What is it like to come home to Canada?

[kool maudit]

There was a blip in late winter '22 when it was more expensive to charge an EV than to fill your tank but that didn't last long. We pay around $2.60/litre for regular gas right now.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Europeans drive about half as many km as we do..

It helps that this is the rail transit map for a metro area of 2 million.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by Gresto

One of their primary complaints about Sweden, apart from the depressing lack of natural light in the winter, is that electricity is apparently so expensive there that their son and his family keep the lights and heating to a bare minimum. They walk around the house shivering and holding candles, sort of like von Sydow and Ullman as shuffling, quavering wraiths in an austere Bergman film.
This couple enjoys coming home and enjoying their comfortably heated - or cooled, as it were - domicile.

Our chums in Netherlands are shivering as well, they never set the temperature above 19C and yet their monthly utility bills is still over EUR 500,00. They're just piling on extra layers when they sleep, wearing socks in the bathroom, etc. Back on the island, they always had the temperature set to a balmy 23-25C.. .

Netherland's personal tax burden is also notably higher than Quebec, so they're feeling pretty homesick at this point.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

Our chums in Netherlands are shivering as well, they never set the temperature above 19C and yet their monthly utility bills is still over EUR 500,00. They're just piling on extra layers when they sleep, wearing socks in the bathroom, etc

I never set my thermostat above 19C either, and I always wear socks in the bathroom. What's your point???

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

It helps that this is the rail transit map for a metro area of 2 million.

Even with that kind of network overlaid, Toronto's legacy land use planning is so poor that many Torontonians will still be forced to commute by car. The American style suburban office parks (where the majority of the region's jobs are still located) and power centres dotting all over the 905 and outer 416 are just too auto centric and spread out at the moment to induce significant public transit demand.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I never set my thermostat above 19C either, and I always wear socks in the bathroom. What's your point???

Average highs and lows in winter in the Netherlands are around 6 and 0 as well, so keeping it at 19 doesn't seem as bad as the other story we got from Sweden.

[kool maudit]

Sweden electricity is nowhere near as bad as NL or Germany, we have a lot of domestic production here.

[Acajack]

Yeah, obviously the ability to adapt to inflationary pressures varies from family to family as well.

Something that's no sweat to me can, even if identical in dollar value, be a serious hardship for my neighbour.

It's not just a country vs country comparison.

[whatnext]

Of course returning home is different but I found this interesting vis a vis Sweden:

Canada Is So Expensive That Some Ukrainian Immigrants Are Leaving
High housing costs and underemployment are challenges for new arrivals
By Jacob Lorinc
November 16, 2023 at 4:30 AM PST

Not long after Russia began bombing Ukraine, Oleksii Martynenko packed his bags and fled Kremenchuk, a once-tranquil but now war-torn city roughly 190 miles from Kyiv. He moved to Stockholm and took a job as a line cook. One year later, as his work visa approached expiry, he relocated to Canada’s largest city.

The continental change of scenery proved challenging for the Ukrainian immigrant. It took Martynenko about two months to find a comparable job in Toronto’s bustling downtown, about an hour’s commute from his apartment in the city’s suburbs. It wasn’t enough to pay the bills, so he soon took a second job, also as a line cook, and now works seven days a week in fast-paced kitchens.

The strenuous work and high cost of living has taken its toll. Martynenko, 44, is now planning a return to Sweden. His monthly expenses in Toronto include roughly C$100 for a phone plan ($73) , C$150 for public transit, C$400 for groceries, and C$1,000 for a room in a rooming house, where the kitchen and bathroom are shared among four tenants. Any money left over is sent back to family still in Ukraine. At least in Stockholm he earned enough to have savings, he said.

“I’m tired all the time now,” Martynenko said in an interview. “I want to go back to Europe because it’s such a difficult life in Canada.”...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...?sref=x4rjnz06

[MonctonRad]

Why doesn't he just move somewhere else in Canada? There are lots of smaller cities where he could live closer to work, and the cost of living would be comparatively less.

[1overcosc]

A lot of Ukrainian refugees have settled in smaller cities and towns, it seems. Anyone have data on that?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

A lot of Ukrainian refugees have settled in smaller cities and towns, it seems. Anyone have data on that?

Anecdotally, we had a lot of Ukrainians come to Moncton. Probably well over a thousand, which, given the size of the city is a lot.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I never set my thermostat above 19C either, and I always wear socks in the bathroom. What's your point???

Forgot to mention they also wear their Canada Goose parkas inside the apartment.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I look forward to Kool's reports on reintegrating in to Canada! It's a rare perspective.

And of course, welcome home!

Yes congratulations, Kool

niwell and others have some great recommendations and if your wife/partner is super picky on schools I'm sure the forumers could help you out with ones that are the best.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

A lot of Ukrainian refugees have settled in smaller cities and towns, it seems. Anyone have data on that?

No, but I do know 922,000+ applications were approved and 198,000+ actually arrived in Canada.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...y-figures.html

I recall seeing a few articles of the ones that settled in southern Ontario wishing they were back in Ukraine despite War due to the crushing cost of living, and some that were adamant about heading back to Ukraine.

I know Toronto has the most services but wish they could have been directed towards Manitoba, Sask, and Alberta with lower living costs and long existent populations of Ukrainian Canadians, communities.

If I recall correctly, SignalHillHiker stated ones in NFLD were being integrated into the community

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Anecdotally, we had a lot of Ukrainians come to Moncton. Probably well over a thousand, which, given the size of the city is a lot.

That is. In Niagara region (current pop. near 500k) I only recall reading about 500 Ukrainians settling here. I'm sure there's probably more than that but haven't seen any updated articles in many many months.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I never set my thermostat above 19C either, and I always wear socks in the bathroom. What's your point???

Wimps. Doesn't SHH keep his at 15C or something?

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Why doesn't he just move somewhere else in Canada? There are lots of smaller cities where he could live closer to work, and the cost of living would be comparatively less.

Absolutely no sympathy from me if this individual is only choosing to live in Toronto!! Especially when there is a huge demand for kitchen workers everywhere.

It shouldn't be a news item.

We've always had a Ukrainian population here and have had some people move here due to the current war who have been doing quite well according to the media and people I know but I thought that we would have had more move here.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Absolutely no sympathy from me if this individual is only choosing to live in Toronto!! Especially when there is a huge demand for kitchen workers everywhere.

It shouldn't be a news item.

This is almost as out-of-touch as a JT quote!

If someone working two jobs can't comfortably afford accommodation even in a shared apartment, anywhere in this country (let alone our largest city where 1/5th of the population lives), we have a big problem. The fact that some people would rather risk living in an actual warzone than try to make it work here should be both an embarrassment and a major cause of concern for all us.

[theman23]

Toronto has a significant Ukranian community, not just Canadians with historical links to Ukraine.