SambaDeAmigo

It's like the US but without the BS

scilly

We've had great medical treatment in BC, both in Vancouver, and in small northern town. First class, better than treatment I had in the UK before we emigrated all those years ago.

Dental treatment ....... same

No argument about our daughter's education ........... both school and universities were excellent.

Transit tons better than in the US. I used it every day for almost 30 years to go to work.

No, transit isn't as good as in the UK ............ but then there isn't the population and distances are far greater. Current estimate for 7 km of light rapid transit is Vancouver is over $1 billion .................. I truly hope I am not still paying city taxes when that line is built!

dbd33

If you happen to live and work next to the bus stop and you have fixed working hours then public transit is a viable option in urban Canada. It is, however, nonsense to say that it is "tons better than the US", almost everyone in NYC gets to work by public transit, plainly there is better public transit in NYC than there is in Canada east of Montreal. It may be that Vancouver has a single highly organized transit system so that the trams tie in with the subway cars and they cleanly meet the monorail. I doubt that, but even if it did it did it would be arguable whether or not it surpasses BART.

I don't care for the "everything in Canada is better than the US and that's all that counts" narrative but I will concede that public transit in rural Nebraska isn't great.

Atlantic Xpat

<Massive generalisation klaxon> How deluded or spot on you are will depend upon which part of Canada you are comparing to whereever else in the world you are comparing it to. (You don't say).

For the Republic of Newfoundland...

Healthcare: Variable. We have an excellent GP (so that's more than many posters in other areas who report being unable to register with any GP) and have had (and continue to have) excellent healthcare for my daughter with a complex and undiagnosed medical condition. Plus they saved my wife's life after a bloodclot damn near killed her. But wait lists for minor and some quite major procedures are high. Aging population and cost will make this worse in coming years. Safe? Yes, I feel safe.

Living cost: Cheaper than Norway maybe. More expensive than the UK or rest of Canada on everything except housing.

Transportation: Public transportation is essentially non-existent. Roads are terrible.

Quality of Lifestyle: Depends on how you define it. Having a big house and garden? Yes. Ability to travel cheaply to other parts of the world? No.

Culture: Yes. If you like fiddle music.
Environment: Newfoundland is not an environmentally friendly place. It depends upon resource extraction & we love our gas powered toys.

Quality of Education: K-12 seems OK. Probably better elsewhere. Probably worse too. Post Secondary: North America's lowest priced university for tuition. Quality of teaching is OK. By no means top flight.

Career Opportunities: Limited. Most (including new immigrants) move away after graduation.

Oh yes, and it's one of the least multicultural places in Canada. The people are friendly - to me at least. But I'm a White middle aged male so YMMV.

scrubbedexpat091

Transit depends where in the US you are and where in Canada you are.

Outside of a few citys in both countries transit is pretty poor in both.

Vancouver is okay but NYC and Chicago is better.

You simply cannot compare the entire US and entire of Canada has to be broken down into regional.

Outside of Vancouver most of BC has poor transit.

Dental is good if you have either the money or excellent insurance otherwise its not accessible to people in Canada.


Transit is useless in Vancouver for many a shift worker because its not 24/7.

Where in NYC transit runs 24/7 and even Chicago has some train lines 24/7.

9 to 5 workers may find transit decent though.

BristolUK

Here in the big apple pip our transit is comparable I'd say.

Most places are within a few minutes from a bus stop to take you anywhere (transfers included) in the metropolis.

dbd33

A bus network in a snowy place cannot be as good as an underground train network, backed by a bus network, in a place with a more moderate climate. There will be days when the busses don't run. What is the public transit alternative in that case?

dbd33

I think southern Ontario might be at the other end of that scale.

We had such a laugh this morning when a Chinese guy was trying to enunciate "flow" to a Peruvian of Japanese descent. A Russian bystander thought he meant "flower", "like in ze garden?" he bellowed, in the manner of a German on Allo Allo. I caught the intended word from the context and offered "no, like a waterfall". There was much gesticulating and noise making. Every day is like this. Future generations of computer systems will be defined by the absence of technical terms involving l or r.

BristolUK

Since you appear to be taking my comment seriously, I'll answer seriously.
Yes it can, because it doesn't need backing up by an underground train network.
There has been no day this winter where the buses didn't run.

A typical winter sees one or two days where the bus service starts a couple of hours late. I wouldn't be surprised if NYC suffered more disruption than that.

Three years ago the buses stopped late morning for the day. That was the nearest to a full day's loss in my time here I believe.

dbd33

Alright already, Moncton has a fine transit network, envy of the world.

BristolUK

No, it just has a good bus service adequate for its size.

The issue was really your dismissal of a good service, relevant to a place's needs, anywhere east of Montreal.

Howefamily

who's peed in your cornflakes?

Novocastrian

So, more than one bus stop?

NavyBoy

Depends, here in Ottawa I have never heard of the buses not running. School buses yes, but have been able to get downtown for work via the buses.

I guess there must have been some occasions but asking around most people agree if the busses are not running you 'ant leaving the house and the city will be closed.

Souvy

Judging by your username, I think I can guess where you work. Lots of buses go there.