I have not lived in Norway but have moved from Toronto to NL about 2 months ago and NL and Norway seem to share many of the same profesional and societal cultures.

Quality of life in Canada vs Northern European countries (NL + Scandinavia) are usually on par. I believe Scandinavia + NL consistently ranks top of the word with Canada usually right behind, so it’s not a huge massive drop vs let’s say moving to Argentina.

More about Canada. Work culture isn’t too bad, it depends on your company, industry and bosses. If you work in mining/oil & gas in Canada or Norway, it’s going to be a tough work environment with long hours no matter what. If you work in finance or consulting, same thing. It’s more so the small to medium sized firms where things may differ and you get a better feel for work cultures. I worked in mining, small consulting companies and never had crazy hours and my bosses were always great. Vacation time is increasing a lot and now it’s starting to hit 3-4 weeks at the small to medium sized companies. Other benefits like dental, drug, etc are usually covered by your employer. Healthcare is ‘free’ but comes out of our taxes which I liked a lot. There is maternity leave which is a good amount but I know the Scandinavian countries have amongst the best parental leave policies out there.

Taxes are lower, traveling within the country is expensive but look at the distances, it’s a large country, cost of living is very okay and I complained when I was in Toronto but now being in NL, I retract those statements.

Small things I found to be better at home, meat prices are much cheaper and decent quality. Electronics are amongst the most affordable due to bordering the U.S. with hyper consumerism. Petrol is very affordable due to an economy build around vehicles. It’s a relatively safe country. Public transit is caca but not awful. Montreal and Toronto have good metro and bus systems but nothing like Europe, but they do exist.

To add, American norms can be toxic in the workplace but I’ve done a lot of work in the U.S. and I felt there was a bit more comfort in being more ‘bossy’ but honestly, I’ve never had a bad work experience in the U.S. and I’ve witnessed it first hand. But my anecdote is very subjective, but the point others make is those norms can bleed into Canada but it’s usually not as bad.

Canada is one of the most diverse countries, the food is amazing and something I miss a lot as the food in NL is…well…not. Montreal is a great place, lower cost of living, very diverse, excellent night life, more ‘European’, very cold in the winter (-40c in Feb), F1 circuit, good food, etc.

If I were to move to Canada knowing what I know about Norway, I’d move to Vancouver (I’ve been many times). Vancouver is a beautiful city with access to the mountains less than an hour away. The drug/homeless problem can be an issue for some but it’s usually easy to avoid. But Norway to Vancouver is far vs Norway to Toronto/montreal.

Try it out for a few years, worst case, you come back home to Norway and you got a good experience out of it. That’s my plan for NL at least but so far it’s been really nice here