Haylee32

I've been here a little over two years, I was granted PR last November, I have a well paid job, great apartment downtown and I have made a decision to go back to London (UK).

My life will not be as comfortable as it is here (anyone who has ever lived in London knows how tough it is) but to me living in Toronto is soul destroying. I find people to be completely different and rather cold and very reserved, dating sucks too, I find Canadian men to be extremely passive and bland, even in my company nobody expects anything from anyone and it's always the bare minimum that gets done. It's like mediocrity is being encouraged and there is no place for individuality or over achievers. I never see Canadians discussing politics or any current events, nobody's interested in anything.

Toronto is great for a quiet family living. Not for young energetic ambitious individuals.

I don't want to offend anyone, these are my personal observations and I realize many people won't agree with me but I was wondering if anyone felt similar.

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE

Have you considered perhaps moving to a different City or area? Perhaps it's the people you have met, rather than Canada as a whole...

not2old

Have you booked your ticket yet?

dbd33

I think this is accurate and I don't think it's a criticism, there's something to be said for a place where nothing happens. It's safe and you know that, in 20 or 30 years, it'll be the same as it was before. On a personal level moving to Canada may feel like getting off the fast track but, if you're zenned by nature or by herbal assistance, the mellowness of it all can be nice.

Haylee32

I don't really want to move elsewhere, I like big cities and I have heard from other expacts that Vancouver has no night life and other cities are similar too. All of the friends I have made here are European and they are all leaving too, one by one

dbd33

That's true of almost everyone I've known over many years here, they've all gone home or onward, but I don't know that it's anything remarkable about Toronto. If you were in Berlin or Earl's Court or Bangui or anywhere else with a large transient/new immigrant population then I suspect you'd find the same thing. If there were more cradles and if we communicated with them it might seem different but that ship has long sailed.

Siouxie

Fair enough - there are other cities than Vancouver and Toronto though, lol, though lack of nightlife is not something I have come across - depends on what you want I suppose!

Best of luck with your move.



https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...al_Quebec.html
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...o_Ontario.html

Oink

Welcome to Canada. We do try and warn people but we get accused of pissing on people's dreams.

If you find Toronto dull you'd shoot yourself in Vancouver.

Pulaski

"Same $4!t, different bucket", is a phrase that gets thrown around a fair bit on BE, in the forums for several different countries. I really don't agree in most cases, but it doesn't matter which country/ city you relocate to around the world, if you don't do your due diligence before you decide where to go, you may easily find that your life is no better than where you came from, and could easily be worse.

You need to look very closely at what is important to you and if you go chasing those particular things, what price you might have to pay in either cash or loss of other amenities. ..... For example if gourmet dining and high theatre are important to you, there are very few places in North America that will give you what you're looking for.

And despite much talk about globalization, it comes as a shock to some people that there isn't a massive difference in the cost of living anywhere in the industrialized world. Taxes may be lower in some places, and houses larger, but schools and roads still have to be paid for, as well as hospitals and healthcare, so low taxes are often offset by direct fees and the cost of private insurance.

not2old

What made you come to Canada in the first place?

When are you going back to the UK?

Haylee32

I don't agree, I think financially Toronto is million times more affordable than London.

Haylee32

Maybe it's silly but I just wanted a change and an adventure, I love the US and I thought Canada would be like USA, it's nothing like it. But I honestly didn't think that I would dislike it so much, I have put so much effort into wanting to like it.

I will move back in August.

Oink

You'd kind of expect that in a country's major city. Canada has to be one the most dull and uninspiring cultures ever invented. I had the misfortune of having to teach courses in a MA program that had both US and Canadian students. The Americans pissed all over the Canadians when it came to depth of knowledge, creativity and willingness to work hard. The one thing they excelled at was moaning about having to do any work.

not2old

Why wait till August?

Presumably you are young enough to go 'back home to the UK' & if its not the place for you, then there are other places.

Our youngest at 29 (with no ties now) is on the move, 'itchy feet' she calls it.

She is going down the road of doing a 'working holiday visa' (WHV) to Australia, see & spend some time in NZ while down under, then she plans to move onto Malta, the UK, then goodness knows what.

Our question to her 'are you planning on settling down ever' - her response 'who knows what 2 years from now will look like'
.

Haylee32

I'm 32 and my parents are dead, I don't have family to go and stay with. I have to wait for my condo lease to expire, sell up and September is better to start looking for a job in London than other months.