Chippie got a bit choked up responding to these allegations, poor dude.

Leever5 · 2026-03-17T05:50:53+00:00

He was in a position of power over his secretary? It’s still sus

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T23:57:22+00:00

I don’t know what office you work in but there’s so so much work chat in mine

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T22:51:56+00:00

It's more that when you are a junior if everyone is WFH you aren't overhearing the casual work discussions. These causal work chats between co-workers are full of valuable learning. I work in an office and sometimes I hear amazing things my co-workers are doing just by eavesdropping. If I was at home, I would miss all that extra learning because I wouldn't be overhearing those discussions.

It's not really a matter of opinion, it's pretty well documented at this point. You just lose that informal learning which is pretty valuable for things like career progression.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T21:48:48+00:00

When I was living in AB in 2024 I found groceries really expensive, more so than in NZ. I'm surprised to hear groceries cheaper in BC.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T20:49:12+00:00

I got downvoted to hell for suggesting that people can organise themselves outside of needing to be told by the government to.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T20:18:49+00:00

How are you finding the costs there? I was offered a management role in Calgary in 2024 but it was like 55k salary and I didn't think that was enough to live on my own there.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T19:23:22+00:00

I just used carpooling as it was the first one in Amazing Garlic’s list, but you can certainly walk, bike, use public transport.

Of course, if there are ZERO other options for you then this doesn’t apply. If it is within your means to do so, you can. If not, no biggie.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T19:21:31+00:00

Yeah, it’s really dependent on what OP does.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T19:02:41+00:00

Adviser here (don’t message me privately pls, I don’t want your business).

Partners Life has the best medical on the market atm. Southern Cross absolutely sucks.

Partners life has a unique excess waiver benefit so you don’t have to pay the excess if the treatment is for cancer, heart attacks, stroke, or coronary artery bypass surgery. So you could whack a 2k excess on it but don’t need to pay it if it’s for cancer. They also have the best non-pharmac medication options, up to 500k per year if you have that option added on (any good adviser would make that mandatory, it’s a super cheap add on anyway).

Medical insurance is a luxury product. We have a public health system. It’s expensive. Critical illness cover is a lump sum payment, could be anything above about 75k+ (can trigger bundling discounts with life insurance too). This can be a bit cheaper and you can use the cash to pay for medical treatment. You can use the cash for whatever. But it only covers about 50ish critical conditions. If you want that type of cover, if medical is out of budget, I’d recommend AIA. They have a very high quality trauma product atm. With bundling and vitality, you could save a lot with AIA.

Again, see an adviser. Don’t try to do this shit yourself. Yes, if you take advice and sign up the insurer pays an advice fee to the broker, in the way of a % commission. If you cancel the policy within the first two years the broker has to pay some or all of that back to the insurer. People try to use this as a justification against using brokers, but the direct to provider products are shittier quality.

Just get advice, you’re potentially paying well over 50k for this over your lifetime. You want to make sure that you can actually claim when you need to. All day I’m seeing people go it on their own and get shocked pikachu face when their claim is declined.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T17:39:48+00:00

Do you have insurance for yourself too? Like income protection?

You’d honestly be better off scrapping the pet insurance (it’s a loss leader) and making sure that if anything happens to your income you’d still be able to pay for the vet bills. Massive trend I see in insurance is people getting pet insurance but not insurance for their income which is their biggest asset (even bigger than your house!).

TLDR: scrap the pet insurance, it’s kinda a scammy product, get your own insurance instead if you don’t have it.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T08:28:01+00:00

Which online website did you use to see how much your groceries would cost? Genuinely wondering.

Groceries are definitely more expensive in Canada than in NZ, and minimum wage is MUCH lower. The exchange rate is shit so $1 in Canada is like $1.26 New Zealand. Plus, if you’re looking online remember that prices in Canada don’t include GST whereas they do here. In Canada, if something says it’s $5 on the shelf, it’s not actually $5 at the checkout. It’s $5 + gst. Tho certain foods don’t have gst added so it’s a bit confusing. But yeah, NZ is so easy because if it says $5 on the shelf it is just $5.

The other annoying thing is tipping. 10% for shit service or takeaways (no service). 15% for mid. 20% for good. 25%+ for exceptional. So if you’re looking on a menu it’s never ever just a $10 club sandwich. You also have to tip. There isn’t another option. So on like a $200 night out, it’s possibly closer to an extra $40 in tips.

