Corporate Work in the US vs. Canada?

No One You Know asks: "I've been working as a sysadmin for an insurance company in the US for the past six years, and have decided to move to Canada. I've had it with corporate America, but I'm trying to keep an open mind while job hunting. How does Canadian corporate life compare to that of the US?"

Speaking as a Canadian...

[Saint Aardvark]

...you'd better like back bacon. That's all I should have to tell you.

Well..

[mindstormpt]

they have those guys with the red jacket on top of a horse..

That must change things a lot

Canadas not So Bad,....

[nevek]

Except for pea-soup-eating separatists, the annoying weather, the sports teams that never win, (go calgary), 90cents a Litre Gas, and 15% Sales Tax!

But we do have Beer!!

I'll probably get modded troll, but it's true!

[fiannaFailMan]

People don't speak so loudly. [ducks]

Well... it depends.

[mark-t]

If you like being unemployed, or simply working without getting paid, being a sysadmin in Canada is just fine.

Do I sound bitter? Well... maybe I am, just a touch.

Re:How does Canadian corporate life compare

[strictnein]

ok... that's really lame... but i find it really really funny

Do you know how to speak Canadian? It's like English, but some people speak French. I think it's because they are under the impression that they are in France. This impression is wrong. They are in Canada!

Canadian-French is to French as Ebonics is to English

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[still_sick]

All you need to know about Canada : Less Handguns, More Beavers.

It's no different

[Anonymous Coward]

You will find the same exact politics and frustrations at a Canadian company that you find at an American company. The only benefit to working in Canada is a different level of social responsiblity, less personal independance accross the board and, of course, much better beer. Mean people are mean people whether they live in CAN or the US. Bad management is ubiquitous to the World. They do put a bit more effort into their breakfast pastries, however. The girls are easier to fool, and, perhaps the most important is that you find its really cold.
Don't forget that you CANadian is pretty much an ameriCAN.

Three Words...

[Plake]

..Maple Walnut Dip

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[jamonterrell]

listen to this guy he knows what he's talking aboot

Standard Canadian Joke

[SmegTheLight]

Fat geeks in Parkas look just as big as skinny geeks in Parkas.. Girls you meet will never know until you get them back to your igloo.

Taxes in California are HIGH

[jsimon12]

Funny you would compare it to California, which is one of the highest (if not the highest) in the US ;)

Yes, but significantly less ...

[burgburgburg]

beavers armed with handguns.

"Stay the hell away from my dam or I'll shoot!"

Re:Don't Get Sick

[fiannaFailMan]

So 9/11 was all the fault of the gun control lobby and the communists? Anybody else you'd like to blame while you're at it? How about the Jews?

Re:Don't Get Sick

[UnexplodedNT]

It's true. The last guy I saw brandishing a gun got stabbed. Fortunately, we were able to keep the bleeding in check with hockey tape and Tim Horton's muffins. Then it was just a matter of keeping him calm (medicinal marijuana) until his free medical care arrived via dogsled.

They don't have sys-admins in Canada

[nate nice]

In Canada, they don't really use computers. They only have one industry, well two if you want to seperate them, but those are creating snow and creating cold. You see, they just sit up there in their cold factories creating snow all day and then they turn on their giant fans and blow it into places like Wisconsin, etc. They take great pride in this however, because without them people like me might actually be able to walk around more than 4 months out of the year without being wrapped in 5 shirts, a coat, an under-coat, 3 hats, gloves with mittins over them, 5 pairs of socks, furry boots and 15 scarfs wrapped around my entire body. Hey Canada, thanks a lot!

hardly

[SweetAndSourJesus]

If you're looking for an interesting way to see what cubicles are like in other countries, by all means this is for you. Otherwise, like he said, it's all the same.

Re:Where was capitalism born?

[Daniel Dvorkin]

If you really think capitalism was born in the US, you might want to familiarize yourself with this fascinating resource called a "history book."

Moron.

Re:You make less

[elefantstn]

You will also pay higher taxes. But, you also gain free health care

Right. And if you buy this car, I will give you a free toaster!

Re:Substantially Similar

[Anonymous Coward]

It is wisely said that Canadians are

polite, unarmed Americans, with health care...Republican bullshit not withstanding, the Canadian single-payer health care system works better than anything I have ever seen in the US.

