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Some things cheaper in Canada than US

40K views 34 replies 24 participants last post by  mark0f0 
#1 ·
I spend time in both countries, and I've discovered a few things that I'm better off buying in Canada. Do you know of other things to add to this list?

Netflix: I subscribe to Netflix Canada basic @ 7.99 CAD. But I almost exclusively use it from the US. Versus the US price of 7.99 USD, this is a 24% savings for the exact same service!

Contact lenses: I found that my brand is cheaper in Canada (I'm buying them from clearly.ca). Even with the shipping, they're cheaper than what I can get in the US (e.g. Walgreens in store or on-line). This was a surprise to me, but once you convert currencies it's cheaper in Canada.

Domain names: I have several, and I've migrated nearly all of them to 10dollar.ca. Every time the US renewals came up, I noticed they were getting more expensive (largely due to FX rate).

Other things? I also find fruits & vegetables are much cheaper in Canada but you can't haul those over the border.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I don't think this affects the situation. Say you earn income in Canada and you have two choices, using my contact lenses as an example.

a) buy item X in the US at 63.50 USD = 83.45 CAD
b) buy item X in Canada at 72 CAD = 72.00 CAD

So the item X is still cheaper in Canada. Am I missing something?

There are certain things that people go and buy in the US because it's cheaper, when comparing the prices (in CAD)
 
#7 ·
Watch out for these domain names, if you currently purchased yours through a US-based registrar.

I was using what used to be a very cheap domain name reseller, where I bought my domain several years ago. For my .ORG they currently want 18.65 USD for renewal, including domain privacy. That's 24.52 CAD.

At 10dollar.ca, the same domain costs 13.71 CAD after taxes. This is nearly half of what I'm paying at the US registrar. If you're in the same situation, transfer your domains! The domain transfers are quite easy to do. In fact tonight I just started the domain transfer process to bring this .ORG to 10dollar.ca. The domain transfer price is discounted; it's only 10.45 CAD including one year renewal.
 
#10 ·
Contact lenses: I found that my brand is cheaper in Canada (I'm buying them from clearly.ca). Even with the shipping, they're cheaper than what I can get in the US (e.g. Walgreens in store or on-line). This was a surprise to me, but once you convert currencies it's cheaper in Canada.
What lenses do you use james?
I've been using Optima polymacon lenses (but using them for way too long as well as wearing them overnight).

Since you brought my attention to clearly.ca I've done a little research and decided to try some Air Optixs hydrogel lenses which claim to be more oxygen permeable, as well as some of my old brand to bring the order over $100 (for free delivery).

Just put the order in, & didn't even realise until today that I didn't have to order lenses through the optometrist, so now maybe I'll stop trying to get too much use out of each lense.
Thanks for the info!
 
#18 · (Edited)
Funny, I know several people that moved Ontario to Michigan and remarked that it was better and cheaper.
Taxes + Private health insurance was substantially less.

Plus there are several drugs/prodcedures in the US that simply aren't available in Canada.

We have copays for everything. Ambulance, they send you a bill. Get sick and admitted, they send you a bill for the room. Break your arm, they send you a bill for the cast, sling and splint.
 
#19 · (Edited)
MrMatt, I think you may be focusing a bit too much on small details but missing the bigger issue of total risk. Copays in Canada for what, a few hundred dollars maximum?

Please. I wish I had that.

My employer-sponsored US health plan is believed to be quite generous overall. If I'm not careful tippy toeing around all the rules ... like going to one of the "in-network" providers ... my health insurance will only cover 60% of my expenses. I believe I can hit an absolute maximum out of pocket amount of around $10k -- though nobody at work is crystal clear on whether that is in fact is an absolute maximum under all circumstances. Perhaps the out of pocket maximum is even higher.

I do know, from a coworker who had a medical complication, that all it takes is for your health emergency to span two calendar years, and in a short period of time she had a $20,000 bill for out of pocket expenses ... not covered by insurance ... for her medical expenses, despite being covered under our company health plan. 20 GRAND.

Repeat: she had to pay 20 K of her own money, even though she was covered under the health plan the entire time. And this is a good plan.

Those of us in the US with health plans have to still worry about getting hospitalized for serious conditions. It can very quickly ruin your finances. One of the reasons I demand higher income in the US, and would accept lower income in Canada, is to adjust for this medical cost risk.

