gwoodhouse

Afternoon Guys!

This might be kind of a rant, but I don't really know if I'm being homesick and being unreasonable. I guess just looking for a "We thought this was weird too!" from some guys... Or at least a "It's just temporary, you've not turned into a grump in Canada".

I moved over here in December and I've been getting hit every few days with something I think is "weird" in how the country works and I just wanted to ask if it's me or if the country really does have badly designed systems.

For instance -

I need to go to work every day on the Go train here in Ontario. You swipe your Presto card on (like Oyster) and off. Unless they set you up with a favourite trip in which case you just swipe on. But if you use the buses or subway its just a swipe on. Unless it's a go bus incase you swipe on AND off. If you need to swipe off there is no turn styles or "reminders" that you need to it, you just get a charge, but if you need to set off from your usual station you need to "Override" your trip to do it properly. (This all makes sense to me now, but it's something you kind of just have to "know" it seems - at first i had no idea what was happening, especially with buses).

I was given a "Debit Card" for shops, but a "Virtual Visa" for online as the Debit card isn't a visa. But the "Virtual Visa" is a visa debit and very few places actually accept Visa debit... and I can't get any sort of Visa Credit without it actually being a credit card (you can't just have a Visa card, linked to your account, that works everywhere online - why?)

Got a mobile phone over here (Wind/Freedom Mobile) because they were cheapest (at $40/month compared to a tenner a month on GiffGaff), and their coverage seems to be everywhere I actually live or travel. However even with full signal you don't get any data at peek times - no government intervention to make them warn you about that, it's just something you need to know. I've switched to Bell and I'm now paying $90 for what I got in the UK for a tenner.

There is no delivery option for groceries so if you don't drive you're kind of stuck with whatever you can get close-by. Grocery bills seem to more than double at somewhere like Loblaws than somewhere like Freshco - It's an even bigger difference than the difference between shopping in Peterborough or in the centre of London, even when trying to keep to cheapest branded product.

I spent 2 weeks trying to register at a Doctor. There was no where to look up Doctors accepting new registration and the systems over here just kept telling me to "Call around". After 2 weeks someone suggested I try a Walk-in clinic, I didn't know until then that you can just walk into a doctor that has never seen you before...? Why do you need to register if this is the case? And if this the way everyone works, why is anyone registered anywhere (and how did they do it if everywhere is consistently full...?)

Those are just some of the things from the top of my head. How do I get past the comparisons to the UK? Do I just hold on tight and hope eventually I know what's going to hit me in the wallet before it happens... or do all Canadians keep getting smacked by weird systems they've never used before?

Anyway, thanks for listening!

Graeme

Aviator

The way to fix it...

Deal with it, you now live in Canada.

scrubbedexpat091

As for doctors, better to have a GP but there is a shortage of them so finding one can be difficult and time consuming. So walks fill the gap when you have no GP but continuity of care at walk ins can be poor as you may not see the same doctor each time and they are just not good for ongoing issues.

But by going to the same walk in it may lead to a GP at some point which is how I got my current GP.

Best thing you can do is try and not compare Canada to another country and just remember Canada is a different country and does thing differently.

Vulcanoid

I have a Canadian beside me who hooted "Oooh, oooh, can I do everything that's wrong with Britain?!"

(five minutes later)

"Why do you eat every part of the animal? It's not the thirteen hundreds anymore. It's not food. I don't care if you've boiled it."

Point is... different countries are different. Different cultures, norms, technical implementations. It's not necessarily 'wrong', even if it may not be the way you expect to find them.

As you can't open up the hood and alter some parameters in Canada.cfg, your real options to 'fix' it are (a) leave (b) re-learn what you think of as normal.

Howefamily

It can be very hard indeed. But you have to remember that you are learning to relive your adult life in many respects and thats tough going.
I went through a phase where in my mind we knew a "better" way in the UK. Rightly or wrongly as that through may be, its a slippery slope.


Just lately I had a ureka moment. Our teachers are striking using a work to ruke tactic as they are disputing a number of issues including class sizes. My FIL who was in the police commented that "we got rid of unions years ago...." in a patronizing tone (one I recognize from myself a few times) and then literally 5 mins later he shared on his FB wall how Surrey police are sick of what they have to put up with in their working life thanks to the governent.... maybe unions have their place... I dont know. It made me smile though.

not2old

understandable, its your adjustment period & its the Canada, which is not the UK, so stop comparing.

