i dont like all these asian immigrants bringing their asian cultures to vancouver and retaining their third world views and behaviours

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Ronglimeng,

I don’t think so. Anonymous is a typical evil white dude. They are everywhere in Vancouver, but they don’t dare to show their true colors in public.

They hate us but they also want our foreign currencies.
(i.e. first, they’d gladly take our money and then curse at us with their racial hate and malice. It is who they are.)

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http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/consultations/index.asp

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Canadians living paycheque to paycheque

Most Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque and would be in financial difficulty if their pay was even one week late, a new survey suggests.

A poll commissioned by the Canadian Payroll Association released Thursday found that 57 per cent of respondents couldn’t deal with a one-week delay in their pay. The figure jumped to 63 per cent among workers between 18 and 34 years old. For single parents, it jumped to 74 per cent.

Financial planners recommend having an emergency fund with enough money to fund three months’ worth of expenses, should the need arise.

Poll methodology
The poll consisted of 2,070 employees who responded to an online survey open using a convenience sampling methodology.

The survey is consistent with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 per cent 19 times out 20, but as a non-probabilistic methodology was used a definitive margin of error cannot be expressed.

Almost three quarters of respondents said they have saved less than a quarter of their retirement savings goal.

“This is particularly troubling when you realize that 71 per cent of the respondents are over the age of 35, with the bulk in their main saving years between 35 and 54,” CPA chair Dianne Winsor said.

As a result, 40 per cent of respondents said they will likely now retire later than they had originally planned. In 40 per cent of those cases, the main reason cited was not saving enough for retirement.

While 60 per cent of respondents said they were trying to be better savers, a full 40 per cent said they were not trying to save any more.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/09/08/paycheque-savings-survey.html

Spotted: Living cheque to cheque
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2011/09/spotted-living-cheque-to-cheque.html

CBCNews.ca commenters were quick to weigh in on the survey results. Most of our readers agreed with the findings, lamenting at the increase in living cost that hasn’t been matched by an increase in wages.

“Let’s see – just since last year alone gas is up 35 per cent, hydro is up 50 per cent, HST has put taxes up, and food has almost doubled. Everything has gone up but wages. Honestly, it’s a good thing that as many as 60 per cent can still afford to live on their paycheque.” – DanceSmartly
“I work at two jobs just to pay rent that keeps going up, I only have the basic plan for phone and internet. Food, gas and clothes, keep going up. The tax off my pay cheques keep going up, but the salary is not.” – Emilie27
“I haven’t had a raise in three years, but yet everything is going up. Everything. We don’t live a luxurious life, just the basics, but we do put money away for RESP. No RRSP, just life insurance.” – Taxed2DeathinNS

Several Canadians offered a look at their monthly expenses, hoping to challenge the notion that “save more, spend less” is the simple solution to clearing debt.

“I’m getting a little tired of all of this ‘buy less’ crap. I am married and have three kids. I feed them, house them, save for their education, clothe them. I also have to drive a car (another for my wife) which means gas, insurance, repairs. I have to insure the house as well as ensure there’s heat, water and electricity. I have to insure myself and my wife in case something happens to either of us to make sure everyone is looked after. And then there’s all the incidentals on top of that including phone, TV, internet, etc. The price for every one of those things keeps going up. So, money left over for an emergency fund? Good luck!” – gah123
“Every dollar that I make is spoken for but our lifestyle is not excessive by any means. I make an average wage and have worked a second job for more than 10 years. Slowly but surely we are slipping farther and farther behind. Bills get paid later and later. Major but important expenses get put off longer and longer. Our position is not due to irresponsibility or laziness, but due to wages not keeping pace with the cost of living. I am still thankful for what we have and I do not consider us poor, but anyone who claims that we do not save because we waste our money just has no clue.” – Losing it
“We’re supposed to have ‘three to four months worth of expenses’ saved up? Let’s see, let’s combine the mortage, the child support, the bills, the car payment, the grocery money and the gas (note there’s nothing here for discretionary spending) – that’s $10,000 to $13,000. If I had that kind of cash kicking around, I’d consider myself rich.” – grammargeek
Finally, one commenter laid bare her position and wondered how anyone can be surprised Canadians are struggling with their finances.

