Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

:confused: We have spent hours trawling the web sites to create an image of what Canada is like,we are amazed by the huge difference in climate from one provence to another and the landscape is so diverse.
We thought Kootenay BC looks nice ,can anyone make any other suggestions? somewhere there's plenty to do but quiet and safe for the kids.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

NOVA SCOTIA,NOVA SCOTIA,NOVA SCOTIA.

I've pm'd you swoops.
mike

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Vancouver Island is a beautiful place to bring up kids. My husband and I can't think of a nicer place to bring up our 2 kids. We have the ocean, beaches, lots of parks and wilderness areas, you can surf on the west coast of the island, watch the salmon swim upstream in the fall, watch eagles nest......and too many other things to mention here. Depends whether you like to live on an island ....and spend 1 1/2 hours on a ferry to get to the mainland. There is another forum www.vancouverisland.com/forum where you will get many other opinions from people living and wanting to live on the island

There are some other folks that have already moved to the island or are thinking of doing so......so I'm sure they can give their opinion as well.

Best of luck to you wherever you decide to make your home.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I don't recommend Toronto, that's for sure. I haven't been elsewhere (outside Ontario), so I can't really recommend any other location/province.. I guess it all depends on your "tastes." If you like a "crazy" city that's crowded and full of life, etc., then Toronto might be your place.. although if anyone in your family has lung/breathing problems/asthma, then I can say it's not a very wise choice..

I've heard many nice things about BC. Don't know if there is any truth to it. Maybe some of the forumers who reside there might want to say more about that. :beer:

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Have a search around on the forum ... there's have been a lot of threads asking the same question ... apart from Dan, everyone would probably recommend where they live.

My suggestion last time someone asked this was that we start recommending Iqaluit ... it's July average is 8C ... it might not be frozen all year ... go on, someone has got to try it.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Im not sure I can answer this type of question with a straight answer anymore, the temptation to say Iqualuit is too strong.:)

Really all of canada pretty much meets your requirements, and dont worry, plenty of people do fine raising kids in Toronto, I dont think it as bad as all that. I certainly have no qualms raising my kid in my rural Ontario backwater.

I would worry more about finding a place where you can get a decent paying job and affordable housing, because that is going to be more benefit to your kids in the long run.

Good Luck

Iain

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

:cool: If it's a mild 8c in july...December ????????????????? bet you don't find condoms on your doorstep there! cheers for the info though! :eek:

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Hi Swoops

Like yourselves we want somewhere nice to bring up kids.
You don't mention whether you have been to BC yet, we trawled the internet, read books, watched videos etc etc for the best part of a year (we applied in July 2003) but theres nothing like seeing the place " in the flesh "
Our first choice originally was Calgary but I don't think that I could stand the weather so we are trying to decide between Van Island ~ which we visited this May or the Okanagan.
Having visited the island it was a lot different than seeing it on the internet, some parts were absolutely beautiful, others were not what we had expected.
Anyway, what i'm trying to say is visit where you want to live if you possibly can, theres nothing like seeing it with your own eyes :)

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I agree with wilmore here. Vancouver Island! it has sea, lakes, mountains, and a climate more like UK. The kids can cycle, walk ski, sail, and run about in wide open spaces. There are provably many other places the same.


We have chosen Courtney mid island. Our kids are teenagers,but felt it had all transport options, and all the outdorr sports they could want.

You must go and look though as thinhs are not all what they seem from internet and pictures..........

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

hi bananahammock
We have not visited Canada at all but it seems to tick all the boxes.We have both felt so fed up with this country and what it offers our kids for their future,Canada appeals to us all and it makes great reading.We started to research Canada about 3 years ago and have felt very unsettled here since,we have not started the visa process yet but I do feel your advice of visiting there first make sense,did you visit prior to applying?

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Hi again Swoops :D

We applied first and then visited although we have also been researching Canada for a couple of years.
Wierd as it sounds though, we also felt really disheartened with the UK and what it held for the kids future but now we've actually taken the bull by the horns I keep seeing all the good points about being here!! Womans perogative I suppose. ;)

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I think as time goes on you will find less good points about being in the UK. We started looking at and visited BC for the first time 3 years ago. Loved it and have been to BC many, many times and when we applied for our PR this was where we intended to live (Okanagan Valley), however last Christmas we were in Pennsylvania and we decided to pop up to Ontario just to make sure that BC was the place for us as I was starting to feel that perhaps the Okanagan was just a tiny bit goldfish bowly for us. Anyway on visiting Ontario, we just loved it! Went back in February to find a property, put an offer in on a farm and then went back in May/June for completion. We spent the whole of August there and we are sure that for us, this is the right place. We are only an hour from Toronto and 1 minute drive from our town.

We have visited Canada many times now and although I would certainly love to go back to BC for vacations, it was just not what we were looking for long-term and I was a bit anxious about the future prospect in the job market for our children.

