alzo

Any Canadians on this forum applied for a visa to head to Australia?

Dorothy

4 years ago, yes. What do you want to know?

alzo

Great. Love to get your advise as I can't decide between Brisbane or Melbourne. I hear Melbourne is more like Montreal...lots of culture while Brisbane has the tropical climate and a smaller city like Calgary.

Job wise there seems to be demand in either city so if you had to pick which city would you recommend?

Also how do find it after 4yrs? and where in australia are you?

Dorothy

Depends on what kind of work you do as to where you will find more work. As an accountant I would think you could work just about anywhere. Are you a CA or a CPA? I've not been to Brisbane, but Comet555 lives there so look for posts from her. She's been here about 2 1/2 years from Ft McMurray. Comet is loads of help so I'm sure she'll sniff out another one of us and post here in the next day or so.

I'm not sure I would compare Melbourne to Montreal. It is a bigger city with good shopping and theatre, etc, but it's a different feel than Montreal. I would compare it more to Toronto but not in the way I think Toronto is a shithole.

We live in Western Australia about 40 km from Perth. Both my husband and I work in the city so commute. He's an engineer and I work at one of the large hospitals as a secretary. I'm not sure how to describe how I find it. Can't say I love it and can't say I hate it. We still get up at 5:30 to go to work, still have to pay the mortgage, still have to clean the house; only here we do it 10000 miles from our families and old friends. We have made some wonderful friends here as well, so don't get me wrong, but it's not the same.

So, where you coming from? Do you have a partner/children? Are you looking for nightlife or a slower pace?

comet555

We moved from Canada to Brisbane in 2007. We visited Melbourne briefly and it seemed like a nice city. I'd say the big difference is the weather. We didn't really get a choice in which city as we went where the job was (in mining). There really aren't any (or many) jobs in mining in Melbourne, so Brisbane it was!

We enjoy it here although to tell what's right for you I think you'd have to visit both of them. Luckily the flights are pretty cheap between the two and it's only about 2.5 hours I think. It's worth spending a week or two in both when you arrive before making a decision.

comet555

You know Dorothy.... sometimes I feel like I'm stalking you! Unintentionally of course

We just always seem to be drawn to the same topics (ie. anything Canadian!)

Dorothy

I've never had a stalker before. I feel both honoured and creeped out at the same time.

Amazulu

Canadians are only allowed to live in Australia when they have learned to say about properly - and they test you at arrivals to make sure.

moneypenny20

That's classic, coming from a SA

Amazulu

Our test is to say Car Park.

northernbird

Ah yes you pork the cor don't you!

Dorothy

Whatchoo talkin' aboot Willis?

alzo

Actually I got my skills assessed.. by CPA for my CGA designation...have 1 more course to complete before I get the CPA and should be done before I leave Pickering, Ontario (east side of Toronto). I have family in both brisbane and melbourne.

I am looking at the move as a opportunity for change and warmer weather (I am sure everyone says this) and it seems my line is on their list of critical skills they are looking for and looking at seek.com.au it seems my line is in demand in both cities. I have a 1yr old son and my husband works in the sales/marketing line. We are past the nightlife stage....a great weekend now seems to be getting my feet up, a nice book and wine...Other than missing family which I know will take time to adjust any other things to keep in mind prior to making the move.

I guess the million dollar question then would be 'If you had a choice to do it all over again and knowing what you know today would you have headed to australia or stayed back home in canada'.

comet555

I can't speak for Dorothy but I can honestly say if we had to do it all again I would still moved here.

Although the catch is we were never really sure if it was a permanent move or not. At this point we're thinking we'll return back to Canada next August or so. This has absolutely nothing to do with Australia as I really love it here, mostly I want to be next to my family while the kids are little and my hometown has pretty cheap housing. That sort of sums it up.

But seriously, if I could just move my family here I'd be pretty happy! All of our family is in Canada and while we aren't homesick we would just like to be closer for a change. We always lived very far away from them even when we were in Canada.

Dorothy

I think we would do it again. We're enjoying ourselves at the moment, so can't see why not. I really like my job; great atmosphere and great people help a lot. We have just built a house, so I guess that means we've settled. Our daughter is going into grade 11 in February so we're here for at least another 2 years while she finishes high school then we're not sure. She wants to go to Guelph to do her DVM which is fine since she can live with my sister if she gets in. Once she goes off to university we might consider moving, but for now we're ok with where we are.

If we did go back to Canada it would be probably to Kingston area. We lived in Vancouver for a few years then moved back home to Burlington, commuting to Yonge/Sheppard for 10 years before coming here. We've had our fill of big cities, so Kingston sounds lovely to us. It's close enough to Toronto if we want to go to the theatre or visit family or just a few hours from Ottawa or Montreal to go the other way. I also have contacts at one of the hospitals there so could slot back into my old career as an ophthalmic tech.

Give it a go here but beware what seems like warmer weather actually feels pretty flippin cold. Especially when you see how the houses are built here. When we built ours the salesman was going on about how they have R3 insulation in the roof space. No insulation in the exterior walls at all - double brick with single pane windows. Last night was down to +5 here in Perth and we were sleeping with our flannel sheets, down duvet and extra blanket. Quite honestly even after 40 years in Canada I have never felt as cold as I do in Australia's winters.