michelle101

Hi everyone,

I don't know if this is just my cold feet but just been reading a few threads on the forum and they seem to be very negative.

We've just got our PR through, OH just got redundancy (just at the right time for us) and we sold our house this weekend in 48 hours, for over the asking price. Everything seems to be falling into place apart from the abysmal exchange rate.

We have a very good life in the UK and are going to Canada for an adventure with a view to returning in 12 months if we want to, or maybe we'll stay. We have a daughter (8) and we're heading for the north shore of vancouver.

Some good experiences of Canadian life would be good to hear right now.

M.

JonboyE

It is the worst thing about this site. Many people use BE.com for help and information about emigration and immigration. Once over that hurdle they move on with their new lives and rarely come back here to say how much they are enjoying themselves. The posters that hang about are a self-selecting group and I don't believe they are represent the experience of the majority of expats here.

For the record, we came to BC in 1999 and have not regretted it for a moment.

rubberduckofdeath

Nice post, reps!

iaink

Its not a new life anymore after 13 years, but this place works for me

Oink

Well said. There are too many naysayers on here, always quick to criticize and denigrate with a cleverly worded quip or a smart remark. But for the vast majority of people, they love it here and are glad to have left the sinking ship of the UK before it gets any worse, what with the crime and the immigration and drinking yob culture. This is such a great place to realise your dream of a better life for your kids.

iaink

I can never tell when you are being serious...

Certainly Canada can be a good place, but there are no guarantees, and the UK is not nearly as bad all over as some people would make it out to be either.

JamesM

So far so good!

The exchange rate is a pain in the arse- but Canada is great.

Novocastrian

I can. He's not.

spaceace

We've been in NS since Feb 2010 and although we are relatively new, we are loving it.
Every day is a new learning experience and there are highs and lows....from the chilled out polite driving (NS only I've been told) to the weird flying things that have started to appear, to the ridiculous price of stuff, to the super friendly natives, to the jaw dropping country side, to the taxes, the dodgy politicians expenses, and local cut backs.....etc etc....some would say same s**t different country, and I would agree to a certain extent, but we love it here :-)
The best thing is that the kids (4 and 9) seem so much happier here, they've finally got the freedom and space that they always wanted, and school friends that are actually nice, apparently :-) maybe we've been lucky? maybe my glass is always half full, who knows :-)

Oink

You know there is a difference between professional skepticism and wanton cynicism.

Novocastrian

Yes. I can recognize that too.

britsnake

We've been in Quebec since June 2008.

It has been a real adventure so far. The first year was pretty rocky, it took a while for everything to settle down.

Now in the second year, the adventure has been exploring my part of Canada and getting to know the people and the cultures.

To me Canada is still pretty wild and untamed. I can look out my office window and see Perigrine Falcons and hawks swooping down to catch the local pigeons. I can see boats sailing down the local river. I look a bit further and I see forests which I know are full of wildlife.

In the UK, the only predators I had to worry about were of the human kind. Here sometimes at night I hear the sound of animals fighting and wonder what weird and wonderful creatures may be involved.

Last Christmas I brough home some moose and deer for dinner, one of my collegues had hunted and killed them. I really enjoyed the look on my families members faces when I told them what it was.

Aviator

Came in '95, done everything we set out to do and more. Don't plan on leaving. Whole family quite settled and contented with Canada. Anyone that moves here though, it takes a long time to feel like a fixture.

Steve_P

Excellent post JBE.

I came in 1963 and never looked back.

Chookie

Well we like it here.

We are in Calgary, and tbh, apart from living in the burbs of a city rather than a small village, life is not all that much different.

Mr Chookie still goes to work, the Chooklets still go to school... and I am contemplating what I am going to do in September when the youngest Chooklet is at school fulltime after 12 years of not working

We have been here 4 years (must sort out our citizenship tbh!) and think life is pretty good on the whole... boring and predictable yes, but still pretty good.