What I learned about Canada's pitfalls and misery index in the 5 years of living in Canada on PR!

Are you moving to Canada? 

Good! 

This is an article you want to read!

LONG ARTICLE ALERT!         

February 2022 will mark 5 years for my spouse and me on the Canadian soil. I still remember how nervous and anxious I was in the February of 2017. Seems like half a decade is quite some time and yet I feel new to this country. It still is scary at times. Still learning and navigating through a lot of things.

Learning the Canadian way has been giving us its own set of fun, challenges, and frustrations. Some of these frustrations are part of a being an immigrant but some are more widespread and impact everyone. I want to discuss a few of both.

This is my 8th full length LinkedIn article in 3 years and I am very glad it comes at the 5 year mark. Please don't think that these articles are all gloom. The first 7 are full of help and hope, but this one leans towards pointing out the cautions. You will most probably face these experiences in the mid to long term, chances are fair that you will.

Note: This is a lay person's take on very complicated stuff. These are based on my experiences. So, they are not absolute.

1.Home ownership is an EXPENSIVE dream:

You're moving to a new country. Even though buying a house is not on your priority RIGHT NOW, it may be at some point.

Let's talk a bit about housing in Canada being incredibly expensive. Is Canada running out of land? Does it have rapid population rise? Shortage of lumber? Less houses being built? Shortage of talented people in the industry? None of these! And yet the prices have been rocketing. Avg. prices for a roof over your head are almost $750,000 in Canada (~$900,000 in Ontario and ~$1.2Mn specifically in Toronto. BC and Vancouver prices are higher). This is already pricing out a lot of people. Unless you are buying a house with money coming from the bank of mom and dad, it's going to be a slow climb.

At this rate, very few will be able to afford a house. Let's see who wins the most in these scenarios:

Let's say you make a $100,000/year and save $30/35,000 after modest expenses, it will take you almost 7-8 years or more to gather a 20% down payment (add closing and moving cost) for a house in GTA. Let's agree you are willing to put lower down payment (comes with some extra cost; so insurers win), you'll take a higher mortgage and pay a higher monthly installment on it (bank wins), as simple as that. The property prices keep rising (developers and realtors win) with people entering with lower and lower down payments.

So what do you do? You have a few options here:

• Make more money to afford a house in Canada
• Everyone in the family has to work. Always. No options.
• Settle for a ~500/600 Sq. Ft. Condominium for $600,000-$800,000 and later upgrade to house when and if your savings permit
• Settle for a smaller town on the outskirts of the city of your choosing
• Keep renting and invest your money elsewhere (yes that is an option too)

The Canadian real estate market is like there is no tomorrow. There are several issues like dirty money, vacant properties, foreign and local investors, bully bidding, etc. that are beyond a lay person's understanding or reach. Whatever is happening in the Canadian market will not be a good sight to watch when it blows up. Home ownership may take a little time if this continues. These websites can give you some stats and insights in the real estate market:

• https://www.thehabistat.com/
• https://www.movesmartly.com/

My experiences:

We started looking for a house in GTA in August of 2020 when COVID restrictions started to open up a bit after months of strict lockdown. Viewed 20 properties and realized that the prices have rocketed 10-12% in 6 months. Seemed too high and and we guessed waiting ~6 months to save a bit more was a better option.

How further could the prices go from here? Well, were we wrong?

Prices shot up a further 15% in the next 6 months. Inventory dipped to its lowest.

We started our hunt again in Jan 2021 when we thought we were ready (this is the important part in my opinion, enter when ready not out of FOMO), viewed 30 more properties and had to enter the bidding processes (and let me tell you Blind Bidding is one of the worst policies I have ever come across. Ever! And WORST is an understatement! Article from 2021). We bid on 4 houses, lost one of them by only $6,000, 2 by ~$30,000 and one of them by a cool $175,000 (what?). All of these had 5 bids or more on them. Our 5th bid was when we finally succeeded. It was 'lower' than the highest bid by ~$10,000 (again, what? lower?). The blind bidding process is insane and beyond my (or anyone I know) understanding. And a surprising thing to share, we have lived in our house for 6 months and the prices in our area have shot up a further 20%.

Someone I know had booked a pre-construction property in 2020 and they were expecting closing towards the end of 2022. In Jan 2022 the developer asks for more money or cancellation. I am guessing they are doing it to cover rising prices of commodities and of course to cash in on the prices rocketing in 2020 and 2021. Why would they miss out on the frenzy?

