Emigrating from your home country can be both exciting and daunting. Adapting to and integrating into a new environment and society comes with its challenges. I moved to Canada about 7 years ago and it’s been one hell of a ride! In my earlier articles (part 1, part 2, part 3), I attempted to highlight some of the benefits enjoyed by Canadians and Permanent Residents (PR).
In this series, I will attempt to distill what I call the “realities” of living the Canadian dream from the view of a new immigrant. The excitement of getting your PR application approved and getting to the finished line of the PR application process may make one detached from reality. While I believe that these realities are talked about a little, it can still be a rude shock when its reality slaps you in the face. I am writing this from the perspective of a Nigerian that moved to Canada (my personal experience and experiences of those I know); some of the highlighted points may be applicable to any other country you have migrated to or are planning to migrate to. The points in this series are also inexhaustive and your experiences as an immigrant may be completely different.
1. Taxes: The first shock you may get is with how much income tax you pay in Canada — there is a federal tax component and a provincial component which is dependent on your income tax bracket. After getting my first job offer, the first thing I did was to convert the offered salary to Naira. And then I divided the salary by 12 to get a sense of what my gross monthly pay will be. I felt like a big boy! In any of these calculations, I did not attempt to estimate what my taxes and other statutory deductions will be. Cometh the hour, cometh pay day and I tried to make sense of my net pay and all the many deductions. The amount of tax I paid (which as you rightly guessed I converted to Naira) had my head spinning.
Unlike in Nigeria (and UK) where the cost of goods already includes Value Added Tax (VAT), the cost of goods/services that you see online or in stores does not include the sales tax component (which varies by province); some goods are however tax exempt. Living in Alberta, you can imagine my surprise, before I understood the system, when the cost of the shoes I want to buy increases from $50 on the shelf, to $52.50 at checkout.
The positive side to the taxes being paid is that it helps Canada provide you with all the good reasons you gave for moving to Canada. Good educational system for the kids, free health care, Canada child benefit, excellent infrastructure, etc., are paid for by citizens’ and residents’ taxes.
2. Cold Winters: I am almost sure that one of the comments people made to you when you mentioned that you were moving to Canada was the cold weather. Yes, Canadian winters can be very cold! However, until you have experienced it, you can’t really understand how cold it is! The lowest temperature I have experienced was about -42 degrees Celsius (with wind chill factor). I was recently joking with my wife that we are not normal because when temperature rose to 0 or -1 degrees Celsius (from about -15 degrees Celsius), we claimed that it was warm! One thing I love about Canadians is that they have developed sports and activities around the seasons, including the cold winter! You may also be wondering how people survive in the Canadian winters — invest in good winter jackets, sweaters (I started wearing sweaters in Canada), winter boots, gloves, hats, socks, scarves/mufflers, etc. The most important consideration in selecting a winter jacket is the jacket filling — a jacket filled with feathers (especially duck or goose) will be warmer than one filled with polyester. While the cost of a duck or goose filled jacket will generally be higher than one filled with polyester, you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune on getting a functional jacket. My first winter jacket cost $30 (on sale) and I used it for about 5 years before I gave it out. If it is not an immediate need, a good idea to getting deals is to wait towards the end of a season before shopping for items related to the season, e.g. shop for new winter clothing items from end of January. This is because retailers are usually trying to get rid of current stock to make room for Spring items, which is the next season. You can also keep a constant eye on their websites because you will find some items online that you won’t find in regular stores. Sport Chek, Winners, Marshalls are some of the places where I shop for jackets and Shoe Company, Winners and Marshalls are my go to for winter boots. If you are looking for luxury, fashion and functionality in your winter jacket, consider Canada Goose, Moose Knuckles and Nobis.
Driving in winter can also be very dangerous, especially during or after snowfalls, when the roads may have black ice. That being said, the efficiency with which the major roads are often cleared is admirable. You may also require two sets of tires for your car — a set of winter tires and a set of summer/all-season tires. The theory is that winter tires are designed specifically for winter conditions. I have only had different tires for the seasons when I bought a car off someone and it had winter tires when I bought them; I did not have a choice but to buy a set of all-season tires for the non-winter months. Choosing to maintain two sets of tires for your car will increase your expenses — the initial cost of buying the tires (and rims) and the annual cost of switching the tires (if you don’t do it yourself which many people don’t do) when the seasons change. Additionally, when you buy your home, be prepared for having to shovel your driveway and/or sidewalk when it snows. And trust me this can be painful! A few days before Christmas, there was about 20–40cm of snowfall in Calgary; I had to call my wife and kids to join the snow clearing party from our driveway and it took us about 1.5 hours to get it done and the effects of this particular snowfall were still seen around town many weeks after! While this volume is unusual, but believe me that having to wake up to clear snow and/or coming back from work to do it is not fun.
If you have a choice on the time of relocation, consider moving during the warmer months in Spring (March to June) or Summer (June to September) — this will help you gently ease into the colder Fall (September to December) and Winter (December to March) months.
In the next instalment, I will write about high cost of living, importance of a good support system, becoming an “expert” DIYer, and commuting.