"Polite" Canadians use the word "bullshit", eh?

Re:They don't have sys-admins in Canada

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope that you realize the cold can neither be created nor destroyed. Canadians are doing a vast public service by importing the cold from tropical nations. What we get in the us is the surplus cold that the canadians imported to insure that wet T-shirt contests and spring break in cancun remain interesting.

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[provolt]

And you better get working on the massive inferiority complex.

Awww, Come on...

[Anonymous Coward]

You're just blaming Canada!

Re:Yes, but significantly less ...

[cshark]

And watch out for the squirrels with grenades. They don't have much in the way of motor skills. I adopted one. We called him stumpy. .

Re:hardly

[thogard]

The main difference in other countries is that they don't use 4 foot pannels to make up the partitions, they use 1.2 meter pannels so you'll find your cubical is some multiple of 3/4 inch smaller.

Our confused socialist friends to the north...

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean canada isn't part of the US? I thought for sure they would have applied for statehood by now.

There's no problem with "outsourcing"

[Bingo Foo]

You just have to beware of "ootsourcing."

Re:visa?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think he means vis-eh?

Re:Yes, but significantly less ...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Nazi" should be capitalized.

US v. Canada

[Unregistered]

It's aboot the same up there, but it's pretty cold, eh?

Re:French areas

[jpetts]

but people have a lot of patience if you are seriously interested in learning thier language.

Please let me know if you would like any help with English spelling.

Re:Our confused socialist friends to the north...

[Bingo Foo]

Silly, they're not part of the US; they're only our hat.

Canada: Overclockers heaven

[mozumder]

They wouldn't have to buy 50 case fans when all they would need to do is stick their computers outside...

Re:Meet the new boss

[OglinTatas]

I'm just curious; how'd you manage to get all these different jobs?
He's always been one step ahead of InterPol.

Re:They don't have sys-admins in Canada

[Anonymous Coward]

That's right, up here we don't use computers. I got on my dogsled and crossed the border, found the first Inuit-speaking person that knew how to use a computer, and got them to type this. All the businesses in Canada communicate by people walking around with little bits of polar bear hyde with stuff written on them. The forward radar pickets to detect a flights of inbound soviet bombers during the cold war were really just people stting in igloos listening for the sound of aircraft. The various auto plants up here are not automated, instead of robots we have sticks on strings. Right...

eh!

[supe]

If your going to live there you need to speak the language. I'll rephrase from your post.. "I've been working as a sysadmin for an insurance company in the US for the past six years, and have decided to move to Canada, eh"

Re:Substantially Similar

[_Sprocket_]

Just think of what he WOULD have said about Republicans if he weren't polite.

Re:The US hardly has a monopoly

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't understand. The US has been exporting it's evil all over the globe for years now. It's impossible to escape the US manufactured evil anymore. Unfortunately for those hapless souls that imported US brand evil, it has a 100% infection rate. We're all doomed.

beavers with handguns

[genericacct]

Those are here in Oregon. Anyone can get a concealed-carry license!

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[nacturation]

No, no... you've got it all wrong. You need to highlight your Americancy by throwing in some of your own country's words:

Well shizzle my nizzle, but y'all better listen to this guy as y'aint from around here... he knows what he's talking aboot, uh-huh. Fo' True, a-yup, that'll learn ya's. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

Re:One nice thing about working in Canada...

[Anonymous Coward]

I think its probably their foreign policy actually is a policy rather than unrestrained disguised self interest.

Re:Seeing alot of misinformation...

[loconet]

......... Your name is Joe, and YOU ARE CANADIAN!.

Re:Canadian bacon is called...

[cavemanf16]

...broadband internet access and cable TV are significantly cheaper (for you slashdotters out there).

Uhhh... how many of us here AREN'T slashdotters?!??

Re:Our confused socialist friends to the north...

[Talonius]

Canada is our hat. Mexico is our pants. What the hell does that make Florida?

More impotently, think about how limp and dysfunctional that makes the United States.

(Impotently is a joke. I know how to spell importantly. ;p)

Re:Standard Canadian Joke

[hardcode]

This is /. - just as long as there's a pulse...

Re:Trying to rewrite history

[corbettw]

He ran away from the taxes, poor health care, and constant interference of the government to come to California.

