I have never been to Canada, and my husband says life there is not as easy as I’m having it in Vietnam.
I’m 45 and have a son with my previous husband, who is in grade 12. If nothing unexpected happens, I will retire in 10 years and receive monthly pensions from the government.
I recently got married to a Canadian man who is kind, a few years younger than me, is highly educated and has a good job in Vietnam. Meanwhile, I’m working at a financial company and have two houses for rent, which makes my total monthly income of around VND60 million (around $2,500). I also own the house we are living in.
My husband and I both lead simple lifestyles: we carefully calculate our monthly expenses, do not spend much money on entertaining, and make saving our habit. We have been contemplating whether to emigrate to Canada after my son graduates from high school.
On the one hand, as I have researched, living costs in Canada are expensive and keep rising. Seeing a doctor requires making appointments in advance. Not every public school is of high quality. And it is cold most of the time in the year.
My husband doesn’t have a house in Canada, and even if I sell all of the three houses I own in Vietnam, we will still not be able to afford a house in Toronto.
Many also say Vietnamese people seeking to move to Canada should forget about their educational degrees, current jobs and salaries, and comfortable lives in Vietnam in order to get themselves familiar with hard labor jobs, getting paid with hourly rates, and saving as much as possible to pay for housing and food.
On the other hand, my son and I will be granted Canadian citizenship and nationality in a few years, which is attractive as well.
