Why Canada Sucks....

[ashenflowers 5]

I agree with everyone who says they both have their ups and downs, and also the fact that it really depends exactly what region you moved from, and what region you moved to.

I'm also from London, ON, but grew up in an even smaller middle of nowhere flat land between Windsor and Chatham. Was London an upgrade from my hometown of Buttfack Nowhere, ON? Yes. Hella yes. But even those two areas had their own pros and cons.

Going from London to Santa Barbara, is REALLY different. I miss snow. Yeah, I said it. I moved to So Cal and I LOVE SNOW. I'm really bummed to have sat here all Jan and Feb without ANY snow. I look out my window now and see mountains, instead of nothing, but meh. They're just mountains. Complaining about snow, ice and cold was a Canadian past time. Now we complain here when it gets down to 50 degrees F. pfft.

Also, we pay $1400 for a simple 1 bedroom apartment here. You heard me. So THAT sucks. ALOT. I also am afraid now to go to the doctor for ANYTHING, since I have no clue how much it would cost, and know we cant pay it. I didn't have a family doctor for my last few years in Canada, but I still miss my free walk in clinics.

Given that my husband is now out of work and is having a REALLY hard time finding a job, California is NOT rubbing me the right way. My standard of living has plummeted since moving here. I don't care about the pretty palm trees and the ocean and the mountains. Nor do I care about the cheap alcohol in the grocery store (though that still blows me away too...lol). They're not the things that make me feel like Canada sucks, and US is awesomeness.

Canada doesn't suck. Rogers sucks, yes. But Canada, no.

Maybe I'm just still adjusting, and since our situation has been ####### since I moved, that's swaying my opinion as well. But, if given the option, and knowing I had a place to live and maybe a job to move back to Canada for, I'd do so in a heartbeat.

[Sprailenes 47]

Well I am glad I am come from a country like Canada and am now living in a country like the USA.

I didn't come from a third world country so I am just happy for all of that. Imagine some people who would love to move to either nation and here we have lived in both. Kind of lucky if you ask me.

[dutchmatt 1]

I just want to add that if you actually tried to close your account in the US because youre moving to another country where there is no coverage for that company, they dont even penalize you. (ie. I got out of Tmobile bec they dont have coverage in Toronto)

Rogers doesnt even care if they dont have coverage in the US. They still make you fork over the termination fee

Ya, I heard that from Rogers too. The charged me. Have the got the money? No.

[Revenesque 2]

Cell phone companies are regulated by the government. The insane taxes put on alcohol are set by, you got it, the government. The price of beer is the price of beer...its the taxes that double the cost. Private companies are free to charge what ever they want, and if the Canadian people think paying twice as much for the same thing is fair then I guess we the people are the MORONS.

Do you want cheese with your wine?

Comparing cost of living of Canada to the US is generalizing--if you really want to compare, you need to do it locally, e.g. city vs city. But bashing countries because of a few expenses is futile (not saying that you're doing it), especially when data out there proves otherwise...like the Mercer survey 2009 (http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#Top_50) where New York City places #8, Chicago places #50 as the most expensive cities to live in and NO CANADIAN cities cracked the top 50 list. Toronto, the most expensive Canadian city to live in placed #54 in their 2008 survey.

Edited March 5, 2010 by Revenesque

[Revenesque 2]

Comparing cost of living of Canada to the US is generalizing--if you really want to compare, you need to do it locally, e.g. city vs city. But bashing countries because of a few expenses is futile (not saying that you're doing it), especially when data out there proves otherwise...like the Mercer survey 2009 (http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#Top_50) where New York City places #8, Chicago places #50 as the most expensive cities to live in and NO CANADIAN cities cracked the top 50 list. Toronto, the most expensive Canadian city to live in placed #54 in their 2008 survey.

Wait a minute...you're the OP and you are bashing Canada! Fixxored!

Edited March 5, 2010 by Revenesque

[Kimbear 53]

I just want to add that if you actually tried to close your account in the US because youre moving to another country where there is no coverage for that company, they dont even penalize you. (ie. I got out of Tmobile bec they dont have coverage in Toronto)

Rogers doesnt even care if they dont have coverage in the US. They still make you fork over the termination fee

nope dont work. i tried that with printing the terms of service with telus. it only works if there is zero cell tower coverage by ANY company. beent ryyign to get this done for last 3 months. iwas told there is cell coverage in the usa, i can still use my phone, i just have to change my plan and i cannot have a usa number. but tehcnically they can still give me cell service. i was told no fees if i moved up the the nwt...go figure.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Am I the only one that wasn't mad that I paid $300 to cancel my cell phone with Bell? I mean it definitely stung a bit, but I knew all along I would have to pay it and budgeted for it as part of my moving costs. A contract is a contract. They don't force us to sign them. I actually could've just bought my phone outright without a contract, but wasn't sure how long I was staying (back in 2007) so I just signed the contract knowing full well I might end up paying for it later.

