[IWantOut] 30f Netherlands -> Canada
Hi dear friends,
I’m a 30 female, I come from Asia and for the past 5 years I live in the Netherlands. I’m about to get the permanent residence this year, and I can get a Dutch passport if I want it (but I’m not very eager about this idea).
My background: I studied economics/laws and have master degree. I’m currently working in a bank in the Netherlands as a KYC officer (anti money laundering). It is a quite tranferrable profession and has a general universal rule
Reason to leave the Netherlands: well, first the country is getting more and more expensive and crowed. 5 years ago when I just came to this country, I remembered clearly the price of a dozen of eggs is 1.99€, now the price is 3.79€.Everything is getting unaffordable anymore. Meanwhile, there are more and more people coming here, while there are fewer and fewer job opportunities. The security has also deteriorated, my friends, also myself have been harassed multiple times which rarely happened before . Second, Netherlands has a huge issue of housing so almost everyone that I know struggled or is struggling with finding a place. Third, Netherlands is not a immigration country after all, so no matter how good their marketing is about open/diversity, as a Asian I feel discriminated or neglected on weekly basis, if not on daily basis, and that makes me very uncomfortable. I knew some friends who have traveled to Canada, and according to their feedback, their diversity is much better. If I ever had a child, I would want my daughter to live in a country where she feels being accepted and lives her life like an average citizen, not a minority. And in long run, I don’t want to learn Dutch - this language has 0 attract on me and the culture of Netherlands, IMO, is far less than in France or Italy or Germany.
Things that I’m hesitated: I have a stable life and career in Netherland, my salary is not the top tier but is able to allow me have a comfortable life, I have checked the salary in Canada and is like 1/3 less than my current ones. Second, I can’t drive, which will become a huge issue in Canada (but I’ll go to the driving school for sure). The holidays are also my concern as we have 20+ holidays in Netherlands.
Plan: I’m learning French now and plan to take the TCF exam then go with the EE track according to Canada immigration policy. I have a friend who has passed TCF in January and had already been invited.
Question: I would like to know what the daily life in Canada is like, especially compared with Netherlands/Europe.
Thank you for the time, and hope you have a nice week!