Very true.

One Canadian IT guy I knew lost a job just before I got here in 2001, he only just got another job in IT this summer. Another very experienced guy I know was out of work for six months before he found something.

I remember attending a CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society) careers evening ... most of the people there were Canadian IT graduates trying to figure out how to get a job ... go figure.

Hate to say it but it's not much better here, I would hate to be graduating now rather than when I did. I just caught the tail end of the dot com boom, so found a job easily, but then lost it within 6 months when the firm closed. Of course these days too, the bottom end of the IT career ladder have to beware of outsourcing as well.

I'm an old fart ... I got into IT in 1990 ... been working with PC technology for nearly all of that time (I had short stints as a programmer/analyst in the early 90's) ... not many old guys like me around.

Being able to pass exams counts for a lot here ... they really value certifications ... I don't think they were taken so seriously in the UK.

IT staff aren't really valued by many companies ... when it comes down to it, they're a more expensive than average resource with way higher expectations.

That sounds ominous, I only have one bit of paper, now for something very much out of date. Companies I've worked for often couldn't/wouldn't pay for training/certification, or if there was money there, we couldn't find suitable stuff. Most of the work I've been doing in the last 2-3 years has been with cutting edge development tools, often still in Beta release, so there's no way of being certified. Ah well I'll just have to dazzle employers with my amazing charm and wit or alternatively be preapred to bribe people!!

Glaswegian,

Did you CHOOSE to live in Calgary or is that the only place you got offered a job? Would you have preferred to have emigrated to another part of Canada such as BC?

I've not been to Calgary but my brother is in the RAF and has been sent there on training, at different times of the year to see how they can cope with extreme weather changes! So i guess it's not ideal weather.

I can never work out whether you like living in Canada or not because your posts can be very contradictory. Sometimes you rave about it - other times you keep trying to put potential UK immigrants off the idea.

Is it just Calgary that you would not recommend people emigrate to or Canada full stop?

Personally i am hoping to relocate to BC (where i spent some years as a child). If there is a general reason why you think people are looking through rose tinted glasses when they consider emigrating to Canada i'd love to hear it.

If you think Canada as a country has a lot more to offer than UK (i know it's generalizing a lot) then i'd also love to hear your views on that.

My husband is a Design Draughtsman and commutes 2 hours each way to London every day. He earns a salary of £50k. We live in a 3 bed semi in Medway, Kent and have this Canadian Dream that our lifestyle would be better in BC....

Now that's nothing to boast about is it? Working your ass off and travelling to earn £50k but not being able to afford any better than a small 3 bed semi.

Maybe we are misleading ourselves.....?

My pennies worth...

Many people immigrate to Canada expecting all the sins of the UK to disappear. When in fact it just another western nation but with a lot of unused land..
Just like the UK the better higher paying jobs are often in the cites, and with house prices to match, if you want the bigger houses or country living then you commute..
Salaries are less than the UK along with higher taxes and this tends to balance out the standard of living. Not forgetting much less holiday..
We have crime, slightly less, but when it happens its often nastier..
Education on par with the UK along with the medical services.. and our government make the UK government look competent!
Our summers are better than the UK’s but our Winters much colder.. Spring and fall last only a few weeks..
And we have wildlife that bites back

Yes the countryside is beautiful if you know where to go.. but then that can be said of the UK too..

In my opinion there is at the end of the day very little overall difference between living in the UK and living in Canada..

One key point to keep in mind.. in the UK you have day trips to France… wine, cheese fine food..

We have day trips to the USA…. burgers, fast food and rednecks

Doing the same travel, for less money and not being able to afford anything better than a 2 bed semi ??

Bummer SirTainly. But do you have 2 kids? LOL

I guess you wish to move to Canada too because you feel you've more chance of a better lifestyle there than crappy old London/commuter belt areas?

Canadians seem to enjoy saying that they have high taxes but they are comparing to the States not the UK.

I would dispute this. People tend to look at the rates of tax. The top federal rate of tax is 29% payable when your taxable income reaches $104,648. On top of that is provincial tax (in Alberta it is flat rate 10%). So we have a top rate of 39%. Ok not much below the 40% in the UK, but now factor in the fact that it starts at a higher taxable income plus the fact that there are more deductibles (eg childcare, medical) here than in the UK.

