<p>Alwaysamom:</p>
<p>I think the Canadian system is more robust than the European higher education system, and closer in structure and admissions criteria to the US one. Your explanation does show the trade-off in terms of higher taxes. Most Americans would balk at Canadian taxes.</p>
<p>You're right, marite, the taxes are higher, especially in the higher brackets. We have experienced that difference. For middle class families, the difference isn't as great. We have relatives in a typical middle class tax bracket, who have lived in both countries and the difference in income tax is negligible. I think the biggest difference which Americans notice is the GST, goods and services tax, which is 6% and is tacked on, on top of sales tax. Property taxes, as in the U.S., will vary by area. We found that they were quite different in each of the U.S. locations we lived in. We have a vacation property in NY state and the taxes on it are astronomical. </p>
<p>It's a trade-off in many ways between the two but we've decided that the pros definitely outweigh the cons for us. :)</p>
<p>That's impressive Always...I am familiar with the Canadian universities as we are seeing more and more kids go there (we live within 2 hours of Vancouver so UBC and UVic always get a few kids from our high school) but I didn't know they had a community college system to accomodate kids who didn't do college prep in high school.</p>
<p>You also get health care...hmmmm.......Vancouver isn't that far away! (g)</p>