Canada is so big and everywhere is lovely......you just have to go there and figure out the place that is the best for you and your circumstances. Best of luck.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Hope you don't mind me stepping in here ... I would strongly urge you to visit Canada before deciding where you want to go.

Canada isn't Utopia - Canadian kids are faced with the same social challenges as kids are in the UK - drugs, underage drinking, etc are all issues here to.

Canada isn't the UK and attitudes, lifestyles, etc vary a lot from province to province ... try to visit a couple of provinces and try not to look at them as tourists ... unless you're heading to BC, try a visit in Jan/Feb ... see what you think of the winter and remember that it lasts longet in some provinces than others :eek:

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I agree with you about it not all being rosy. We all have the feeling that the grass is always greener ............ We spoke to as many people, especially locals around where we chose to buy, researched on the net. Also by reading the on line local newspapers it can show a different light on places.

On the government websites etc, we have found crime figures for areas, read all about drug, problems, and were quite amused and enlightened about mariuanja ( can't spell sorry) fields being grown around the town. ( by his tenants in one case)

We stayed in a bed and breakfast first visit, and the owner was an immigrant from UK many years ago, he was a great help in telling us where to go and what to do.

We had gut feeling instantly about chosing BC, but just like here in the UK, have no doubt that if and when PR come through, we may probably have to move about depending on jobs etc,
But you have one life and if you don't take a gamble you will spend life saying "I wish we had done that!"
We are going for our first time in winter this December so may see it in a different light, but we want to ski, so I hope there is snow up that mountain!!!

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Oh you will love BC in the winter. It is fabulous! There will be snow on the mountains and you will just love the ski-ing. That is something we don't really have in Ontario. There are a couple of tiddly runs but nothing like out in BC, however we do have Vermont not too far away so for ski-hols we may just have to go to the States, which suits me fine as I LOVE Vermont.

Have a lovely time, it's so lovely and crisp and clean out there in the winter.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Should be snow on Mt. Washington (I assume that's what you're talking about).....the website is www.mountwashington.bc.ca if you want to check out the conditions before you come.

Had a late start with snow last year.......so it may be partly artificial snow.....but snow there shall be.......attracts too many visitors and residents for there not to be snow at that time of year..

Have a great time...........

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Yes it is Mount Washington that we will go to, about 20 mins from us.
We have been up the mountain in summer, and there was a scattering of snow there in April when we went.

Hopefully there will be enough snow there, for us to go and say we have been for a day.
We need to go and fit the house out with furniture, so whether we will get much time to ski is another thing. Apart from Ikea on the mainland and Sears. Any good furniture stores in Victoria?
I cannot believe how hard it is to find a normal bed. I can buy an old fashioned metal frame thing on wheels to put mattress on, or i can find a wooden frame to go around a divan, but can I find a normal slatted bed frame style! No. even a divan is hard to find.
We will visit Ikea on the mainland as this is my favourite store in UK for al the odds and ends. It will be like having a trolly dash around the store, with three of us trying to get as much in as we can in the shortest time!

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Holidaying in BC is NOTHING like having to live here. I had been here several times before I took the plunge, having also visited NS, Ontario and Quebec many times before. It was a ghastly mistake, outside the ski season it is just plain boring. Others on this forum do like it here, but I would swap Bournemouth/Dorset for this place any day. :cool:

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Ooops I reckon you will get a few on here who will disagree with you dingbat!! I, for one do agree with you though. This was exactly what I was trying to say in my posts, that we really do love BC, to visit! Not to live there though. I am sure everyone looks for different things in life though so people have to decide what is important to them and find the place that best suits them. BC was not that place for us. We love living in the country, never lived in a town in my life, but I need to be close to a major airport and decent shops. In Ontario we have that.

We have some friends who looked at the Okanagan at the same time as us and as their Immigration went through before us they have now been there since May......and they really love being in Canada but are regretting not moving to Ontario for the reasons you have cited. They find BC quite un-inspiring now, as I eventually realised that we would have too.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Like alot of others I ahve spent hours on the net looking at places to live, and that is just in Ontario.
Canada is just so vast and varied. I think that you have to really narrow things down and stick to a choice. Then, once your out if you don't like it move around.
I also look at some of the Oz site and it's not unusual for immigrants to go to one place and then move 6 months later.
A friend of mine out there did Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne before happily settling in Brisbane.
My plan is to go with Ontario, somewhere around Toronto, (as that's where i will be initially working) then start having alook at other places, otherwise trying to visit all of Canada from the UK becomes too expensive.
I found holiday guide books such as Rough Guide and Lonely Planet a good starting point.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

:) Hi pincher,thanks for the advice, it seems like there are alot of people on here wanting to escape Kent! We live in Teynham most people you speak to have had enough and want to get out of the UK :rolleyes: ,I wonder why! Are you close to getting your visa?

