I’ve been in Canada since July on a Working Holiday Visa.

In our media, Canada is always portrayed as a dream country. Yes of course, it’s beautiful here (Rockies, nature) but it also has a lot of downsides.

The quality of food is incomparable to my home country and the food prices are even higher here.

I thought rent prices back home were high, but here (except for small towns on the prairie), you have to share an apartment with 3 people and still pay the same amount as getting a 2-bedroom apartment alone back home.

Then 5 weeks of paid vacation + 11 paid holidays (weekends are generally free, there is no business open at Sundays), when you’re sick, you’re sick, but you still get paid.

Canadians are polite that is true, but what I’ve noticed is that people often make false promises just to be nice.

Making friends here as a foreigner is challenging and perhaps I’m homesick being on the other side of the world.

I’m considering abandoning everything and flying back home. While at first it was really nice here (especially the traveling in the summer), the drawbacks are becoming apparent.

Additionally, my education isn’t recognized here and honestly I don’t want to work at Tim Hortons or Walmart just to „survive“ and with much lower QOL than in Europe.

But on the other hand, I’m afraid of missing out if I fly back home now.

Idk what i should do :(

Any suggestions?

  • Mentat_Moe@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    What shocked me about Toronto is how run down it looks. It’s supposed to be Canadas international city, but it’s just fucking embarrassing. Also it STINKS… it felt like I was in some third world city like Delhi with all the garbage and raw sewage smells. I genuinely don’t understand how Canadians can live like that.

    It’s things like this that make me realise it’s not just me, Canadians are just like a messy person who is content to live in squalor. It’s never getting better. If not even the primate city can be good, what hope does the rest of it have?

    I feel sorry for people because while it’s a majority problem I also know a lot of Canadians who hate it too and wish they could get out. There’s the lucky ones like Not Just Bikes who managed to escape to the Netherlands but for most people they just have to deal with rampant incompetence, poorly designed infrastructure, bad food, and a trickle-up economy.