My friends have entered into bidding processes which had 30-40 bids on the property. They didn't win those of course. Some desperate buyer would outbid all of them by $100,000s and chances are these guys wouldn't even know if they outbid the second highest by a 100%.

In the Canadian real estate market, beauty lies in the eye of the (blind) bidder, and money in the pockets of developers, banks, and realtors.

2.Everything is expensive:

This is more difficult to explain (in brief) than I expected. If you want to know the causes, you'll have to read a bit more yourself. I'm just sharing some high level day-to-day impacts.

If you keep your money in cash or in a bank account, you may think you are saving money. As a matter of fact, you are wasting your hard earned money, far beyond your imagination.

Inflation is running crazy, value of money is decreasing. Government is printing and distributing money at a rate which is beyond repair. Additionally, incredibly low interest rates are spewing unanticipated problems. At the same time increasing interest rates too quickly can trigger a terrible recission.

A simple, real life example (please do not fixate on the numbers)

If you had $100 in the bank and could buy 100 lemons with it in 2021, your same $100 can buy only 95 lemons today in 2022 and maybe 90 next year if inflation continues. You think you lost no money as such (you still have the $100, don't you?) Bravo! You must realize that you lost the power to buy 10 lemons with the same money you did not lose 'as such'. Your money is losing value. So either you start earning $105 this year or invest in something that makes you the additional $5/year. If you don't do either life WILL give you lemons.

Because if you don't act, someone else is getting richer by the $5 you are inadvertently losing without realizing. Because budgets don't balance themselves.

My experience:

Since I keep a good tab on my expenses, I can say with fair accuracy that in the 5 years that I have lived in Canada, my grocery expenses have gone up by $250-300/month. A large chunk of that increase being in the last year. That is a steep $3500+ extra a year. No, it is not a lifestyle change. In fact I have to think twice before buying things now.

Rents have gone up like there is no tomorrow. The 2 bedroom apartment (not a fancy condo) I lived in for 3 years from 2018-2021 at $1400/month is now charging $2700/month. Incredible isn't it? And No they did not add a theater, club house, party rooms, a stadium, a space station, etc. to justify this increase.

3. Health Care is free? Lol

Anything free is either sub standard or comes with strings attached or both.

Sure, it is paid with your high taxes. However, you don't pay when you visit a clinic or a hospital. So out of pocket expenses during visits are limited. Makes you think that it is free. That begs a couple of complicated questions that everyone should be asking, but very few are.

1. How easy is it to get access to a doctor?

• Let's assume you have an illness like fever, cold, aches, etc. It is not a life or death situation yet, but it is something you cannot bear aggravate. You call a nearby physician's clinic. Now, the problems starts, if you are not registered with them, they may not entertain you. So you have to register with them "when" they are accepting new "potential" patients. So let's go with the assumption that you are registered with someone. The doctor's office may give you an appointment for later that day or most probably the next day (and mind you, only phone appointments during COVID, been 2 years now and they call you in only if they feel the need to see you in-person). All you can do is wonder if this makes sense, or mostly not!
• So what can you do if you are not registered with a clinic? Go to a walk-in clinic if there is one near you and pray that the doctor is good and the lines are not excruciatingly long. They will most probably accept you. The wait will be hour/s long. And if you have COVID like symptoms they could turn you down. In today's world, every symptom is a COVID symptom. Who knew aggressive itching in your toes could be a recovery symptom after asymptomatic COVID infection
• What about specialist doctor? Woah! My underlying understanding is unless you're dying, why do you need one? You can't go to a specialist directly. Your physician has to make a case to a specialist, and they will accept if they are accepting patients.

You would hate going through this rigmarole when you are in your best of health, let alone sick.

2. Is there something not covered by the healthcare system?

Most of the adults will not have coverage for prescription drugs, supplements, eye care, dental care, and a few more things. You either pay yourself, need private insurance, or need benefits/coverage from an employer.

3. How expensive are the things that are not covered?

Dental and eye care is incredibly expensive. Eve exam + glasses (not branded) will cost you $200-500. Dental appointments will range from $100-$5000 with the most basic procedures running into $200-500 per visit. And now imagine bearing the cost of prescription drugs for critical illnesses. I cannot imagine the burden that comes with all these costs if you are not privately insured or covered by your employer.

As per WorldBank, Canada ranks ~70 in the world in terms of doctor to population ratio. 2.4 doctors every 1000 people in 2018-19.

