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Some part of this answer will be directed towards potential immigrants from Asia especially the Indian subcontinent.The most important thing nobody tells you is to ask yourself the ‘reason for immigrating’.A lot of people from Indian sub-continent move impressed by flashy cars and a lifestyle expressed in popular songs and movies especially Punjabi (from the region of Punjab in India) movies. Punjabis (Indian and Pakistanis) do form a huge percentage of immigrating to Canada. More often than not, they come from family of means and are living a much better lifestyle back in their home country. But end up getting impressed by seeing their favorite singer who works as an Uber/ pizza delivery guys but wears super expensive clothes (Armani and D&Gs). Plus the age old conversion of CAD into home currency makes them think it is achievable.So yes its really important to know why you’re coming to Canada. But things no one tell you are:a) Cooking daily, cleaning your house, doing you own laundry and esp ironing clothes is not fun to do. Unfortunately, you will always do this yourself as its super expensive to outsource and not really worth.b) Making money is tough and most people here are happy being in their comfort zone and living a Middle Class lifestyle. It is expected of one to first give to the society and then keep the rest for yourself. This change in mindset is quite opposite to that of Asians. The end benefit of earning extra hard after crossing the C$100000/year doesn’t meet the effort-benefit analysis. The incremental post tax income will not make a significant dent. So you will either adjust to it (like I have as I love the peace and tranquility of not running after material things and look for newer experiences) or you can really do well for yourself with a business idea.c) the Canadian experience is not about racism or having previous work-ex in Canada. Canadian experience is more symbolic. Its the employer finding out that you have Canadian values, work ethics, can be a team player and will integrate well with fellow team members. For this you don’t necessarily have worked in Canada. If you can demonstrate how you have worked or interacted with Westerners during college, exchange programs, maybe worked in other cities like S’Pore, Dubai, UK etc. etc. That’s all they need to know. You have to show you’ve been out of your comfort zone and are exposed to different cultures, races etc. Your team might have people from all over the world. So it becomes important to know you’re an open-minded person.d) You will start appreciating nature and the only way to socialise and make friends especially with Canadians etc. is by loving outdoors. Canadians adapt for all season. During winters they undertake activities like ice skating, skiing, winter hikes etc. Summers are on a whole new level. So, you will need to push yourself to go out.e) The Canadian attitude of politeness and being sorry and humble can be annoying at times. Canadians pay shit loads for telecommunication services and banking. Both the institutions are oligopolistic and are robbing every one in clear daylight. But in true Canadian fashion, people here don’t complaint and are living with it.f) Although Canada is beautiful, its not really accessible. Flying within Canada is super expensive (sort of a monopoly of Canadian airlines and low flyers), hotels are so super expensive (people charge 5-star prices for maybe a 2-star property). So in the end flying to Europe turns out to be cheaper than a vacation in Canada.g) You cannot drive your friend’s/ family members car unless your name is added to their insurance list. Again this is the other big scam in Canada happening in broad daylight with no one complaining. Insurance costs are astronomical and in some provinces (Ontario) insurance costs can reach upto CAD 400/month. ( as corrected in a comment, you may drive the car, but the the risk lies with the owner of the car).h) Prices of things are generally higher especially compared to US or Europe. But yes the local produce is fresh and good quality. But, you still pay a lot.i) Ordering food is an expensive affair. there are times when the taxes,, delivery fee, delivery tip, tax on the above three are more than my food order.j) Brings me to the next point - Tipping. Although, I support tipping someone for their services, its quite absurd that its mandatory. Most places you have to tip even if you aren’t happy with the service. Which also makes the business owner the only one benefiting. They usually hire people at minimum wage or even lower and expect them to make the rest by tips. Once you know this, you start tipping compassionately when you see a college student or a school kid is delivering food to you on a bike to maybe pay his fee or buy that new phone or new jacket. But it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.h) the prostitution laws are quite weird in Canada. You can go to a massage parlor or spa and take any service you want. The massage parlor wont be breaking the law as it charges only for a massage, and the ensuing act between two consenting adults is okay by law.i) Canada is a very left leaning and liberal country. They’re quite nonreligious and do not prefer speaking about religion or politics. They value equality and will fight for good causes. But this might not go well if you’re a right-wing thinker or are very religious. Here is religion and your faith is meant to be kept within the four walls of your home.j) People tell you winters are harsh, however, they don’t always tell you that investing in a good Parka makes things much easier. A good parka is all you need. Most of the time people recommend not buying expensive jacket and this is beyond me.k) Don’t expect you tax dollars to provide with you a great city experience. Yes, the healthcare is covered, however, Canadian roads are a mess (esp Montreal), the public transport system is old, expensive but functional. So everything in Canada comes with so much added baggage, that you might not end up buying/procuring half the things/services. So you’re paying the service provider (which