fear it might sink into the sea.
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.
This might surprise you, but Canada has angry dumb rednecks too.
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.
While much less embedded in Canada, the same forces that are pushing Project2025 in the US are also trying to do the same here in Canada. So far they’re not nearly as advanced, and they are still facing strong pushback on their regressive plan, but they are still trying. That shit is leaking over the border.
Fortunately, for now, Canada is nowhere near as far down that fascist path as the US is.
But if you’re trying to escape it, I would recommend against Alberta.
What’s the justification (yes I know, logic might not be a factor).
But some argue that US was always a Christian stage but Canada clearly never was.
Edit: turns out nope, Canada was founded on similar principles…
Wtf mate.
Almost all our media was bought up by right wing American think tanks over the last decade, so it won’t be long before that stuff makes it here too
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.
I mean, didn’t them States have and still have the right to cecede? I thought the whole idea of the USA was that it was a commonwealth of states that had the freedom to leave any time.
So how did Jeffers D betray his country? I’m not able to check wikipedia right now, but may I trouble you to clarify?
There are literally thousands of books and articles on the subject, in at a bit of a loss at this question
Humour me, please
We call them “Albertans.”
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.
Immigration is exchanging one set of problems for another. If immigration is a vast improvement, those problems are in the background. But if it isn’t, then it takes a lot more work on your part to work through them.
If you want mountains, you’re kinda limited. Vancouver, BC, has great mountains, ocean, and forest access, but COL is pretty high for Canada. Calgary, AB is the closest city to the Canadian Rockies, but is in the middle of nowhere elsewise.
If you’re looking for good internet, though, you’re going to want Vancouver or Toronto. Those are the tech hubs of Canada.
We’d need to know what they mean by high-speed but I think it’s mostly everywhere nowadays. Just the very remote won’t have it. I know farmers with high speed internet.
We have really good internet in Winnipeg. We currently have 1.5 gig fibreoptic for our home. Winnipeg has a decent cultural scene, but no mountains, I’m sorry to say. Cost of living is one of the better options, at least for western Canada. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, there is a lot of racism towards First Nations here.
If you’re good with cold, you might enjoy it. We were literally coldervthan Mars recently. Not a great city for your car, especially if it rides low to the ground, lol.
If you want mountains, you’re kinda limited. Vancouver, BC, has great mountains, ocean, and forest access, but COL is pretty high
for Canadacompared to almost anywhere in the world. Calgary, AB is the closest city to the Canadian Rockies, but is in the middle of nowhere elsewise.Slight clarification
QC has mountains. Some of the best Skiing and MTBing around. NB has fiber internet. Cheaper too. I recently had fiber installed at my cottage in central Ontario. So you don’t have to be anywhere near Toronto. In fact, Toronto is one of the most expensive places for fiber. Smaller towns have actual competition.
You aren’t going to find mountains in any of the parts of Canada that you’ll want to live in. BC is trending right, Alberta and Saskatchewan are the right (Alberta is the Texas of Canada), Ontario is a shit-show, and Quebec is… Well, how good is your French?
I’d suggest PEI or Nova Scotia and satellite internet.
Nova Scotia has some nice mountain ranges within driving distamce to areas with good internet. Particularly in cape Breton, though they are more right wing than the rest of ns.
We also have donair if that helps.
Donair always helps
I can forgo mountains if necessary. I mean, we’re gonna have RFK Jr running Health and Human services here. It’s just going to be a shit show.
You can have mountains i n BC, you don’t need to live downtown Vancouver to see them. Lots of rural areas
Manitoba has, uh… hills ;)
But also has a left leaning government (for at least another three years, probably longer with our voting patterns) and low CoL. $120k CAD can be very comfortable here, even in Winnipeg.
Sounds good to me!
You forgot about Manitoba (that’s okay, everyone does lol). We’re safe from a willfully destructive government for at least another three years.
Oops, sorry… That was an oversight; my mind skips over Manitoba when I’m thinking of the large, southern provinces.
