i've never been to canada so i can't compare. but i can say the following abt the countries i've lived in. No offense meant. Just giving my opinion.
ph - no way im letting them see any more tax money from me. but i'll come back when i retire or semi-retire and probably buy something close to the beach in davao or negros.
i worked in mnl, but my family were from somewhere else. so i only had a few relatives nearby. altho the parents would come visit every month or so. manila was fun. i find manila much more cosmopolitan than singapore (just my opinion). love eating out in the multitude of options available, roadtrips, and the "relatively" cheap shopping but after that its just a battle everyday. traffic, pollution, fear of crime, cost-of-living vs. income, all that. Not a place where I want to raise kids.
I'll come back to work in mnl only if expat package or as a businessman.
us - the consumer's paradise. imagine earning something close to what you get in sydney but cost of living is only about half. thats the us for you. kahit magastos ka malaki-laki pa rin maiiwan at the end of the month. would have loved to stay but was not able to work out a more permanent arrangement. only stayed a few years on a work visa. lived in the southwest so I really enjoyed the wide open spaces and laid back lifestyle. people were friendly enough, and where we lived they were very conservative so I fit right in. can get a bit boring sometimes, but really wanted to raise a family there. i don't believe all this media crap about kids in the us going crazy. from what i know, all my colleague's kids all seem to turn out fine. I guess its about how you raise your kids and the community that they're exposed to.
i'll gladly leave sydney if an opportunity in the US comes along.
sg - now, this was an experiment we decided to make. try sg for a year, if we like it we'll stay long term. if not, then leave. we did exactly that. left after 2 years. i wont talk abt sg in detail, tasburrfoot pretty much says it all. but to sum up, the pressure on the kids at school and the local lifestyle just wasn't for us. i do miss my weekly tandoori and laksa fix.
au - been here in syd less than a year so far. applied for pr while in sg. fortunate enough to get a good job, and actually earning more 'net' than in sg. very thankful for that. we like what we see so far, except for house prices, which are crazy. maybe i'll wait for the bubble to burst. in any case, great for kids, great for work-life balance, not as far from ph as eu/us/canada, great weather, free healthcare, and love living near the beach (east coast park doesn't count - hehe).
on the downside, i have some long term concerns on the economy, AU has been lucky that no major recessions have hit it in the past 20+ years. As well as what will happen to au society once the chinese/indians/asians in general become a majority. im starting to see little signs of 'Asianization' already creeping in: like tough competition to selective schools, all kinds of 'tuition' and 'enrichment' after-school classes. but we'll see how it goes.
to the OP, it depends on what you're looking for. no country is perfect, except maybe switzerland 🙂. but make sure you get as much info as possible before you make a decision. worst case, you can always come back to SG or PH.