Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with canada

What's the deal with getting a creative writing MFA from an American school, as a Canadian?

skwt — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:08:53 -0800

What's the deal with getting a creative writing MFA from an American school, as a Canadian? Specifically:

money - am I eligible for funding (grants and/or loans) from American schools? Will the Canadian government lend me money (OSAP? (I'm in Ontario)) to study in the US? Can I do both?

visas - hard to get? Expensive? Long waits?

working - can I work while I'm there on a student visa?

living expenses - I want to go to Brooklyn College, but I'll probably also apply to all the other NYC MFA programs (NYU, New School, Columbia, am I missing any?), and schools in Irvine CA, Iowa, and maybe Austin. Would it be a realistic thing to support myself with whatever kind of low-skill job I might be able to find (in Brooklyn or elsewhere), and still have time to do school/write?

staying/moving to the US when I'm done - is this a hard thing to do?

Any answers are welcome and appreciated, but it would be great to hear from Canadians who have done or are doing this.

BONUS QUESTION: With respect to trying to get a teaching job in Canada afterwards, I've heard someone say Canadian schools don't care about a degree from an American school so much because they don't know which ones are prestigious, with the possible exception of Iowa. Whereas getting a creative writing MA from UofT, or the MFA from Concordia (for example), even though they might have less impressive faculty by international standards, will be more helpful in getting a Canadian teaching job afterwards. Anyone know about this? (Aside, I guess, from the obviously-better Canadian networking opportunities)

Thanks

Stories about WWI/WWII home fronts

booksandlibretti — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:30:21 -0800

Please recommend me some great books about the home front during WWI or WWII. I'm really interested in stories, not academic histories or anything. Novels, diaries, collected letters, and memoirs would all qualify -- basically, I like stories, fictional or not.

Again, I'm looking for a home front setting, not for soldiers' stories. England, Canada, and America would all be obvious choices, but stuff about noncombatant residents in contested areas (like A Woman in Berlin) is also fair game.

I'm especially interested in the London Blitz and the evacuated schoolchildren, so bonus points for books including those elements. Other examples of what I've enjoyed are The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters, and L. M. Montgomery's Rilla of Ingleside. Heck, even the Chronicles of Narnia qualify around the edges.

Thanks in advance!

Canadian Repatriation

tangyraspberry — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:37:29 -0800

If I move back to Canada does my American wife and kid get Canadian citizenship? I'm a Canadian with dual citizenship, living in the U.S. now for nearly 30 years. I just had my first kid with my American wife and, with that event, am now thinking of moving back to Canada.

If I did choose to repatriate what's the procedure? Would I pay taxes to both countries? Would my wife and child become Canadians? Are there informative web sites that address these issues?

Please help me get my tax refund

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:13:53 -0800

I'm Canadian. I was lazy, and forgot to file my tax returns for the three previous years. I also lost all of my T4 slips, and some of my work was done for companies that no longer exist. Am I up the creek without a paddle? I was a pretty disgusting slob for a while (World of Warcraft, don't ask :( ) and didn't file my tax returns for the years of 2005, 2006, and 2007. I didn't owe anything in 2005 or 2006, but I have a fairly sizeable refund owed to me for the year of 2007.

Here's my problem: I'm not sure how to get my giant refund in 2007 without filing my 2005 or 2006 reports. I don't know how I can file those without either fudging the details or somehow re-obtaining my T4 slips (some of which were issued by companies that are no longer in business). Are employers obligated to send T4s to the government as well as employees? If so, can I obtain a copy?

Else, is there some way I can make a (very good-faith) declaration that I didn't owe any income tax that year, or, for that matter, skip paying it altogether, and receive my refund for 2007?

Also, slightly less important, but would still be helpful. Since the 2007 return is overdue, will I still receive my refund in full?

