independent movement
How long ago did you go to Canada?
— I moved to Canada in 2018, first got a residence permit on my own and completely moved in 2019. That is two years before the pandemic.
– Do I understand correctly that you work for an American company?
– Yes, at 10up I work as a lead developer at Frontend (creating program interfaces – what the user sees and interacts with – socialbites.ca), it will be three years in August. This company designs the website. I was hired in 2020.
— How did you come to Canada?
— Even when I was doing Frontend development in Russia for the last few years, I worked mainly with clients from Los Angeles (other companies) prior to the move.
That’s why I wanted to approach the USA. Although this job is freelance, it is still not very suitable when there is a difference in time zones.
I found a program called Federal Skilled Worker on a Canadian site. To move, you just need to meet certain requirements: level of education, no criminal record, work experience – and work experience does not need to be verified and correspond to education.
For example, if you work in the field of web design, graphic design, then that’s roughly it under the general heading of IT and you just need confirmation from the employer that you are who you say you are. Well, and knowledge of English.
If you meet these requirements, you will receive a certain amount of points and, based on their number, approximately once a month, Canada makes an election.
– And it was this choice that made you go to Canada for the first time?
– Yes. Those who pass the selection by the required number of points receive an invitation to submit a complete package of documents. The whole procedure took about a year from the moment of the idea to the moment they sent me the final approval.
First they send you an invitation to the embassy. You go to the embassy, they give you an immigrant visa and you enter Canada with it.
— You mentioned that the client is in the USA and what kind of experience did you have in Russian companies before that?
— Initially, I worked as a graphic designer in Chelyabinsk. And gradually we started taking small orders for websites from graphic design, thanks to my father, thanks to acquaintances. In other words, we wanted to deal more with web design, not just graphic printing.
Then it turned out that we had an order for the site that was supposed to be delivered in early January. I was doing web design and we hired another programmer. And he disappeared, stopped communicating before the New Year.
As a result, I had to create the first site myself. I spent the Christmas holidays understanding how Java works and completing the site.
– And so you gradually came to improve?
– In the beginning there was only one story, but then I fell off the bike and broke my back, and I became more interested in my development – I had to lie in bed with a corset for six months.
I used this time to develop further in this area. This was about six months after the site.
After that, we started taking more orders in the studio. Then he started freelancing, because through his acquaintances he received an order from a Moscow company. And so I gradually became a Frontend developer because this specialization has more to do with design. I like the visual part.
– Why Canada?
– One of my classmates went to Canada with another program before me. I had three best friends in Chelyabinsk and they all went to different places. One for China, one for the USA, one for Canada.
It was possible to move to Canada faster in terms of documents. This country is more liberal when it comes to immigration.
During Covid, many people here had their work permits run out, so the authorities started a program – if the document expired during the pandemic, the immigrant is given another 18 months to renew. I have not heard such stories in the USA.
Life in Canada
– Did you immediately live in Toronto after moving from Russia?
– Not exactly. First I moved to Toronto, where I spent two weeks and for no reason decided to move to Montreal. He lived in Montreal for two years and only then moved to a permanent life in Toronto.
– What is the reason for this choice? Was it more expensive in Toronto?
– They’re more or less the same in terms of immigration. Every place has its pros and cons.
It is true that housing is cheaper in Montreal, the cost of goods and services is cheaper, but taxes and income tax are much higher.
In Toronto, by contrast, the cost of housing is much higher, the cost of goods and services is higher, but taxes are lower. So if the salary is lower, it’s cheaper to live in Montreal.
But the difference is that if you really want to live in Montreal, you need to know French. Without the language it will not be possible to get a special buzz from life, because the city already has French roots. I didn’t try to learn French.
– So, in public places, does French have priority over English?
“When you enter a store in Montreal, they will address you in French first, you will answer in English and they will switch to English.
Even in Montreal there is such a thing when they say “Bonjour hi” (“hello” in French and English, respectively – “socialbites.ca”), which means you can speak any language. Such a local thing. They even have “Bonjour hi” t-shirts.
Canada’s main disadvantage
— Some IT professionals who moved to Canada from Russia are more critical of the country when it comes to immigration. For example, there is very little money left due to taxes and almost all of it goes to rent.
