Guys, Please don’t waste time, money & efforts for applying PR - My wife and I had good-paying jobs in midwest and left and came to Canada via express entry. I got the Job first - almost the same pay but my wife is struggling to get one - there are tons of applicants on each job posting, data based on LinkedIN. Everything is super duper costly here - car insurance, home price and FMCG products. It’s super depressing for a highly talented spouse to sit at home with no professional career. My wife and I both have Masters from USA. We have spent 1 year in Canada and now moving back to the USA, since our H1B cycle is reset now - giving up our PR. Life in the USA is far much better than here in Canada.
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Good luck! Wish you all the best.
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Did your wife try for remote work? I know so many Canadian PRs who are working remote for US companies.
Also if you’ve moved from midwest to Toronto, you’ll find the city to be expensive when it comes to housing. It’s one of the top, highly populous city in North America.
This is disheartening!
This is indeed very depressing and demotivating given that I am moving to Canada in 30 days from the US. I thought having a PR would help one get job than be on F1 OPT visa here in the US. Seems its bad everywhere. Confused now!
I completed my masters and PhD here in the US recently (Dec 2019).
@angularguy could you please share your background and the city you were at while in Canada? just will help me get some perspectives.
@deepac There are tax complication wrt working remotely for US companies. Also, my wife got the offer in USA in academia so we are all set to back to US in near future.
@indbad90 Job scene is extremely bad in Canada. I was in Toronto - i was fortunate enough to got the job in Toronto but overall Canada’s package is not worth it if you sum up all things! I am on full stack side with DS. I am ok as far my H1B gets renewed and getting good pay in USA. Growth opportunities are also very slim here in Canada. Try to find in USA and utilize your OPT - what’s your domain area?
@angularguy
Thanks for sharing. I’m a chemical engineering graduate. Hiring is frozen at most companies due to covid and they also don’t proceed when asked for sponsorship down the lane given the uncertainty around h1b and the upcoming elections. To top that, I am running out of my savings and can’t work anywhere even for side gigs. Some of my friends are furloughed or even laid off given the pandemic. So I decided to move to Toronto ( arriving there on August 30th).
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@indbad90 Since you have PhD - you have an advantage, you could try mid tier universities in smaller cities
@angularguy there are plenty of people who have found life to be better in Canada coming from the US - H1B and even citizens. But having said that I agree Canada may not be the best choice for everyone and in your situation that seems to be the case. Temporary nature of H1B is certainly not for everyone either, so you can imagine why some people prefer a PR over that.
Also, Toronto(assuming thats where you moved) is a top north american city and comparing it with the US midwest is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. Expenses here will be higher for things like housing, for example, due to very high demand. If you had done your homework, I believe you would have had the right expectations in this regard.
Lastly, some people just prefer one country over the other, its more emotional than rational, in my opinion.
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@am1 Totally agree - Plus media has portrayed the H1b uncertainties in a very successful way but if you think its not that bad if you have direct job and getting paid well + getting growth. At the end of the day person is bound to secure psychological stabilities and PR definitely serve the purpose in this case
Clearly experiences are a each his own kind of thing. I’m the first to tell people how great California is the experience you can get there and the networks you build are unmatched for folks in tech. And there is nothing wrong with the H1B if it allows you to work at some of the best companies in the world then why not. If you need a little more freedom that you legally have available under that visa then possibly Canada is one of several options.
I do think the world has significantly changed in the last several months every couple days I talk to someone in the valley who’s company is going full remote. Even the ones that are not going global remote are going timezone remote. I don’t see anyone of those ever coming back the advantages are too addicting. Over the last couple years I’ve met or spoken with folks at companies like Instacart, Coursera, Asana, Slack, Amazon, MS who moved to work remote for Silicon Valley earning what they always did and getting to live in a place like Toronto or Vancouver I feel thats hard to beat. Disclaimer this is only in relation to people working in software since my experience is limit to that.
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thanks for sharing your experience and perspective.
I can feel the pain of people who read this and might be planning to move to Canada very soon. Like OP has shown, it can be a very tough and important choice.
It’s important to remember that moving to the US isn’t a sure shot way to success and happiness. Same thing for Canada.
I was in a similar situation as many others here. I was on H1B and my wife couldn’t work there even though she had more than 10 years of experience in other countries. So we wanted to prioritize our careers and give up my visa. My wife got a job in 3 months and I got mine in 5 months. I am in Toronto now and I am making more than what I was making in the US. However, to be honest, I feel so much happier just to get away from the chains of visa. I feel independent in the sense that… “I can do whatever I want. I can work for whoever I want.” But in the end, it was a choice that I made.
For people moving to Canada (or any new place for that matter), I believe it’s important to stay close to reality, remember what you’re getting into, and know that it will take time.
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I think this might be a bit of oversimplification. I have many friends and ex-colleagues who are either not able to hire or get hired because of the H1B issues. I think it’s not just about not getting visa but about the uncertainties surrounding it.
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very nicely put.It is a tough and important decision. Every country has its pros and cons.Usually you give up something to gain something. Make sure you are okay with the things you are giving up.
Since or application was approved, I have been talking to NUMEROUS people about life in Canada.One thing I realized is every person is different and the definition of “good” and “worth it” differs from person to person.For some its money, for some its visa stability and for some its clean air/quality of life, for some it can be something else.So plz make sure what Canada has to offer matches with your priorities.
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Good Luck… Hope your H1B dosent gets rejected in near future… You can stay here in Canada for 3 years get citizenship and can get job back in US. you will have atleast security… one of my friend highly educated working for Top MNC his H1B got rejected after staying in uS for 8 years and now he has to move to India… Hope you dont face something like this… good lLuck…
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oh my! H1B rejected after 8 yrs?
was his extension denied?thats horrible
Double income couples have a realistic shot at the investor GC. Single or people who have a H4 spouse may have it better in Canada.
Life in the USA differs a whole lot based on where you live. A 800-900$ apartment in Texas/AZ/Mid West/Florida would be like resort living with free covered parking, gym, all the electronic devices like washing machine, dish washer etc. But the 2x of that in places like Manhattan/Jersey City would give you a squeaky little apartment with no parking(not even paid parking), none of the electronic devices. Basically no frills living plus mice and a building that reverberates during windy conditions or when the dog of your neighbour upstairs feels like he wants to run.
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