Canada

Table of Contents

Personal stories

This section consists of personal anecdotes from people living in Canada. Remember to take it as stories, but they can point you where you can do more research.

Cost of living

person 1:

See this article from the MSVU website, a local university in Nova Scotia's capital city - Halifax: https://www.msvu.ca/international/guidance-for-new-international-students/preparing-for-msvu-and-halifax/understanding-the-cost-of-living/

person 2:

It's pretty high by the standards of much of the world but honestly Vancouver (which people seem to think is the worlds most expensive city) is far cheaper than living in Southern England. I've found a room for about half the price, petrol is half the price, electricity about 1/4. Food is about the same, but you need to adjust what you buy. Fish is hilariously cheap here, dairy hilariously expensive. Oh, and if you're in a tech field and can find work, pay is double!

Access to HRT

person 1:

In Nova Scotia, you need to speak with a mental health professional (counselor, therapist, psychologist, social worker) or a doctor who has WPATH training to help you write a letter of readiness for HRT and/or surgery. They will ask you a number of personal and repetitive questions to help build this letter.

Once that is done, you will need to show it to a doctor to receive HRT/be put onto a waitlist for surgery. The doctor will want to have some conversations with you about what you know about HRT and its effects. Almost everyone you talk to will ask you if you care about fertility being affected and ask you if you want to preserve sperm/eggs. Once those conversations are done, you can access HRT pretty quickly - some clinics offer support with injections.

The waitlists for surgeries can be multiple years long, and if you live in Nova Scotia, you need to go to Quebec to get bottom surgery. There is (currently) a surgeon in NS that does top surgery.

person 2:

I can't get proper coverage yet, so having to rely on a community service to get prescription refilled. It depends on the province. You need to register with them and you get access to the health system. Here I need a contract for over 6 months employment, which I don't have yet. I went to a community health centre able to help me without coverage. They renewed my prescription and gave me a blood test. They can't change my dosage but at least I wont run out of HRT.

Finding work

person 1:

It can be quite challenging - it can take from 6 months to over a year to find a job, even for some of the most experienced people. I was an employment counselor for awhile and saw this firsthand. I work in adult education and community programs - if you are also in this field, I find that employers either look for extremely generalized skills or knowledge in specific niches in this area. There is a lot of opportunity for people who want to teach English classes to adults. There is also some success to be had in self-employment ventures in this field if you have the skills.

person 2:

So far, it's proving impossible. I've had a single interview in about 4 months of searching. Even if I'm perfectly suited for a pretty niche role, they don't ever get back to me. Really causing me a lot of issues but I have savings to keep going just a little longer. I may have to try and start my own business. In the UK finding work was easier.

Queer acceptance and safety

person 1:

Some provinces are safer than others. Provinces with Conservative political governments tend to be worse - but a better way to tell would be to have a look at recent transgender legislature in any province. For example, Nova Scotia does technically have a Conservative government, but we recently released a plan to ensure 2SLGBTQIA+ safety here. There doesn't seem to be a high threat to transgender rights in Nova Scotia. However, Alberta seems to be have some anti-trans legislature coming to the forefront.

person 2:

It's great. People treat you no differently than they would if you were cis. I can walk down the street and not be stared at by everyone. I won't get spat on here either! The people are the main reason to come here, they're great eh!

It's not just my area too. I've been to almost every province, and for the most part you could throw a dart at a map of Canada, go to where it lands, and the people there will be lovely to you. Even in rural Alberta I had no trouble, they wouldn't leave me alone! 

Access to higher education as an immigrant

person 1:

I would heavily recommend to go onto the individual school websites to find information, because that it is where it will be the most direct:

Immigration rules

person 2:

If you're from certain countries and under 30 (or 35 for the UK), have over $2500 and health insurance, then you get into Canada using the IEC work permit. It lasts 2 years, but can be renewed for another two if you pay for it. From there you'll need to get PR but if you have some skills and can find work in something in that field, you can be eligible in as little as a year. Thanks to the utter stupidity of Brexit, it's now easier for me to move to Canada than it is the EU. I would have probably gone to Germany or the Netherlands (Love it there), but Canada was easier and suits me well too.

Language barrier

person 2:

Most people speak English, but in some of Canada they speak a lot of French. The English here throws me a bit though due to having some different words for things compared to the UK. I can understand it better than they understand me, it seems. At least they mostly spell things correctly!

Contact us

If you know about life in Canada as an LGBTQ+ person or would like to ask us questions about Canada, you can reach out to us using the contact form.