Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated!
Apr 30th 2014, 3:33 pm
#16
Bon Vivant
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 2,956
Re: Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated
Maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but I wouldn't underestimate how difficult it is to get licensed/approved/certified/etc to work with food in Canada, and especially NS.
I have friends who are trying to run a hobby farm about an hour from Weymouth, and they are constantly fighting with the inspection/standards people, red tape, bureaucracy, etc. There are quotas, etc, and it's very much geared towards favouring big business as opposed to small independents.
Also, as others will attest, life in NS depends greatly on who you know (not what you know). People, especially rural, stick to what/who they know, and it's not easy to break that inner circle.
Personally, I would love to have more butchers in Canada, but they are very much a niche market here. Generally, Canadians are quite happy getting their meat from the supermarket/Costco and there doesn't appear to be much demand for butchery. When you combine limited demand with a very small population, it should give you cause for concern.
Sorry if this sounds like I'm putting a downer on your dreams- that's not my intention. But as I referenced in this and other threads about NS, I've seen too many people arrive with rose tinted glasses and get a quick and unhappy reality check. Immigration is very expensive- not just the process itself, but getting established once you're here etc. Really make sure you do your homework is basically what I'm saying. Good luck.
I have friends who are trying to run a hobby farm about an hour from Weymouth, and they are constantly fighting with the inspection/standards people, red tape, bureaucracy, etc. There are quotas, etc, and it's very much geared towards favouring big business as opposed to small independents.
Also, as others will attest, life in NS depends greatly on who you know (not what you know). People, especially rural, stick to what/who they know, and it's not easy to break that inner circle.
Personally, I would love to have more butchers in Canada, but they are very much a niche market here. Generally, Canadians are quite happy getting their meat from the supermarket/Costco and there doesn't appear to be much demand for butchery. When you combine limited demand with a very small population, it should give you cause for concern.
Sorry if this sounds like I'm putting a downer on your dreams- that's not my intention. But as I referenced in this and other threads about NS, I've seen too many people arrive with rose tinted glasses and get a quick and unhappy reality check. Immigration is very expensive- not just the process itself, but getting established once you're here etc. Really make sure you do your homework is basically what I'm saying. Good luck.
Apr 30th 2014, 3:37 pm
#17
Bon Vivant
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 2,956
Re: Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated
I think that you need to visit Canada or Nova Scotia if that is where you want to live. Things are different here. You need to come and have a visit it will also help on the Visa application if you know what you are letting yourself in for.
Real butcher shops hardly exist outside of city's. Most meat shops are in the local supermarkets. Yo say you have a 2.5 hour bus journey to make to the town, well here you will be lucky to have a bus route. Travelling to work in the summer is a delight with the local wildlife abounding and the eagles and Ospreys flying about. But come winter it is a different story when it is -20. All of these things you will have to consider.
You will not have 14 years old kids drunk on cider staggering around here you have to be 19 and be able to prove it with ID before you will be served with drink or cigarettes. Rowdy teenagers are arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the RCMP. You can all-ways tell the English visitors or newcomers to Canada by the way the women hod on the handbags in case they get snatched. Compared with Britain we have next to no crime here.
It is a wonderful place to live but you must do your homework on what you can do for a living and where you must live to be able to do it. Come and have a look or contact me on Skype to progress further.
Real butcher shops hardly exist outside of city's. Most meat shops are in the local supermarkets. Yo say you have a 2.5 hour bus journey to make to the town, well here you will be lucky to have a bus route. Travelling to work in the summer is a delight with the local wildlife abounding and the eagles and Ospreys flying about. But come winter it is a different story when it is -20. All of these things you will have to consider.
You will not have 14 years old kids drunk on cider staggering around here you have to be 19 and be able to prove it with ID before you will be served with drink or cigarettes. Rowdy teenagers are arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the RCMP. You can all-ways tell the English visitors or newcomers to Canada by the way the women hod on the handbags in case they get snatched. Compared with Britain we have next to no crime here.
