Manitoba Child Benefit: Fill & Download for Free

My answer leans towards the pros and cons for an immigrant rather than for Canada per se.Pros:Publicly funded healthcare- you don't pay medical bills at the family physician’s clinic, at labs or in the hospitals. Its all funded through taxes. So whether, you are in the high income bracket or the low one, you get the same level of healthcareFree education for kids in public schoolsGovernment offers financial assistance to low income families to help raise kids. Its called Canada Child BenefitOld age pension- But you should have contributed to Canada Pension Plan for at least 10 years to be eligibleProximity to United States and South America: For leisure or business needs or just for travelling aroundBetter work life balance.Less crime especially if you are moving from a low income countryA public transport system you can rely onFresh air and clean water for lifeLots of interesting places to visit to explore the wilderness of CanadaGet a Canadian Passport once you become a citizen. Its one of the top ten most powerful passports in the worlds and gets you visa free or on arrival visa to a lot of countries.Cons:High cost of living: Rents, car insurance, groceries are all expensive.You will be phased out of the housing market, should you aspire to buy a house in high profile cities such as Toronto or VancouverRelatively low salaries compared to US, Australia and few other developed nationsUnless you are very high income earner , you’ll always live pay check to pay check.If you are not used to doing all your chores such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. you’ll need t get used to it, unless you can pay someone at least $20 an hour to do it for you.Harsh winters- Can go as low as -30*C in Ontario and Alberta and up to -50 in Manitoba. Vancouver does a lot better. This just means that you are going to be more indoors during the winters. The heated buildings will provide you all the warmth you need indoors and duck down jackets will do the same outdoors.Jobs: There are both good and bad stories around this.If you are in more regulated profession then its best to migrate with a job offer in hand. For generic professions, people don’t suffer as much as those in regulated professions do.

I guess its what you mean by “little in spite of a majority”Here are some highlights of what the Liberal government achieved in 2018Increasing the Canada Child Benefit to help families keep up with the cost of livingNew EI Parental Sharing Benefit, to provide 5 extra weeks of benefits when parental leave is sharedSupporting 40,000 new, affordable child care spaces across CanadaIntroduced the new Poverty Reduction Act, which if passed, will cut poverty in half by 2030Lowering the small business tax rate to help small businesses growMoving forward with diversifying Canadian trade with CPTPP and CETAAddressing harassment and sexual violence in federally-regulated workplacesCanadians have created more than 800,000 new jobs since 2015, and Canada’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in 40 yearsInvesting in women entrepreneurs at home and in developing countriesNew investments to end drinking water advisories on reservesMoving forward on the Canada–Métis Nation AccordWelcomed the largest private-sector investment in Canadian history with LNG Canada in Kitimat, BC – which will lead to 10,000 middle class jobsAnnounced plans for co-developed legislation to protect the rights and well-being of Indigenous children and familiesA New NAFTA - Getting a good deal for Canadian workers, businesses, and our middle classIntroduced the Accessible Canada Act to advance rights for Canadians with disabilitiesBuilding affordable housing with Canada’s first-ever National Housing StrategyFighting climate change by putting a price on pollutionLegalizing and strictly regulating marijuanaIntroduced pay equity legislation, so women get equal pay for work of equal valueInvesting in education for women and girls in crisis and conflict situationsThe largest investment in science in Canadian historyNew openness and transparency for political fundraising eventsLaunching the Canada Service Corps to involve young Canadians in their communitiesMarked the return of rail cars to Churchill, ManitobaNew Canada Workers Benefit to help Canadians working to join the middle classHosted the G7 in Charlevoix to address climate change, gender equality, and building economies that work for everyoneOffered an official apology to passengers of the MS. St. Louis and their familiesPassed Bill C-76 to modernize elections and make it easier for Canadians to voteStrengthening air passenger rights for Canadian travellers

