Any devs here from Canada or who have worked there?... know any?

I'm strongly considering immigrating to Canada to give my future family a better chance at life (My current country has a highly unstable political climate).

Just wondering how the dev lifestyle is living there (for the average dev) i.e.

- Quality of life - I know I can't buy a house, but what can I rent? A house/ flat/ box?
- Hows the dev scene / culture?
- Work life balance / Work environment frustrations (I hear they are very politically correct and this may be a conflict with my blunt nature)
- Income Tax vs Government service delivery, I expect tax will be high due to free health care/ education but are they worth it? nb; any service delivery beats what I get...

Any feedback is welcome and will be appreciated.

Me
@hyperlisk
@ellont
@n3xus

We are all Canadian (as far as I know, the first Canadians on devrant)

Now, we all go to the same school, and know eachother through robotics.

In terms of your other questions, it depends on where you are planning to move. The city and province mean a lot.

For example, be prepared to be paying at least $1M to live in and around Vancouver.

Also our taxes are different depending on the province.

Anyways, I highly recommend Canada.

I am from Canada and have worked with a bunch of Ecommerce and development companies. The dev scene in my city(London Ontario) is definately no silicon valley but it isn't bad either. When it comes to healthcare one thing to remember is dental isn't covered but most companies will give you really good medical benefits after a year or so.

Being blunt is no worry it really depends on the person though. I am an independent contractor and have done many network installations and never have I met someone that can't handle my dry humor and blunt nature. Rent varies greatly from city to city, currently I live in London and rent for a decent apartment 1 bed kitchen bath etc is about 800 CAD but for like $400 more you can get much nicer.

From what I know you shouldn't have much trouble once you're here it's immigration that's hell 😂. Also if you have any questions feel free to ask I have a bunch of dev friends.

@ewpratten awesome I never realised you were Canadian! Thanks man

@n3xus Thanks alot for the advise!

I've already been warned on the dental - current advise is to rather plan a holiday back to your birth country and visit the dentist while your there lol.

Did you immigrate to Canada?... any hidden costs/ surprises to watch out for?

In terms of province / location do you or @ewpratten have any recommendations on where work/live?

@kurtr British Columbia and Ontario have all the cool tech companies

Ontario is generally a cheaper place to be (unless you are planning to live in Toronto)

Also, by living here, I'm biased to recommend Ontario.

@ewpratten thanks giving me some places start... honestly Ontario has a strong selling point just being close enough to check out your robotics competitions!

Waterloo is good area. A lot of students from the University's end up working here or beginning a startup.

It's cheaper than Toronto too.

Source: I'm also a Canadian

@kurtr @devrocket I can't suggest Waterloo area any more it's absolutely amazing and pretty much all the major tech companies offices are in the area. Very friendly place and very student oriented.

One thing that might be different but I'm not sure is vehicle costs. You are going to definately need a car and gas right now is about $1.30 CAD Per Litre.

@n3xus I know some people in Waterloo that do just fine with a bike and a transit pass.

@ewpratten it's doable especially in university but it's a lot to get used to distance wise especially for cycling in comparison. Can't exactly bike in work clothes ya know?

@n3xus solid point

@n3xus that's cheap! Fuel in south Africa is around $1,50 cad/litre 😬... how much is it for a second hand car, nothing fancy 100k+ on the clock?

Oh and how are your food prices? Buying takeout vs cooking a meal would be a good measure.

You guys are helping alot... so far it looks like your getting a new neighbor' 🤘

@kurtr eating out at a McDonald's/Fast Food will cost you around $10-$15 CAD for a decent sized meal. Eating out at a nice ish resteraunts (pizza places and nicer sit down places) will cost you around $35-$50 per person depending on how nice.

Groceries per week will cost you around $100-$200 per week depending on how many canned goods etc or how you like to eat. Fresh vegetables and fruits are more expensive here most likely due to the more industrial nature of our agriculture.

For cars a good resource is Kijiji (Think Canadian Craigslist/eBay combination but much less spammy) https://www.kijiji.ca/ more specifically go to https://kijiji.ca/b-cars-trucks/... for more detailed results and make sure you are searching in a wide area.

Cars by the larger nature of our province are going to have a lot more on the clock but usually doesn't make much of a difference wear wise as it's single legged long distance drives.

EDIT: Corrected links and also thought I should mention that there are quite a few ads by businesses, just scroll past most of them as they are going to be over expensive and or new cars.