A young Indian software engineer working in Canada has found himself at a crossroads as he has to choose between staying back in Canada and returning to his home country to work in the same company in their Bengaluru office, but in a managerial role. The techie, who moved to Canada in 2019 for a Master’s degree and has since earned permanent residency (PR), is grappling with whether to leave his established life in Canada or return to India to be closer to his family.
The man took to Reddit to ask others for advice and suggestions before he made a life-altering decision.
Revealing the salary he earns in Canada, the man said he currently makes 85,000 Canadian dollars ( ₹52.5 lakh) a year, which includes a bonus. However, with the exorbitant cost of living even in a place like Halifax in Canada, where he lives, he feels that “life is getting tough”.
The Indian man, who pays 2,300 Canadian dollars ( ₹1.42 lakh) for rent and utilities, also found Canada’s strained healthcare system difficult to navigate, especially because of the long waits for non-emergency medical cases.
Now, his company has offered him a managerial role in Bengaluru with a salary of ₹36 lakh per annum plus a bonus of ₹5 lakh. The engineer said he has never worked in India and expressed concerns about working with an Indian boss and adapting to their working style.
“I’m good while my current managers are around(culture, work-life balance), but if they ‘leave’, I might end up with an Indian manager (I have heard horror stories, especially of their demands). I was still thinking, maybe this job is a once-in-a-lifetime gig; maybe I should consider doing it for a year and see how Canada rolls out,” he said in his post on Reddit.
Canada citizenship vs life in India
One of his biggest dilemmas is the impact this move to India would have on his Canadian citizenship process. Staying in Canada would mean securing Canadian citizenship in 1.5 years, while taking the job in India would push this timeline to at least 2.5 years. However, he feels that it would help his mother to have him around in India because of her growing health needs.
“I wanted to get Canadian citizenship and move to the US, but now I’m thinking I’ll probably end up in India long-term. Might consider a short US stint if offered,” he said.
The post, on a Reddit forum for non-resident Indians (NRIs), sparked a conversation on the pros and cons of both choices. Redditors weighed in on the best possible options for the software engineer for both his career and family goals.
Citizenship is a key goal for the engineer, as it opens doors to a future in the U.S. However, with his family’s improved financial situation and his mother’s growing health needs, being closer to home has its advantages.
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Here’s what Reddit users suggested:
Several users suggested that he stay in Canada until he gets citizenship and then move to India with an OCI (Overseas Citizen Of India) card.
“Get citizenship and then leave. Passport gives you the power to your CV as well. Not having visa requirement makes getting job easy,” a person said.
“Come back to India as a Canadian at age 28 with OCI or keep it for later when parents are even more old and so are you with no sure shot chance of getting a job. Reduce rent by sharing and moving away from city centre,” another Reddit user commented.
“Exiting Canada without citizenship is like leaving money on the table,” one person said, expressing similar sentiments as the majority of the people who commented.
(Also Read: Gurgaon couple in Australia wants to move to Bengaluru 2 years after migrating: ‘We spend 80% of our income’)