Snipped from elsewhere on the Internet :

I have lived in Australia, then Hong Kong and now Canada.


Canada and Australia are excellent choices, however it all depends on
what you are expecting. Both Canada and Australia have high rates of
taxation so you hard earned dollars get burned away through federal
and provincial taxes. Jobs are available in both countries, but it all
depends upon where you are going in Canada and Australia & what sector
your desired job will fall under.


Canada is not entirely cold, Vancouver is warm in comparison to the
rest of the country, but then again the job you desire will depend as
to whether that industry is significant in this region.


Salary wise you may be shocked to note that in comparison to Hong Kong
you might feel a bit let down initially, but it will gradually
increase with more experience in this country. However if you are
looking for immediate results salarywise, then either country does not
score good points.


When you refer to public education, do you have expectations with
regards to educating yourself or your kids ? For your kids if you have
any, yes I would give a good score for both nations.


Deciding on which country to immigrate to will depend on what you are
willing to give up where you are and being able to adjust to the new
conditions in Canada/Australia. Immigrating is an exciting process,
but once you get to your new home, there are alot of things or
activities you miss from your home country. If you can adjust it will
be a pleasant process, however if you keep comparing thats when the
problem starts. To decide which country you want to go to, I would say
what are you willing to do "Think Canadian" or "Think Australian" if
neither, you will know what to do.


Having lived in the two countries, I have to say that Canada
appreciates immigrants. In Australia I did not feel that welcomed in
comparison. Canadians on the whole are very accommodating and helpful
& must say extremely polite, I guess that comes from me living in the
US for a while. So for all you Canadians reading this, Long Live
Canada !! Not that Aussies are not kind, but Australia has a
significant aging population with people of the old order and did not
seem to be hospitable to the Asian community in particular. So until
they die out, the right wingers are getting their way through their
anti-immigration prime minister John Howard. Hate to be harsh to my
beloved Aussie friends, but Mr.Howard is not making it any easier, in
fact more restrictive. In Canada, the government or rather the
Immigration Minister tried to raise the bar for new immigrants, but
with our strong believers in Human Rights, that action was short
lived. Well done to the people of Canada.


In terms of renting or buying a house, Canadian properties are much
much better. Our utilities and telecom services are far more superior
than Australia. For these basic services, Australia is terribly
expensive, in comparison to Canada. Canada with its proximity to the
US has caught on to the capitalist, competitive bug so prices are
competitive.


Foodwise, Australia has the edge with natural foods, Canada is not too
bad either, but on a personal note, i just thought Australia had the
edge.


Australia recreation wise, they are a happy go lucky bunch and always
involved in exciting activities, partly because their climate allows
for it. Not that Canadians dont have fun, but we have different
activities.


In terms of banking services, banks in both Australia and Canada have
a lot of irritating charges which were absent in the banking sector in
Hong Kong. With the exception of CIBC and HSBC who keep their
services, without many of those service charges. On a financial note,
for both countries, Hong Kong still offers better investment
opportunties and more competitive rates on currency conversion.
However once you get to Canada your world income becomes taxable but
in Australia from my understanding they may not tax your global
income. Please check it out not sure about this one.


Public transport if you wont have a car initially, Sydney and
Melbourne have decent bus and train services, except on Sundays, it
would be faster to walk (just a joke here) In Canada it depends which
city you come to. I can only speak for Vancouver, which has a fairly
decent public transportation system.


With regard to shopping, Australia gets no brownie points from me.
Canada definitely rocks for product variety. However both Canada and
Australia have the dreaded GST !!!! (General Sales Tax) So you think
something costs a 100 dollars then think again add the GST !!!!!!!


In general both Canada and Australia have decent medical services, of
course thats what those high taxes pay for.


Now if you can't find all the info from the NET or from other sources
just visit Canada and Australia & see for yourself, because the worst
thing you could do is get here and then regret it. Good luck with
regard to your decision.

Hi Goldeneye:

Look at the big picture. What is the cost of living in each country? $15/hr may or may not go far. What are the tax structures? I dont see how poor customer service practice is a cause for envy (no offense). On the other hand, do you think scenarios (like which you wrote below) do not occur here anywhere in Canada?