It is a wonderful place to live but you must do your homework on what you can do for a living and where you must live to be able to do it. Come and have a look or contact me on Skype to progress further.
Apr 30th 2014, 11:46 pm
#18
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Nova Scotia (from Scotland)
Posts: 1,032
Re: Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated
I think that you need to visit Canada or Nova Scotia if that is where you want to live. Things are different here. You need to come and have a visit it will also help on the Visa application if you know what you are letting yourself in for.
Real butcher shops hardly exist outside of city's. Most meat shops are in the local supermarkets. Yo say you have a 2.5 hour bus journey to make to the town, well here you will be lucky to have a bus route. Travelling to work in the summer is a delight with the local wildlife abounding and the eagles and Ospreys flying about. But come winter it is a different story when it is -20. All of these things you will have to consider.
You will not have 14 years old kids drunk on cider staggering around here you have to be 19 and be able to prove it with ID before you will be served with drink or cigarettes. Rowdy teenagers are arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the RCMP. You can all-ways tell the English visitors or newcomers to Canada by the way the women hod on the handbags in case they get snatched. Compared with Britain we have next to no crime here.
It is a wonderful place to live but you must do your homework on what you can do for a living and where you must live to be able to do it. Come and have a look or contact me on Skype to progress further.
Real butcher shops hardly exist outside of city's. Most meat shops are in the local supermarkets. Yo say you have a 2.5 hour bus journey to make to the town, well here you will be lucky to have a bus route. Travelling to work in the summer is a delight with the local wildlife abounding and the eagles and Ospreys flying about. But come winter it is a different story when it is -20. All of these things you will have to consider.
You will not have 14 years old kids drunk on cider staggering around here you have to be 19 and be able to prove it with ID before you will be served with drink or cigarettes. Rowdy teenagers are arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the RCMP. You can all-ways tell the English visitors or newcomers to Canada by the way the women hod on the handbags in case they get snatched. Compared with Britain we have next to no crime here.
It is a wonderful place to live but you must do your homework on what you can do for a living and where you must live to be able to do it. Come and have a look or contact me on Skype to progress further.
Edited to add - it's quite possible the butchers are also meat farmers to a certain extent, there's quite a few of those round here as well!
Last edited by izzi81; Apr 30th 2014 at 11:48 pm.
May 17th 2014, 3:31 am
#19
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: From NS to ON to AB & back to ON. Currently in USA
Posts: 100
Re: Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated
So I don't really frequent this forum anymore and rarely post however I wanted to give you my two cents!!!
I lived in Nova Scotia for 4 years, in rural Windsor. I am a "country" person with an agricultural background but country life in England is a far cry from living in the sticks with the rednecks!!! I worked in for the department of agriculture while I lived in ns and Weymouth was part of my territory.....as someone already posted.....property is cheap there for a reason, being no one else wants to live there and certainly not Nova Scotians!!! 90% of the people living in Weymouth work in the mink industry and are related to the "Mullins" family....the pretty lakes have been used for dumping mink waste (of all kinds) for the last 30 years and they are seriously polluted, there should be a whole lot of media coverage on it if you look it up? The smell produced from both mink feed and waste is horrendous....in truth it is the smell of money.....but I personally would not want a mink farm next door to me!!
The community is exceptionally close knit in Weymouth, more so than other rural areas of Nova Scotia in my opinion and although some exceptional farmers, I think I already mentioned they are all related? I am not exaggerating!! They are good hard working people but socializing will be very hard so satellite tv will deffinetly be a requirement.
As for work as a butcher....there are no formal requirements for butchery in Canada and the skills are not sought after.....especially since the crash of the beef and pork industry 5 years ago. Most meat in Nova Scotia is imported from other provinces or countries. However there are a few very successful farms that are catering to a specific market looking for "grass fed beef" for example. I know of a successful operation (owned by an English family) that recently sent two employees to the uk to take butchery courses inorder to open a butchers at the Halifax market...they are based in the Annapolis valley (which really is the primary agricultural area). The name of the farm is getaway farms and they would be an excellent contact for your partner.