Thanks :D

Throwaway email - cdntax@gmail.com

Montreal?

lockestockbarrel — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:36:01 -0800

Plan our trip to Montreal this August 5-ish to 12-ish. Where should we stay? Where should we eat? What should we do?

My wife and I are going to Montreal for a week as a late honeymoon. We were thinking spending half the time at a hotel and half the time at a B&B. We don't really have anything on our agenda, just exploring the city. Send your recommendations!

Winnipeg blogs

Waitwhat — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:46:25 -0800

I'd like to take a road trip to Winnipeg later this summer and I'm not sure what there is to do. In order to figure this out I'd like to read some local blogs. What are some great Winnipeg-centic blogs?

Gift for parents' 30th Year in Canada

krunk — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:18:42 -0800

How can I help my parents celebrate their 30th anniversary of emigrating to Canada from Britain? They're having a party at the end of July, coinciding with both of their birthdays and their wedding anniversary. I suspect that none of their old friends from England will be there, due to travel costs.

I have 2 weeks to get something together. Any suggestions on a Canada/UK themed gift?

How do I stop vicious libel?

MaxK — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:21:29 -0800

Canadian Libel Lawfilter: How do I send a cease & desist for libel made on the internet? A good friend of mine has been the victim of a rather vicious libel attack making claims that she downloaded the contents of a database she did not access and committed libel against the website the database belongs to. Both statements are patently untrue. I'd like to help her write a cease & desist and take other legal steps as necessary. What applicable laws should I be aware of if both parties reside in Vancouver, British Colombia? Is there a good template for writing a Canadian C&D?

Travel to Canada with past record

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:09:55 -0800

How likely is it that we will be turned back at the Canadian border for 25 year old DUI convictions? My spouse and I are planning a trip north this fall that may include a short hop into Nova Scotia and/or Ontario. Unfortunately, we both have 25 year old drunk driving convictions (from our college days, long before we met each other) and according to information like this and this it is possible that we will be denied entry. How likely is this? Does everyone get a 20+ year background check? Most people? Only a few who look sketchy? Any advice from people in a similar situation is appreciated.

Our options we are considering are avoiding Canada all together or making travel arrangements that don't involve hefty deposits and such and having a backup plan if we turn back. Also, since the convictions in question we each have had a few non-DUI tickets and have never been arrested, much less convicted for, shoplifting, drug offenses, and other crimes that could make us inadmissible. Thanks for your help.

Tell me about running for mayor in (smalltown) Canada

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:01:24 -0800

Canadian politics: If you were thinking about running for mayor of a small town in Canada, what would you do? How would you prepare? What kinds of research would you do, and where would you find information to help you prepare effectively and do a better job if you were elected? What would you read or study? What problems would you expect to face? Where can you find information (online) about the basics of the Canadian mayoral and city/village council system?

Both hard info and anecdotes are welcome.

D1am0ndz r 4ever

ReiToei — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:23:18 -0800

Can anyone recommend somewhere good to buy an engagement ring in Toronto? O glorious hivemind. My beautiful fiancee and I are travelling from Ireland to Toronto in August for 7 days. With the euro being as strong as it is, we thought it might make sense to buy the engagement ring while we're there. Could anyone recommend a good jewelery shop in the city that might be worth visiting?

Visiting Quebec to try and fake French for a week. What should we make a point to do/visit/eat?

Carialle — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:40:20 -0800

Visiting Quebec to try and fake French for a week. What should we make a point to do/visit/eat? My boyfriend and I are visiting Quebec to try and fake French for a week. What should we make a point to do/visit/eat? We will be staying in a timeshare, Lac Morency in Saint Hippoyte. Its about 3 hours from Quebec and 1 hour from Montreal (we will be driving our car). We're hoping to do some outdoor activities while we are there (fishing/hiking/biking) and do a few day trips to Montreal and Quebec as well. Our budget is relatively conscious but flexible. Any suggestions of some fun things to see or do or a great place to eat? We are easy-going, love good beer/scotch/wine, love good food (Eggs Benedict here I come), and aren't necessarily into the tourist scene. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

