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UK or Canada Which is Better For Immigration? – Opportunity Desk

admin August 14, 2023

UK or Canada Which is Better For Immigration? Both countries have their advantages and disadvantages. The UK definitely is a more established country with a written history dating back to 1000 AD and probably even before that. Canada maybe has about 400 to 500 years of written history.

A lot of science was developed in the UK and there are many Britons to thank for their exemplary innovations and findings. Fast forward to 2017: Canada has a lot of land, therefore a higher capacity to hold people. The geographic area can easily support 100 million to 150 million people. UK doesn’t have a lot of land. Welcoming, open but not very diverse though. The UK, diverse but not welcoming

The UK, due it’s smaller size has better public transportation, but Canada’s public transportation is terrible. Many cities in Canada suffer from a lack of economies of scale and huge diseconomies of scale: Greater Toronto Area has a terrible public transport system and so does Charlottetown, PEI. Medium-sized (in terms of area) cities like Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver have decent transportation systems.

Driving in the UK is awful especially in inner-city areas because the cities are old and therefore, much more difficult to tear down the cities and build highways. The ring roads in London seem pointless as you can drive 60 to 100 KM to go from west to east of London and vice versa. Canada is a mixed bag, Toronto has a good highway system and so does Ottawa. Montreal has good but decaying highways. In addition, the weather has a huge effect on the roads and they do take a beating in winter (imagine, the freeze-thaw effect, plus salt, plus snow, plus big heavy cars, plus car-centric transportation).

Food: UK beats it by miles and miles and miles. Food tastes so good in the UK its unbelievable and there are tons and tons of choices in the UK. Portions in Canada are bigger but the food tastes bad in general and is very very industrial. Groceries in UK have tons of varieties while groceries in Canada in general are bad and lacking and very very sad! Basically, Canada gets the rejected food. Restaurants in UK are also better in general.

Taxes: This can get complicated. On the surface, Canada has higher income taxes while UK is lower. Sales tax is lower in Canada while in UK its sky-high (and its VAT, which is a bit different from GST and a bit more punishing for business). Corporate taxes are now lower in UK than in Canada. I can’t comment on duties, etc but Canada does have high duties (20% is normal for many items in Canada).

Prices: I have noticed that prices are almost the same for basic necessities. Food is slightly expensive in the UK but its dynamite quality. Clothes are cheaper in the UK. Overall, there isn’t much of a difference.

Income and then disposable income: Incomes are much higher in Canada compared to the UK on average and the economy is quite diversified (much to my surprise) compared to the UK. Engineering is booming in Canada and the high-tech industry is growing exponentially in Canada. Finance/Banking/Stock Exchange is probably not as amazing as in the UK as there are only 6 or 7 major banks in Canada and they are all homegrown but that also kept Canada safe from the 2008 recession compared to UK and US. The UK on average has a lower salary compared to Canada and therefore disposable income is lower than in Canada.

Property: Prices are much cheaper in Canada overall compared to the UK plus houses are bigger but a lot of it is just wood and at times, the work in these houses can be very shoddy.

Education: I cannot comment much since I did not study in the UK but I think that the education system is a bit better overall in Canada compared to the UK. The UK seems to be very theoretical-based and not very practical while high school in Canada is applied knowledge (they have courses in high school which is only about cars!). UK has the Top-Ranking Universities but Canadian universities are not far off. Even though UWaterloo in Canada is not the top 10 university in the world but it produces one of the best software engineers in the whole world!

Diversity: UK beats Canada by miles. UK colonized 25% of the world and when they left those countries, people followed. Canada was a colony of the UK and the head of state is still the queen.

Geographic location: UK, more central to the world compared to Canada. Easy to go to EU and Middle East and Africa and America as well. Canada borders one country and these days, things are pretty wonky down there so UK is great to travel from for tourism while Canada is insulated from that because well, how many refugees are going to come from America? There are issues in Central America but there is a massive buffer between Canada and Central America and the US is quite heavy-handed when it comes to refugees in general.

Landscape: Canada beats UK by miles. Why? The Rockies in Alberta and BC, Prairies in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the Canadian Shield in Central Canada, the Appalachian Mountains in some parts of Quebec, New Brunswick and then the Atlantic provinces. Its all different and it’s all very very beautiful. The weather sucks big time in Canada it sucks in the UK too.

Progressive: Canada is quite progressive, maybe more than the UK, people are very educated. Nutjobs are everywhere but I feel like the UK has a tad bit more. There are a few things where the UK beats Canada, especially with respect to health and the coverage provided by NHS compared to the provincial health system.

Welfare State: the UK is a bit better. It beats Canada as the NHS covers more things, drugs are covered in UK and there isn’t a lot of private health care in the UK. Pensions are better in UK and the welfare system is better in the UK.

Social interaction: Depends on what you like. UK is probably a better place for immigrants because they are spread everywhere around in the UK but in Canada, they are seen in 4 or 5 major cities and that’s about it.

So overall, it depends what you want, I think both countries have their advantages and disadvantages and it all depends on what you want. If you don’t care about money or you are in a profession of high demand and you want that community feeling and bond (hanging around with your friends and doing things within your religion, or ethnicity, just talking to your friends), and mixing with all cultures, widening your horizons then the UK is much much better place. If you want to make money, attain things in your life, succeed and have the ability to climb up the ladder (house, car, savings, a better living standard, materialistic things with a decent safety net), then Canada is better.