# Education and Medical/Health Care



## Timaru (Oct 17, 2008)

Hi everybody,
we are a German/Korean family and a couple of years ago we moved from Korea (where I was working as an Expat for several years) to New Zealand. After a long struggle with the Immigration Service we finally got our permanent residence approved. Apart form the bad housing we encountered in NZ everything was going well.

But by now we have two issues bothering us (apart from the still bad housing):
Our daughter started to go to primary school and their focus on the begining is on literacy. I absolutely agree to that approach as someone who can't read can't learn. By now she is the fourth grade and since a long time we are talking to school about the need we feel to move their focus on numeracy as well. But not much is happening. Also we feel that the school should challenge the kids more and not just take a Laissez-Fair and Take-it-Easy approach all the time. To all the parents in the forum, how are your experiences with the canadian education system ?
The second issue we have is the health system. In NZ the health system is government funded, same as in Canada I believe. But over the years we have learned, that if you have to deal with the healthsystem and need medical care or attention, you will only receive the amount of care the budget allows for. In my opinion the top priority in the NZ health system is not the patient's health, but the annual budget. If your GP thinks you need further treatment, the GP will apply for it at the local healthboard and a bunch of bureaucrats there then is deciding if you will receive the requested treatment or not, and if yes when.
Again my questions to the forum members, how do you rate the canadian healthsystem and how are your experiences ?

Cheers


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## sokoto (Oct 21, 2008)

General issues with Canadian healthcare (do not claim to be exhaustive, and may vary according to region):

1. In Ontario there is a shortage of family doctors.

2. Access: though facilities are available there tend to be long wait times for tests and procedures due to demand.

3. Not everything is covered. Dental, optical, medications are not covered.

However, most permanent employment provides medical benefits that cover what health care does not. Overall, I think that the medical care has some issues of concern, as mentioned, but am not aware of anything like what you describe in NZ. A test or procedure is either covered or it isnt. If it is, and is recommended by your doctor, then there are no issues re costs.


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