Just came back from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. What a dynamic place for business and also a good place for families. I have never been to a place that is so friendly, and I have lived in more than 20 cities in my life including most of the major cities around the world.
It proves once again that major business cosmolitans are always big multicultural cities where everyone meets with everyone else. Cities like New York, London, San Francisco and Toronto will always remain as great cities of the world.
What I found Toronto exceptional different from Sydney, Australia, which is also a multicultural city are:
1. It is much more integrated down to the roots of the society - this is not just showing “different ethnic groups” walking on the street. In fact, I am quite surprised to see that very large number of managers, directors in the large institutions and government agencies are actually ethnic minorities; this is something yet to occur in Australia; where ethnic groups are yet to climb up to the top ladder, I think this is because due to the time; as immigration had really only started in Australia since the late 1980s, but started in North America way back in the 1960s.
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Just came back from a trip around USA, and made some further investigations. While it is wrong to compare Sydney to say, Florida, there are some general comparions you can made. Even when AUD is now getting smashed down to 80 cents level, living cost in Australia is unfortunately still very high compared to USA.
The bottomline are using several factors, which I think you should all consider if you are moving into different countries:
1. Income vs House Cost: Obviously, everyone is on diff. salary, but having a higher salary does not justify the house should be more expensive. A very good example is Asia, where income are 1/3 of USA or Australia, yet their property price is probably double the USA.
But comparing USA to Australia is a good comparison.
Economists generally agree that a good ratio is 1:3, meaning, if your household income is $150,000, then a fair value for your house should be $450,000. Anything above 5 is classified as extremely unaffordable.
Unfortunately, none of Australian markets even made below 5, in fact, they say, there should be a new category called Exceptionally Extremely Unaffordable (6), the average for Australian properties are between 8 and 10. To add to that, the interest rate in Australia is double of Canada and about 1.8 times to US interest rate. Rental is also about the same ratio.
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Many people are wondering what are the best ways to get into Green sectors in North America. This seems to be the industry that has defied the recession and continues to grow. Indeed, we did an extensive research while preparing our American Green Employers Guide, and we are delighted to see that many firms are still hiring, some are even hiring large number of new employees.
 
This is a quick post describing what we have found during our preparation of American Green Employers Guide – which sectors have jobs available for those interested in getting in Green industries.
 
The first rule is Green jobs are not all related to technical jobs, and indeed, majority of the jobs are non-technical jobs like sales, marketing, finance, operations, project management, human resources, training for instance.
 
The sectors we have highlighted are:
 
