I have been watching a few videos of people who returned to (mostly) India after staying in Canada as PR for some time. Also watched a couple of videos of people who went to Dubai.
Pretty much all of them had mostly good things to say about Canada:
- great summer weather
- everyone is punctual, nice
- law and order is good
- no corruption. School admission no hassle, etc.
Then, when they delve into why they left, it is usually:
- feeling lonely
- need a car, distances are vast
- no food options when you go outside (I mean one lady complained of salad as only veg option in a "Canadian" restaurant)
- drugs (weed) legal for everyone, effect on kids
But the most common reasons seem to be:
- you need to do everything yourself (no "jugad"), such as plumbing, assembling furniture
- fear of not getting proper healthcare
- rising costs
I feel many people today, especially Indian families, are not prepared to do the initial struggle that immigrants used to (and still) do in Canada. Whoever you are, from wherever you are, you will HAVE to struggle in Canada for the first 2-3 years. Your education and experience are not recognized, you will not have a car and need to take public transit, and you won't have a good job. Kids will be in school, extra curricular activities are expensive and so on.
This is also the worst time to immigrate to Canada. Things in India, for example, for upper class Hindu families are generally good. Why WOULD you immigrate to Canada if you are well settled in India with a good job? Canada is also going though one of the worst and most incompetent governments in their history. The federal deficit has given fuel to inflation (already a worldwide problem) making it worse in Canada. Lots of people have been brought into the country on dubious student visas, leading to severe housing problem in the country.
Previously immigrants struggled because the payout was great - citizenship that is amongst the most powerful in the world, and living standard that is one of the highest in the world. Those things are still true, but there are enormous challenges such as declining standard of healthcare, declining quality of education in high schools. Previously governments used to give tax credits for kids extra curricular activities - those are gone now under current government, who is funding their own expensive programs. But these are temporary challenges.
The truth remains that Canada is still a great place to live - but perhaps this is not the right moment to immigrate for many people who are well settled in their home countries. Also, if you are not prepared to struggle, or you want to be lazy, don't come here. As simple as that.