Cdn flow through shares

Penelope — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:57:20 -0800

Real-life examples of flow-through shares bought by a Canadian. I am considering buying flow-through shares to reduce my taxes this year, because of a capital gain. I have already decided not to invest more than $10,000, which would be less than 10% of my net worth. I have done some research and know they're very high-risk. I called one company in Toronto (Middleton's) who said theirs "averaged an increase of 9% at the end of the mandatory holding period, they'd never had one go bankrupt, and the worst they'd had decreased by 50%". A broker I called basically recommended against them, citing the high-risk. However I am still open to investing the $10,000. Any Canadians used this vehicle, and if so, how did it turn out for them?

Recommend me some Australian and Canadian comedy!

NucleophilicAttack — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:00:15 -0800

Similar to this thread, please recommend some Canadian and Australian comedy! I've seen so far Kids in the Hall, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and Corner Gas from Canada, and The Chaser's War on Everything from Australia. I have similar tastes as the previous poster.

Cheers!

Help me find a way to move to Toronto from the US

DoctorFedora — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:07:46 -0800

Two Americans a year out of college, hoping to find some way to move to Toronto. Is this even plausible? Toronto sounds like just the place I want to live, after talking about it at length with a friend of a friend today who is from there. The problem is that I don't even live in Canada, and I don't know how to get there from here!

My girlfriend and I both graduated from college in 2006 and 2007 (she in December '06, and I in August '07), she with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a focus on marketing, and I with degrees in each of English and Japanese. She worked in retail for a while after graduation (she moved in with me as I finished up college and worked at the local Sears and volunteered at an animal rehabilitation center), and ever since October, when we both wound up having to go back to live with our respective parents (hundreds of miles apart), she's been working part-time for both her local NPR affiliate and her local food co-op, and I've been working as the Publicity Manager and a technical writer, as well as an administrative assistant.

I've been doing mostly publicity, marketing, writing (both technical and non), editing, simple advertisement and brochure design, and administrative stuff, and would hopefully like to break into the publishing industry (or perhaps journalism or tech or any of a number of other industries), although I'd simply be happy with something reasonably interesting with a non-toxic work environment and the ability to work and live in Toronto. My qualifications involve being good with computers (i.e. I do the extended family's tech support and am familiar with Windows, Mac OS, *NIX, Office, etc., but none of it is certified on paper) and being a rather strong editor, though using Chicago style, for someone a year out of college.

My girlfriend likes working with nonprofits and community involvement, though she also quite enjoys marketing work — there's a reason she majored in it! She's managed many teams in her years in retail, but never held a management position on paper. Like I said, she currently works for her local NPR affiliate, in the marketing department, and at her local food co-op, as a co-op person (i.e. knows how to do pretty much everything around the store).

I guess my question is whether we'd have any chance whatsoever of hoping to find employment in Toronto that would be able to lead to getting visas to live there. I've learned it's hard enough for me to even try to find work in other cities within the United States, and I suspect that it'd be even harder when I'm a foreigner who's freshly out of college. A Canadian buddy of mine recommended looking for a smaller company, in the expectation that they would be less likely to be inundated with applications (i.e. I'd be more likely to be the best qualified for a given position) but I don't even know how to go about that. We each have about $3,000 US in savings, she owns her car outright, and I have about $550 in monthly minimum student loan repayments hanging around my neck.

Help me find a plan of action, hive mind! Please!

Who funds the Canadian Taxpayers Federation?

russilwvong — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:34:01 -0800

Where does the Canadian Taxpayers Federation get its funding? The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is often quoted in the press. Today, for example: "Our organization views government surpluses as a sign of overtaxation, and [the $20 billion in surpluses] shows that despite tax relief that has happened at the federal level, and in some cases at provincial levels, governments still take too much money from Canadians," said Adam Taylor, the taxpayers group's national research director. WHAT?! The CTF doesn't think we need to run surpluses to pay off the $500 billion in outstanding debts? (Federal debt is about 30% of GDP, provincial debt is about 20%.)

