Tipping

In Canada, you have to tip. A friend once didn't tip at a restaurant, and the waiter angrily followed him out onto the street to remind him that in Canada, you have to fucking tip.

The worst part is having to tip bartenders. Usually you leave a dollar for every drink you buy. WHAT THE FUCK? If a bartender serves 60 drinks in an hour, he's earning $60 an hour, plus his minimum wage. This is a shit non-skilled job that anyone can do. The question is, why am I not a bartender?

Tax

In supermarkets, restaurants, and shops, prices displayed are without tax. If a menu says a salad costs $10, it actually costs $13 (15% tax plus a 15% tip). I miss the transparency in pricing in England.

Mobile phones

For pay-as-you-go, you are charged for both outgoing and incoming calls. For this reason I try to make calls as short as possible. $10 of credit (which costs $11.50 because of tax - see above) lasts roughly three weeks if I am frugal. In comparison, £10 of credit lasted almost seven weeks in England, even with quite liberal texting and phone calls.

Also, in Canada, credit expires after one month.

Tax returns

In England, your employer and the government handles your taxes. But in Canada you must do your tax return yourself (or hire someone else to do it for you). Forms are available in post offices but they are frighteningly complex. My advice is to use the user-friendly software TurboTax.

Bank accounts

You're charged around $2 if you withdraw money at an ATM that doesn't belong to your bank, whereas in England it's usually free to withdraw money at any ATM. Also, here in Canada, nearly all current accounts have monthly fees of a few dollars, although the fee is waived if you maintain a certain balance, which is usually around $1500.

Buses

Buses don't give change. Most people have bus passes so this isn't a big problem. But the first time I used the bus I didn't have a bus pass. I had to frantically search my wallet for change, and then overpay the driver when I realised I didn’t have coins in low enough denominations.

Dentists

Dental care here is expensive. A co-worker told me he needed his wisdom teeth removing but couldn't afford it. "I'll just get drunk and have a friend pull them out", he said. JESUS CHRIST. This is a first-world country, not cold war Russia. I went to a Canadian dentist myself and she claimed I needed over $1000 worth of work (five fillings, the removal of two wisdom teeth, and a cleaning). I went back to England instead, where it it cost just £49.