“I am a cashier. I take home $2,100 a month. It’s a good wage for a cashier. My rent is $850. My utilities are around $250. I put away $200 a month for car insurance, renters insurance, (my car is 12 years old.) Now I have $750-$800 left to pay groceries, medications and raise two teenage boys. School supplies, jeans, socks, shirts, … all eat into the little bit left over. I do not drink, smoke or party, and the boys would love to have a dog, but dog food and vets would put pressure on the available cash. Maybe some of you self-righteous back patters can tell me where to ’stop spending and save’?

I am sure I am not the only working Canadian in this leaky canoe. If the rent goes up, I am screwed. If someone gets really sick, I am screwed. If I get laid off I am really screwed. I worry constantly. Of course Canadians are living hand to mouth.” – JuneJackson

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Crap Canada, what does it offer to immigrants?

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Americans going to Canada to find work

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/americans-going-canada-find-work-1079917/

Americans going to Canada to find work
By John Ferri, GlobalPost
Usually, you hear stories of people fleeing to America, not the other way around.
But the jittery state of the U.S. economy is driving an increasing number of its citizens to seek better prospects north of the border.
Americans are the latest economic refugees, and they’re heading to Canada.
As he prepares to campaign for re-election, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a speech Thursday night that calls for immediate stimulus spending to create jobs and improve infrastructure.
But those reforms will be difficult to make. Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have resisted any efforts to boost the economy through additional spending.
As life in the U.S. worsens, prospects in Canada seem all the brighter.
Canadian officials say the number of Americans applying for temporary work visas doubled between 2008 and 2010.
Read: Pension debate heats up.
Immigration lawyers in Toronto and the border city of Windsor, right across from job-starved Detroit, say they’re seeing a dramatic growth in clients seeking to come to Canada to work, or even as permanent residents.
So, is this a reversal of fortunes on an historic scale? Has Canada become “el Norte”?
Well, not quite. The number of U.S. citizens working in Canada is, at least by global migration standards, relatively small with some 30,000 at the beginning of last year.
Still, Americans make up the second-largest group of temporary workers in Canada, behind only Filipinos, most of whom work as nannies.
Canada was one of the few to escape the 2008 financial meltdown relatively unscathed, a turn of events largely attributed to Ottawa’s long-standing refusal to deregulate the banking sector.
“I’m looking for a quiet, calm, sane, civilized society to start the next phase of my life,” said Michael, an out-of-work, white-collar professional from Michigan who is seeking a temporary visa to come to Canada.
Like several others interviewed for this article, he did not want his full name used for fear of drawing unwanted scrutiny to his application.
Though he describes himself as both patriotic and a conservative, Michael says he’s lost faith in U.S. leadership — “on both sides of the aisle” — for failing to stem the excesses that led to the collapse of Wall Street, and for the current political brinkmanship over the debt ceiling.
“I’m looking for a country where the first role of the government is to protect its citizens,” he said. “It looks to me like all [of Canada’s] three major political parties seem to have proven that they are much more responsible than our leadership.”
Workers like Michael are drawn to Canada’s lower unemployment rate — 7 percent in July compared to 9.1 in the U.S. — and sustained economic strength in major centers such as Toronto, which alone attracts an estimated 100,000 new arrivals a year.
Read: Canada – naked in the streets.
These include not only people with temporary work visas, or those seeking permanent residency, but also increasing numbers of university students, drawn by highly-ranked Canadian schools where tuition, even at 3 or 4 times the rates for Canadians, is still a fraction of what it costs to attend many colleges in the U.S.
John Cameron’s mother lost her senior position at a bank branch in Maine in 2009 at the same time he was trying to finalize his choices for his freshman year in college.
He had his eye on American universities such as Loyola, University of Maryland, Columbia and Fordham.
His father, thinking about the finances, suggested the University of Toronto. Cameron was reluctant, but now he’s a Canadian convert.
”I really love it,” he said. “[It’s] hands-down one of the best schools in North America.”
Toronto has also become home to a couple in their mid-30s from New York City who both lost their full-time jobs in Manhattan in the wake of the 2008 crash. They now live in Canada on temporary visas.
“It’s important for us to live in a place with a lot of diversity and a good cultural sector,” said the woman, who asked that their names be withheld to avoid compromising their residency status in Canada. She says she was surprised at how quickly and efficiently they were able to qualify for Ontario health care.
Some Canadians who had considered America their adopted home are going back.
Al Brickman recently gave up on the United States after 30 years of running a Canadian-owned construction-supply business in Atlanta, Ga.
“I really did hold out for about two years,” he said, but business had bottomed-out in the economy. Brickman said that his billings, once around $100,000, had dropped on some months by as much as 95 percent.
Brickman moved home to Toronto to work at his company there, where he has a steady job as a general manager. His American wife and their 11-week-old baby, are now trying to emigrate to join him.
Since he got back, Brickman said he’s been fielding calls from American friends hoping he can get them a job up north, too.
Shawn Shepard, a legal software supervisor who was among hundreds laid off by his Manhattan law firm in 2008, is hoping a Canadian employer will sponsor him.
Read: Canada – quiet deadly export.
Shepard, who lives in Jersey City, N.J., is a regular visitor to Canada, with friends in Montreal and Toronto. With 20 years of experience, and, he admitted, “the arrogance of being a U.S. citizen,” he figured it would be a snap.
But now, he’s found himself in the classic migrant dilemma: “In order to get a work visa, you need a job offer. In order to get a job offer, you need a work visa.” And even if he were to interest a prospective employer, a visa would only be issued if the employer can show that no Canadian was qualified for the job.
“The economy up there is doing very well, despite the global slump,” Shepard wistfully told this reporter, a gainfully employed Canadian. “Your politicians didn’t put you in the same mess that ours did.”

