I’m kind of in a strange boat right now where I’m really comfortable in Canada yet I can’t shake this feeling I need to get over to the US of A in order to take advantage of that strong USD. I, like many Canadians, work for an American firm and have a TN visa. Recently, my employer offered to sponsor me for a green card, if I ever choose to relocate to the USA. I can live pretty much anywhere I want as I’m a remote employee, but I do travel to the USA for client work.
It’s a tough decision to make. While I consider it, I thought I’d ask the community. So, say you good lemmings?
What’s better about here, in your opinion? What would compel you to consider moving in the United States?
Workers rights. I insist that my contracts all say that they are governed by Ontario and Canadian Labour law. I have withdrawn my name from consideration more than once because they insisted on my contract being governed by one state or another’s labour laws.
Democracy. The fact that every citizen has the right to vote and equal access to the ballot box in non-gerrymandered electoral districts.
Personal freedom. Canadians have much more personal freedom than Americans. Yes, they have hate speech and guns but we have so much more actual freedom than they do.
Healthcare. You pay WAY more for health insurance in the US and even so they will deny everything and make you fight for it. I have a good friend who quit a job because their insurance company was denying all claims. My sister has osteoarthritis in her spine and needs surgery. Her surgeon is one of the best in the business. Her insurance company overruled her doctor and said that she should take physical therapy…for an irreversible, degenerative bone disease. Physical therapy for six weeks will cause her agony and worsen her condition.
Guns. So many people who shouldn’t have guns down there have guns. Gun bravery. Fear. Who needs an AR-15 to do groceries of buy coffee? They’re terrified all the time and they’re armed. That means they’re dangerous.
I could go on…
I would like you to elaborate on personal freedom. That’s very vague.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country
This is a good place to start.
I already listed some of them. A big one is democratic freedom. In Canada we don’t have gerrymandering or voter suppression. Every citizen has the right to vote and equal access to the ballot box. We are free to love who we want and to marry who we want. We are free to read what we want. Women have the same freedoms as men. We have workers rights. We don’t have legalized theft on an industrial scale (civil forfeiture). Our police are far less militaristic and we have civilian oversight.
They beat their chests and proclaim themselves the freest people in the world but they are mistaken.
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No really, that’s f’n awesome. Still a no from me, but you’ve fixed a huge hole. Also consider adding the bit that you’re paid through a Canadian subsid (or would ADP.ca work?) So that taxes are simpler.
Many smaller US companies don’t have Canadian subsidiaries. In those cases they use a PEO (Professional Employer Organization.) The PEO holds your paper and is your employer of record but all they do is provide benefits and pass the payment through to you. I’ve worked for a couple of PEOs. The latest one that I worked for was called Global Upside. The company I am working for now converted us from the PEO to a Canadian subsidiary and ADP just over a year ago. It saved them a lot of money so they took some of that money and increased our benefits.
It’s also really important to know your rights. My employer’s PEO insisted on a pre-employment drug test. I explained that pre-employment drug tests were illegal in Canada for most employees. They insisted that I could not be hired without one. I sent them and my employer the relevant section of the law and a letter from an employment lawyer and my employer told them to fuck off. Now Canadian employees are no longer drug tested. They also have unlimited vacation which is illegal in Canada. So Canadian employees have unlimited vacation, minimum 4 weeks.