My guess is that most people (at least in Alberta) would pay a lower proportion of income tax than in the UK.

Mrs G

No kids, you've got me there.

Indeed I feel I'd get a better quality of life not having to commute miles just to get a suitable job.

But isn't the tax rate in Alberta much lower than anywhere else in Canada.... courtesy of your oil.....

Looking at the tax rates for Toronto, they are lower than I pay in the UK....

Brucy bonus especially combined with the very low/ no mortgage I will have

I am trying very hard not to look at moving to Canada through rose tinted glasses. I think if you have done any research you will realise that Canada does indeed have its own problems. But at the end of the day, just being able to walk the dog without feeling that you have to leave your home looking like Fort Knox has to be worthwhile.

You have to weigh up the positives and negatives for yourself and from that decide if it is the right move for you... And I'm speaking here as someone who will be going out on her own and have to start a social network from scratch...

Here’s a good guide to your income tax…

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individ...03_rate-e.html

On average you’ll be paying between 32% to 42% on a salary of $60,000 Can

In the UK this is basic rate stuff at 22%
On a direct exchange rate of 2.26 the UK 40% band starts at $71,000 can

Yes we did choose Calgary - then hunted for a job. Saying that our first choice as Toronto but we quickly realised that it was not for us.

BC is too rainy. Quebec requires a better ability in French than we possess. Didnt like Toronto. Mr G's work requires a biggish city. Calgary has chinooks.

That depends on your personal version of 'ideal'. It snows here - but it melts with the Chinooks and its very sunny. The Chinooks can drive some people nuts.

Think of it more as trying to make you aware of the pit-falls before you move your family. We have no intention of returning to the UK. For example, if you hate snow then most of Canada is not for you - you would be surprised at how many people dont think it through.

I dont believe we ever said that. Calgary is a great place to live IF you can handle the snow, chinooks and get a job. But like anyone else - we have good days and bad days and sometimes that comes over.

Most people are trying to get away from something they hate - it colours the opinion. Just remember that if the thing you hate is a personal thing then in all likelyhood it will come with you. Push rather than Pull syndrome.

This depends on what stage of life you are in. We have two young boys - they play hockey. Six months of every year is filled with hockey. Spring brings organised sports - soccer, baseball, tball. The recreation centre offers some very reasonably priced lessons in just about everything you can imagine. Most people seem to find they are in their price range - there are low-income fee breaks for those who need them.

Summer brings camping - RV or tent- very popular in Canada. The 'holidays' are taken more seriously.

There is more national pride - you are actually allowed to fly the Canadian flag outside your home and nobody will come along and tell you that its 'upsetting for the immigrants'.

Then again to get back to the subject of the thread, the negativity comes from trying to make you aware of the pitfalls. There are immigrant issues - some people hate them all - some just dont like the ones that come from anywhere other than the UK(being Commonwealth after all). In many peoples eyes you are just another immigrant - they come and they go so why not wait and see if you stick it out.

Just like anywhere else you will not survive if you cannt find work or cannt bear the weather.


Hope this helps.

Mrs G

I agree the weather is a major factor when immigrants choose to go home.

Personally having spent some years of my childhood in BC i know full well what the weather is like. When it's "cold" believe me it is nothing like the winters you have experienced in the UK.

I love the Canadian winters, i love the snow and skiing. Canada copes much better with snow than the UK does. Here the public transport comes to a standstill just because we have leaves on the track on a windy day.

As for taxes, my husband pays a fortune in taxes here, he'd pay less in BC on the equivalent salary. But we'd be living in a bigger house for what we can afford here also.

From what i've heard from many people the Canadian standard of education is superior to British. My 14 year old daughter currently attends a Girls only Grammar school so i'm not taking this potential move to Canada lightly from her point of view.

As for crime. Where i live it's not too bad but go further out towards the Medway area of Kent or towards London and there's no comparison to most parts of BC.

As for scenery? What is there in my area? ummm.... the local pikey's having moved in, the A2/Channel Tunnel Rail Link recently built not half a mile from our house....hmmm this is all we can afford on a £50k salary? (and that's not including my salary).

I know there are certain parts of the UK that are beautiful, i come from the Isle of Wight and that's one of them but it has it's drawbacks too much like Canada i guess.