So, tell us 'why did you leave the UK to come live in Canada', was it because, you wanted something different & better, that the UK had gone to the dogs?

Why not work through all of the points in your post like the rest of us have done, whinge all you want - it won't change

dormy

Graeme


Stick with it, it will become easier the longer you are here, but it can be frustrating. Canada in general is about 20years behind the rest of the world in many things, which is nice in some ways but very frustrating in others.


As for your questions, I cannot help with your transit pass, I'm not from Ontario, so don't know the system.


Visa debit doesn't really exist in Canada, purely bank debit cards. I have heard talk about introducing them but it will be a way off. You need to get to your bank and ask about a credit card, some will ask to put down a pre payment as security whilst you build up credit history, others will just give you a small limit and keep increasing whilst you build a history, this doesn't take too long, but can be frustrating.


Pre paid cell phones are a rip off; contracted cell phones are a rip off too, but are slowly being regulated. At $90 you are paying too much, I just got a $60 deal through rogers for unlimited data, unlimited long distance calls Canada wide and a free phone, on a 2 year contract.


In my city they only just started home delivery for groceries, the whole city was amazed that this could be done, I found it laughable as in the UK and states they have been doing it for 15-20 years, Canada is just very slow. Also groceries are very expensive in Canada, very expensive. There is a monopoly for 2 or 3 stores companies that own everything and they just screw consumers, that will not change.


A quick google search for Ontario gave me this link to find doctors that are accepting new patients https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-fam...e-practitioner, hope this helps. But there is a huge shortage of Dr's across the country which is problematic. I have been in my city 5 years now, and only just found a Dr. last week, that could sign me up with them.


Canada will catch up to the rest of the world eventually, its frustrating but try not to think about how things worked in the UK, stop comparing and just accept it for what it is. It takes a while, but it becomes the norm.


Hope this helps is some way.

BristolUK

I'm not clear what you're getting at with that one.

tweed_wearer

I am constantly left scratching my head at some of this stuff. It is easy to say "stop complaining" but it can be disorienting and I do have some sympathy with the OP.


As for Credit Cards - What gets me every time is when they ask in the store "credit or debt?" Why is this any of your business please? Turns out debit and credit card transactions are processed in different ways so they have to select the proper method of payment.


One thing that gets me is how bland/sanitised/chipper everything is.

Vulcanoid

He was horrified when I first bought tongue as a lunch meat. When he recounted it on facebook, his mother asked if we needed money because we'd been forced to eat what they consider offal.

Fortunately, my parents have learnt not feed people liver and kidneys without checking first.

tweed_wearer

p.s. yes you need a credit card. I got mine at HSBC, $5,000 credit limit very shortly after arriving but I was a UK customer.


Everybody has a credit card here, which is kind of a bad thing. I did have one in the UK for emergencies/big purchases in order to get the Consumer Credit Act protection.

BristolUK

This reminds me of something my mum said many moons ago.

Some colleagues in my old department were in dispute. Their contracts were such that they worked normal hours but had opportunities to work overtime voluntarily. The employer - it's always employers who break the contract and try to change the terms - decided to impose shift patterns meaning forced night shifts and lower pay for doing those hours.

My mum - who worked for the same department (same office for a time) and often crossed picket lines I was on - said "they were lucky to have jobs" while in a different discussion would say she wasn't a Thatcherite.

withabix

Canadians just don't realise that they eat every part of an animal...

Probably more parts of an animal than 'we' do in Britain.

See also T&T Chinese supermarkets....


Scotiabank issues Visa Debit cards and have done for about 2 years.

It's just that no payment systems seem to recognise them as Visa Debit cards....

gwoodhouse

Thank you for everyone replying with helpful and understanding advice. Emigrating as a grown up has turned out to be a much more anxious experience which many more barriers to my usual thought process than I was expecting

Apologies to those who read me attacking their country/themselves/someone they know - I didn't mean to do anything to earn the "Cope/Stop whinging" replies.

BristolUK

Ah, I see.

I wondered because the butcher/general store up the road sells chicken gizzards and I'd never seen that sold in the UK.