There are none.
Moving to Canada from the USA lowers your quality of life by 50%.
Moving to Canada from the USA lowers your quality of life by 50%.
I have lived in both the US and Canada, I prefer Canada.
* housing cost is generally higher in Canada, except maybe if you're comparing to the Bay Area in which case it's a wash
* cars cost a LOT more in Canada (as does everything else)
* tech salaries are a lot lower in Canada
* taxes are generally higher in Canada (plus the huge VAT for sales)
While I'm not going to argue Canada is the best place ever or that we don't have some issues, the quality of life is still pretty damn good. Certainly not 50% lower than the US or Silicon Valley...
University is like $3000/year here. I heard it's almost the same in the US if you go to a regular University.
Healthcare is irrelevant is you're insured. And if you want access to care or a specialist in a reasonable delay, you have to got the private route, which means you actually pay twice. Considering that 50% of our taxes go to healthcare, I'm paying almost 25% of my income on healthcare here in Canada.
My uneducated guess is it's about 5-10 times that at private U.S colleges.
Remember, we're comparing lifestyles of tech professionals here, not average people or poor people. For people who can't afford decent health insurance, Canada definitely seems to have a much better system. But a tech professional should not have much trouble paying health insurance premiums.
I know people will bring up healthcare, but I would argue if you have a high-paying job in the US, you never really worry about going bankrupt due to healthcare and you get access to some of the top physicians/hospitals.
Now don't get me wrong, Canada has a lot going for it. I think Canadian cities tend to be run better and this shows up as being safer and cleaner. Canadians also tend to be nicer and because they are 100% committed to the rat race, they tend to be less high strung and competitive.
Overall, I had to move from Canada since there weren't any jobs in my home town. I could have move to Toronto (3 hr flight) or I could have moved to the Bay area (3 hr flight). I'm the same distance from family, so why not go for the bigger opportunity?
Final disclaimer: this is my own opinion. Obviously some people will look at the US and go "yuck". Live where you want to live. It's all good.
I agree to every single of your points.
Canada is a lot more egalitarian.
But from what you've said it seems like making the move to US is a good idea if you want more money and more opportunities. Hopefully I will be able to make the move soon. I am pretty ignorant of how the visa stuff works though and assuming I don't make it to the big tech companies I don't know how I'd be able to walk a middling startup through it. It seems like it would generally be easier for these startups to hire Americans.
If you have a blog where you've shared your experiences on the move I'd be very interested in reading it because this is a subject that's been in my head for a while.
I think a lot of that depends on your personal experiences. There aren't really "ghettos" in Canada like the US, but there are very poor areas, just like US cities. They just tend to look a little less rundown since I think city gov'ts in Canada tend to work better.
Like I said in my original post, it all depends on what's important to you and that can change over time. If you've decided the rat race isn't for you, then Canada is a great place to live. Stability, good social services, etc are in abundance in Canada. To each his own.
As for my immigration story, I never really put it down in writing. Even though you're Canadian, it can be a real slog. You have to stand in line just like every other immigrant, although you do get some benefits (like TN visa) that other countries don't. But when it comes to a green card and citizenship, it really isn't any different that other countries.
If you want to read up on it, just google, there is a ton of information out there. If I were you, I'd give it a go using a TN visa. As long as you have a degree in certain fields, all you need is an offer letter from the company. You can get the visa at the border.