Read This Before Migrating to Canada

This posting is long overdue. I have been meaning to do a comparison between life in California, US and Vancouver, Canada. It seems unfair to do that when we just moved here. Now that we live here for more than a year, I guess I could do a better job.

Health Care
I heard of Canada Government sponsored health care before and I thought it was amazing. US doesn't have government sponsored health care. The closest one was maybe Obama Care aka Affordable Health Care. I was lucky to have health care from my job then so I couldn't comment on Obama Care. From what I understand the health care is administered through private insurance companies.



Canada government sponsored health care is called MSP (Medical Services Plan). When we first got here the MSP cost for us was about CAD 75/person. MSP mostly covers medical emergencies and only a handful of preventive care.

Private health insurance is available for purchase or through employers as benefit. When we finally got private health insurance through my employer I though I may get easier access to specialists. Not really. See, when we go to see doctors, the insurance that kick in first is MSP. My private insurance will cover for the drugs/medication if prescribed. Government sponsored health care is good when you have serious illness. My father-in-law has to be hospitalized twice this year due to respiratory disease. Our family didn't have to pay a dime. On the other hand I got chronic hives last year and went to get referral to a specialist. It's been almost a year and I have heard nothing. For comparison when I was in California I would be able to get appointment with a specialist within 2 weeks.

My private health care covers some of non conventional items that wouldn't be covered under US health care. Items like naturopathic, massage and travel insurance.

Alcohol
In California one can easily find alcohol at a liquor store around the corner which normally sells lottery as well. Or if you happen to be getting groceries at Safeway you could also pick up one or two bottle of wine.  Here in British Columbia, one can only buy alcohol at certain location e.g. BC Liquor stores. Not at Safeway, not at Walmart and not even at Costco.

Postal Services and Shipping Charges
Mail forward and hold mail in the US is free. I learned that here in Canada mail forward for a year cost CAD 83.65 and hold mail cost some depends on the length of service. Now I know why US Postal Service is losing money !

Shipping charges here cost almost twice the amount charged for most online purchases in the US. For me shipping charges should not be more than USD 6 which is around CAD 8. But some of the online retailers based in Canada charge more than CAD 10. Imagine if your purchase is only CAD 15. Then your shipping will cost 66%. That's nuts.

Outlet Shopping
For people that like to shop (like me) the prices for shoes and clothing are outrageous compared to California. In California at least we could shop for branded items at outlet malls which usually offer bargain prices. Or if you don't live close to any outlet malls you could still shop at Target which I think offers fashionable items as well.

There is Marshall stores here in Vancouver too but the price is not as competitive compared to the ones in California. Also the selections seem to be less.

But because of that I turned to thrift shopping and I find that more rewarding. It's fun, better for environment and better for my pocket. For you all that are interested, Value Village is a good place to check out. They have quite a few locations around greater Vancouver area.