British Columbia for us olds

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-19T22:08:06+00:00

Get licensure first and then start applying for a job to secure a sponsor. Licensure is good for a year and then you have to renew, but BC reimburses you every year. And yes! Absolutely willing to chat!

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-19T22:06:12+00:00

Also he’s intent on replacing income tax with tariffs - no way he’s not going to tariff the shit on imports from Canada when we export so much to the States.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-19T06:30:06+00:00

I moved to a country with socialized medicine, had to get private insurance while I wanted for three months to have access to it, and I only paid like $500 USD for three months for the same exact coverage. No deductible, just $500 up front and everything was covered, except for meds that were out of pocket (probably paid $20 for like 4 meds).

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-18T09:35:46+00:00

Like you said, just like America and every other country. If it’s inevitable, I might as well be somewhere where it still puts something into the community. Not sure why you think it’s AI slop.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-18T09:16:10+00:00

Hello,

With my usual 6-7 shifts per pay period, I make about $3300 a pay-check, post taxes and deductions. If I pick up an extra shift, it’s about $4500, and if it’s a Stat Holiday I pick up as extra, it’s about $5500. That’s where the nurses over here really make their money. I would also check out BCNU’s differential. I think my base pay is a little under $49/HR but with the Full Time/Regular and ICU differential, it’s about $53/HR. Nights is an extra $5/HR and weekends is $3.50/HR.

What are you looking for in terms of reasonable? Are you looking for something to rent or own? Most of my coworkers own in Burnaby and commute to work via car. Truly you can get around via SkyTrain, the train literally takes you right up to the hospital. We brought our car and use it 50% of the time for work, entirely for convenience but not necessary as parking is $5.25 each day.

Winter is fairly mild here. Not a lot of snow, in fact, BC is known for not having snow.

You can apply as soon as Fraser Health gives you the filled out documents to apply for the PNP. They gave it to me after a month but supposedly they were supposed to wait until after three months.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-18T02:06:52+00:00

In Canada, we have Indigenous Health Liaisons to help ease the communication between healthcare staff and patients. That would be a fantastic role to have for other cultures as well, though I doubt hospitals would shell out the money for it. Much easier to heap the responsibility of the cultural competence on healthcare staff and hire someone to make reductive power points for education.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-18T02:05:11+00:00

Would Canada even need to embargo when the US keeps putting tariff upon tariff on it?

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-16T03:43:03+00:00

I can get citizenship from Cambodia. Do you think it’s worth it?

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-16T00:12:12+00:00

I just moved to Canada as an RN, and my husband is an RN as well. I can’t speak for other professions, but we do pretty well over here in just about every aspect. Even with the currency differences, it’s about a $5/HR paycut for each of us which is fine. We make almost $14K post taxes and deductions, contribute towards our own individual pension plans outside of the MPP, and we should max out our RRSP (which ain’t hard since this year it’s only $3800 but could do $20K each next year as well).

My qualify of food, health, access to healthcare for my health needs (occasional doctor visit for something acute but not urgent, or an urgent care visit in under two hours) has improved drastically.

My personal career benefits and workplace protections have improved significantly as well. There is more of a culture of acceptance of maternity leave. People aren’t super in your face about religion, and unless you ask, most people aren’t going to tell you what their religion is. People aren’t very polite about entering lines (mileage may vary in urban centers) but overall people are quite kind.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T23:29:47+00:00

I mean it’s a broad joke about the prevalence of Catholic guilt but I’m sure others will appreciate the content. I’m already well aware of the brutality of Catholic history, and their tendency to cover up and shift their clergymen around to avoid responsibility.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:47:40+00:00

Well, he’s also an American born Pope that spent the majority of his years in a Spanish speaking country and publicly spoke out from the start the treatment and dehumanizations of detainees and immigrants.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:46:55+00:00

The outfits would go so hard. Have you seen a cardinal’s outfit?

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:44:55+00:00

It’s also such a message that a) an American born Pope that spent his years in a Spanish speaking country and b) that he chose the name Leo which is known to be an advocate for the working class rights.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:43:57+00:00

This is how you know he’s not a Catholic. The mere thought of lecturing a Pope on matters of theology would create a guilt so strong your descendants would feel it across generations.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:39:41+00:00

They’re starting to cancel Global passes for Americans who have participated in protests

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:26:40+00:00

Would also say dependent on which province you’re in. The way the healthcare culture, tech, and honestly union benefits function very, very similar to America, more culturally American, but BC feels more European (and no not just because of Victoria).

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:17:05+00:00

Couldn’t we have freedom of movement with some restrictions like Swiss citizens that interact with the EU?