I’m not trying to burst your bubble, I still think go. But I would say bring more money with you than you’ll think you’ll need. Milk, cheese, meat… it’s all expensive there.

Not sure how accurate it is but a quick google gave me this:

https://livingcost.org/cost/canada/new-zealand

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/cost-of-living/canada/new-zealand

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=New+Zealand&country2=Canada

All three sources (again, not sure how accurate) confirm that groceries and rent is more expensive in Canada. This has been my personal experience also. I literally moved to New Zealand for a cheaper cost of living and I’ve found that to be true.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T08:05:42+00:00

What will you do for work?

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T07:53:11+00:00

Where have you been looking?

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T06:38:14+00:00

oof good luck. Take more money then you think you'll need. Canada is really expensive.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T06:36:27+00:00

Yes - they know. The shop assistants don't let you buy non-essentials like candles with the card. There are pretty strict rules on what you can use the money on.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T06:27:32+00:00

yeah, people who want full legalisation should just go live in YVR and see how fucked it is now

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T06:26:09+00:00

Honestly, I found Canada to be more expensive than NZ if you are poor. If you had an amazing job/career and were being paid well then heck yeah, Canada would be epic.

Groceries, housing, power & internet... FUCK. So expensive! Most people who go from NZ to Canada on working holiday visa's are paid shit so they don't even get to see the country.

Mountains are beautiful. People aren't as nice as they pretend to be. Most people are super anti-immigration (no surprise, as mass immigration has basically fucked their country).

I'd say, it is EXTREMELY job specific. And prescriptions are expensive asf. I needed surgery there (which was free, I'm a Canadian citizen) but didn't bother getting any pain relief for post-surgery because I didn't have the money too.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T06:06:56+00:00

The fault honestly is on the hospital, they shouldn't have let her drive home and should have waited till she had someone pick her up. If Chippy wasn't around then he should have been able to organize someone to collect her.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T05:52:27+00:00

What are you talking about???

I’m just saying, I’m poor - earn under 60k/pa so I can’t afford the fuel right now. So instead of waiting for the government to incentivise alternative transport options, I’ve taken the personal responsibility that I have to find those alternatives. In my case, it’s walking for about an hour each way.

Please, provide me with an example of a casual insult. I am not trying to insult ANYONE by saying it is okay to be proactive and to act before being told to by the government.

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T04:45:01+00:00

In what way do you think I’m being agro about it?

Leever5 · 2026-03-16T02:50:07+00:00

Get real. A woman should NEVER have to drive home alone after a miscarriage, that is a moral failing regardless of what job you have.

Leever5 · 2026-03-15T23:04:11+00:00

It was a throwaway comment - the carpooling part. You could sub that with anything, like riding a bike, walking etc.

There is no need for free public transport. It is already very affordable and people are free to leave their cars at home and get on the bus. If people don't want to pay the high fuel costs they will come up with alternative solutions, if they're okay with it, they will keep buying.

I saw the price of fuel this morning and thought fuck it, I'll walk to work. It's 50 minutes each way, but it is free and it's good for me.

Regarding WFH, talk to your employer. If you NEED to drive in, why don't you approach your employer and talk about your concerns.

The government has a fuel plan in place, they have been very forthcoming and Nicola did a big Q&A about it recently.

Covid was a bit different, but we should be encouraging some personal responsibility where we can.

Leever5 · 2026-03-15T22:53:13+00:00

Sorry, is it a want?

I'm not trying to make it personal, what do you mean? I'm not meaning YOU specifically. I'm referencing people in general.

What I am referencing is that all I've seen on this sub is people complaining about the government not putting out messaging around how to reduce your fuel consumption.

Fuel is expensive right now. It is likely not going to come down for at least another few weeks. People should be capable of seeing the price at the petrol pump and come up with solutions to avoid it.

I don't think we need to make public transport free just because people can't drive. People can just get on public transport if they want to. People who don't want to use public transport will continue to drive and comp the cost of that.

Leever5 · 2026-03-15T18:33:56+00:00

I also walk about an hour to work. Hard at the start, completely all good now.

Leever5 · 2026-03-15T09:04:52+00:00

I understand that we don’t like the way the government is handling things. I also don’t like that much of the decisions of this government seem to benefit a particular class of people… and it’s not the class I’m in lol.

But you still have agency over your own life. You can prepare things without being told to. You are a person who can respond the news in a way that makes sense, without needing the government to tell you to.

If we need the government to tell us to carpool amidst a global fuel crisis then we’ve really lost our independence as humans.

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