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Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Pendonk
(Post 9429485)
I've crunched some numbers on the salary and I'd be pretty much breaking even with where I am now. The difference being that I am currently self employed, so I get some sort of job security with the move. The company has some nice benefits, but of course that only applies if I work for them and no one else. The guy who interviewed us painted an idylic picture of safe communities with low crime rates and good schools etc etc. He never mentioned getting murdered once!! Taxes seem about the same, cost of living seems marginally cheaper in Canada, but prices are rising sharply here at the moment.
On balance it seems we're be marignally better off financially if we moved, plus I'd have job security. What sold it to us was the picture that was painted, but reading the comments here it seems to be flawed. Hmmmmm. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Almost Canadian
(Post 9429531)
You are moving to Canada - there is no such thing. By all means, move to Canada for many reasons, don't move to Canada for job security.
How many threads have there been about people being laid off without a minutes notice and having to rturn to the UK because everything that was promised never transpired. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by mandymoochops
(Post 9428743)
My honest opinion is if you come to Canada for "a better life because things aren't going well in the UK" then 90% of you (random figure pulled from thin air for paragrphic effect) will be unhappy.
If you come here with no preconcieved ideas - ie better schools, less crime, nicer neighbours bigger houses blah blah blah, then you'll be fine. Canada is the same as the UK but with mountains and colder winters. The cost of living is comparable so unless you have squillions of dollars to hand your quality of life to a greater degree won't change. Add that to the fact that you have no mates or family here and a lot of peoples dreams suddenly disintegrate pretty damn quick. If something goes wrong in Canada your feelings are amplified due to how lonely you are, kids can hate schools, other halfs can get lonely, marriages can end, jobs can be lost, life savings gone in a heartbeat. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Almost Canadian
(Post 9429531)
You are moving to Canada - there is no such thing. By all means, move to Canada for many reasons, don't move to Canada for job security.
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Re: Bad experiences
It sounds as though i'm being negative but i'm not - I have a fab life here, way better than I could have dreamed about in the UK (however my circumstances are slightly different).
I really think my one piece of advice to ANY potential immigrant would be this Get off your high horse as Canadians will not see you as anything special. You are just another immigrant who will be given no special treatment because of your cute accent or job offer. They may not want to meet new friends whereas you will. Be humble and friendly. There is one post that stuck in m mind (can't remember who it was by though) about a family that couldn't make any friends when they had loads back in the UK and felt isolated and alone so went back - was the attitude in which the way the post was written. Almost as though they expected to be revered in some way, and Canadians were unfriendly. They are not, they are normal people with attitudes and opinions just like yours, but their advantage is they have their lifelong circle of friends and for you to be recieved wholeheartedly into it will be rare (although not impossible). |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Tangram
(Post 9429312)
I'm happy here but I would back up Mandy and Christmasoompa's comments.
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Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by ireland2canada
(Post 9429499)
I see this come up now and again, the idea that people who post on this forum must be miserable gits who hate their life in Canada.
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Re: Bad experiences
Wow, Ive been elevated from doughty to venerable:)
I'm mostly happy here, looking at my "buddy list" for this site the other day it occured to me that many of the people I used to chat with here over the years and who were happy with their new life in Canada no longer post here, those that are unsettled gravitate here for support and advice. Last year the UK was the third largest source of immigrants to Canada, it must have something to offer. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by christmasoompa
(Post 9429291)
Which would be great, were it actually true. Certainly the higher income is not the norm, lower taxes (usually about the same), and the lower crime (more murders per capita in Canada than the UK). I'll give them cheaper housing though, unless of course they're talking about Vancouver. :lol:
The flip side to that is that job security here is certainly not what it is in the UK. If you want job security then self employed is the way to go! |
Re: Bad experiences
I recently went back to the UK after almost 3 years away.
On the London underground I noticed that most people had a very unfriendly look on their face and were doing the their best not to notice anyone else on the train. I still had that big smile on my face but after seeing the disapproving quick glances that some of the other passengers were giving me I tried not to look so happy. While there all people seem to do was complain. The weather, the government, the recession, rising costs, crime or being asked to take a pay cut at work. Whenever I spoke about my life in Canada I was either encouraged to not forget where I was from or given their contact details to take back with me. In Canada we have challenges. We have crime, bad government, corruption and rising prices. But where I live, we generally do not waste too much of our energy complaining about things we cannot change unless of course it is the weather, the mosquitoes or the price of gas, but those complaints seem to be made with a sense of fun and not to be taken too seriously. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by britsnake
(Post 9429740)
I recently went back to the UK after almost 3 years away.