Although there are negatives to renting I would strongly suggest if you do decide to move over and live in the country, do not buy for a good while.....because country properties do not sell quickly.....I actually know a couple of Brits that bought, fell out of love with Nova Scotia/Canada (inevitable really) and then couldnt sell their houses and were trapped......horrible situation to be in!
We got out, deffinetly not unscathed and a good deal poorer.....but we are free!!! Good luck!
I lived in Nova Scotia for 4 years, in rural Windsor. I am a "country" person with an agricultural background but country life in England is a far cry from living in the sticks with the rednecks!!! I worked in for the department of agriculture while I lived in ns and Weymouth was part of my territory.....as someone already posted.....property is cheap there for a reason, being no one else wants to live there and certainly not Nova Scotians!!! 90% of the people living in Weymouth work in the mink industry and are related to the "Mullins" family....the pretty lakes have been used for dumping mink waste (of all kinds) for the last 30 years and they are seriously polluted, there should be a whole lot of media coverage on it if you look it up? The smell produced from both mink feed and waste is horrendous....in truth it is the smell of money.....but I personally would not want a mink farm next door to me!!
The community is exceptionally close knit in Weymouth, more so than other rural areas of Nova Scotia in my opinion and although some exceptional farmers, I think I already mentioned they are all related? I am not exaggerating!! They are good hard working people but socializing will be very hard so satellite tv will deffinetly be a requirement.
As for work as a butcher....there are no formal requirements for butchery in Canada and the skills are not sought after.....especially since the crash of the beef and pork industry 5 years ago. Most meat in Nova Scotia is imported from other provinces or countries. However there are a few very successful farms that are catering to a specific market looking for "grass fed beef" for example. I know of a successful operation (owned by an English family) that recently sent two employees to the uk to take butchery courses inorder to open a butchers at the Halifax market...they are based in the Annapolis valley (which really is the primary agricultural area). The name of the farm is getaway farms and they would be an excellent contact for your partner.
Although there are negatives to renting I would strongly suggest if you do decide to move over and live in the country, do not buy for a good while.....because country properties do not sell quickly.....I actually know a couple of Brits that bought, fell out of love with Nova Scotia/Canada (inevitable really) and then couldnt sell their houses and were trapped......horrible situation to be in!
We got out, deffinetly not unscathed and a good deal poorer.....but we are free!!! Good luck!
May 17th 2014, 3:51 am
#20
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2009
Location: Somewhere in Hamilton, ON
Posts: 4,307
Re: Anyone been to/lived in Weymouth NS before? Your advice would be much appreciated
I would add that I know Weymouth. Until recently I lived half way between Weymouth and Yarmouth.
First thing I would say is that it would be very difficult to integrate. The people are very friendly but that's it, they're not interested in becoming friends. They are all related and the majority are Acadians so stick to themselves.
My advice , from my experience, is that is you want rural then stick to 30 mins tops from Halifax, that way you have the best of both worlds...
It's a beautiful area and there are some absolutely gorgeous houses in Weymouth but nothing else...
If you would like some info on my experience of living in really rural NS then pm me. Living an easy commute, however rural, from Halifax is very different from the isolation of South West Nova...
First thing I would say is that it would be very difficult to integrate. The people are very friendly but that's it, they're not interested in becoming friends. They are all related and the majority are Acadians so stick to themselves.
My advice , from my experience, is that is you want rural then stick to 30 mins tops from Halifax, that way you have the best of both worlds...
It's a beautiful area and there are some absolutely gorgeous houses in Weymouth but nothing else...
If you would like some info on my experience of living in really rural NS then pm me. Living an easy commute, however rural, from Halifax is very different from the isolation of South West Nova...