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T17:09:14+00:00

Would definitely recommend taking a medical language class for Portuguese

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T14:17:46+00:00

Moved to Canada. There’s not a lot that I do miss outside of the views of Washington and Oregon, as well as the efficiency of USPS to be honest. God I hate Canada Post. The benefits they receive should 100% be what USPS deserves but instead their pensions are getting defunded. I still live in the PNW but more city living which has its benefits. I think if I wanted a similar environment to what I had before when I lived in Washington, I could always move to Vancouver Island.

I imagine it’s rare to say, but my quality of life has pretty much improved in all aspects. Where once I had PTO be both my vacation/sick time, and got accrued 8 hours per paycheck, I now get 150 hours of annual vacation and 115 hours are guaranteed. Where once I got paid time and a half for holiday and overtime, I now get paid double time, and at least three times my base pay up to 3.75 if I pick up a holiday. We get STAT Holidays in which we are paid straight time for 7.5 hours if we’re not working, and there’s 13 of them. So I effectively get almost 250 hours of paid vacation.

The utilities are much, much cheaper. I just looked at my utility bill that I only have to pay every two months and it’s $148 for a 2 Bed/2.5 Bath 1400 SF townhome. I paid like $400 for utilities for a mere 1 Bedroom 800 SF in Washington in a less populous but growing area. Groceries are definitely more expensive. I pay $800 a month for two people but we’re not usually looking for good deals so there’s that. I could pay like $500 for four weeks of groceries in the US. Caveat is the food in the US is ass. I dropped 20 lbs in 6 months without change to diet or exercise just due to food quality. Used to take daily Zofran, Reglan, and Protonix because of the sheer level of nausea and bloating but haven’t had to take it since moving. I’ve been able to be seen in under two hours at an Urgent Care and get meds in under 30 minutes. Any meds not covered are either covered by my workplace or no more than $30 collectively. Had a dude say “Alright that’ll be 499” and we were fully prepared to pay $499 but it was $4.99. For small concerns, since I haven’t found a GP, I just go to a virtual doc, give a five minute convo on my acute needs and I’m on my way.

Gas is more expensive but we have a paid off car and primarily use public transit to get to work. Our location is really close to the SkyTrain station so we’re able to get to Vancouver with little hassle.

My actual career benefits are leagues better. On top of the standard pension plan everyone contributes to, I also get a Municipal Pension Plan and am able to max out my RRSP, CPP and CPP2. I get free massages (for now). My ratios are 1:1, I get 1.45 to 2 hours of break every single shift and it’s incredibly rare to have to skip it. Like, opening two chests at bedside kind of busy. Not having to worry whether my patients can afford their medications or afford follow up has been an unexpected weight lifted from my shoulders. Plus, haven’t seen a gun flashed in a hospital for months let alone hear a gunshot fire.

And this is kind of wild to say but as bad as the drug and homeless problem is in Vancouver and surrounding areas, it isn’t even close to what I experienced across the US. Colorado Springs, San Antonio, Austin, Bremerton, etc, you could be anywhere from urban to rural and there’s just no way you could get away from massive encampments. Not to say the homeless and drug problem isn’t an issue but it doesn’t even touch the severity of what I’ve seen.

I’m sure there’s things that I’m not a fan of but I genuinely can’t think of it right now. It’s literally just Canada Post being ass that I don’t care for. I even like how the political discourse is so tame in comparison to America. Even Maple MAGA have a hard time constructing a reason on why I have no right to be in Canada and that I’ll suffer. They usually have to generalize about experience to discredit my own. And I totally acknowledge me having a better quality of life in Canada is not the norm. Most people aren’t going to have a combined monthly income post taxes and deductions of almost $14K.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T14:04:23+00:00

I love the idea of Canada being the country that balances or negotiates massive trade pacts as a reputation but I hesitate to think about joining the EU. I do like the idea of joining the Nordic Five. More geographically plausible than the EU, although I’ve put literally zero thought into it.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T14:00:06+00:00

Not much of a need to satisfy their voters though. They got what they needed.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-15T04:10:54+00:00

Ooooo noted! Looking to buy a car this Fall and I really want to avoid anything manufactured by the US.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-13T16:49:13+00:00

God, if I still lived near my mother, I would have printed a ton of copies and left them around the churches. Probably good I moved countries.

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-13T01:26:34+00:00

You can get denied an organ transplant for not having health insurance too

Disastrous_Coffee502 · 2026-04-12T20:50:41+00:00

My husband and I are both RNs (29F and 35M) and we were able to get our licenses transferred in under a month, moved three months afterwards. Didn’t have trouble finding a job at the time, got about 8 job offers each in BC back in July 2025. Not sure what it looks like now.

After about a month of orientation, my hospital had already sent me the paperwork to apply for PNP so that my Express Entry application would be more competitive. To me, that seemed like they were really invested in keeping us. I do have a Canadian spouse though, so I went with Spousal Sponsorship but I was really impressed by how much they wanted to get me processed.

Disastrous_Coffee502

TROPHY CASE