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Life is harder immigration-wise in the US. Even if you have a clear pathway in your mind and a relatively (surprisingly?) short timeline for getting PR, things might just not be that smooth - and I believe I speak for many of us who have been through that in the US. A green card process alone, assuming all priority dates current and everything in check, takes about 2 years, let alone the wait time for you to be even eligible for that. It's not that simple. Plus, you can only bring your parents if you're a US citizen, so add 5 years to the 2 years expectation, and their processing time as well. Altogether, we're talking about 10 years for that to happen.

The US has amazing opportunities career-wise, though. Obviously, it pays much more than Canada or any country in Europe considering the same job level.

Healthcare might also not be "better and faster" or houses "cheaper" than Canada. You excluded SF and NYC but then proceeded to compare with Toronto, which would be the "equivalent" of these two cities in Canada. So that's not a fair comparison. Prices are very much bloated in the US. Everything costs a lot of money so you also make a lot.

All in all, it really depends on what you want for your life. Which country do you identify the most in terms of their values (yes, that's a real thing)? Have you met Americans and Canadians? People play a large role in how your life is gonna be day-to-day, so you might benefit from such a perspective. You can probably make money in any first-world country in the world and have more or less the same things (a roof over your head, health, education, quality food).

You'll most certainly have more disposable income at the end of the month in the US.

In the US, healthcare costs will eat you alive, eventually.

The social safety net here is failing, it is starved for money. That funding is being diverted to the military industrial complex, and tax cuts for the rich.

The American Dream is twice as easy to achieve in Canada as it is in America.

We also pay a fraction for our single-payer healthcare, and pay absolutely nothing out of pocket. Drugs are not free, but are heavily subsidized.

I would also use healthcare for my own choice to never live in the United States. Not only do Canadians spend about half as much towards healthcare in our taxes, but we also pay absolutely nothing else. In the States, you personally see nothing for the amounts that you are taxed, and you have to have medical insurance on top of that. Finally, said medical insurance comes with crippling co-pays and deductibles that severely discourage people from seeing a doctor until the time for treatment has come and gone, and palliative care is the only remaining option. Even a single emergency visit to the hospital is sufficient to wipe out years or even decades of savings.

I would doublecheck on that "Green Card in US in 2 years thing"... I know people I worked with who were from India and they said that their wait times are closer to a decade.

One can work for US based companies remotely from Canada and if you are still inclined you can work in the US on a TN Visa (which is trivial to acquire once you are a Canadian citizen).

I don't have much to add beyond that. I am a Canadian citizen who has lived and worked in both countries. I wouldn't pay much attention to people painting either country as a 'hell hole' as some in this thread are doing. Both countries are fine and culturally there isn't a big difference between the between the two as long as you are living in a big metro in the US.

2nd this. I’m not expert on this, it seems it is something like even if you’re approved, you still need to wait in another line to get the green card, and the back log is especially long for Indian. The Biden admin somewhat recently has tried to accelerate this (because corporates are urging him to do something before quota was expired.)

Here are some things in Canada's favor.

- The health insurance industry in the US has a lot of problems, even if you have "good" insurance provided by a top employer. I needed a procedure earlier this year for a potentially life-threatening tumor (turned out fine, thankfully). Despite the procedure being recommended by an esteemed specialist, I had trouble getting it approved. I had to "shop around" for facilities that my insurance would approve to get the tumor removed. Bureaucracy is the last thing you want to understand the deal with when you don't know if you have cancer. Also, even after the insurance, I still had a bill in the $1-2k range. There are lots of worse horror stories dealing with our adversarial insurance system.

- British Colombia is one of the most beautiful places on earth, with some of the best food as well.

- US is much, much more violent. There are more guns here than people.

That said, I do live in the US for now. The 2-3x salary difference is hard to ignore.

I'm biased because I'm Canadian.

pros:

> Healthcare is better and faster

I disagree with that, public healthcare has its problems but you don't have to worry about ever paying. Healthcare in the US is very expensive, there is always a risk that you are not covered by your insurance and get hit by ridiculous medical bills.

- The biggest difference you would find is culture. Canada still has the political culture war but it is much more mild. Our government does not have the same deadlock that the US has.

- Canada also tends to be more friendly to immigrants. Our politics are more progressive, and Canada is immigrant nation. The percentage of minorities is much higher.