As they claim to speak for Canadian taxpayers, I'm pretty annoyed by this stance. Looking at their website (linking to climate change deniers and other conservative causes), I'm even more annoyed.

So now I'm wondering: who funds these guys? On their website, they describe themselves as a non-profit organization, and refer to a board of directors; but I don't see any reference to an annual general meeting. It looks like they've got a staff of at least 10 or 20 people. That's, what, running costs of at least half a million a year? I'm skeptical that they're funding this from member contributions of $40/year.

Shipping computers across the Canada & U.S.A. border

danwalker — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:05:58 -0800

I'm in Canada, and I need to send some computers to our office in the U.S.A. (Vermont, to be more specific). Will the hardware be inspected by customs or other security as it crosses the border? A colleague is certain that we can't ship a computer across the border without it being seized and inspected by border security. I've never heard of this, outside of a laptop being carried by an actual person going through customs.

A quick Google turns up lots of info on duties and cross-border shopping, but not much about actually shipping a box of computer equipment into the States. Does a policy/practice/rule about cracking open every box to inspect the computer hardware inside exist? If so, can you tell me anything about it?

1980s preppy/punker short film

btmeacham — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:53:36 -0800

Trying to remember an early '80s (possibly Canadian) short film shown on HBO's Short Take (right after a video for the original "Don't Stand So Close to Me," which might place it around 1980/81, maybe later?) about a prep-school kid who spots a punk rock girl on a train and dreams that he's kissing her.

Is there anything I haven't seen in this neck of the woods?

hiptobesquare — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:13:47 -0800

Vacation spots in Ontario/Quebec? Native Ontarian here. I have vacation for a week in September and for various reasons (time/money) am looking to go "away" (as in away from Toronto) for that week. Are there any areas in Ontario that may be lesser known but nonetheless picturesque? I'm looking for a lake type setting and my budget for the week is about $1,000 for lodging. Not really a big camper, so while I love Algonquin I would prefer to sleep with a roof over my head. No real caveats but there are a couple places that I've been to enough that I wouldn't call them ideal vacation venues, such as:

- Ottawa/Hull
- Niagara
- Tobermory/Manitoulin

Any suggestions?

NOTE: Montreal and Manitoba are options as well, though obviously further away.

Happy to clarify since I'm probably being vague. Thanks!

It might be easier to just fill out an application that comes in the mail...

cgg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:57:42 -0800

I need help finding the best deal on a Canadian credit card. My current point-getting Canadian credit card (which has served me relatively well for the last few years) is ending their program, so I'm looking to replace it.

In order of priority, I'm looking for a Canadian card that:

* is a visa (seems to be accepted in more places than mastercard)
* has no yearly fee
* low interest rate (I don't usually carry a balance, but I sometimes get stuck with a due date on the 21st, and payday is the 30th.)
* Has a good cash-back system (as opposed to a points-for-merchandise deal)
* decent fraud protection
* from a bank that I've at least heard of.
* good starting credit limit (the one I'm canceling currently has about a 10K limit; I really only need at most half that.)

I've seen those sites that compare credit card offers side by side, but they're usually for american cards. Does such a thing exist for Canadian cards? (My google-fu is failing me here.) Or, does anyone have a credit card deal that's still available that they'd recommend?

Best places to go in the Canadian Okanagan

matildaben — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:24:53 -0800

We'll be passing through the Canadian Okanagan on a road trip from Seattle to Banff. We'd like to spend a day or two in the Okanagan on the way. Any tips on the best places to go/eat/drink/see while we're there? We like good eating, wine, and photographing pretty places.

