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Contents 1 Food 1.1 Good sources of food 2 Personal 2.1 Outdoor winter clothing 2.2 Winter sports 2.3 Bras 2.4 Undies / knickers 2.5 Cosmetics 3 Household 3.1 Bed linen 4 Books 5 Computers and Technology 6 Price Comparisons 7 Secondhand Goods

[edit] Food

• Back bacon - Available from Costco. Also available from British specialty stores and Scottish butchers.
• Baked beans - They are available, but don't taste the same as baked beans in the UK. Most British expats find Canadian baked beans unpalatable. Ironically, the brand of baked beans that most closely approximates the taste of British baked beans is the house brand of the cheapest supermarket chain, The Real Canadian Superstore.
• Beer - British beer is available -- at a price -- from select liquor stores.
• Black pudding - Available from British specialty stores and Scottish butchers.
• Bisto granules - Bisto granules are available in Canada, but the stuff takes a long time to thicken and is much more salty than the UK version.
• Bisto instant gravy powder - It's not universally available in Canada. Where it is available, it is not the same as the UK version.
• Bread sauce mix
• Branston Pickle - This is made under licence in the USA and, to the British taste bud, is inferior to the British equivalent.
• Cheese - Good cheese is available in Canada, but tends to be expensive. You'll probably find a small and expensive selection of good cheese in your neighbourhood supermarket. You can find excellent cheeses at farmers' markets, ethnic markets, small stores that sell the products of local dairies, and upscale supermarkets. None of these sources is cheap, however.
• Chocolate - As with cheese, good chocolate is available in Canada, but the good stuff tends to be expensive. What British expats miss is Cadbury's, Dairy Milk and the like. Depending on the size of the population centre in which you live, you may or may not have access British brands of chocolate. Certainly it's available in the British specialty stores -- at a price of course.
• Cordial - Not generally available. As an experiment, you might want to try the concentrated juices that you find in the frozen foods section of the supermarket. You can find some that are made from real fruit juice, without any added sugar. But some brands do contain sugar, so if you don't want added sugar, read the labels. Generally speaking, something that is called juice does not have sugar added to it. The fruit-flavoured drinks that have sugar in them generally are called "punch" or "beverage" or something like that. Anyway, when the concentrated, frozen juice is mixed with water, the taste is quite acceptable.
• Curry sauce - Curry sauces are available in Canada, but there's a much smaller and more inferior selection. You won't find anything as good as Tesco's Bombay Mix.
• Heinz salad cream - Quite readily available in supermarkets.
• Heinz tomato soup - You can get Campbell's, but it isn't the same. If your neighbourhood supermarket carries the Wolfgang Puck brand of organic soups, give them a try. Yes, the name may strike you as a joke, but it is what it is. The brand name notwithstanding, the soups are delicious.
• Jelly babies
• Marmite is widely available, but in small, expensive bottles.
• Marzipan - In Canada it's called almond paste. Although it's not as widely available as it is in the UK, you can find it if you look. Try upscale supermarkets, specialty stores, German and Austrian bakeries. Also, if you have a blender, you can make your own. There are recipes for it on the Internet.
• Orange squash - You sometimes can find Granthams in larger population centres.
• Square sausage - Available from British specialty stores and Scottish butchers.
• Pea meal ham - The best source of this is a farmer's market.
• Ribena is available, but it's expensive.
• Rowntrees fruit gums - They're available at the British specialty food stores, but they cost an arm and a leg.
• Tattie scones - Available from British specialty stores.
• Tea bags are available, but they don't come in large, cheap boxes as they do in the UK.
• Walkers crisps - Canada has crisps -- actually called chips -- but they're not as good.

[edit] Good sources of food

• Farmers' markets across the country
• Scottish butchers - Here is a website that lists Scottish Butchers & Bakers Outside Scotland.
• Tendercut Meats is owned by a British expat in Regina. He sells European-style bacon and English bangers, amongst other items.
• Irving Farm Fresh Meats - Sells traditional dry cure farmhouse back bacon (as well as sausages, etc.) at farmers' markets in and around Edmonton. This bacon is the real deal.

[edit] Personal

[edit] Outdoor winter clothing

Mark's Work Wearhouse has decent quality clothing at a decent price. It's a good starting point for the newly arrived expat who wants to get kitted out for winter.

Mountain Equipment Co-Op is also a surefire bet for good outdoors gear. They're a non-profit organisation, and do require you to be a member of the co-op (one time CAN$5 charge), but prices are reasonable (they make and brand their own gear, so quality is a notch above the norm, staff are generally knowledgeable too.

[edit] Winter sports

As you might expect, there is a wide selection of clothing and equipment for winter sports (downhill skiing, etc.) in Canada.

[edit] Bras

Stock up before you leave the UK, specially if your size is larger than a C-cup. If you need to buy bras in Canada, try La Senza.

[edit] Undies / knickers

The difference between M&S stock and Canadian stock is not as critical as it is in the case of bras. Still, an extra supply from the UK would not go amiss. Again, if you need to buy undies in Canada, give La Senza a try.

[edit] Cosmetics

Shoppers Drug Mart sells Boots Number 7 makeup range.

[edit] Household

[edit] Bed linen

The selection of bed linen is nothing like as good as it is in the UK, and what stock there is is expensive.

Stock up -- especially on duvet covers -- before you leave the UK!

[edit] Books

They're available in Canada, but are more expensive than they are in the UK.

[edit] Computers and Technology

Prices are generally lower than in the UK, with a smaller gap between high-street "big box" stores (Futureshop, BestBuy, Staples, TheSource, WalMart) all providing standard HP/Compaq/Dell/Acer offerings.

Large internet retailers can be cheaper, but often have high delivery charges (Canada being a big country). System builders should check TigerDirect, NCIX, and Newegg.ca.

Also worth considering are smaller shops that have an internet presence - these offer more competetive rates for delivery and a more personal service, including custom build PCs for more demanding users - check Canada Computers, PremierComputersCanada, Infonec.

[edit] Price Comparisons

Please see the BE Wiki article called Frugality.

[edit] Secondhand Goods

Please see the BE Wiki article called Frugality.