500 comments over there

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Uncle Sam will likely show some leniency for U.S. citizens living in Canada who were not aware they were supposed to file returns south of the border, Washington’s ambassador to Canada said Tuesday.

“My message on this one is to sit tight. We are not unreasonable. We are not unsympathetic. We are not irresponsible,” David Jacobson said during a speech to the Canadian Club in Ottawa.

The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that requires citizens to file their worldwide income in the United States regardless of where they live or where they earn their livings.

The rule applies to American citizens living in any other country.

David Jacobson, U.S. ambassador to Canada, says Washington will likely show some leniency for Americans living in Canada who were not aware they were supposed to file returns. Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press
“There are two particular problems with the operation of these rules here in Canada,” he said.

“First, there are so many dual citizens, typically by birth, probably more than a million. So this issue is much more common here than in any other country in the world. Second, the penalties — at least in a theoretical sense — can be quite severe.”

Most dual and U.S. citizens do not end up having to pay any tax, as the U.S. grants credits for taxes paid in a foreign country, and rates in Canada are typically higher than those in the United States.

However, U.S. citizens still have to file a return even if they don’t owe tax.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the majority of Canadians affected by the rule have dutifully paid their Canadian taxes and their only transgression has been in failing to file IRS paperwork they were unaware they were required to file.

“We called on the U.S. government to look upon these individuals with leniency, and we are encouraged they appear to be moving in that direction,” Flaherty said.

The ambassador said Canada is not the main concern, but Americans living in countries considered tax havens, places with little or no income tax like the Cayman Islands. Americans living there will likely owe taxes to the U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made it clear combating tax evasion is one of his priorities as the indebted country seeks ways to shore up revenue.

“Given our budgetary problems, the United States wants to make sure we are paid all the taxes we are owed. American citizens shouldn’t be able to avoid their tax obligations by establishing a residence in a tax haven,” Jacobson said.

He used the example of a 70-year-old “grandma” born in the U.S., but moved back to Canada as a young child, never earned any money in the U.S. and dutifully paid all of her taxes in Canada.

“She didn’t file a U.S. return because she didn’t think she had to. And because she didn’t owe any U.S. taxes. Nonetheless, Grandma could be theoretically subject to serious penalties. To my knowledge we have never gone after a Grandma in those circumstances.”

Jacobson said he became concerned about the issue after seeing media coverage and hearing that people are worried the U.S. Internal Revenue Service will come after them.

He and the Commissioner of the IRS decided to work to see if they can accommodate people like the grandmother and those in similar scenarios in Canada.

“But we have to figure out a way to do it without letting the person who is trying to evade taxes in the Cayman Islands off the hook.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/18/taxes-us-citizens-canada.html

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On the other hand, immigrants have to be non-resident in order to not pay taxes to Canada even when they go back to their own country of origin?

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