You wrote: Anyone can drive a taxi ( in Australia)
If that is true, i'd be afraid to get into a taxi over there !

I was not aware of 'huge waiting list' to pass taxi licensing exams, however you may be right.

Weather: As someone else mentioned, BC's coast is very mild, and the unemployment rate is quite low at present.

Professionals: Depending on what you do, professions/ professional associations that are regulated seem to be constantly working on streamlining their credential assessment process to assist individuals with certification.
According to internet study: a few decades ago, (and I dont know the situation at present) professional immigrants to Australia struggled to find work, also having to look for entry level jobs to survive.

Pay rates: Pay rates are relative. What is the cost of living over there?

According to some articles floating out there, Australia appears to be very selective in immigrant recruitment.

Canada allows for more: family reunification and offers asylum for refugees etc.

Think about it. Isnt that more humanitarian in some aspects? Family reunification means being able to sponsor your parents, siblings etc. Asylum means helping people try to start a new life.

perhaps my priorities are not the same as yours. Thats fine. Im happy that Canada does have a policy about the two groups above.

Im not trying to say Australia is not a good place to live.
its all relative.

Quote:

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Orginally posted by goldeneye

you are right . A friend of ours worked in a gas station in AUstralia and used to earn $ 15 per hour. Easy work at that. Most of the time he used to call his friends , sit and have a coke and handle customers even while talking. Wow.
THere are young students who earned a whopping amount driving taxis. THere anyone can drive taxi. In canada, there is a huge waiting list to pass a difficult exam and owning a taxi is out of reach for most ( licence itself is about $100 K plus ) .

I am not saying that everything is good in Australia but consider these

1. Good Climate

2. Professionals can settle in their field relatively easily

3. Public health care ( yes , australia and new zealand does offer free health care . It is not just canada )

4. Good pay rates for entry level jobs

5. You don't hear professionals in Australia complaining that they are working as general labour in factories

6. Citizenship in 2 years

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~ Morning rain

Yeah I lived in Toronto and down in Aussie land for couple of years. My recent trip was to Sydney where I was studying.

I qualified for PR for both countries easily and to be honest with you I have and will choose Canada over Aussie anytime.

Heres my list of pros and cons of each country as I see them

Canada

Toronto is more diverse and culturally vibrant than Sydney. You want to test it out, walk down a street in bay/bloor and count how many nationalities are there. Sydney's CBD is full of blondies and yeah they might be hot but there are other colors as well.

Sydney's got more famous architecture than good ol toronto. Count Sydney harbour bridge, Sydney Opera house, Sydney Darling Harbour whereas we have got CN tower and a couple of other few.

Sydney's Weather is more like central europe. Summer temps range from mid 30s to late 30s and winters temp is around 0-10 C. You know well enough what Torontos like.

As for the Job situation, everybody and I mean everybody asks for Australian qualifications just like in Toronto. They only reason you find Desi in good enough positions is because the migrated through student migration plans in which a student who has studied for a couple of years is eligible for PR. Now if only all of us had western universites degreee. Yeah and the degree equivalance procedure is similar to that in Canada

Australian economy is booming but see what it produces, its major exports are Agricultural and Industrial goods. NOT IT . Another thing which has to be considered is the relative position of australia in the world map. Its an island which is isolated from the rest of the world. Your nearest neighbours are Indonesia, Fiji Islands and Papua New Guinea. Not well known economies. Major trading partners are Japan, China, Korea and America.

True Canadian economy is dependent on US but check this out, US, Canada and Mexico form NAFTA one of the largest FTA. Its major trading partner is US, Europe and Mexico. Your major exports are also Agriculture but you have a more diverse economy which can sustain its growth.

Check the similarites: Toronto-Sydney (largest Cities not capital), Vancouver and Melbourne (2nd largest city but different state), Ottawa - Canberra (Capital but in the largest state). Majority of new immigrant settle in take a guess, Toronto and Sydney. Both were British Colony which had surpressed the local population earlier and now they have previliges.

