What is it like living in Canada as a U.S. citizen?

 Allan:

My answer will definitely be influenced by being a naturalized American and having spent a lot of my life i other countries. I have also lived in many parts of Canada. A bunch of thoughts rather than a coherent dissertation.

Overall I think that there is a better quality of life in Canada than the US. Less hype, more work-life balance. But it comes at a cost.

As Americans, we tend to want instant gratification. We expect prompt service, competitive environments for services such as communications, air transportation etc. So - more patience is required. You’ll find that government services make most American services looks mercurial. And be prepared to pay more. The civil service at the federal and provincial levels are much less productive than the US counterparts. Forget prompt mail service.

Canadians tend to be very polite although comments on Canadian newspaper websites suggest that this isn’t uniform.

I find that Canadians have better quality food. But give me Tillamook ice cream over any non-homemade ice cream.

Multi-lingual environments don’t cause issues. People don’t yell at you to speak American - despite no official language in the US.

Very little racism; not zero but very little.

Fewer extremes, less obvious economic stratification.

More willingness to find compromises rather than only divorce style negotiations.

Employers have champagne tastes but ginger ale budgets. Slow to hire (really slow) and slow to correct hiring mistakes. Slow turnover.

Fantastic education system at all levels. So many firsts for a country with a small population.

Life expectancy is high and consistently beats that of the US. But don’t expect to jump the queue unless you want to opt for private clinics but hard to bypass hospitals.

There are more than 2 political parties. And except for some outliers, no extremists. Even the conservative party is liberal compared to the US.

Crime rates are lower. Most Canadians don’t consider crime rates when they select future housing. We don’t feel the need to “stand our ground”, yet we know how to handle rifles, shotguns, and hand guns safely.

Canadians generally treat others (people, cultures, nations) with huge respect. They are kind, tolerant, consistent, educated, global travelers, tough, resilient, passionate, patient, funny and more. Canadians may look like Americans - but they aren’t.

Canada is a great place to live and welcome anyone. Observe, accept and enjoy the experience.

David Stannard

Engineer / software architect. Business person. Traveler