under most circumstances will tons of conditions like minimum hours/ minimum amount etc.), federal gst, provincial gst and tips. With really low pays compared to US, Europe and other countries, high income tax coupled with high indirect taxes makes you question your immigration decision each day. And even after paying all the above, the state of infrastructure is deplorable (as mentioned above). A lot of metro stations do not have escalators/elevators, none have lavatories, almost all old apartments don’t have accessibility entrances. So you unnecessarily have to pick up your luggage etc. up the stairs.l) Canadian economy is quite slow although it grew at a healthy 3% in 2018. Inflation is in check and is at 2% I guess. Which means wages usually don’t increase much unless you switch jobs.m) The Chinese communities have taken the Canadian real estate market to a whole different level. Over the years, they have invested extensively in real estate and other businesses and are one of the wealthiest immigrating communities. Don’t be surprised to see young Chinese population driving around in convertibles, living in the best Condos in downtown and wearing a Gucci shoes to go buy grocery. Although, they’re more an exception than the norm.In the end, quality of life means different things to different people.For some its living in a country with free access to healthcare and education, breathing clean fresh air, exploring the natural landscapes, leaving the rat race and growing spiritually.For some quality of life is having the best cars, driving on super smooth roads, live in futuristic apartments, being able to travel across the globe without feeling a pinch, live a much more fast paced competitive life, monetary growth, having all the latest gadgets etc.So if you are the former types, you will love Canada, if latter - you’re in for a shock!EDIT: Corrected some spelling mistakes and typos, added point (m) and a concluding para.

I am going to start this story in the tried and tested method, and I am writing this on my phone so I apologize in advance:So no shit, there I was. Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. We were part of a “Northern Sovereignty Exercise" in early 2014. We were out in the frigid north. Essentially a “hey Russia, this is still ours" type deal, with some capability testing on our part (this years flavour was ‘can we logistically support a mobile company in the high artic for maneuver warfare. Spoilers; edit: after 250 upvotes, I should be more specific then simply saying no. In reality, yes we can logistically support a mobile company. The consideration was the logistical cost to resupply that company. Averaging one snowmobile breakdown a day, and considering fuel and rations consumption, it has been noticed that any attacking force would require constant air/naval resupply, and can be defeated in detail by entrenched forces in the BUAs of the north, if those BUAs are properly equipped to withstand siege.)Now, part of this exercise involved airlifting dismounted platoons to a bivouac site on the Arctic ice itself, to pracice routine on a giant ice cube, and check observation. My platoon had been airlifted in, had our night on the ice, and were awaiting our ride out in one of the rotor SAR planes attached to us. We'd woken up, turned off our heating stoves, and assembled in a mass of huddled warmth and weaponry beside the temporary runway built out of the ice. And we receive word our chauffeur has been delayed by about 40 minutes to “load precious cargo". That should have tipped me off.So an hour late, our plane rumbles into landing with the announcement that a snowfall is incoming and this is the last load for the day, is departing ‘soonest', and anyone not loaded gets another free night on the ice, courtesy of the Queen. And so the troops get motivated. As the majority of my platoon starts gathering our kit and supplies to be loaded, I alone move to tackle the pile of kit being unceremoniously tossed out of the plane by the irate loadmaster, none too pleased to have a SAR bird as a glorified taxi.Now as I begin to offload, the passengers disembark and form the standard formation of the high north; the huddle. As timings are key, and I am a newly minted section second in command, I decide to take ownership of these layabouts, and get this thing offloaded. I should mention here that all of us, being at -55 degrees celcius, were in our artic parkas and resembled nothing but a mass of Michelin Men, stuffed dummies walking around with unbendable limbs and about 2mm of exposed skin around the eyes. our rank epaulets are visible, but only just, right at the centre chest.I turn to the nearmost man, and say “Hey buddy, wanna give me a hand with this?” and without giving him an opportunity to speak and turn me down, I toss him a 60 pound rucksack, allowing him just enough time to turn and catch it. his face is unreadable behind his scarf, balaclava and over-mask. We move about 3 of these things before he silently motions to the rest of his disembarked compatriots, who up until this point had been observing us rather unhelpfully.They set to work in a chain, and with their help me and my new assistant manage to offload the remainder of the kit in about 3 minutes. Still having said nothing, this masked teamster grabbed his special dark patterned rucksack, nodded to me, and moved towards the tent city visible at the end of the runway. I turn back to my task of now loading all of our kit into the emptied plane, and I suddenly get a poke to my side.This snowman has the rank epaulet of a Command Chief Warrant Officer, and was one of the new arrivals. I stop what I am doing and stiffen almost automatically, and wait to hear what the Sir needs. He nods at me, leans in close, and says;“Congratulations, Corporal(emphasis), that is the first time I have seen anyone order a Brigadier General to offload his men's Rucksacks.”It was 4th Canadian Division CO, alongside the 31 Brigade CO, Exercise CO, and their respective Chiefs.I found somewhere else to be.Edit: Thank you all for 250 upvotes. I updated our exercise hypothesis to be more honest about the lessons learned.