– This is true. After the salary comes, 30% is deducted, plus about 2 thousand Canadian dollars (about 116 thousand rubles) goes to rent.
– So at what point does this 30% turn into 45% income tax?
– When you start earning close to 1 million Canadian dollars (57.9 million rubles per year), then they turn into 45%.
Roughly speaking, if you earn 80 thousand (4.6 million rubles) a year in Ontario, and this is the average salary, then there will be 20% income tax. With a salary of 100 thousand (5.8 million rubles) – 22%.
And it is growing slowly. For example, I calculated that if you earn 200 thousand (11.6 million rubles) – 34% of the tax, and 300 thousand (17.3 million rubles) – 40.1 million Canadian dollars, you pay more than 50% of your salary.
— What income tax does your salary correspond to?
— My salary corresponds to 30% income tax in the region. Earnings of 150 thousand (8.7 million rubles) per year corresponds to 29.48% of income tax.
Challenges of a freelancer in Canada
— What is the maximum salary for your position in Canada?
— I can say very little about the Ontario or Toronto market because all my work in Russia was about freelancing. Even when working for the USA.
Even now in Canada, I work as a sole trader for 10up. My contract with the company only implies that I cannot work with anyone else.
– Do you have health insurance?
– No, but the advantage of living in Canada is that the drugs are free.
But only in certain situations?
— Yes, not at all. If you have no insurance in America, you will break your arm there and immediately receive 5-10 thousand dollars (390-780 thousand rubles).
There are two levels of health insurance in Canada. The first is by province. They offer services if you are hospitalized for an emergency or life-threatening illness. It’s just free.
Everything related to cosmetology and dentistry is second, additional, you either pay yourself or the employer pays.
– Has an American company offered you to work with them and become a full-time employee?
– There was no such talk directly from them, but there are such options. There are several types of visas that allow you to reside in Canada and work in the USA. For this, you need to get a Canadian passport after living in the country for three years. I am in the process of receiving.
Canada’s main advantage
– Is obtaining a Canadian passport linked to the desire to travel the world more freely?
– Yes. It’s pretty easy with a Canadian passport. For example, in the Schengen area.
10up holds a corporate summit annually, the next will be in Iceland. I needed to get a Schengen visa with a Russian passport to get in. If he had a Canadian passport it would be possible not to do this.
How is a Canadian passport application processed?
– The process is pretty clearly defined: first they do a test for knowledge of the country, check if there are any travel restrictions, count how many days you have spent in Canada, etc. Everything is clearly described.
— Are you satisfied with being self-employed in Canada?
– Still, the situation of a self-employed person is not entirely favorable at some points, because you have to calculate taxes yourself, take care of all the problems yourself.
For example, I rent a co-working space a few days a week so I don’t have to work from home all the time.
Settling in Canada
How long did your adaptation process take?
– About a year. Because you don’t have to pay taxes when you arrive. A year has passed – you need to figure out how to pay taxes. And then – how to get a driver’s license, how to get a bank account, how to get health insurance.
Did you manage to rent an apartment right away?
– Not now. To rent an apartment, you need to show a good credit history. Plus, submit documents stating that you work somewhere.
And for newcomers, these are probably the hardest moments because there is neither one nor the other. And somehow you have to get rid of it.
While you’re on your credit record, you can somehow find a room for the first time or live with friends while you’re looking for a job.
How did you build a credit history?
— First they make a prepaid credit card. In fact, it acts like a debt. But he has different plans. I’m trying to use a credit card like a debit card. In principle, cash is not really needed anywhere in Canada.
— How difficult was it to switch completely to English in communication?
— I was lucky that my parents sent me to a language school when I was little. And I’ve been speaking English since I was about eight years old.
For the first six months it was difficult to adapt to the fact that there was no Russian here and you spoke English all the time.
Sometimes you get bored of it. It sounds like you’re solving some problems.
Has it gotten easier over time?
– Maybe yes, it’s harder for me to speak Russian now. My sister laughs at me when I start speaking Russian in English sentences. You make up a sentence in your head and then say it in Russian.
He constantly gives examples of funny videos where a woman from America adds English words all over the place.
I get three to five calls a day for work, which means I speak English every day.
Here we have a group of friends that I communicate with, and they are from different parts of the world – Canada, India, Asia – they all speak English. You rarely need to switch to Russian.