rob & nicola

Hello everybody

Have been looking to emigrate to either Austrailia or Canada for a long as I can remember and this year we finally take the plunge but cannot decide on what country. Canada - beautiful countryside, friendly people, very cold winters. Austrailia - fantastic outside lifestyle, friendly people, mild winters.

My husbands is a qualified plumber/gas fitter and this is swaying our decision in favour of Canada due to the thinking long cold winter means lots more job opportunities in his field but, I do not know if we can cope with upto -20 in the winter.

I love the Austrial climate and outdoore life style, does anybody here work in the plumbing industry in Oz and maybe give some advice.

Thanks

Nicki

wombat42

Perhaps you would be better off earning less money in a country you enjoy living in then more money in a country you are miserable in.

JohnoBronco

Canada - TO close to the USA for my liking!!!!!!!!!!!

JAJ

Don't treat Canada and Australia as uniform countries. They are very diverse within their own borders.

- Not all of Canada is as spectacular as British Columbia
- Vancouver doesn't get especially cold winters but house prices are high and it does get a lot of rain.
- Australia gets mild winters but the heat in summer can be a little much for some, especially in somewhere like Brisbane where it's humid in summer. All the state capitals in Australia have got distinctive climates.
- Canada has the French language, more important in some parts than others, but you will be exposed to it anywhere in the country to some extent.

With windchill included, a cold winter's day in many Canadian cities - Vancouver excepted - could well be closer to -40C than -20C.

If you go to the Prairie provinces, you will get prolonged spells at -20C or below.

For choosing the country:

- Do you qualify to migrate?
- How long will processing be? (anecdotal evidence is that Canada has a big backlog of applications that Australia hasn't)
- When you migrate, will you qualify for a licence to work (this is likely to be a state/provincial issue so don't assume things are the same across Canada and Australia).
- Do you like the snow and can you tolerate extreme cold? (if not, avoid most of Canada).

In terms of material standard of living, both countries are fairly similar.

One further issue to consider is proximity to family/friends in the UK - Australia is a lot further away.

Jeremy

Siren & Brian

i dont understand this theory. When its that bloody cold not much contruction is happening. My wife is a Canuck and there is no way I would on purpose live in Canada with it being bloody cold for 6 months of the year. I am quite happy working in the building industry and in my shorts everyday of the year