I also didn’t bring up the Northwest Territories, Nunavet, Yukon, New Brunswick, or Newfoundland and Labrador. If they like mountains, NT and Yukon might both work, although getting any kind of supplies in will likely be difficult.
Are you vegan? I’m looking for a vegan roommate and I live downtown city of a hundred thousand and fifty ish.
Very much not vegan, sorry about that!
Nelson BC
If you’re ok downgrading from epic Rockies style mountains to just like… Big hills (a hundred foot cliff is still pretty impressive up close, ok 😅), then the maritimes might be pretty good.
Summer and winter are much milder near the cost (although I wouldn’t call the weather good), and the east coast is cheaper than the West Coast.
If you live near to a “city” you can get good Internet. I have like 1.5gb fibre, and I live on the boundary between suburban and rural.
You could live in the Northwest of British Columbia around Haida Gwaii or Vancouver Island
.If you, or anyone else in this thread is actually serious about becoming immigrants in another country, this is a great thread for what it will actually take to get started in making the move.
Might I recommend Milo Alberta? Super cheap. They use an air raid siren every day to announce lunch (the town is closed other then the restaurant 12-1).
If you want something with mountains, you likely can not afford that.
Try Drummheller if you have not seen it its in the badlands. Looks like this
As a siren enthusiast, I love when towns still carry on the traditional noon siren blasts. That doesn’t happen much here in Ontario anymore.
FYI, Milo’s siren isn’t an air raid siren, small sirens like Milo’s (a Federal Model 2 in this case) are typically fire sirens used to summon volunteer firefighters to the station during a fire call. Milo’s is on the fire department, so it’s probably the fire siren. They’re usually tested daily or weekly to make sure they work when needed.
Odd they always called it an air raid siren, but I also know it has been replaced a few times now. Might have been one at one point.
A lot of people just call every siren an “air raid siren” even though no siren has been built for that purpose in 40 years in North America lol. It’s entirely possible they had an actual air raid siren at one point, probably built by Canadian Line Materials.
My guess is I was and then changed out over and over until people just assumed like you said that it is an “air raid” siren.
Kamloops, BC?
It’s got mountains around, it’s not completely caught in the Conservative trap, you’ve got decent amenities of civilization around without the big city or suburb vibe of Metro Vancouver, (I still think it pales as a “city” compared to Toronto), but as a day trip you can head there to sightsee or pick up big box stuff.
If you want something more laid back I second Yukon.
I’m in Kelowna and loving it. We’re turning more progressive as the city grows. NDP lost the ejection here by 40 votes out of 25783 total votes, that’s pretty good considering how conservative this area used to be and how much popularity the “fuck Trudeau” style conservatism has gained and retained over the years. Can’t really go wrong with any of the small towns around here either, from Vernon to Lake Country to West Kelowna to Summerland to Penticton.
I am not looking forward to the next federal election. Trudeau is about to pull a Biden and stay in too long and hand the whole thing to the right in a landslide. If only that dummy didn’t give up on electoral reform the second he got into power. What a waste
Port Alberni, BC
Or Merritt, BC if you want to be on the mainland
Both have all the necessary hospitals, schools, rec centers, high-speed internet, and decent access to larger cities if needed.
Alberni is amazing but I wouldn’t live there due to natural hazard risk. If there is a tsunami (and that’s not even an if, it’s long overdue) the town will be gone. And there will be no way to evacuate because there is only one way out
Natural disasters are definitely a concern
They’re overinflating the risk of that happening by a wide margin.
The last tsunami didn’t even wipe out the town, in fact it didn’t kill a single person in Port Alberni despite destroying 55 houses and damaging hundreds of others. It’s unlikely a second one would be worse considering that the earthquake that caused that one is still the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America.
Also, the last one also happened in 1964, long before things like earthquake and tsunami warning sirens were a thing.
I’m talking about “the big one” though which is long overdue
The vast majority of big one scenarios will be in the wrong direction to hit port Alberni with a tsunami. They’re mostly expected further south.
That being said, there are still tsunami sirens in town for a reason. Tsunamis aren’t that fast relatively speaking, and you only need to get a little higher up, 10 meters or so.
