Please, it's much worse than Vermont. I'm Canadian.

Yeah Jum, I don't even remember the first gulf war, I'm sure coca-cola doesn't either, but I still had fun melting army men with makeshit WD40 bombs.

Well, I knew that, but were your folks refugees from Vermont to Canada? Because Vermont was too fascist?

My family is from California. So, that explains everything.

Army Men are absolutely fantastic, I remember half a decade or more ago I was playing massed battles with green, tan and purple soldiers.
I even had a crazy play-mat to put it on with a river and cool stuff like that, as always my cousin and I were storming the evil german controlled fort.
Did any of you have the invincible tanks of doom?

Shameless plug for Canada; We are much like the U.S. but with better weather and without the overcrowding. :p Not to mention loads of pure maple syrup for the pancakes in the morning. So its no wonder that some of you guys down there, make your way up here :D

Actually RBS, I think Yoss' parents wanted to smoke kind buds freely... :lol:

I'd love to live in Canada - if I thought I would be welcome. My wife and I may be looking for a big move in a few years when we get the kids college-ified. We'd absolutely love to live in a place that has a true, solid 8-12 week winter (at least I think so - they say be careful what you ask for!). My wife has MS and she's terribly bothered by heat, so we truly may go for the deep freeze! But we recognize that a lot of Canadians resent Yanks, particularly if they move North.

All the bragging about the Canadian medical system is great, but we're quite happy with our medical options and availability. We see problems with Canada's model, such as waiting lists and availability of treatment, etc., so that could be a big hurdle.

As far as area of the country, I know Montreal/Quebec would be out of the question, and probably not Toronto, Ottawa or Vancouver. Winnipeg? Maybe. I think I might like Alberta or Saskatchewan. And I like "O Canada".

Thoughts from you northerners?

Everything from Alberta east has what you think of in a Canadian winter. Most of southern B.C. is pretty much identical to Washinton/Oregon weather. So its pretty mild here in southern B.C.

Again everything from Alberta east is also pretty flat and desolate, except for certain areas here and there, and the border of B.C.. But mostly its one big prairie. I guess i feel that way because i live in B.C. and the landscape is spectacular compared to everywhere else. Ive been all across Canada, and lived back east for a few years, so i know.

Its true about our medical system, that it has certain drawbacks. However, one of them isnt the fact you pay your doctor to go on long glorious vacations worth thousands of dollars. Instead you get to go on the vacation, or buy a new boat or whatever. We also have higher taxes than the U.S., but its generally money well spent, and its mostly spent on us :D So its not so bad.

The main group resenting Americans in Canada, is generally those effected by U.S trade policies. Like anyone connected to the softwood industry, i suggest you dont mention the U.S. to them. Other then that, people are pretty neutral about Americans, as long as they dont get all uppity or anything.

Not Winnipeg. It's the most dangerous city in Canada right now, I believe because of a lot of racial tension between the Native and White populations. Alberta is nice for Yanks, it's Texas of the North. Saskatchewan is deathly boring. Even it's shape is boring. Also, I hear it has some of the same problems as Winnipeg with racial tensions. Sadly, one of Canada's most overlooked problems is the way it's Native population is handled. You see a lot of it boiling over today with violence and demonstrations, such as the one that has been going on in Caledonia.

A place you might want to look into is Prince Edward County. It's about two hours from Toronto, to the east. My parents just bought a place to retire to out there. It's pretty much on the up and up as far as development goes. A lot of wineries, golf courses, etc are being planned for the area, but it's taking pretty massive steps to keep the "quaint" feeling. It's on Lake Ontario, and has some of the nicest beaches in Ontario right there. There's pretty good fishing, and supposedly good hunting if that's your thing. I personally like Ontario, but it's the only place I've lived. Not so much the big dirty city of Toronto (which is pretty screwed as far as expenses go, major cutbacks being planned), but there's a lot of wilderness and quaint little communities as you get further into the Canadian Shield wilderness.

Also, the East Coast is gorgeous. But oh so poor.

As for medical aspects, the Canadian medical system has been good to me, but I really haven't had to lean on it too much. I'm fairly injury prone, but have the immune system of a horse (?). I don't see it working for folks as they get older, and require more expensive, complicated tests and procedures. However, for treating the small things, it's wonderful. Thankfully, if you know the right people, and have the right cash, it's pretty two-tiered.

CANADA ROOLZ