- Our summers are very temperate. This might be personal preference, but I prefer being too cold over being too hot.

cons:

- If you want the big city life, the USA is better. We have big cities i.e. Toronto but it doesn't really compare

- Winters are cold, most cities are manageable but the cold is deal breaker for some people.

>The percentage of minorities is much higher.

In Canada it appears to be listed as 'Visible Minority' 22.3% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_minority

In the USA they use Ethnic groups, 38.4% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

The United Kingdom use Ethnic groups, 12.9% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

> In the US, I would get a Green Card in two years.

Are you sure about that? I'm in the US an have colleges here who are from India and who have been waiting eight years for a green card.

US 100%. Most talented Canadians move to the US for opportunities and career growth anyway.

Yeah, seems like the only way to FIRE in Canada is to speculate in Real Estate which is growing like 100% every year - everyone and their mother is getting mortgages against their existing homes to make bank.. the crazy part is that it's working.

Where is the innovation? Future really seems bleak in Canada if you don't already own a home.

Would this really be true? It sounds broadly plausible, but I've also read about substantial growth in the technology sectors of Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo projected to increase, so I was under the impression that there is real innovation in the country.

So is "[Insert your city] is next Silicon Valley" narrative - propaganda to attract investors and immigrants.

Like the other guy said it seems to be just propaganda by the Govt to attracts immigrants and investors.

I visited Canada and have relatives there. They're "rich" now because they bought housing twenty years ago but for the new generation the future seems bleak. Those who studied Medicine or Software or have in demand skills seem to keep moving to the US because they instantly double their salary.

In the US you have house price increases due to tech, in Canada you have this based on speculation and money laundering. Your pick, I rather live in a place where at least the salary can catch up.

In my 50s, born in Montreal left for silicon valley as a programmer in '99. You'll make more in the US and pay less in tax.

The USA is a business and for me the only reason to be here is work. Here I need to worry about violent crime (been mugged), healthcare (took a gov't job just for the health benefits), cost of education, cost of housing (rent a room from my gf). I had a condo here which I sold. I plow my $ into ancesral real estate in Canada. In '95 I worried about Quebec separating, the language politics and 10% structural unemployment.

Given the recent coup attempt here and the rapid decline of the US home is looking better and better.

Background: went to US with my wife through L1 visa, now have an employer-sponsored green card through my wife's employer. So my experience is limited to employment-based immigration into US.

> In the US, I would get a Green Card in two years.

This may be a too optimistic of a timeline.

> My parents live in India and one day I want them living with me.

If you were born in India, the wait times for your green card are in decades, assuming you fall into one of the more common immigration categories. I am not sure when you would be able to file for green cards for your parents, but it's most likely not before you have a green card yourself.

I'd be going through an L1 > EB1 process. So no wait like H1B.

Could sponsor my parents once I'm citizen after about 7-8 years.

It may be possible then, in theory. I recommend working with very good immigration attorneys and keeping track of all previous employment, the history will be required. Good luck!

My parents live in India and one day I want them living with me

Why not stay in India and built your enterprise there. The West is on the way downwards, India is on the way upwards. It's the Asian Century. *

Also, why put your parents through a huge disruption in their lives by taking them away from India? Why not keep them in India where they are comfortable and are familiar with everything?

* Watch for the dissenting opinions! :)

I don't know about Canadian immigration, but legal immigration in the USA is a game of frustration with few guarantees. I have a friend who was here on a Visa and took a vacation home only to find that US immigration wouldn't let him back in. Canada pays way worse, but maybe their immigration system is a little less dysfunctional?

How do you feel about cold weather? Surprised you didn't mention that. That would honestly probably be my big decider

I'm fine with both cold and hot weather, already have spent my life living in places with both weathers and I like both tbh and are used to it.

USA for the higher wages. Canada maybe for retirement to enjoy a more stable and down to earth society.

There’s no Supervisa for relatives in Canada. Immediate family members need to apply for a Family visa, which takes 12 months to process, during which time they cannot visit you in Canada, even with a Visitor’s visa.

As you say, US has a lot of career advantages over Canada.

That said, I believe you may be being a bit overly optimistic about the green card / visa situation in the US.

Congrats - USA for sure! Most freedom

I would double check that USA Green Card timeline, a friend is still waiting for many more years.

What is your job? If programmer, then USA.

Canada. The numerous problems in the US seem to be getting worse and given the option I’d avoid living there.