OMG, if he thought California was an improvement on those things, Canada must be truly screwed.

Canada has something to offer everybody!

[coldtone]

It's a vast and diverse country, however before moving to Canada you should pick the province that best suits your personality.

East Coast (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI )
Do you like to Drink? Do you prefer to work summers and take winter off? Don't mind if the women aren't very attractive? The east coast is for you!

Québec

Are you looking for a place that's like Europe, but with half the class? Then say Bonjour to Québec!

Ontario

Do you miss Clinton? Are you gay? Like working for the government? Are you the smartest person you know? Then the logical choice is Ontario.

Manitoba

Like hating where you live? Being unemployed? Do you enjoy being eaten alive by mosquitoes in the summer and frozen solid in the winter? Then man its time to go to Manitoba.

Saskatchewan

Can't read? Sick of all the trees and hills messing up your views? Then welcome to the flatlands.

Alberta

Are you a redneck? Sick of being surrounded by hippies all the time. Want to support a winning hockey team? Then Alberta's the ticket cowboy.

British Columbia

Are you high? Do you want to be? Then dude! Hit the west coast man!

Re:hardly

[constantnormal]

Ah, but how many Canadians do they pack into a "standard" cube?

In my manic corner of corporate Amerika, it's 4 bods per cube, each one with 2 beepers and 2 cellphones in addition to the "desk phone", so you're trying to concentrate amidst a cacophony of beeping madness and cubemates shouting into one of their phones to overcome the general din.

But we're productive, by God.

Re:Our confused socialist friends to the north...

[Anonymous Coward]

Just remember that we can live quite comfortably without a hat. Without us, you'd be even more full of shit.

Re:hardly

[russellh]

I don't know about you, but I don't live at work. I actually go home every day, and do non-work things in the evenings and on weekends.

cool! tell us what it's like!

Prostitutes are also incredibly inexpensive

[benzapp]

A beautiful blonde female of French decent would cost you $1000 per hour in New York.

In Montreal, it will run you $150.

That is the real bargain.

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[jwsmith00]

Less guns, more hockey violence. Like really, how many hockey players have been charged in the last 3 months?

Re:I'm 22

[kir]

I've heard it at least a dozen times. It's fairly disgusting.

What? The bacon or the beer?

Work in Canada...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you like the idea of the same corporate 9-5, often with lots of unpaid OT. The same Corporate pointy haired uninformed miscreants which is typical of the normal IT Project / Dept. Manager

All that, plus half the income and more than twice the taxes.. massive deductions for things you will likely never be able to reclaim (CPP, EI), then for good measure add another 15% on top of any services or goods you buy while there.

Good healthcare mind you. More open space. Completely comical Political scene.

We have excellent beaver, make great poutine, can drink and be merry. say "eh" and "out and about" a lot.

Draw your own conclusions.

Re:Greatest difference:

[Anonymous Coward]

So, am I the only one who did an image search for back bacon?

My favorite Canadian joke

[Yeechang Lee]

SubtleNuance wrote:
> Canada *dosnt have* an "inferitority complex" as
> much as USAians are incapable of seeing us
> WITHOUT *their* Superiority Complex -- get it?
> The USAians are projecting... and it speaks more
> to your hubris than our opinion of the world --
> get it?

The silly comment quoted above reminds me of my favorite Canadian joke:

Canadian to American: "Tell me, what do Americans *really* think of Canada?"

American to Canadian: "We don't."

Re:Prostitutes are also incredibly inexpensive

[flacco]

A beautiful blonde female of French decent would cost you $1000 per hour in New York.

In Montreal, it will run you $150.

cool! lessee... $150 per hour... so the cost to a typical slashdotter would be $1.86!

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[Moofie]

You're tarring with a pretty broad brush there, buddy. Believe it or not, there are at least two or three Americans who don't eat Canadian children for breakfast every morning.

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[Kombat]

Actually...there was a documentary by Michael Moore called "Bowling for columbine",

I'm gonna stop you right there, because, well, Michael Moore is a partisan, sensationalistic idiot. Also, you misspelled "fictional comedy" in your quote above - I highlighted the misspelling for you.

Re:Speaking as a Canadian...

[cloudmaster]

Who? *I* sure don't know any...