[bowflex 0]

I took this thread to be more tongue and cheek than the last one personally, hope that was how it was intended lol

Personally I really miss the general niceness of the people in Canada compared to here. It was very cool to build so many friendships and relationships with people in Canada and I was just there on the weekends visiting my wife. I've got many old friends here in the States but it's very rare to go to a bar or a bowling alley in the States and to see the kind of manners and stuff that I saw in Canada and that was only about an hour to an hour and a half away lol

[SonoranSongbird 3]

Maybe I'm just still adjusting, and since our situation has been ####### since I moved, that's swaying my opinion as well. But, if given the option, and knowing I had a place to live and maybe a job to move back to Canada for, I'd do so in a heartbeat.

Living in California and being unemployed is difficult for anyone, Ashen. I feel for you on that one, and have no suggestions. (That is true of anyplace really, but California happens to be very expensive.)

Other than that, yes, you are also still adjusting. My husband's experience---which, from what I have read on here, is pretty typical---was that it took a good 6 months to feel really at home here. A few people have said that part of what makes the adjustment so hard is the US and Canada SEEM so similar when all you do is visit the other one, and then when you make the move you find that a lot of little things are very different that you didn't expect or even think of. It does get better, though.

[bowflex 0]

Am I the only one that wasn't mad that I paid $300 to cancel my cell phone with Bell? I mean it definitely stung a bit, but I knew all along I would have to pay it and budgeted for it as part of my moving costs. A contract is a contract. They don't force us to sign them. I actually could've just bought my phone outright without a contract, but wasn't sure how long I was staying (back in 2007) so I just signed the contract knowing full well I might end up paying for it later.

My wife and I actually felt the same exact way. Only problem we had was that Rogers made it so friggin difficult to pay the termination fee. Tried to do it online, was told to go do it at a service center. Went to the service center, was told to go to a different one in Devonshire Mall in Windsor. Went there, was told to go to one of their rental centers. Finally we sent a check directly to Rogers' home office, got it back in the mail stating they couldn't process, and we just left. If they don't want our money I'm fine with that, ended up using it on going out to eat a few times if I'm not mistaken haha

[trailmix 77]

Am I the only one that wasn't mad that I paid $300 to cancel my cell phone with Bell? I mean it definitely stung a bit, but I knew all along I would have to pay it and budgeted for it as part of my moving costs. A contract is a contract. They don't force us to sign them. I actually could've just bought my phone outright without a contract, but wasn't sure how long I was staying (back in 2007) so I just signed the contract knowing full well I might end up paying for it later.

Yes, exactly Sapphire. We were using bell when we moved and our contract expired a few months before we left, so it wasn't an issue.

[SapphireDreams 71]

My wife and I actually felt the same exact way. Only problem we had was that Rogers made it so friggin difficult to pay the termination fee. Tried to do it online, was told to go do it at a service center. Went to the service center, was told to go to a different one in Devonshire Mall in Windsor. Went there, was told to go to one of their rental centers. Finally we sent a check directly to Rogers' home office, got it back in the mail stating they couldn't process, and we just left. If they don't want our money I'm fine with that, ended up using it on going out to eat a few times if I'm not mistaken haha

Be careful it hasn't hit a collection agency and in turn your credit report. In case you ever chose to move back it could come back to haunt you.

My termination fee was on my final bill, so I had no issues paying it. Just paid it how I normally paid my bills.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Instead of canceling my contract with Bell, I opted to just keep paying for the remaining 10 months I have left on my contract. They downgraded my service to $20 a month, so I just leave the phone off and pay the $20. They wanted to charge me somewhere around $350 to buy out, so this was a cheaper option. I just kept a few hundred dollars in my Canadian account and I pay it online.

I signed a three year contract not really knowing if and when I was moving, but a contract is a contract. It's not that big of a deal to me either.

[bowflex 0]

Be careful it hasn't hit a collection agency and in turn your credit report. In case you ever chose to move back it could come back to haunt you.

My termination fee was on my final bill, so I had no issues paying it. Just paid it how I normally paid my bills.

"Luckily" my wife was just in Canada going for permanent residence status and by leaving she can never apply for a visa there again. I guess if something didn't work out in the States with her status she'd have to look back to Europe cause of that stupid bill hehe

Was so frustrating, same type of thing happened here in Michigan when our mortgage was sold to another bank. We had to call about 30 phone numbers to find out who we could actually send our check to on time, sooooo annoying

[The_Dude 1,142]

Early termination fees are not unique to Canada. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will charge you those if you try to cancel them before the end of the contract. I really hated Rogers when we were preparing for our visa. We had called and requested copies of Mel's bills for the 12 months before the interview to show how much we talked etc. Mel had moved twice during that period and of course Rogers were complete fvcktards and mailed each bill to the address at which it was originally mailed to. Hello, she moved, hence why she updated her contact information and billing address with you subsequent to each move. I think Rogers only employs people for their call centers who are too stupid to work at Taco Bell.