Can you explain how our welfare system is different from US. Are there not "lifers" on the dole there as well? Last I checked I think there is a larger % of Americans on various social assistance programs than up here. Welfare is definitely not easy to get but once in the system, one can stay in forever, and those people will always exist no matter how good the job market. In fact, the number of people on welfare has been steadily decreasing for some time. I'm wondering if you are referring to Employment Insurance (EI) in your comment. It requires a certain amount of time working before one can qualify as we pay into the fund through deductions from salary. You must apply within one week of your last day of work and benefits last less than a year at around 50% of your last pay rate. So not something to rely on long term. if you work for the govt., in a union, your contract could very likely allow you to be on a disability for a year, come back to work for one day then be qualified for another year of disability. I get confused by the "commie canada" comments I always see on here. We aren't like that at all. Until Justin at least and I don't believe our elections are any more legit than yours. Thanks in advance for your insight.
I'm not going to assume things haven't changed from 30 years ago. Things in the States have degraded a lot in that time. There are plenty of lifers on welfare in the States. I don't know how that works, but the people who do are generational welfare recipients.
At the time I was working closely with some Canadians, I had people bragging to me that they only had to work a couple more months to go back on unemployment. One guy had only been with the company a few months, and had spent something like the previous 18 months living in a cabin in the Georgian Bay area, drinking, fishing, and chasing girls (he had the beer gut to prove the drinking part). I seem to recall he had a mix of unemployment and welfare.
Me, being who I am, asked a lot of questions. I was surprised at how easy it was for some people to game the system. I don't recall all the details anymore.
Honestly, I loved most of the people I knew from Canada. Most were fairly conservative. Had a couple different families come down and stay with us, and made a couple trips up to visit them. Sadly, lost touch with them over the years.
Can you explain how our welfare system is different from US. Are there not "lifers" on the dole there as well? Last I checked I think there is a larger % of Americans on various social assistance programs than up here. Welfare is definitely not easy to get but once in the system, one can stay in forever, and those people will always exist no matter how good the job market. In fact, the number of people on welfare has been steadily decreasing for some time. I'm wondering if you are referring to Employment Insurance (EI) in your comment. It requires a certain amount of time working before one can qualify as we pay into the fund through deductions from salary. You must apply within one week of your last day of work and benefits last less than a year at around 50% of your last pay rate. So not something to rely on long term. if you work for the govt., in a union, your contract could very likely allow you to be on a disability for a year, come back to work for one day then be qualified for another year of disability. I get confused by the "commie canada" comments I always see on here. We aren't like that at all. Until Justin at least and I don't believe our elections are any more legit than yours. Thanks in advance for your insight.
I'm not going to assume things haven't changed from 30 years ago. Things in the States have degraded a lot in that time. There are plenty of lifers on welfare in the States. I don't know how that works, but the people who do are generational welfare recipients.
At the time I was working closely with some Canadians, I had people bragging to me that they only had to work a couple more months to go back on unemployment. One guy had only been with the company a few months, and had spent something like the previous 18 months living in a cabin in the Georgian Bay area, drinking, fishing, and chasing girls (he had the beer gut to prove the drinking part). I seem to recall he had a mix of unemployment and welfare.
Me, being who I am, asked a lot of questions. I was surprised at how easy it was for some people to game the system. I don't recall all the details anymore.
Honestly, I loved most of the people I knew from Canada. Most were fairly conservative. Had a couple different families come down and stay with us, and made a couple trips up to visit them. Sadly, lost touch with them over the years.