As someone who has lived here for 10 months, originally from Manitoba, lived in Toronto and lived many many years in BC having left due to the drastic changes there as a result of immigration and all the drugs, I would like to give my take thus far. We are an older couple so this is not the student take on life here.Hubby and I chose Halifax looking for an alternate to BC that still gave you ocean living and hopefully a friendly environment that Easteners were supposed to possess. Boy were we wrong!The people here are not friendly and when you try and be outgoing they give you that “deer in the headlight look” and react as if you are planning on doing them wrong. We have a dog and they are real friendly to the dog and so will stop and talk about her. Our realtor cautioned us that he has been here 25 years and is still considered an outsider. The only friendly people that are outgoing are those that have come here from other provinces.The place is very behind the time, which initially one would think is not a bad thing and maybe a slower pace, but that’s not the case. When we left Winnipeg it had about the same population as here, but was much more progressive in terms of businesses, services, etc. We had anticipated this same level population/service ratio but its non existent. And every time you need something outside the standard, its only located in Dartmouth.It is quite dirty here in comparison to the other places we have lived, with garbage everywhere, and has a general sense of uncleanliness. They chuck garbage all over the highways and the creek behind our place is always swimming with garbage and contaminants. The local pool we were surprised to find stunk really bad with body odour and felt grimy, and I even picked up a fungus there. Again have now contracted another type of rash/fungus on my face this time, and the dog who never had anything in her 11 yrs developed an ear infection that keeps coming back. The place we bought needed a major scrubbing due to the level of dirt we were not accustomed to, and had garbage everywhere (piles were chucked under the building). Downtown Halifax definitely has an overall dingy feel. The drinking water also stinks in the summer due to the warm weather/high bacterial count, and we’ve even had green slime coming thru the taps (eek)!The 15% tax on everything is insane - typical English tax system - and the gov’t appears to do very little for the people but take their money. There are no businesses here so everything comes from the little guy. Vehicle registration is expensive (and require a certified inspection every 2 years), as is groceries and accommodations, utilities, and the home renovation stores offer very little but the basics. Oh and if you get a speeding ticket, your license is suspended for 7 days and you get minimum 4 pts on your license (what planet are these people on?). Rather than do proper road maintenance in the winter, they pour a slushy salt brine on the roads that virtually rots your vehicle away (hence the req’t to have your vehicle inspected). The roads have crevices, not potholes that continually damage people’s shocks, etc. The housing prices appear lower (of course based on demand and take note that it’s always a buyer’s market and disposing of a property takes a long time) but they definitely make up for it in the high cost of everything else. (You have to pay for water and waste dumping - get you on both ends.)There are the basic low salary paying jobs, and the small town mentality of having babies at an early start (gov’t subsidized child benefit wages makes it worthwhile) and lots of them so its a general poverty mentality definitely unlike BC. I would definitely not want to start life out here due to the limited work options and general mentality. There’s a general life concept here that everyone seems to follow and there appears to be no going out of the box to find your own niche. The people are not of a health conscious mindset, are generally overweight and lots are smokers. Health food stores are few and far between and tell you themselves how non progressive they are in comparison to other cities.The scenery is nice and rural everywhere so if looking for country living this is a good place, with accessible water everywhere. Southern Nova Scotia is generally the higher end (appears cleaner and more tended to) but we wanted to live close to the big city versus a total rural environment. Summers are very short and of a temperate climate, and fall is longer, but the winters are intense and quite cold due to the dampness. It is extremely windy here and anything not locked down in your yard will be gone.One positive is that police are far and few between compared to BC where they are on every corner due to drugs/crime.Overall its definitely not for us and we can’t wait to leave.Edit:Since receiving an unhappy response to my answer above (from someone who has only lived here), would like to give some experiences to justify it:Unneighbourly - Live in a park community where neighbours never talk to each other. Had one neighbour come over and chit chat on initial move in, but now totally ignores us as if we don’t exist. Do have one neighbour that will speak to us and tried to reciprocate but spouse just gives us the cold shoulder. Only friendly people are newcomers like us that moved here from Alberta.Uncleanliness - Went to a locals beach as recommended by a neighbour when asked, and went to the snack trailer on site (fish & chips, etc.). Stunk around it so bad (smelled like something rotting or a dead animal under it) and some people walked away holding their noses. Others just ignored it and ordered their food! Decided to point it out to the elderly lady running it and she apparently smelled nothing but proceeded to blame it on the outhouses across the field, which we had already visited and had no odour.Bad Driving - They have this habit when highway passing, despite there being ample space and everyone travelling at 110 km, of coming back in immediately in front of your car (i.e, less then a car length). They have no regard for other vehicles; i.e., like to back into stalls and have repeatedly banged into our vehicle, dropped things on the hood of our car while loading up thru the back hatch, and especially swinging open their car doors into your vehicle (these all happened in the first 2 months of being here). Just recently found a large dent in the driver door that will now require repair. So frustrating as our vehicle was in like new condition on arrival.Expensive - Two driver’s licenses and vehicle registration cost us $400 (with perfect driving records), plus req’d vehicle inspection every 2 yrs. Recent 2/mth Nov-Dec hydro bill (based on electric heat in a 980 sq ft home with ‘extensive’ renovations/upgrades to improve efficiency) was $650.00! Have a $4.00 toll road in and out of the province (only way in) that’s apparently been there forever…..only city in Canada that has such a thing .Rude - When grocery shopping and almost running into someone will always try to excuse oneself - they simply give you a glaring look and move on with no acknowledgement. When trying to sell something online, despite indicating price firm they will still contact you with low ball offers - mentality being if you give it to me for nothing I’ll take it.Have no global perspective as they never leave here, and even if you mention being from another province will never inquire about it in any way. They all tell you how wonderful it is here, but no one has ever left the place or lived anywhere else.Its simply a small minded mentality and no regard for others that exist around them.