As Joachim and Ralf already stated time was too short to develop significant differences. Most differences originate in dialects, and these differences are elder than the division in East and West Germany.Although there are some few differences that have their reason in the time of iron curtain. BUT young people in the East tended to adopt the western words, so the eastern word often is mainly used by elder people. One important factor for keeping only a few differences certainly is the shared media.Some facts that were not (often) referred to in everyday speech before the 1950's got different words, often rooted in Russian on the eastern side and rooted in English on the western side. For instance "Astronaut" vs. "Kosmonaut".Also some terms stayed in their ancient German form in the East while they were changed in the West. Examples are "Parka" vs. "Jacke" and "Tacker" vs. "Klammeraffe" (for 'stapler').And vice versa I remember at least one word that stayed in the German form in the West while the East adopted the Russian form: 'summer house' is "Gartenhaus" in the West and "Datsche" (from Russian 'datsha') in the East.When a brand became a term words still may differ. So a tissue is called "Tempo" (the main German tissue producer) in the West, while some East Germans still call it "Zellstofftaschentuch" (cellulose tissue) or "Papiertaschentuch" (paper tissue). But there are examples of both parts having their own brand and using it as a term ("Resopal" in the West, "Sprelacart" in the East).There were some new words created by the officials in the East, often to avoid anglicisms in official language use. West Germans like to quote these words to enjoy their ridiculousness. But exactly these words always stayed creations of the authorities and never found their way into the vocabulary of the ordinary Easteners. So all East Germans kept ordering a "Hot-Dog" when there officially was offered a "Ketwurst", and a "Hamburger" instead of a "Grilletta".There are a lot of words mainly just known in the East (and certainly going extinct soon).Some of these words were made up to make fun of the poor quality of goods. For instance "Blauer Würger" (blue strangler) was a popular word for a bad vodka with a blue label and certainly each East German in his 40's or elder still knows it.Some words were used to paraphrase facts within the hated and feared state or make fun of it or allusively describe illegal activities (a bit like the use of 'you-know-who' instead of 'Voldemort' in the Harry Potter novels). For instance "Vitamin B" - to paraphrase the word "Beziehungen" (connections), as it was almost impossible to lead life without using connections, but doing so was illegal. Or "Rotlichtbestrahlung" (red light irradiation) to make fun of the annoying political agitation.There are some words describing terms that simply do not exist in the West. One example is "Soljanka", a soup that has not much in common with the traditional Russian soup 'solyanka', but that was created to reuse food of the previous day in pubs. This is still offered is some East German pubs (but as reusing food now is not allowed it's made of fresh ingredients). Another one is "Subbotnik", unpayed work on Saturdays. This word survived for voluntary work in a group, for instance if people meet to clean a park next to their home.One of the most popular examples for language differences between East and West, still absolutely common in the East and absolutely not common in the West is "Broiler" for roast chicken. It's said to have an American origin, after the Eastern countries had failed to farm a kind of chicken with much meat and imported an American breeding called 'Broiler' which was sold in East Germany under the Bulgarian brand 'broylery'.source: Das geteilte Land