And you talk about first world problems. Really?

My experiences:

• I have an issue with my ear so my physician recommended me to an ENT. Got my first appointment 6 months later, second with an 8 month gap, and 3rd with a further 6 month gap.
• Needed an MRI for some tests our physician deemed required, took 4 weeks to get me an appointment. Only because this was pre-COVID and I was in luck. Otherwise it can take months.
• My mother who's a visitor needed some blood tests, got a (self paid) blood test appointment '5 days' later. This is beyond my understanding.
• My spouse needed to consult a specialist. The doctor did refer the case to a specialist. They accepted and gave a phone appointment 3 months in the future. My spouse waits the 3 months and expects the call on the said date and time but no one calls. So we call the specialist's clinic and they say they cancelled the appointment a month ago, won't accept my spouses' case, and that they informed the physician's office. Didn't bother to inform the patient. A week after this fiasco, my spouse travelled to India, got tests done, consulted a specialist, got the medical attention needed, and came back. All in 15 days. And we are still not able to get a response from the physician or the specialist in Canada. 3 months after the 3 month wait. And India is a developing country much.
• Lets talk about emergency services. Lol. Every person I know (at least 7-8 including myself) who has ever needed emergency services, had to wait a minimum of 6-7 hours in line. The instances which rip my heart include a 6 month old child with persistent high fever, rashes, and vomiting, a 12 year old with a broken arm, an adult with a bleeding hand due to terrible dog bite. Yup, all had to wait 6-7 hours.
• What if you ever need an ambulance. It isn't free. You will have to split cost for the ambulance if your case is deemed justified and if not, you will be charged anywhere between $45-$250.
• Surgery backlog is running in months. Monthsss! Monthssssssss!

A lot of of this can be boiled down to availability of doctors, nurses, and medical support staff. Most doctors I have interacted with are middle aged. Maybe it's just my experience. At some point they will start retiring and this will leave a huge gap.

-Doctors and nurses are good, when available.

-Quality of equipment is good, when available.

-Medication and attention is provided with care, when available.

Bringing in half a million immigrants every year with understaffed medical facilities will need attention at some point. The medical system and staff are visibly strained.

It is incredible that a country markets 'free health care' to attract immigrants without revealing the fine prints.        

4.Dealing with IRCC

After 3 years, citizenship is the natural next step if you intend to live in this country. Not that it is difficult to go through the process, but it demands cost(s) and incredible patience. Incredible!

And I am not saying that IRCC does not do their job. I am saying they will do their job with highest level of inefficiency and in the most opaque way possible. IRCC is one of the most 'government organizations' I have come across.

All the immigration ministers want a pat on their back for showing numbers for immigrants and refugees they invited for the year. Bravo!

Talking about costs quickly (not proof of funds):

• PR Application fees: $1325
• Citizenship Application: $630
• Canadian Passport: $160
• PR Renewal (I'd and many other would need one since IRCC tis taking almost 2 years to get my citizenship application): $50

The next costs are not to do with Canada and can depend on your home country.

• Current Passport surrender: ~$130 (in my case India)
• Apply for an overseas citizenship: $345 (India)

Per person charges over the course: ~$2650

And if you are a family of 2,3, or 4 adults, you can do the math.

My experiences:

My PR application in 2016 took 5 Months and 29 days to be approved (average time wass 6 months). One my friend's took 19 days, another with similar education background, experience as mine took 2.5 months. It is so arbitrary.

I applied for my Citizenship grant in April 2020 and still not through. Two of my friends (along with their families) applied 6 months later in September and October 2020. You know what? Their Canadian passport was in their hands in Dec 2021. Good for them! Really, good for them!

I have reached out to IRCC multiple times, and our application is stuck for no clear reason. Supposedly anyone who applied during the onset of COVID has applications processed by a sloth. They are treated as backlog and the newer applications are cleared quickly. And I am not the only one stuck with this, there are thousands.

An experience that will make you scratch your head in amusement. 2 of my friends applied for their parent's visitor visa (TR) in March 2021. No response (except Biometric) until Dec 2021. Tired with the wait, they filled fresh TRs in mid-Dec 2021 keeping the old applications active, both their applications were approved and passports stamped by mid-Jan 2022. Within a month. The old applications are still open. Lol! Who cares? IRCC doesn't!