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The world is moving fast and Green industry is the key growth industry worldwide - but location does matter where your prospects and career opportunities are. In many ways, this is like the IT boom, but very different from “resources boom” where they are limited by locations. With IT, it is also limited by Internet connectivity, telecommunications infrastructure and access to talent in local markets.
If you compare Green industry to the above, then it is truely an industry that will set evolution on its own as they are not limited by boundaries, locations or skilled professionals.
Amongst the major Green opportunities, we can see them from the 2 major economies US and China where the consumers market and sophistication, education level are completely different. We also see emerging markets coming from Eastern Europe or emerging markets in Asia, and also in Brazil.
This is great as it means you will always have opportunities no matter where you are, but still, if you are really serious about entering into Green career, emigration/moving to where actions are still a wise decision.
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1. Solar Industry, please, we have so much sun in Australia, but our solar industry is absoultely struggling, there are many great solar innovations, Suntech is even from Australia and did not even opan a plant here and is opening first office in Australia!
2. Water Treatment industry, Australian has one of the world’s most challenging irrigation systems, the water is always muddy because of the landscape, and great technologies have been invented such as filtering and testing technologies; however, a lot of these technologies have now moved offshore, a lot of great Australian water technologies have now moved to Singapore, Europe and North America
3. E-Health, iSoft, which previously known as IBA before the merger, is a Sydney based company and technology. Recognizing the need for e-health and also problems relating to errors & omissions; Australia is one of the first nations adopting E-health applications. Great technologies have been developed locally but also start to lose them due to lack of programmers in Australia, I think this is one sector Government should put in a lot of effort to create incentives.
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After 20+ years in Australia, it’s time for us to move on and start a new life again, we have chosen relocating to Canada, as several trips to North America had confirmed our desire to move over there, plus most of my friends had now relocated there as well, my sister moved to California and after returning to Australia for visit 3 times, she told me moving to US was the best decision in her life.
I had just “lost” 3 friends who had all moved to NYC, and several friends moved to Vancouver and Toronto.
Nevertheless, while very excited about the move, the relocation process is a long and can be stressful process.
The best & worst part is finding what you need to bring, in the end, we decided to just bring our suitcases, as it is pointless to bring any furniture or indeed any items that are not absolutely necessary.
I think that was the major problem faced by immigrants, they ended up shipping container of furniture, and they usually went straight into garage.
Now I have decided to as much as possible, thanks to eBay, we have been quite successful in clearing items from our house, and I would highly encourage everyone who is involved in immigration to consider ebay instead of accumulating or put them into storage.
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One of my clients recently asked me how I could adapt changes in environment frequently as I had lived in many places; my response to that was “Your home is always where you are, not where you came”, by taking that attitude and philosophy, I can settle in new places very easily, although, I do have preferences; for example, my preference is to live in North America over Asia or Australia.
But one’s life changes all the time, and sometimes you have no choices, and sometimes you do. My philosophy is, when you have an opportunity to move forward; then you should seize the chance and not looking back.
Since I left USA in 1998, after living more than 1 year over there, I had always wanted to relocate back to North America; it is the place where everytime I lefe, I just felt like to cry; the same had never occured to me when I lived in Asia, Europe or Australia. I have now, lived in Australia for 20 years (except the 3 to 4 years when I lived in Asia & North America & Europe); and my heart is telling its time to change to a new environment.
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OK, I am now using an unusual break this week, had a very busy week. Now I am writing part 2: Australia, Canada or USA. Let’s talk about USA. I have lived there close to 2 years; and had travelled to no less than 20 cities while I was there; and most of my relatives (and increasing number of friends) are also based in USA; majority of them have moved there from Australia and Asia.
So, that is a statment already; contrary to what many Australians think (those who have not travelled especially); USA actually has probably larger if not same Australian expat-community as in UK, and in fact, majority of Aussies live in USA are usually highly qualified professionals instead of part-time workers.
To give you some examples; I met 3 people while I was in US 2 months who are from Australia.
1.  A lady now works in NASA, she graduated from high school and university in Sydney, and is now hoping to become an astronaut, she is already doing a lot of training (WOW!) no such job in Australia…
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Three nations, popular for immigrants, which offer better prospects for 2010?
In fact, all 3 countries are great countries, and should not be compared simply as “Who is better”, I think those who make some comments are really irrespoinsible, it’s like saying: Germany and France, which one is a better country? How can you make assessments like?
I am therefore, making a better assessment by going through 5 points on each country; pros and cons; and as I have lived all 3 countries; I believe my assessment will be realistic.
Australia:
Top 5 “Props” about Australia and why you should call it your “New Home”
1) It is a growing land of opportunity because of the resources boom and its close ties with China. However, it is not relating to all sectors; not everyone is going to work in the mining industry for example. Nevertheless, Australian economy has benefited from the mining boom.
2) It is a multicultural society just like Canada and USA; and this is really great for childern; as they can expose to different cultures.
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Hot Export Sectors In Australia
 
What are the export sectors in Australia? Many have associated Australia being a resources oriented or primary goods driven economy? Is that a correct assumption or shall we also look at other potential sectors? In this article, we will also look at what assistances are available that can assist in your export opportunities.
 
Australia - a major export economy?
 
Yes, Australia is a major export economy, because of its relatively small population, Australia is not really a “self reliant economy” and needs to rely on exports to boost its economy. This is why Australian Government has spent considerable amount of investments in boosting Australia’s export opportunities - and diversifying products and services available for export.
 
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