I'm kind of in a strange boat right now where I'm really comfortable in Canada yet I can't shake this feeling I need to get over to the US of A in order to take advantage of that strong USD. I, like many Canadians, work for an American firm and have a TN visa. Recently, my employer offered to sponsor me for a green card, if I ever choose to relocate to the USA. I can live pretty much anywhere I want as I'm a remote employee, but I do travel to the USA for client work.
It's a tough decision to make. While I consider it, I thought I'd ask the community. So, say you good lemmings?
If you are single this sounds like it might be an interesting opportunity as long as you find a GOOD place to settle in the US. Much like every province is very different in Canada so are the states.
However keep a few things in mind:
you will be a foreigner ( make sure you know your rights / or lack there of)
your employment terms may change immediately from being fairly safe and having severance in Canada in law to changing to at will termination in the US depending on the state and situation.
find out ALL the details of your company medical coverage and its cost before going, everything will cost you money medically in the US but you might get faster service
If you are thinking about buying a home find out what the laws are for foreigners on a TN visa.. Also find out what the property taxes are as in some states they are VERY high, while the price of the home is attractive.
Alternatively look into low cost of living places in Canada and consider moving within Canada. You may find that there is a lot of difference in the provinces and major cities.
There's like 4 states I would consider in the US in terms of having similar protections as Canada while having good employment opportunities: Washington, California, New York, and Massachusetts. Unfortunately, these states are all insanely expensive and quickly eat into whatever pay raise you would be getting unless you're a software engineer or something.
Yeah, someone was telling me we're rich for owning a condo and a cottage that were both the cheapest we found on the market and that were both for sale for months before we bought then... Two people owning 150k worth of property and "we're rich"...