On top of that, in my interactions with the health & dental systems, I'm seeing that health providers here in the US are way more zealous... for profit reasons obviously... to try to do as much medical intervention as possible. I don't think this is good medicine at all. It's all part of their game for billing you for as much as possible. The motivations are all wrong, and I don't see any way this is superior to Canada other than having availability of better equipment & tests.

But even the better equipment & diagnostics are only a benefit if medicine is practiced honestly and in the best interest of the patient, which I feel is rare in America. I think because of the profit motivations, as well as the liability fears of getting sued by a patient for "missing something", the American doctors try to do anything and everything... even if unnecessary. Which is bad medicine, IMO.

But to the doctors, it's a no-brainer: patient comes in with something border line. Recommend every single medical test possible. Many patients like that and feel that they are getting great treatment. Recommend some surgery. Lots of income, and the patient won't sue you for failing to take action. Personally, I hate this. I don't like unnecessary medical work, and unnecessary work such as dental procedures, surgery and even unnecessary TESTS can harm you in the long term.

I have a couple friends who practice medicine and dentistry in the US. In private, they both speak about how profit-motivated everything is and express their discontent at how their colleagues operate. I have never heard any of my Canadian domiciled medical friends say this.

Quick example: I go to the American doc for a simple skin rash. I get sent for a suite of tests, including for diabetes (I have no family history, nor do I have risk factors). But you see how the doctors think in the US: the symptoms for diabetes have at least a single overlap with skin rash. So, go test for it. Maybe the doc will get lucky and find you have border-line diabetes, in which case they can get you on some expensive drugs and more follow-up treatments and start a world of revenue generation. All of it possibly unnecessary.
 
#20 ·
Quick example: I go to the American doc for a simple skin rash. I get sent for a suite of tests, including for diabetes (I have no family history, nor do I have risk factors). But you see how the doctors think in the US: the symptoms for diabetes have at least a single overlap with skin rash. So, go test for it. Maybe the doc will get lucky and find you have border-line diabetes, in which case they can get you on some expensive drugs and more follow-up treatments and start a world of revenue generation. All of it possibly unnecessary.
IMHO, it was perfectly reasonable and conscionable for the Dr. to send you for diabetes tests.
Skin conditions are indeed a side effect of early onset diabetes.

This is also the result of being the lawsuit capital of the world.
If a patient were not sent for diabetes tests and later turned out to be diabetic, then the Dr. would be accused of mis-diagnosis and sued for $20M or some such amount.
So the doctor is also playing safe by ordering the tests.

Diabetes tests are simple and (supposed to be) inexpensive.
If those tests turn out to be expensive, that is a different problem and thank the pharma/hospital company mafia for that.
 
#21 ·
Good points, and yes liability is one of their big concerns.

I have another example of incredibly high US medical costs. I went to the barber this morning and he told me: his friend had developed a staph infection a few years ago. Really serious stuff, big complications. He had a good insurance plan, which covered 70% of all the bills.

The final bills came to around $3 million. He still had to pay $900 K himself ... negotiated down, likely, but in the end he had to sell his house.

That's what you get in American even when you have health insurance. Canadians should not aspire to the US health system.
 
#23 ·
Just buying some camera equipment (Canon APS-format DSLR) and lenses. To my surprise, reputable Canadian dealers are currently cheaper than reputable U.S. ones. May be a temporary situation (manufacturer's MSRP set at a time when Cdn/US fx rate was different), but still worthwhile.
 
#26 ·
It's interesting. Currently the tires I bought in Canada were way cheaper than the same set off Tirerack. So people from the US should be buying in Canada.

Tirerack is about $765 CAD + shipping (~$80) to a US address, whereas I got the same set in Canada for $650 (taxes, fees, and install included). Pirelli P7 Plus 205/50R17 if you are curious.
 
#27 ·
Nice.
When I bought my continental purecontacts in 2014 spring with the exchange rate (and I had it shipped close to the border at a warehouse, paid $5 for storage fee) I remember saving close to $150 altogether AFTER paying taxes (luckily the tires were made in Mexico so thanks to the NAFTA agreement, no duty to be paid at customs)
 
#35 ·
Laser Eye Surgery, especially in Vancouver. Not only is the marketplace in Vancouver brutally competitive due to a significant number of high-volume procedure centers, but priced in Canadian dollars, even the most expensive place costs half as much as most of them do in the United States.
 
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