Dead Letter Office

Shepherd — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:01:47 -0800

What happens when I tell catalogue people I am dead? Somehow -- I suspect it was the Folio Society, because it seems to be mostly book companies, British culture companies and classical music clubs -- my name and address has been sold to a list mill. This is addressed mail, not "Occupant" or "Current Resident" mail.

Conventional Internet spam wisdom is "never tell them you don't want their catalogue, because that just confirms the address is valid and raises your spam value rating." Does the same apply to junk mail?

And if so, what's the best way of dealing with it? I have considered drawing a line through the address and putting "UNSOLICITED" on the mail, then leaving it sticking out of the mailbox for the postal person to return to sender, but I'm worried that that's not a recognized reason to send mail back. "DECEASED" is more fun (and kind of cool), but I'm concerned that it, along with "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS," will result in the post office proper thinking I am dead/no longer resident and bouncing legitimate mail. My name, in theory, becomes valueless and is removed from lists (rather than becoming confirmed and therefore more valuable).

I am in Canada, and we do not have an equivalent to the options listed here. I think nipping this in the bud, and telling these companies I am "dead," either by "DECEASED: RETURN TO SENDER" post or by calling their 1-800 numbers, is the best method of getting my name conclusively removed from their lists, because dead people generally do not purchase things by mail order or otherwise.

But are there ramifications to being catalogue-dead that I am not considering?

Catching shoplifters.

melgy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:35:37 -0800

I need links to information regarding the catching of shoplifters, how to restrain them, their legal rights and ours. In Canada. I work in a large used bookstore that has a real problem with shoplifting. We're trying to crack down on it but I'm having trouble finding information about the rights of anyone we catch while we are holding them. I'd like to have something I can print out for the employees and for anyone we catch to peruse while waiting for the cops to show up. (We've been told repeatedly by shoplifters, that we are violating their rights when we most certainly are not, it would be nice to have a concise sheet to show them).
The other thing is, we'd like to start keeping a photo archive of banned people, which I'm pretty sure is fine. We'd also like to give these pictures to other bookstores in the neighborhood, which I'm not so sure is allowed. (These shoplifters will often steal things from us, and then try to sell them to another store, or vice versa).
Basically, anything relating to shoplifting laws in Ontario, Canada would be very useful, my googling is turning up only links to legal aid sites.
Thanks!

What to do in the Toronto area?

sumobob — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:14:27 -0800

I'm a 19 years guy moving to the Toronto area for the summer from LA and I'm just wondering what is there to do in this town? So I'm 19 years old and i just found out I'm going to be living with my uncle in toronto on summer holiday this year (for my school that means till the end of september). My Uncle lives in Pickering which im told is only about a 20 min drive from Toronto. Anyways, what is there to do in terms of nightlife in Toronto? Im coming from LA and am pretty into the electro and rave scene so I'm looking for nice clubs and bars that cater to these genres of music, as well as any music festivals that are going to be happening during this time. I'm basically your standard smoking drinking college student so another concern i have is how does the government up there regard recreational drug use? Are drugs on a schedule !, 2, and 3 basis like they are in The Us?

Take [Us] Back to Old New Brunswick

Pollomacho — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:47:09 -0800

Road Trip Filter: Help us plot our road trip to Canada! Difficulty: active toddler. Once again my wife and I head into the wilds of New Brunswick (Canada, not New Jersey). Normally, we’d fly or breeze on up, but this is our first trip back to her family farm since the birth of our wiggly and “busy” daughter. Ideally, we’ll take two days of driving from DC to near St. John. Please hive mind, help us plot a trip that involves minimal driving and traffic snarls but maximum beauty, interest, and spots to stop, change diapers, pump her full of food and allow her to run and scream for a bit. Bonus points for a great place to stop for the night where we’d all have a great time or any ideas for making a two day road trip with an active pre-terrible-two more pleasant! Thanks in advance!

Extra bonus: Daddy loves lobster rolls.