Another thing about Australia which I loved was the fact that I can talk to Aussies about Cricket and Football without them giving me a blank look and saying \"Cricket its similar to Baseball, right\" and \"For Christ Sake, FOOTBALL means You can't take the ball in your hand \"

Politics, Canadian Politicans are more mature and humane, we accept refugees, Australia has a very strict policy agains illegals and DONOT accept Refugees. Australia is a major supporter of US WAR on the World

Besides this, Things which had me choosing Toronto,
NYC only a few hours drive
No Discrimination in Toronto. No matter what you guys say, I was here during 9/11 and Not a single incident to report inspite of the fact that I lived with all white guys and studied at UofT.
Not that Sydney has discrimiation but the older folk have always some things to say with a pinch of salt and consider this till 1970s Australia followed All white policy like South Africa


There you have my analysis and as some one else said the grass is always greener on the other side, Stop lamenting and work on improving your situations.

Cheers

Kash

Hi All,
sorry to respond late,
One of my friend he did his MBA from Australia and moved here to Canada when I spoke him about , why he moved from there he told me that,
there s lot racism and not good as in Canada.
He told that the big cities like sydeny all are ok but bit in remote areas its hard to live .
Any suggestion since I also planned to move to Austraia from Canada though I have good Job in Pharmaceuticals as QC Analyst.
Why I planned because one of my Manager she worked in Austraia for 5 yrs .
She always liked there but? as my friend and I droped the Idea.
Thanks
Regards,
Jr.Desi

I have heard that Aus has a Contributory Parent category for sponsoring your parents which takes abt 6 months but u need 2 pay AUD 25K.

Besides better weather and more job opportunities in ur own field ........... hmmmmmmmmm........ I checked seek.com.au and monster.ca .........IT jobs are much more and better paying in Aus ........ What say veterans??

Manasvi.

PS : Given a choice how many Canadian PRs wud b willing 2 relocate 2 Australia I wonder ...........

Hello,
The bottom letter is a conversation from my cousin who was working as Manager in relaiance infocomm, mumbai at a salary of 3 lakhs per month. He is B.a. (History). He is 51 and he immigrated to Australia (melbourne) 1 months back.
This is just for your information.
TK
****************************
Hi,


Iam fine..... enjoying myself. I have been attending interviews along with
kids almost my children's age !!!! Feeling young man........ Also being
interviewed by people half my age. Sometimes they feel uncomfortable.
Enjoying the excitement of looking for a job & not getting one. Feels good
to be able to start life fresh again.

>From the 22nd Iam working for a company called Fuszion. Iam in frontline
sales. Now I have 5 offers in hand but I decided on this offer as this is
from the Telecom industry & I have scope to move up soon within the company.


Have been very lucky ever since we landed. Have got a wonderful house. A 4
bedroom house with a huge back yard, along side a track for jogging & a
mountain on the far side of the house. Its beautiful. Have gone around to
quite a few places & the place is fantastic.

My access to internet is not good, hence pl. do not feel bad if I do not
respond to your mail immediately. I get 1 hr. in a public library. I need to
hunt for a job, look for a car & respond to the job offers & interviews &
mail to my friends.... quite a task, you would agree.

Will keep in touch.

Warm Regards,

***.

Copyright : All rights reserved.

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Hi, friends and Manasvi (very informative info)...

its my first post. I am confused and messed :confused: up beween Canada and Australia. I am planning to apply within this month. Earlier I was thinking to apply for Canada through one agent...but after seeing lots of bad experiences from different people, I am a bit confused.
I am not a IT profession, last year got married. My wife is a graduate and she did diploma (Hotel management) from Thailand. During her internship she got many offers, but now none....
I have some question, if someone can help me with:
1)Can I apply for both countries.
2)How to apply online for canada (If i do not want to use any agent services)....as I am scared of time...I have heard that canada immigration can take upto 4 years... I can not wait for 4 years and Australia takes 10-12 months.

I tried to calculate my points....I can apply for both countries...

So, please enlighten me ...Hoping for positive replies....