Will your standard of living change in Canada?

This is one of the fears of many Brazilians when immigrating. Many people who come to Canada – especially the more mature ones – have a stable economic life in Brazil, with a job, a comfortable home and everything else. Leaving everything behind and starting over in an unknown country, where your professional life also starts over, can bring up some fears and one of them is “will my standard of living drop?”

I invite you to a two-part reflection. 

Part 1: 

The practical side of devaluing newcomer money. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you will arrive here with your savings in reais. And today the difference is 4 x 1. The Canadian dollar exchange rate today was R$ 4.10. So right off the bat, that's 4 times less than your money is worth in Brazil. That's a big deal, and in the beginning you'll have to save every penny, and any extra tomato you buy will hurt a little. You might experience a feeling that you didn't have in Brazil anymore, especially if you earned a lot. 

The first thing that will impact your standard of living and that you will be comparing (yes, you will compare and there is no way not to do it because we are human and we have a history) is housing. Most people who come from Brazil live in comfortable houses, with great space, infrastructure, etc. If this is your case, be prepared to live smaller and perhaps much simpler, at least in the beginning. 

I don't even need to talk about services such as maids, cleaning ladies, etc., because this is already talked about so much by everyone who makes content about the first world that it would be more of the same cliché. If people understand the least about social equality and consumer society, they know that in the first world such services are much more expensive and there is no culture of "do everything for me".

And to get away from the clichés a little, I now invite you to the second part of this reflection. 

Part 2:

One thing that will help you in a possible contrast in standard of living is the awareness about it. Think what you want to change in your life and your family, if you come with it, and what transformation these changes will bring to you. They will be your “standard of living” now. What changes are you looking for? 

New luxuries. Here you will have freedom and it will bring you other rewards. Brazil is so big and beautiful, but we can’t enjoy life outside the home as we do here. Not in all cities and situations. Here, having a picnic in the park or reading a book in a square will make you forget about many material goods and things that gave you pleasure in Brazil. Then you might ask yourself “Why have a huge house?”, “Why have such an expensive car?”, “Why do I need such a big TV?” 

Maybe you will do what I call “exchange of rewards”. In Brazil, the consumption of material goods is so valued that we often buy expensive things to compensate for basic things that we don't have. “status” that we gain in Brazil by acquiring expensive and valuable things brings the feeling of power and that we are loved (the philosopher Alain de Botton has a great book about this, it's called “Desire for Status”). In Canada, we feel more free to come and go and mainly to be who we are and this gives us a feeling of power and “status” too, but in another level. On a much deeper and more transformative level. 

Ask yourself: What are the pillars that support your happiness today? Are you disappointed with life in the society you live in, for some reason? Could it be that this has to do with the very high expectations that they place on you and that you place on yourself, especially in relation to material goods, career and money? Imagine freeing yourself a little from this? (Not completely, since we live in a capitalist world, but it is possible to throw away a lot of old concepts). 

Here you will have some pleasures that you would never imagine you could value. Maybe because you have never experienced them. You will reward yourself with: outdoor life, safety, quality public services, respect for others and for what is collective, decent public transportation, accessible education, more educated people, less violence and a lot of other things that are called quality of life (by the way, the Canada is considered the first country in the world in this regard).

And when you are in the second or third stage of this journey – which is different for everyone – earning well and getting back into the job market, your purchasing power will be amazing. You can even buy your own house if you want. But the concept of “status” will have changed in your head. Your heart may have changed. And you will enjoy every second of your daily rewards with everything you didn’t even know existed before. 

Good Life Canada!

Hugs,

Adri Pasa

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