Welcome to Gaia! ::

Okay, I've heard a lot of people get very confused over Canadian Laws and the like so I'm going to create this thread to dispel some of the myths and post some facts about our lovely country.

First off, It is legal for same sex marriages all across Canada. This law was passed about 3 years ago and all Provinces were forced to follow suit. Although Alberta and Sask. are still majorly homophobic, along with some smaller towns, most of the major Cities are very open to Gays. Toronto and Vancouver have the largest gay populations in the world. I think Toronto ranked about 4th largest the last I checked.

Health Care - Some may think our Health care is a little strange and not that great, but it is classed as one of the best. The way things work out here is everyone gets health care no matter what and you get treated in order and by how serious your problem is. No one is allowed to pay there way ahead of the line. This is why some people are upset. Those who are poorer then others do not get treated any differently then anyone else.

Immigration - Almost anyone can immigrate to Canada. Actually they have been welcoming people because we have a lot of space out here. Canada is the largest country in the world, size wise that is. The process is long and can be tiring, but well worth it in the end. The only people not allowed to come here are criminals and people linked to terrorist groups. We even have a refuge status for gay people who are in a risky area and are afraid for their lives. I will post more about immigrations if people want to know more.

Anyways, that is all I’m posting for the moment. I’ll post more fun and interesting facts as I can think about them. Like out here we get 3 Reese Peanut butter cups in a package. *grins*

Here is a list of Famous Canadians for you to look through. You will be amazed to see how many musicians and actors are from Canada.

Questions and answers section

Question. Do we get all the benefits of "straight" couples that marry?

Answer: We have all equal rights out here. It has been that way for a long while. Like my sweetie is on my heath benefits so gets glasses and dental just like me. We also filed our taxes together. It was only a problem because Kim did not have her statue in Canada yet. They were really cool about everything.

Basically is someone causes you trouble about being gay it is against the law and they can be brought up on charges. The mayor of my home town tried to shut down pride because it went against her religious beliefs and was find $10,000 for discrimination.

Question: How hard is it to get into Canada?

Answer: It all depends on which process you plan to used to get into Canada. For instance you can apply as a working class, that is if you find a job out here first. Then there is how my wife and I applied, which was spousal status, basically if you marry someone and can prove that you have had a relationship for a while and that you both are in love then you can apply this way. There are many other ways including applying to go to as a student, wanting to go to university out here. Or if you have family out here you can ask for them to sponser you.

The length of time differs with each case. My wife and I spent a year filling out all the forms and it cost us nearly $1000 to apply for the process. It took only 10 months from sending the paper work off, but there was almost 2 inches worth of papers. We had to send them every email, chat, photos and everything else that would prove our relationship. After that our application was approved rather quickly.

Here is the immigrations web site for more information. They even have all the forms that need to be filled out as well. Here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

Questions: how prevalent is French? Would you have to know it to communicate?

Answer: The only place you need to know French is in Quebec. While french is the 2nd most spoken language and you must learn it in school in the Eastern Provinces. It is not required. Actually here in Toronto Chinese is the most spoken language.

Quebec and this annoying law that makes it illegal to speak anything but french. It is a pain in the a** law that I hate because it should not be illegal to speak another language. *sighs*

It you do speak french is makes getting into Canada much easier, because we are a bilingual country after all.






Question: I want to move to Canada now, but I like warmer climates. Are there any warmer countries where it's legal to get married?

Answer: *grumbles* It is not cold out here!!! Why does everything think it is freezing in Canada? We had snow for only Febuary this year and it is already almost gone. Last year we had a heat wave for 2 months and were forced to stay indoors. Just because it is Canada does not mean that the moment you cross the board ice covers everything. The only places you get that are up north and no one really lives up there. Toronto and Vancouver are known for their nice weather. Sure it can get rainy at times, but other then that it is very beautiful out here.

I really want to know who started the rumour that Canada is freeze. *sighs* It is so silly that I'm tired of laughing about it.

