Auzi

Hello,

I am in the process of moving permanently to Oz in the near future, from Canada. Any advice would help immensely.

I recently came across Comet555's post that she has chosen to move back to Canada and was curious about the reasons for the move back to Canada after settling down in Oz. Comet555, is there something that I should be concerned about? Please advice.

Thanks in Advance,

Auzi

twinsmom65

Hello Auzi,

We are also from Canada and have been in Australia for coming up to 2 years now.

We are in Perth, but might be in the process of moving to either Adelaide or Melbourne as my OH is applying for jobs there.

Culturally, there is not much difference between Australia and Canada. I have found Australia to be more expensive than Canada, housing especially. I didn't come from Toronto or Vancouver (lived in Kitchener) and was shocked at the prices when I first arrived.

Some things will take getting used to, here in Perth, we don't have 7 day a week shopping (just bringing it in to select areas in Perth, and they are going to have supermarkets open till 9pm starting in November). Also lack of choice compared to what we have in Canada.

Sausages you will find taste alot different here in Australia, and will take a little while to get used to. There are only a few things that I truly miss, one being family, it is hard being 24 hours away from people, also silly stuff like deodorant... seems it is roll on or spray here for some reason. Also stuff like frozen perogies, don't have them here, and yes I miss Tim Hortons... I go to Muzz Buzz here in Perth and it takes like 10 mins to get through drive through, as they don't do drip coffee, only things like Latte and Cappas.

If you want to PM me, I can give you more low down on living in Australia.

Cheers

Karen

Dorothy

There's a thread on here "Canadians Moving to Australia". If you do a search you'll find there are actually quite a few of us on here.

As for Comet's moving back, it was never intended to be a permanent move for them. They are a young family and wanted to try something a little different for a few years so came to Australia. She's very happily settled back in Canada now close to her family and where she grew up. Next summer (northern) I'll hopefully be meeting up with her when I go visit Canada for my neice's wedding.

Are you Canadian or are you British living in Canada and looking for yet another change? Where in Australia are you looking to go?

paularn

I agree about finding the Canadians Moving to Australia thread, have a look through there.

I'm from Toronto, first moved to OZ (Darwin) in 1999 to be with my Aussie hubby. In late 2002 we moved back to Toronto, reason being I needed to move back to be closer to my family. If it wasn't for them, I would have never left OZ back then.

We've just moved back to Australia (Townsville QLD) in February this year and we have landed on our feet beautifully....both hubby and I have gotten better jobs with better pay. We are currently renting but will be signing a contract tomorrow to build our own home next year.

With regards to house prices, I find them pretty comparable to Toronto homes. In regards to other things, gas/petrol, food, clothing, you will pay more here. But for us it pretty much balances itself out with the extra money we are making here.

We do miss Tim's, we miss Canadian Tire and I miss the WalMart Superstore...but you adjust to the changes. Stores are open 7 days a week here but they close by 5pm...Thursday being the only night where they stay open till 9pm. Again, its something you learn to adjust to.

Anyway, fill us in on where you're planning to go in OZ.

Pollyana

Canadians headed to Australia

Auzi

Thank you all for your insight!

Dorothy

Thanks Poll. That's the one. Would send karma but have to spread first.

comet555

Absolutely nothing to be concerned about. For us the move was always viewed as a 3-5 year experience. Our kids were young and so we wanted to try something different for a while. I loved my living in Australia and I made some really close friends there that I will really miss.

To answer what you're wondering about though I could easily live in either country. I was happy in Canada and I was happy in Australia. Then again I'm generally a happy person and while in Australia I made a good effort to settle and make friends and adjust (sadly, not everyone really makes an effort). I really, truly loved it there... but then I also loved Canada too (just not Fort McMurray where we had lived prior to Oz).

I could have easily stayed, although my husband preferred the weather in Canada (he actually likes winter, yuck!). But our family is in Canada and our kids are little (ages 4 and 6) so we thought it would be nice to live near them for a change. My only trouble in staying in Australia though would be that we wouldn't see family very often. Since we were only in Australia for about 3 years they knew they had a short window to visit us, so we did have lots of visitors. A permanent move I imagine would have meant not nearly so many visits because of finances, vacation time, etc.

How you like Australia will probably have a lot to do with your attitude. It's ok to compare things a bit, everyone does it... but you can't compare with the attitude that everything was better in Canada (to me it seemed to be 50/50).

We're happy back in Canada and kind of settled. Moved into our new house, kids in school, near my family so very happy. It'll take a bit of time to sort out jobs and everything but that's expected.

I would really love to live in Australia again someday. Perhaps once the kids are older and we don't feel the need to live near family so much. We have citizenship so we can return at some point. I don't see it happening until the kids leave home though, although you never know. Perhaps we'll spend a few winters here and go crazy!

So, I hope that helps a bit. We definitely didn't leave because we didn't like it. Quite the opposite, I loved it.... we just always planned to go back after a few years.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

comet555

Where's the wedding? Would love to finally meet you in person after all these years!

Seneca21

Most other Aussie cities have shopping 7 days per week though. Also, it's Canada that's cheap not Australia that's expensive, because Aussie is the same as or cheaper than UK/Europe for most things, and things like council tax in Aus are very cheap compared with UK.

Must add that I love the way Canadians all say they miss Tim Hortons. They literally all say this - I went there once and it was kind of like McDonalds but for coffee. They did these nice mini donut things. Anyway, I know several Canadians that moved to Australia and they are among the nicest, most generous people I have met, so I really hope the OP has a go and makes the move even if it's just for a temporary adventure. WHat have you got to lose, after all?

Good luck to the OP!

comet555

I forgot to add that I know a fair amount of Canadians that have settled in Oz and are happy there. They all miss some things about Canada (ie. Tim Hortons), but they are happy. Most of the Canadians I have met are ones I've played hockey with (ice hockey).

I think the fascination with Tim Hortons is good, simple, cheap coffee and quick service. In Australia if I wanted a large hot chocolate and a muffin it would be like $10. At Tim Horton's it's probably be like $2 to $2.50 at the most. So there's a huge difference. There really is nothing like Tim Hortons there. I was back in Canada at christmas and got a drink for all four of us and some snacks and croissants and it was like $10... I was just shocked how cheap it was!

Oh... and the little donut things are called timbits. $2.00 for a box of 20!

Dorothy

The wedding will be in Burlington but my neice lives near(ish) to you in Lakefield.

comet555

Only a 3.5 hour drive, I do believe that's the closest we've ever been to each other!

Dorothy

It's not that far a drive from Burlington to Brockville, so I may come up for a couple of days. It will be school holidays, so could come any time. We'll definitely talk more closer to the time.

comet555

Cool, make sure you let me know. Our new house has 5 bedrooms so lots of room!

Now, back to Auzi.... how far into the process are you? Have you applied for your visa yet? What visa are you coming on?