On the London underground I noticed that most people had a very unfriendly look on their face and were doing the their best not to notice anyone else on the train. I still had that big smile on my face but after seeing the disapproving quick glances that some of the other passengers were giving me I tried not to look so happy. While there all people seem to do was complain. The weather, the government, the recession, rising costs, crime or being asked to take a pay cut at work. Whenever I spoke about my life in Canada I was either encouraged to not forget where I was from or given their contact details to take back with me. In Canada we have challenges. We have crime, bad government, corruption and rising prices. But where I live, we generally do not waste too much of our energy complaining about things we cannot change unless of course it is the weather, the mosquitoes or the price of gas, but those complaints seem to be made with a sense of fun and not to be taken too seriously. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Oakvillian
(Post 9429338)
It is the venerable Iaink of these parts who has what I think is the definitive answer: "a happily employed immigrant is a happy immigrant."
If you have a job you enjoy, paying you enough to live on, life here will be fine. If you struggle to enjoy (or find!) work, or struggle to make ends meet financially, or both, then it'll suck. It seems some move to Canada with no expectations and then they are not disappointed. Unless you are escaping something, or have no direction in life, I would say most would make a move based on wanting a better standard of life. Even if you move with no expectations, you cannot help to be a bit disappointed if you feel you jumped out of the pan into the fire. This site is great at getting info but doesn't scratch the surface in terms of preparing one for a new place. We could feel we might enjoy moving to Canada but in reality 99% of our actual experience will come from being here, not the BE forum. There is an alarming number of people who moved to Canada to abandon UK for whatever reason. Disloyalty to our heritage and country of origin is disturbingly high. I've grown to appreciate what Britain has to offer, and how incredible the place is, since living away. Is it enough to make me return? Well if I was to leave Canada I cannot think of anywhere else I'd go right now. I hear stories of terrible gloom from people there, yet I don't know anyone who has lost their job or had a pay cut. The recession is making it more affordable to live there, yet here in Canada, prices seem to have shot up in the areas which relate to our basic survival. There are many here who criticize their country of origin, yet in my experience things in Canada are not much better and in many ways a good deal worse. Schooling, for example, is something parents use to justify the move out. Franky I'm appalled at the education system in BC. The teachers are wonderful and the schools I know are pleasant but there is complete neglect in preparing kids for a competitive world. They even mix two grades together in a single class and teach part time. Also the ridiculous number of teacher's days off (so called 'pro' days), coupled with shortening term times and joke attendance days, like where kids have to be there for 9am and finish by 10. Does anyone with kids actually hold down a job here? Schools are most put out when you cannot break your schedule to go in for some parent activity in the middle of the day. In conclusion, I don't think it's wrong to come to a place expecting a better standard of living. Unless you're running away, or are a drifter, why else would you move? You don't move to a place with zero expectations. You may say you do but you're fooling yourself. Also how can anyone who is not already living in Canada, acquire a love for Canada? Unless you've spent your life on holiday and know every little nuance of the place, I'd say those moving out as part of a love affair with the place, are highly likely to be bitten, leading to a swift, painful and complicated divorce. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by britsnake
(Post 9429740)
I recently went back to the UK after almost 3 years away.
On the London underground I noticed that most people had a very unfriendly look on their face and were doing the their best not to notice anyone else on the train. I still had that big smile on my face but after seeing the disapproving quick glances that some of the other passengers were giving me I tried not to look so happy. While there all people seem to do was complain. The weather, the government, the recession, rising costs, crime or being asked to take a pay cut at work. Whenever I spoke about my life in Canada I was either encouraged to not forget where I was from or given their contact details to take back with me. In Canada we have challenges. We have crime, bad government, corruption and rising prices. But where I live, we generally do not waste too much of our energy complaining about things we cannot change unless of course it is the weather, the mosquitoes or the price of gas, but those complaints seem to be made with a sense of fun and not to be taken too seriously. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by ireland2canada
(Post 9429499)
I see this come up now and again, the idea that people who post on this forum must be miserable gits who hate their life in Canada.
Using my one personal anecdote, and no statistical evidence at all, I rule that this idea is flawed. I like life in Canada very much. I check into BE as a habit, I've been signing in every day for years, many years before even creating an account. So it is routine, as routine as checking your bank account on pay day. |
Re: Bad experiences
Originally Posted by Kiwilass
(Post 9430022)
I agree. I'm here not because I hate Canada, but I am bored and like talking to other expats.
I wonder if it just seems like everyone "hates their life in Canada" because those who are happy don't tend to post about how happy they are, whereas those who are miserable say so because they are looking for support. |
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