Got it, thanks. I just go by the generic name.
I used to, until I was informed that “Red Vines” are not at all like, and in fact are considered by many to be far superior to, the red licorice that is known as Twizzlers. Not being a conoisseur of red licorice by any name, I wasn’t about to contest this assertion–but I did learn to specify certain candy by brand name. Believe me, you don’t want to get into the differences between Smarties and M&Ms. 
Smarties are better than M&Ms.
Yes, yes. Smarties kick both M and M’s booty. Smarites are the REAL reason I moved the Canada.
There are a few terms floating in this thread, some outdated, I thought I’d clear up. These are the terms commonly used by Immigration Canada.
These are also in order of what you’d need to get.
Work Permit (AKA; Work Visa) - Commonly issued one year at a time, I’ve heard some are two year or more depending on the situation. This is a half sheet of paper they staple into your passport. It says what you are allowed and not allowed to do. Mine said I could work in any field but medical or teaching. It also said I could not attend college or university. My daughter, who is under 18, had a Study Permit. It looked the same as my Work Permit but said she could attend school but could not work. Work visa’s also have an ominous tone as their last entry “Must leave Canada by X date”. Really that just means leave or renew the visa by that date.
We were given three years worth of work visas but we had to renew every year simply because my wife is in the medical profession and her Work Permit required a yearly medical.
You need the work visa before you can pack your boxes** and cross the border.
Commonly, you get the visa AFTER you get a job in Canada.
The work visa allows you to work, get a temporary Social Insurance Number (called a SIN - much like the US Social Security Number) and get a Care Card. I guess they figure if you get a SIN you are paying taxes and taxes help pay for medical therefore you get a Care Card. The temporary SIN card expires each year. If you get a permanent SIN card all tax information is transfered over to your permanent SIN account.
The work visa itself costs about $150 per year.
Right of Permanent Residence (AKA: Permanent Residence) - This used to be called Landed Immigrant, but I think that type of status expired about 10 years ago. Some people still use the term but Landed Immigrant was a much different thing. My aunt was a Landed Immigrant in the 60’s. She and her Canadian husband drove a truck from the US to Canada and she said at the border “I want to live here now”. They gave her Landed Immigrant status and that was that.
Permanent Residence is much harder to get and involves the whole point system/skilled worker thing.
Permanent Residence is like being a Canadian citizen but you can not vote and I think a few other things like hold public office or join the military. I’m not sure on those though. This status does not expire but you do need to renew your card from time to time (they’re cool cards too). The only real requirement with Permanent Residence is you are supposed to stay in country for something like 2 our of every 5 years.
I’m also not sure if Canada can decide to up and take this status away at will. They can issue a Removal Order but I don’t think they can without cause (like if you go on a killing spree or bomb Parliament). Someone more willing than I can look it up.
This costs about $500 for the “Right of Permanent Residence” and $50 for the card - but there is a LOT more involved. There were a bunch of application fees (which were not cheap) plus medicals, background check fees, etc. This is the biggest pain to get through. If you application is incorrect you lose your application fee and must reapply. We had an agency though my wifes employer helping us fill out our applications making sure they were correct. I advise anyone filling out a permanent residence application to hire a consultant. There are tons to choose from.
The application itself is a pain to fill out as it asks for lots of background information like every employer and address you’ve had since you were 18 years old.
You can get Permanent Residence before getting a work visa, but I hear it is much harder and costs a bit more (or you have to have a particular amount of assets or something).
If you have a relative in Canada you can get Permanent Residence by way of them being your sponsor.
Citizenship - This is the last step. Basically to apply you must have Permanent Resident status and have lived in Canada for at least three years out of the last four years before you apply. So, pretty much four years. You must speak English or French and not have a nasty criminal history. If all those are CHECK, then you take, what I hear, is a easy test about Canada.
Citizenship allow you to do anything in Canada like you were born here (I think you can even become Prime Minster if you want). Citizenship allow you to vote, acquire a Canadian passport and feel good about calling the last letter in the alphabet “zed”.
Canada officially allows dual citizenship but the US does not. Technically American born citizens can have both US and Canadian citizenship. Canadian born citizens can not because they must renounce their Canadian citizenship before becoming US citizens (it’s part of the US citizen oath). But really, it’s not like a Canadian born citizen wouldn’t be allowed to move back to Canada and resume citizenship. Either way, there are many people who hold both US and Canadian passports and no one really says anything.
**As a side note to moving - everything you bring must be packed in labeled boxes with a packing list. This list needs to have the estimated value of the items, serial numbers, etc. We were told at the border the guards might spot check the list and say “let’s open box labeled B23 and make sure what you have here on the list is really inside.”
We took this quite seriously and this was one of the major headaches with moving. Tt the border, the guard opened the back of the track, said “all common household stuff?” we said yes, and that was that.
“Don’t you want to look at the list?” I said.
“Nope”.
I pleaded with him… “PLEASSSSE Loooook! I worked really hard on it.”
