MarkG

Which is the UK equivalent of Canadians visiting Florida, Cuba, Hawaii and Mexico.

Partially discharged

Believe me the level of knowledge of places outside the UK by students in the UK is not any higher than the low levels that you refer to in Canada. Many countries education systems don't teach what you are wishing was taught. For many it comes from travel....and travel outside the all inclusive resort type places.

Partially discharged

They may have been to those places...but for the vast majority it was a flight to the airport, quick trip down the auto(pista/strada) and then spend the week or fortnight in the all inclusive package hotel. Getting off the beaten track and living amongst the natives and trying to learn the language customs and culture is not usually high on the list of most brits. There are obviously exceptions to this but in my experience, brits and canadians are generally as unadventurous as one another. YMMV.

happyhammers

I'll second that one aswell

Siouxie

Have you considered moving elsewhere in Canada instead?

Have you considered how you will be able to buy a house in London if you do go back - will you have jobs to go to and will you be able to get a mortgage (or even be able to afford one)?

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living...ayCurrency=CAD

phr1

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
My comment about the school referring to a general feel of provinciality. Looking inwards with a relative narrow and conservative perspective of the world.
Of course school should talk about Canada, but there is so much more on the agenda. Also singing the national anthem every morning kind of hint to that, especially when people in this city come from so many different backgrounds and reasons.

I still think that the education here is relatively at a higher level and I am pretty happy with it, I am just not convinced that it is much better than the UK to advocate for staying. This is just one of the things we were hearing about a lot before coming here. Education, health system and Opportunities.
So that was my point on education.

Health system - big YES for Canada. I think it is far better than the NHS.
We will have to stay as healthy as possible if we are going back.

Opportunities. Big topic. What does it actually means? On what level? Work? After school programmes? Getting the real sense of the world?.... I think, and correct me if I am wrong, if you would like your kids to be involved in some activity you will probably find that it London as well.
You may need to pay more, and there is my fear about the cost of living in the UK, but it's not like it doesn't exist, and you will have to make priories and create your own opportunities.
Sometime I feel its all a bit too much here and kind of competitive. Your success as a parent is measured by which programme you managed to sign up for, if you could be bothered waking up early enough in the morning to line up.

For jobs, I actually think Europe opens many more interesting opportunities than Canada. There is a limited market here.
If you are in the business however of opening random shops on Queen street (or Dundas?) that sell saleable things you're in the right place though.

Still think Canada is to be praised for these reasons:
Food. Love all the fresh stuff from the local farms in the summer. Great great veraity from all over the world. Amazing flavours and affordable
quality eating out. Organic is not gold.
Healthy lifestyle overall
Ski
Not worry about fashion
Less drinking (although a little bit more sometime could help some people here..)
People are active and celebrate nature
Summer
BBQ in the summer. Everyday..we actually vegetarians, but still..there is good fresh fish around...

phr1

oh, and dental care too, pretty amazing.

Gozit

And insanely expensive.

Gozit

All those points are valid and I totally agree with them. Part of the reason I want to leave... The other part is the weather (although it is nice right now where I am let me tell you ) The good points you made were valid too... Now your remark about the national anthem in the morning - also totally agree with that. I have an international friend who says "I'm not Canadian, I hate it here and I won't sing your anthem!" ... But it begs the question, do they force kids in the UK to sing God Save the Queen every morning? (I don't know - i'm not from the UK)

Dorothy

Really? Insanely expensive? How much do you - not your parents actually pay for a scale and clean? A filling? Root canal?

Let me tell you about insanely expensive. I just had a scale and polish and x-rays. $378 - AFTER insurance. I am booked for to have a cavity filled next week. My co-pay is $150. We have top cover, too.

Gozit

Yeah that's pretty insanely expensive... And why would I pay for dental when i'm a minor and my parents pay for it? But, they pay about $200 for a cleaning for me - and i'm not gonna pay that when I become an adult and have to pay for those things myself. Multiply by that by the twice a year you are supposed to go - thats $400 plus tax. That's a new iPhone every year. Or I could put the money into visiting Malta and just get it done whilst there for €30. Same quality as here, just subsidized by the public health dept.

burks

No schools in the UK don't have to sing the national anthem. That would be too offensive to the minority cultures/nationalities. It is controversial enough to fly an English flag during sporting events!

I think that Canada has a good balance between the UK who seem scared to promote the UK within Britain, and the States who go way too far with their patriotism.

Surely you would need to be a resident in order to use the public health service there no? In which case you would be paying for it via taxes anyways. It's like British people who say the NHS is free.. it's not.

I also don't recall the Brits being known for their dentistry..

bats

.

phr1

Dental care is expensive everywhere in the world. Romania is the cheapest place if you are looking for cheap.

MarylandNed

I hear that Hungary is the place to go for low cost, high quality dental treatment in Europe. I know that many Americans travel to places like Mexico and Costa Rica for dental treatment. Of course, much depends on teh quality of the work. If things go wrong afterwards, any savings are lost.

Aruba was very cheap when my wife needed some dental work done there while we were on vacation. She went to an excellent dentist who did her dental training in Holland. My wife joked (maybe half joked?) that it would be cheaper to fly to Aruba and have a root canal done there than have it done in the US!