Here are some photos of the Sakura (cherry blossoms) in full bloom in spring of last year. This was taken in the heart of Toronto, right near the lake.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v638/theredwolf_/sakura blossoms/

This will give you an idea of what spring is like around here.

Questions: What do you have to do to get married in Canada and have it legally binding (at least in Canada) if you and your lover are both Americans? You used to always hear about people eloping, can that still be done?

Answer: You travel to Canada and find a place that does Gay marriage ceremonies, usually the City all of a major city is best. Then you get married. Then it is legally binding. Nothing special really. You can find the paperwork for applying for a marriage licence at any City Hall and the one here in Toronto has a Chapel that preforms gay marriages. That is where Kim and I got married.

After that you find a place to live out here and begin the immigrations process, explained earlier.

Note: if you are married in an area outside of Canada, the Canadian Government has declared that it will recognize all marriage certificates as legally binding. So even if you get married in a State that changed is views on gay marriage the certificate is still good out here.

Questions: How long can you live in Canada before the gov't says "well since your not a citizen you need to leave" I get the whole visiting and getting married deal which real wouldn't be worth while if you can't remain in the place that recognizes it legally, but I don't get how after that a couple could just find a place to live and move in without officially being a citizen and since the process can take over a year or more I'm a bit confused as to how it would work.

Also, is it a myth that its extremely hard to find work in Canada.

Answer: For most the visiting length is about 6 months, but for people from the States that time varies depending on who you talk to. People from the States can stay pretty much as long as they like, as long as they don't commit crimes.

Once you start the immigrations process you are allowed to stay until you are declined and even then you can reapply right away if you like. Only if they find something really wrong with your application, connections to crime organizations or Terrorist groups. You can also apply for a work visa right away and in Ontario you can apply for Health Care after about 6 months of stay here, but there is a lot of red tape if you apply before coming a resident of Canada.

As far as I've seen working out here is not hard. They have a lot of places to help you get work. If you have a Work Visa or SIN number then you can go to any Employment office and find a job through the computers there. I know a lot of people who have got work out here before becoming a resident of Canada. The better skilled you are the more likely you are to get a job. Also they allow students to study out here. You can get a student Visa to go to Collage or University out here. Toronto has several Collages and Universities right here in the city. Even one of the best schools for art and animation.

Question: Do you think I could get a scholarship to a college in Canada? I think I'm smart enough.

Answer: Yes, You just need to research the scholarship. I know there is a Gay Scholar ship for Toronto. I don't know anything about it because I was just an art student. So you'll have to look that stuff up yourself. Sorry.

Question: How different is the currency then here in the U.S.? And do things cost about the same ?

Answer: Pretty much the same. The US dollar used to be worth a mint out here. Their dollar was worth $1.75 our here. That was nearly double. Those were the good old days where I could go to the States and sell all my art and come back a rich gal. Well it was only a few thousand but that is alot in the hands of a starving artist.

However, The US dollar has dropped a lot since then and is now only worth about $1.12. So after converting the cash to Canadian it is not worth much at all.

As for the prices out here. They are not very different. Things are more expensive if you are bringing US dollars. It is not that bad if you live here, but that all depends on how much you make. Things are not that bad out here, but some things, electronics, can be expensive.

Question: I've seen that even if you want to only work, you need a special visa (not necessarily the permanent Residency), and I wanted to know if that's easier to get if you already came in Canada for holiday as a simple tourist?

Oh and I read that you can't work if you're in the country as a simple tourist, but is it possible to look for a job and settle everything with the person (soon-to-be boss kinda XD) and then go ask for a working visa before you start working?

Answer: Yes, you can look for work you just can't actually work until you have the Visa to work. You can even look for a place to live and whatever you like who visiting, but the staying over 6 months and working need a Visa.

Question: is Toronto (that's where you live, right?)'s education system as complicated as Quebec's? I never understood your freshman and sophomore thing. Is homosexuality a natural thing at school? Here, homosexuals can flirt in the corridor and no one will even notice.