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

My postal address is Kent, too...

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Someone mentioned a "normal" bed - I am not sure what is meant by a normal bed, but don't forget - this is Canada and what is a normal bed in England may not be a normal bed here.

I love Kent. However, my sister was telling me about Pembury, which is a small place - and how they are having trouble with yobs who respect nobody - least of all the police. You wouldn't think that kind of thing would happen in a small place like Pembury! But I guess it does.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Bed sizes are definitly different here. Canadian "Queen" is bigger than UK "King". Canadian "King" would probably have its own post code in the UK! If it really matters there is a thread in the archive with dimensions etc you can search for.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

[QUOTE=Tiaribbon]
It really does depend on your priorities in life. I grew up in Ontario in the KW area and loved it - don't get me wrong...Ontario has a tremendous amount to offer.

I went to UBC for my university years and then travelled extensively after grad school. Settling in Ontario was never an option for me, even with family/friends residing there. It would have been difficult to start a career in marine biology in Ontario, but I really wanted to move back to the west coast - which I did and never looked back. My futurehusband who was from the same area wanted to settle close to family/friends - so I moved back to BC (Victoria) and told him that's where I'd be. Granted we have been very lucky with our careers and being able to buy a home while the market was still reasonably priced.

I would rather go through the inconvenience of having 1 1/2 hr ferry ride through the most goregous scenery in the world to get to a major airport and the shops.......in order to live in a wide open space with fresh air, beaches, ocean, and lots of parkspace for my kids. BC has a tremendous amount to offer people - you don't necessarily even have to look for it.

In fact, when I returned from my latest trip to the UK, I had tears in my eyes as we circled the San Juan Island getting ready to land in Victoria I was so happy to be home!!!!! :D

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Man, these threads are pointless arent they!!! FWIW Tia is literally just up the road from me, and Marine Biology not withstanding, we have all of the above in abundance, with the beach a 30-45 min drive away, plus TO 90 mins away and Ottawa 2 h away, plus our property costs are probably at least half what they are in BC. Plus, our "ocean" is fresh water (Lake Ontario), so no icky saltyness after swiming!

Wish I had a picture of Sandbanks handy to post a pic of the beach!

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Iain - no one especially me is disputing the fact that Ontario has a tremendous amount to offer people. I grew up in the KW area.

I was just giving my opinion that I felt for myself and eventually my husband and kids BC had more of the lifestyle that I preferred and a great deal to offer people, and I would prefer the inconvenience of living on an island....to living in Ontario - only my opinion. :D

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

They're frikkin irritating ...

The answer to each of these threads is "where can you make a living?"????

Personally, I'm in IT on the infrastructure side, so I need a decent sized city - Vancouver Island looks cute and I'm sure once you're 90 minutes from TO Ontario is wonderful ... but almost nobody lives there!!!

Can the good people out there asking these questions actually get a job??

If you can't make a decent living, life will be rough at first as an immigrant in any new country ... no friends, no family, nothing familiar ... which probably explains why just under 9% of Brit immigrants just give up and go home.

So let's stop this pointless, counter productive pissing contest and try to come up with some useful frikkin information!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh .... good night.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I seem to be doing OK, so are my neighbours. We arent all farmers you know!. I think there is a popular misconception that there is nothing outside of the GTA. My area, (Belleville & Trenton) has over 100k people, with a lot of manufacturing industry, plus all the usual services to support the community. Not a lot of IT though. Sure, for some occupations a major city is a prerequisite, but for most its not. There are a lot of small and medium sized places with a lot to offer.

One aspect people may not immediately think about is that nearly all newcommers head to the major centers, TO, Van, Calgary etc, because thats where a lot of jobs are, but there is also a lot of competition for those jobs simply because so many newcomers go there. Its a lot more expensive to live in the big cities, so while you are trying to land that good job, your savings are eroded that much faster too. I guess the reality is that people will always be drawn to the places they have heard of at first.


I agree, but there is no usefull info to post on a "where to live" thread!

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I didn't suggest everyone out your way were straw chewing yokels ... on the other hand, 100K people wouldn't keep me in a job ... Calgary is on the small side for what I do ... theorhetically I should be more employable in Ontario.

I'm not trying to knock all you lucky b*st*rds who get to live out in quaint little towns in the glorious great outdoors ... I think many people don't have a choice about heading for a city ... IT people, accountants, etc.

56% of new immigrants head to Ontario, probably mainly Toronto - the second most popular destination is BC.

Although Calgary has a high profile on this forum, it's actually a secondary destination for a lot of people I've met - they've been to BC or Ontario and watched their capital burn to a crisp already.

The impression that Calgary has a lot of jobs is misleading ... Calgary has jobs for the right people with the right skills.

How about we write a FAQ for each major destination province??

