comet555

As a Canadian who moved to Australia I can honestly say that I never once thought I had moved to Iraq!

As a whole I would say that the houses in Australia certainly aren't crap, but they can be very different to those in Canada. It is a different country so a different style of housing shouldn't be a surprise. In Queensland the houses were historically built to keep them cool in the summer. Canada houses are built to combat the cold more so than the heat.

If you're thinking of moving to a different country you're going to have to get out of the mindset that the way things were in Canada was the right way and Australia is wrong. If you think that way you aren't going to last very long.

When you go grocery shopping you're not going to find some of your favourite things or brands, so you'll have to adjust. That doesn't mean that the ozzie stuff sucks it's just different. Some things I've found better in Australia and some things I've found better in Canada, so you have to keep an open mind. Based on what you've said so far you don't seem to be open to anything different.

Oh, and if you're looking for sucky towns why don't you see what $400,000 would buy you in Fort McMurray. I've seen plenty of ugly houses in Canada and plenty in Australia. It's just the styles that are different.

Japonica

Well, considering the average price for a single detached in July 2011 was $740,266, I guess $400,000 would almost get you a mobile home (trailer) and chunk of land to put it on.

http://www.woodbuffalo.net/AboutCostHouse.html

Japonica

Okay, even though this whole "standard of living" discussion just seems odd, I'll try and answer it in a serious way.

We've been here two years. We used to live in Edmonton. I can't see that our standard of living is worse since we moved here. We have more savings than we did back in Canada. We bought the newest car we've ever owned when we moved here (a 2008, whoa). We can afford to take a holiday once in a while if we want to. Our utility bills are cheaper here than they were in Edmonton (that said, we don't have a pool or four fridges).

But it's not all about the finances, right? We're not stuck under snow from October to April. I'm not relegated to only having flowers in my garden for two months of the year. We've not had to scrape windshields or touch a snow shovel. Sure, I suppose we could have moved to Victoria, BC if we wanted to avoid snow and endless winter, but not much work there for my husband in his field. Here, our kids are outdoors quite a bit. We're always at the park on a daily basis and spend weekends doing outdoor activities. Our schedule changes a bit in summer (usually mornings and evenings then to avoid roasting and burning), but we're still outdoors more often than not. Back in Edmonton, we'd spend winter hibernating (we were never skiing, snowshoeing type of folks) and it was tough to get overly enthusiastic about taking the kids out to play in -20C.

We like it here. I've noticed that Australia has a bigger benefits scheme for families. We used to be eligible for the family tax benefit our first year here, whereas in Canada, we'd not be entitled to anything similar with the same annual income. Same thing with the school dental program. We didn't have anything similar offered to us back in Canada. The medicare gap aspect is annoying (especially when dealing with private specialists who seem to have sky high fees) but if you're not contending with chronic health issues, then it's not a big deal.

There's more than enough threads on here to do some research and make an informed decision. And you'll find enough info about cost of living. Food is expensive. Petrol is expensive. Internet is expensive (well, unless you get some sort of super deal). Then there's the private insurance conundrum etc. And life here is not some extended holiday. You go to work, pay your bills, do all the same daily grind you would in Canada (minus shoveling the walk). And what's more, once you're here, you'll love it, hate it, or feel meh about it. Life here suits us for now, but can't say if we'll stay here "for good." But it's sure as heck not Iraq and it's not been some colossal drop in our standard of living.

And as for the houses, I can only speak for my area (WA) but yeah, I wish Aussies would understand that higher insulation and better windows as part of the building code would be a step in the right direction...having a house with more than R1.6 (or whatever it is, can't recall off the top of my head) would not only be a money saver in winter but also in summer. Unfortunately, maxing out on energy efficiency is just not done as part of standard builds (and you'll get blank stares when you ask for more--"Why? That's code."). So, most homeowners have to take it upon themselves and make the necessary changes. People may complain about "ugly" Canadian houses, but I've never been as cold in a Canadian house as I have been here during the winter.

sidney87

as this seems to be some sort of thread for canadians (j/k), i was wondering if i could jump in with a question:
i live in montreal and looking to move to oz but not sure where..i mean, for us, like for many others canadians, the main set back here is the weather; so...i was wondering at which city/ies in oz should i be looking that could offer a similar lifestyle as montreal; from the point of view of jobs i guess in any big city i could find the same job i have here

btw, any other montrealers out here

Dorothy

You're not going to find anything like Montreal here in Australia. Sydney would probably be your best bet, but like I said, it's not going to be Montreal with Australian accents.

Montreal is probably about my favourite Canadian city and if the old man would learn a little French we would move there in a heartbeat.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Just get him some instruction videos

canadian1021

is french the only thing stopping aus cities from being like montreal? wjich ones better?

Japonica

No.

Japonica

Like Dorothy said, you won't find anything remotely similar to Montreal here. You'd probably find Sydney or Melbourne your best bets. I can only imagine your impressions of moving from Montreal to Perth.

Bermudashorts

I don't get questions like this, if you are just looking for another Montreal then why not stay in the original..

Weebie

If you move to trash suburbs like many Brits do then your going to have a sh*t time.

Brits are clueless about the cheapness of their country and don't yet realise that there is about 100 other countries in the world where the cost of living is higher than Britain. They don't seem to realise that their money isn't going to go as far, They will drop a class level in Australia and thus you may end up living shit.

The ones who go back obviously haven't planned it very well or perhaps maybe aren't "worldly" in their education.

Pollyana

You really do talk some garbage don't you.

Dorothy

Yes. Other than the language every Australian city is an exact replica of Montreal.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

What a complete ****wit. Coming from you, a man who spends the bulk of his time on here lying about himself and his background, comments like "aren't worldly in their education" is farcical.

Weebie

don't get upset considering you probably see yourself in that post.