# Canada vs Australia !!



## 3zooz (Mar 18, 2011)

I want any of you guys who've been to both countries to explain and advice me of the major difference between them.
I've been in Australia for a year and a half now and to be honest I'm seriously considering a move or a shift to Canada. I don't find Australia quite encouraging actually!! Life is expensive here, rent, cars, food, ... etc 
I'm a pharmacist and conditions here for pharmacists is not good at all. They are being paid v. low wages, $25/hr which is almost the same as any technician ($20-22), there are no jobs at all or to be honest it's v.v.v. difficult to find a job as a pharmacist here 'cause there is an oversupply &
may be this is why I'm a bit disappointed!!! (Nurses are being paid higher wages than pharmacists in Australia!!!!)
I didn't expect it to be like that. Another thing, I find Australians are not that welcoming towards immigrants especially those of different color. Nothing major happens, but you can feel it in your daily routine!! Am I right ?? (don't know , may be I'm a bit obsessed, but this is how I feel it).
I want to know whether Canada will be a better option or this is normal everywhere!! I don't wanna end up with the same problems elsewhere.
Can any of you advice me on that ?
If there is any pharmacist in here, will eagerly look forward to his advice also!!

Cheers


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## telcoman (Feb 11, 2010)

I am not a pharmacist, but I know a lot about it. I live in Vancouver. Our best friends are pharmacists from Columbia. It is a very well paying job here and demand for them is high. The problem is getting certified. You have to run through a series of tests plus a 3 month practicum (unpaid). The tests run about $5000, and if you fail one you have to wait 6 months to rewrite. They cover English proficiency, pharmacy laws here & scientific knowledge. There are also oral exams. They go in groups of 3 with waiting periods between them, You cannot expect to be able to practice for at least 3 years. My friends got jobs in drug research companies in the interim.

Starting wage for a pharmacist is about $65 an hour. Vancouver, and Canada in general, can be expensive for housing, but pharmacists, once certified can work almost anywhere. Move into the outer suburbs, housing cost declines dramatically. Cars, etc are much cheaper than Oz, however.

*Now the good news*, if you are certified in Australia you may be able to skip most of this. Canada allows pharmacists from certain countries to move across with very little hassle, and Australia may well be one of them. You may only have to write the test concerning laws which are probably almost the same as the Aussie ones.. If you send me an email to [email protected] I will put you in touch with my friend who may be able to find that out for you or give you the department to contact.

You will be unlikely to encounter much racial prejudice in Vancouver for starters. The city is very multicultural and you will probably find the weather more to your liking than Calgary or Toronto. Explore my website (Link below) for non commercial information on the city. Contact me.


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## 3zooz (Mar 18, 2011)

Any other contributions ppl ?!


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## JimJams (Jan 11, 2010)

Sorry, to contribution from me unfortunately but definitely interested in people's experience. I am looking to go out to both Canada and Australia, with a view to settling in one of them, but having not visited either am undecided which (I will visit both, but would like to make my 2nd port of call the one i actually want to settle in!).

I work in IT as a Web Developer/Software Engineer and don't think wages are much lower than UK. From what I hear you can earn around $25 an hour as an office temp, so super surprised you making so little!

From what I have read and from friends having been, I'm not expecting any racism, although outside in the "red neck areas" I hear you won't want to venture (but that's prob the same no matter what colour you are!). I'm looking at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Cairns... Certainly not expecting any issues there myself... (I am of indian originally)


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## sublime (Sep 5, 2011)

It depends what you're looking for.

I've spent time in both countries but personally I like Canada better. Australia is beautiful but it feels so far away from everything, it felt like their culture was 10 years behind Canada and the United States. 

True, Canada is cold in the winter. But it was weird in Australia, like I went back in time. Canada has better shopping, better TV, more up-to-date culture... plus the United States and Europe are pretty close.

Plus Canada has more diverse cities. We have Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, 3 totally different cities with different types of people. 

Then there's Ottawa, Quebec City, Calgary, Halifax...there's just more options in Canada


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## CDN2012 (Jun 15, 2011)

Recently the Ontario government make drastic changes to the way Ontario pharmacies are being run. They cut the prices of generic drugs and the incentive programs generic drug makers used to give to the pharmacies. You can google it to find more information. The biggest pharmacy in Ontario Shoppers lead a unsuccessful fight against the new law. And in return, most pharmacies put out a wage freeze on current employee's and and lowered the starting wage of new pharmacist's to roughly $30 per hour. At my wifes pharmacy, she just recently quit as we just moved overseas, they hired a new manager as her old manager went on mat leave a few months ago, and my wife was getting paid a lot more then her new boss as per the wage deduction for new employee's lol.

BC and a few other provinces said that they will be implementing similar polices and laws as they, the government, stand to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

And like the other posted said, the application process can be daunting and expensive, so check to make sure what procedure you will have to follow. 

My wife was a pharmacist in both Vancouver and Toronto, so she has insight to both markets.


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