Answer: Yep, we're in Central Toronto right now. This place is huge. Depending on where you are you get treated in different ways. Scarborough is the worst for the gay community, that is the Easter Suburbs of Toronto. It really depends on how close your school is to the Central area of Toronto, I think. I never went to school out here. I graduated over 10 years ago in a conservative little town of London where they beat on you for being different. However, I have noticed that you can be very open out here with no really problems. Kim and I were cuddling on the subway train and got a thumbs up from some guy and smiles from others. Sometimes we get people shaking their head in disapproval, but no out right homophobic comments to our face.

Yesterday it was great. I walked into a pharmacy to find the postal office and overheard this woman behind the counter talking to this other woman and the conversation made me smile because it was like this.

Women behind the counter: "Yeah, My wife is considering changing jobs too. She doesn't like her boss and it is nothing but a pain."
Woman buying something: "My husband wants to work in..."

I find it great to see two women talking about their partners so casually without anyone really batting an eye.

Now as for the Freshman and Sophomore thing. It all depends on what school you go to. They are just titles given to people depending on how long you have been in school. For me the terms were based on your grade. There were the Niners, the Teners, The Elevens, the Twelvers, and of course the OAC students (who could graduate when they want too, but decide to stay longer to earn more credits for Collage and University.)

I hope that helps you.

Jaa ne

Kat

Sweet. Maybe I should move to canada.

Question. Do we get all the benefits of "straight" coulples that marry?

How hard is it to get into Canada?


Edit: Its cool that you have equal rights.
Freakin america.. They say its all about equal rights, but I dont see many with gay peoples. gonk

It all depends on which process you plan to used to get into Canada. For instance you can apply as a working class, that is if you find a job out here first. Then there is how my wife and I applied, which was spousal status, basically if you marry someone and can prove that you have had a relationship for a while and that you both are in love then you can apply this way. There are many other ways including applying to go to as a student, wanting to go to university out here. Or if you have family out here you can ask for them to sponcer you.

The length of time differs with each case. My wife and I spent a year filling out all the forms and it cost us nearly $1000 to apply for the process. It took only 10 months from sending the paper work off, but there was almost 2 inches worth of papers. We had to send them every email, chat, photos and everything else that would prove our relationship. After that our application was approved rather quickly.

Here is the immagrations web site for more information. They even have all the forms that need to be filled out as well. Here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

Jaa ne

Kat

Excellent thread. You've gotten me thinking. wink

So, this doesn't relate to rights (which kick the a** of American "rights", if I may say so), but how prevalent is French? Would you have to know it to communicate?

Random I know, but hey, I'm still curious! lol.

I've been to Canada alot :3 I love it there and I have always had a dream of living in the Yukon Territory. There are alot of advantages of living next to Detroit. I know most of the lws over there, which is part of the reason I want to live there. I remember going through the tunnel for the first time and we came out..and there were cheese places. I love cheese So I pretty much freaked out, even at four 4laugh I don't remember where that trip was though.. stare

Detroit is farther north. Just barely though. They are pretty much right next to eachother. London, ON is way farther north though, in line with my dad's house.

As for the Santa joke, he may live in Canada, but that means Michigan is the next to get presents. Havent you heard? Second the best! wink

I love the cold weather. I am more entertained when there is nothing to do then when there are thousands of things to do. When there are too many things to do, you can't make up your mind on what you want to do, so you don't feel like doing anything. Then you sit on your butt all day watching TV or surfing the web. When there is nothing to do, you are ACTUALLY bored and look for something to do, and I usually find it. As I have said somewhere in previous posts, I don't like being around people so much. Yukon sounds like paradice to me, not to mention I have family in Alaska. :] Besides, if I follow my dreams, I'll be an inspiring artist. I just need to practice more. -_-;
I am going ot draw now, because this got me in the mood.
heart Cowcrazy
~MOO~