He thought that was pretty funny so he flipped through the pages but didn’t really read anything.
I believe it’s THE highest, if one discounts tax haven mini-states.
IIRC, Canada also has the highest percentage of any Western country of the number of its residents and citizens not having been born in the country. It’s an amazingly high number, something like one in every six residents. I personally find that to be a wonderful fact.
As to the general discussion, I think one thing above all must be emphasized:
It all depends what state you’re moving from and what province you’re moving to.
Gun control laws tougher? Depending where you’re coming from it might not make a lot of difference. Higher taxes? Not necessarily; your taxes might go up, but they also might go down, depending which areas you;re moving from or to. More laid back? Certainly, if you move from Manhattan to Moncton; not so much if you move from Tulsa to Toronto. Ferocious weather? Well, yeah, the weather in Canada is generally horrible - here, we get four nice months a year and the rest of the time you’re either frozen or melting - but if you’re from Minnesota you’ll not much notice. Lower crime rates? Crime rates vary quite a bit across Canada, and if you move from a small town in Vermont to Saskatoon, you may see more crime. Liberal politics? If you’re moving from SF’s Castro district to a rural Canadian town you may find some things more conservative, and anyway it depends what specific issues you’re into.
There’s no way you can simply say “This is the difference between the USA and Canada.” The American experience is too varied for easy comparison.
I believe it’s a legal status and cannot be evoked except for cause, unlike a visa, and the individual could seek judicial review of the revocation in the Federal Court.
That’s one of the reasons for the lengthy application process - since it can’t be taken away easily, CIC wants to be very sure that a person is eligible. It carries legal and constitutional rights - for example, under s. 6(2) of the Charter, permanent residents have the same right as citizens to move about the country and to work. They don’t have the restrictions that may be attached to a work visa.
Technically, you don’t have to be a Canadian citizen to be Prime Minister. However, as a practical matter, you do have to be a member of the House of Commons, and to be elected to the Commons you do have to be a citizen.
And, although you can get a Canadian passport, if you’re still a US citizen, US law requires you to travel on a US passport when you return to the US.
oh, and on the food issues - if the OP moves here, you will of course be required to change your handle to BackBaconAndEggs! 
And the Canadian experience as well - just in the two provinces that the OP asked about, there’s tremendous variations.
A plus for cooler weather is fewer dinner-plate sized bugs, and no tropical diseases. Yay.
I’m an Albertan but lived in the lower mainland of BC for a few years. I personally don’t think your “accent” would be noticed. I can really only pick out accents from Utah and deep south. Oh, and probably NE states. I think you’re safe on that front.
If you don’t mind almost steady rain for 5 months of the year, then the Vancouver or Vancouver Island areas are the places to be. In Alberta the winters can get nasty cold snaps, but actually ranks #2 in “nicest climate in Canada” after Vancouver/Victoria. Southern Alberta gets chinook winds throughout the winter that turn -30 to +10 in the space of a couple of hours. If you’re entrepreneurial, open a car wash in Calgary. Seriously.
So the weather may be nippy, but we get lots of beautiful clear blue skies and bright sun, and the occasional spring-like chinook break. I’d rather be here than in Winnipeg!
And by a lot, too – I think it was something like 80% with the next highest being the US at like 40%, or something in that nature. Until it was pointed out to me, it was something I had always taken for granted, and it certainly is an important piece of data in understanding other places’ different take on citizenship and immigration.
Interesting. I never thought about this much either; I just assumed that if you immigrate to a country, as opposed to being some sort of visitor, even a long-term visitor, you eventually become a citizen.
A lot of countries make it exceptionally difficult to become a citizen if you aren’t the right ethnicity. Arab countries are notorious for their treatment of “Guest” workers, but it’s also true of many European countries; the barriers to citizenship can be pretty substantial.
The Canadian (and American) practice of “live here X years, pass test, here’s your citizenship card” is not universally practiced around the world.
I forgot that I meant to post a link to this column by a writer with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
It’s not just the weather that’s cooler in Canada.
It’s a bit dated now (for instance, the proposal to decriminalize minor marijuana possession didn’t pass), but it’s an interesting read.
I’ve always liked the introductory paragraphs:
Is the weather always cold?
No. Summer is warmer. Some parts are always cold (Newfoundland, Nunavut)
It’s colder than SoCal though.
[/QUOTE]
Newfoundland is not always cold. Spring starts late, but usually June, July, August is warm…but I guess it is somewhat relative. What I find a nice warm day Californians may find cold.
Newfoundland is not always cold. Spring starts late, but usually June, July, August is warm…but I guess it is somewhat relative. What I find a nice warm day Californians may find cold.
[/QUOTE]
I lived in Newfoundland for ages. I moved there from SoCal. By any reasonable definition from a SoCal perspective, Newfoundland is always cold. Trust me on this one.
***Seven ***- Should we be organizing a Vancouver Dopefest?