>>My parents live in India and one day I want them living with me, and that is easier in the US too as there is no lottery or wait time for immediate relatives (Canada has lottery system, 200k people apply for the same 20k spots and more and more people will be applying each year). But, Canada has a Supervisa system where parents can come to Canada with me as a PR and live for two years.

Before 2014 it used to be that if you wanted your parents to immigrate then it was almost impossible (or very expensive) to afford private US healthcare for them becase they wouldn't qualify for Medicare for at least 5 years. Healthcare in the US is expensive without a health insurance plan to offset costs.

Since then, my understanding is that the combination of Obama's ACA and Biden's recent ARP now allows purchasing affordable elderly healthcare insurance plans a possibility until they qualify for Medicare.

Canada is great for multi-generational families wishing to be in one place together at around the same time since healthcare is often the biggest problem for elderly parents. But if only your nuclear family (you, spouse, kids) will be immigrating for a longer period before your parents arrive, then perhaps the US would be better.

CANADA....overall a better and safer place to live in.

green card in 2 years in the us? seems a bit unrealistic what i've heard from h1b people

I'd be EB1 and it's only one year timeline after living 12 months in the US on a L1 visa.

if you are a high achieving person, the amount of opportunities in the USA are endless. For a person like yourself, i would say USA is the way to go.

I assume you will be relocating with L1A visa. EB1 applies to L1A under category 3 which is Current as per visa bulletin. I would suggest USA if so.

Why do the ambitious, best and brightest Canadians land in the US?

And after the covid lockdown tyranny, the successful Canadians are planning their exit.

This country has a gdp and population smaller than California.

With wealth taxes happening.

Canada’s future is socialist and broke.

The US has many geographic and cultural options to choose from.

Canada there is no real debate here. Work remotely for a US company if you care about money.

USA=hell on earth.

Is it? Why do so many want to immigrate there?

USA because Canadians have fewer rights and can't even bear arms in defense of themselves.

You're a lot more likely to get randomly shot and killed by a nutjob in the USA, that to get killed in Canada because you didn't have a gun to defend yourself.

You can believe whatever you'd like (no objective facts nor sources were provided, so they are assumed as irrational beliefs only), but you still can't refute the fact America lets people own firearms to defend themselves, while Canada does not recognize this human right.

Believing?I don't believe in anything, I know facts and statistics.

Nobody's refuting the fact that you created the perfect conditions to get an abominable number of mass shootings. You say that like it's a good or interesting thing, maybe brag about your healthcare system.

I'm very thankful to live in a country where even +99% of criminals don't have guns. And by the way even if I do get shot here, I won't go bankrupt paying the hospital, no matter how much I earn.

Human right? Lmao. I'll do you one better, owning tanks and nukes should be a human right, you're not a real free country if you can't start a war from your backyard.

"no objective facts nor sources were provided, so they are assumed as irrational beliefs only"

That's just a reflect of your ignorance. You live in a bubble and you're ignorant about your own country, I don't have time to do google search for you.

The argument that gun ownership = right to self-defense is a non-sequitur. Self-defense is a recognized legal justification for the use of force in the States already.

What you're really talking about is either one of a few different statements offered up about guns, none of which really add up:

1. "Guns can be used to defend yourself from a tyrannous government" (a wholly impractical proposition - you're not going to stop the third largest army on their own home turf with a small cabal of renegade soldiers. You could even argue this is an irresponsible proposition, because government needs your participation as a stakeholder and beneficiary to improve, not your suspicion. If a civil situation gets to the point where the only way out is to overthrow a corrupt government, you don't need a constitutional right to guns to accomplish that - the original American revolutionaries certainly did not)

2. "Guns can be used to defend yourself from other people in the failure or absence of law enforcement intervention" (sure, but this property is not unique to guns - carry mace or a switchblade, weapons that limit unintended damage)

There's nothing a gun can't do that safer weapons can't accomplish, and nothing a gun could do that would alter the equation in favour of needing them. Perhaps there's a reason why guns are needed as a right that I am not aware of, and I'd be open to hearing it, but on the whole there's nothing really going for them.

Canada because like almost every civilized country you won't need to bear arms in defense of yourself. The populace is not as hostile or volatile as our good friends to the south, and despite not having 99 different levels of law enforcement and a massive for-profit prison system, the police generally manage to keep people safe.

Of course you can always find a few exceptions to this, but Canadians do not live in fear.

Have the chance to move to USA or Canada – which one would you choose?