We have posters here from ON, BC, AB, SK and the maritimes ... surely we can knock something together in a standard format?? Maybe come up with a standard scoring system??

I'll take Iqaluit ... er, lovely place ... summer temperatures just like parts of the UK ... um, winter? ... well ...

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I think that Vancouver Island should be a serious choice
for many people who fit the original criteria: a good place
to raise 3 children. I'll start by admitting some bias in that
I have lived on the island in Duncan for nearly 30 years. I
have raised 2 children here.
Duncan is similar to some other communities on Vancouver
Island, but has some distinct advantages. This city is
between Victoria and Nanaimo. A resident here can choose
to work locally or in one of the other nearby cities. House
prices here are $100K, (44K pounds), less than Victoria.
Commute time from here to Victoria or Nanaimo is about an
hour to 1.5. I work from home and go to Victoria a few times
a month. I used to travel for work in Seattle, Washington.
I would leave my house at 7:30am and be at my Seattle
desk at 10:00am, via float plane. Trips to Vancouver take
about the same amount of time.
Good jobs in the cities pay about $30K-60K. Consulting jobs
are $70K-120K or more. The provincial government hires
many people who live in Duncan.
The local employment scene has definitely improved lately.
Most local jobs tend to be fairly low paying at $8 - 10 per
hour. There is room for more small businesses. It is easy to
operate a business from your home or commercial leases are
relatively inexpensive.
There are quite a number of schools in Duncan, both public and
private. There are no troubles with violence, generally, but there
are pressures of drugs, etc, in some places. My children went
to the Francis Kelsey high school. That school has a self-paced
learning system with less emphasis on enrolled grade. As a result,
the students know many more students in grades 9-12. Bullying
is unknown, arts and academics are emphasised, although shop
classes are few. The other high school has the bulk of the shop
and industrial training.
Duncan's weather is quite moderate. It rarely goes below 0C or
above 25C. It can go to -10C and the low record is about -20C.
The highs are sometimes near 30C with about 33C being the
high record. We don't get high humidity with the heat so the
hot temperatures are quite liveable. We don't get very much
snow, lightning is very rare, no tornadoes nor hurricanes. We
do get some violent storms with heavy rain and high winds a
couple of times each winter.
There is a lot more that I can say about the Duncan area. If you
are interested, feel free to ask me offline.
Good luck with your move to Canada, where ever you go!
VR

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Glaswegian is right. These threads asking where is the best place to emigrate in Canada are totally pointless.

Every city, town, village, hamlet - even way out in the country - all these places are the best place in Canada to emigrate, depending on:

whether you need to find a job; what job you do; whether there are job opportunities in your area; what lifestyle you have etc. etc. etc.

Will you be happy in Halifax? Of course you will be happy in Halifax if you can find a job and if you like Halifax.

Wll you be happy in Ontario? Of course you will be happy in Ontario if you can find a job and if you like Ontario.

Same goes for the rest of the Maritimes, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, B.C. - even Iqaluit.

Some people love the winter and the cold - some people hate it.

Some people love the hot weather - some people hate it.

We should have a sticky post to this effect.

Every week someone asks the same question and its a question to which there are a billion right answers.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

You have talked Vancouver Island up a lot and it was are first chosen destination but we have now decided to move to South Okanagan some of the disadvantages of the island are the weather lots of rain and also its on earth quake line. But really you have to travel and spend some time at your chosen places as we are all looking for different things from are chosen destinations and its such a big country.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Bloody good idea. Would really help out sort out the truth from the $h!t.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Perhaps we should of posted where is the worst part of Canada to live and raise a family it may of narrowed things down a little!
Employment is a factor of course ,however you have to begin somewhere!
when you have never been to Canada asking opinions of those who have or those who live there is a great way to begin to narrow areas down, looking at a pc or reading the books is not a patch on listening to those who have seen these places for themselves, many thanks :)

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I agree with Swoops. For us who have been on here a while, it does become a tiny bit "oh no not another one asking where to go" but we don't have to answer them if we don't want to. Brief descriptions of places are usually all that is required, and surely we can pass on the information with pleasure to those who haven't yet made it over. I don't imagine there are many on here who did not visit Canada before they received their PR and often all they are looking for is a pointer in the right direction as to where to visit, which may turn out to be where they settle. It is a lot of money for a whole family to visit Canada and if they hear something on this forum that puts them off a particular area, or spurs them on then surely we are being good world citizens by helping them out?

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

Volunteering??

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

No I was going to nominate you :p

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

I'll be moving to Iqaluit for the winter then .... bye bye.

Re: Which is the best part of Canaada to immigrate with 3 kids ?
 

If the experts are correct and Vancouver Island does get a 9.5 earthquake...I don't know how safe you're really going to be in Kelowna...although a heck of alot saver than on Vancouver Island....... :D