Of course, the US has 302 million people give or take and Canada has abut 30 million.  About .0036% of Americans moved to Canada last year while about .073% of Canadians moved here.  Much more relevant figures than the absolute numbers, given the size disparity…

A former Prime Minister of New Zealand was once challenged about the number of Kiwis departing for Australia. He replied that each one who left raised the average IQ of both countries. Don’t know how this applies here ...

On behalf of the United States, let me offer to Canada as many of our labor organizers as she wants.

Just curious… is Alec Baldwin among them? And if not, then why not?

I think it might be that Mr. Baldwin can only get a temporary workers permit. If he wanted to stay here, he’d have to invest in some sort of business.

But seriously, much of the flow of people to the US from Canada is because of an odd difference in the tax laws that really benefit Canadian professional class workers, like me. Our post-secondary system is good, not great except for certain centres of excellence, but generally good. It’s also much less expensive to get a degree in engineering, medicine, dentistry, nursing, commerce, etc than in the US for the same quality of education. On top of that, our student loan interest is tax deductible. So our employers, knowing the normal debtload of new grads, offer an appropriate salary.

Same happens in the US. The difference is that a doctor here has an average student loan burden around $80,000 ($0 in Quebec if you agree to serve 5 years in a rural clinic after residency). My nephew has started in dentistry at Indiana (a reputable school) and calculates his eventual debt at $450,000.

On top of that, we Canadians do not have mortgage interest deductibility. So it is very attractive for Canadian professionals to take jobs in the US. The NAFTA exemption makes it very attractive and easy for US companies to hire Canadians. One friend moved from a high-tech job here in Ottawa to one in Boston, with approximately the same complexity and level of responsibility. His salary more than doubled. He came back with enough cash to buy a house outright.

Our socialism is more of an outgrowth of the co-op movements of Western Canada than the Communism of the 20s and is therefore more conservative than the US media makes it out to be. There is significant influence by the labour movement, of course, but labour here is not that radical because the members here mostly know that squeezing the boss too hard moves jobs to Tennessee or Guadaloupe.

I grew up with a US airbase in my back yard in Labrador. I love many things about Americans and many things that I don’t. They are the best neighbours in the world, but I sometimes wish they’d turn down the volume.

“moves jobs to Tennessee “
And we thank you for sending the jobs our way!  We are getting a lot from Japan as well.

Bill:  “...but I sometimes wish they’d turn down the volume.”

So do we!

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

I’ve always thought that being Canadian must be rather like living next door to the Simpsons.

The booming oil industry in Alberta is a draw, but most workers drawn by this will follow commodity prices, when they inevitably go south.

Given the population disparities, per capita migration north would have to 300,000 a year to make it even.

I agree Ed. What is also obvious to me is that the vast majority of the citizens of both countries are quite happy with where they are. And mostly appreciate their good neighbours. (Even if we spell funny)

Every once in a while, I check the library job openings in Canada.  I’d love to live in the Maritine Provences, especially the smallest, Prince Edward Island.  I have fond memories of my visit there 20 years ago.  But I don’t like the political scene up there, and it would be a difficult adjustment for this Christian, conservative, Republican to make.