5. Reuniting with family on PR? Pipe Dream!

One of the big hitters in the Canadian PR marketing game is being able to reunite with parents/grandparents by inviting them on PR. Getting your parents, grandparents on PR is a matter of pure luck. Don't be overly optimistic. There are almost 200,000 applications/year to invite parents and grandparents. With immigration on the rise this will only increase. The intake is usually in the range of 15,000-30,000 every year. Any said year, this ratio gives you a ~10% chance of getting an invitation.

Would you base your migration decision if you were told you have 90% chances of losing the family reunification game? So my point is, if you're lucky you'll get the approval for parents/grandparents in the first go. But do not base your migration decision based on potential reunification with your family.

6. Misery Index (WTH is that)

In a 2021 ranking, factors including vaccination numbers, testing and case numbers, stringency of lockdown restrictions and unemployment rates were taken into account, and Canada did not measure up, placing near the bottom of the list of 15 countries (when?the bottom is a bad place to be).

Canada was ranked one of the world's most miserable countries yet again. Now in 2022, another Canadian organization has created a similar report, this time ranking Canada the sixth most miserable country out of 35 advanced economies worldwide. Link to the article

If all the articles were to be believed, while Canada ranks 6th (out of 35 developed countires) in the most miserable countries, it also ranks 14th (out of 149) in terms of the happiest countries in the world. So belive what you must.        

Link to the article

There are several more inefficiencies that the country has, but the ones I have shared have been plaguing people for quite some time now. A few opportunists have squeezed the benefits from these inefficiencies, and many others have started to learn and live with them. These issues could be due to various policies and inefficiencies in the system. Now I am not sure who is to blame, the government for creating policies with blind spots or the people who find ways to to benefit from the loopholes.

These are bare bone inefficiencies impacting your everyday common person. These are the things that this country elects to not solve. These seem deliberately designed in a way they are.

Having said all of this, I do want to share why I've written only 1/8 articles which is so gloomy:

When I count my blessings they far exceed the troubles!        

Just know that you're not leaving all troubles behind when you leave your home country, you are simply accepting new ones you didn't know existed.

There is no way to hold something that is truly beautiful; not without consequences. There is a reason why roses have thorns.

Canada is that rose. I'm not dissuading you from moving to Canada. Absolutely Not! Do your research and be sure of the thorns.

PS: Adding this section based on a message from Ankush Manchanda. Thanks Ankush for sharing your experience.

Here's my take on the GTA/GVA home ownership:

It has become a perpetual dream for the working class. Let's assume the case of a couple bringing in 6 figure salary each and raking in $200k a year. Looks like a great income, right? Now let me break it down for you: Let's say you want to buy a house that is currently $1Mn. Now if we go by the rule of thumb, you need $200k down payment and you will just be able to afford this house. If you have that down payment ready then you will be able to buy it.

Let's consider a scenario where you have $150k available. So you need to save $50k more to afford it. You set a target of 1 year @4k per month to save it. One should be able to afford it in a year's time, right? NO!! By the time you save those $200k, that $1mn home would have appreciated to $1.25 Mn. So now your dream home is dearer by $250k. You need to save $100k more and not $50k more plus increase your household income from 200k to 250k in a span of one year. If you don't do that then you are looking at $1.5mn price in the following year for which you need $300k down and $300k income.?

Canadian salaries grow modestly at 2-4% per year and not able to catch up with the real estate inflation. People who call Toronto a financial hub don't really understand what a hub means. There aren't that many white collar jobs available in the country to meet the immigration needs.?Government really needs to assess the profile of immigrants they are targeting. You can't expect a couple making INR30-50 lacs per annum (~$65-90k) in India to come in and struggle to get a $70k job that barely makes ends meet. Entrepreneurship is great but it is not for everyone and we don't have the population in Canada to support innovation. We are a very small population divided by long distances which is a great barrier to logistics,

To share something that can help you work on your prep, I've written some articles to talk about my (positive) experiences and the research I did before (and after) I moved to Canada on PR!

• What I learned about finding a job as a Newcomer to Canada ! 140k views!
• Research the job market before coming to Canada on PR - 14k views!
• Is it financially beneficial to move to Canada on PR? Let's see.. - 12k views!
• Build an amazing LinkedIn profile and Beyond ! - 8k views!
• A newcomer's experience of transitioning into the Canadian work culture ! - 5.2k views!
• What I learned about Coffee Interviews as a Newcomer to Canada ! - 4k views!
• Your ultimate To-Do checklist as a newcomer to Canada! - 2.5k views!
• #newcomertocanada