colchar

In all fairness you haven't experienced Canada, you have experienced Nova Scotia which is not representative of anywhere else in Canada (well maybe other areas in the Maritimes but that is it).

MikeUK

To be fair Canada's not as different as people would like to pretend..

The vast majority of daily life revolves around new builds and Malls, the countryside varies but the flavour of what you buy and consume almost always comes with a hint of Wal-Mart and a dash of crappy tire, your loblaws, metro, no frills are the same across the country….
I’ve worked and shopped from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the shops are the same, almost the same as those to the south of us, day to day life isn’t all that different, just the scenery to and from work

jericho

Agreed. Same stuff, different scenery.

iaink

If its not true from one end of the UK to the other, its certainly not true across 6000km of continental Canada.

Canada offers a lot of scope for different lifestyles. The trick is deciding what it is that will make you happy and then finding that. Its just that the vast majority of people end up living the same mundane life.

clay

what you suggesting , we travel round canada to find somewere we like ?? may take some time that...lol.. no, we are more than happy with our trip here.. and our return home...

jimmydean

surely there is nowhere in Canada which is representative of anywhere else in Canada...........that's the point isn't it?

Rick b

As others have said here, everyones experiences are different. I came with my wife in September, me as a International Student (quickest way in) and her on a spousal work visa. Into Calgary and we have loved almost every minute. I say almost because looking for an apartment was horrible. Ended up paying 5 months rent in advance because we had no credit history here and landlords didnt like it. So far have used "car to go" for transport as we live close to downtown so no huge car insurance bills. Wife got a job at Suncor within a month of being here and loves it. Salary far better than she could hope for in the UK. Found rent and utilities cheaper (used to live in London when in the UK). Found almost everything we need, even a little British shop at Market Mall for some comfort English foods!! Tried skiing and loved it and bought skiis. Really can not complain. We read a lot when coming here and came from Zimbabwe via Belize so here is great compared to those. Wifes paycheck had some large deductions as well but am told can claim back in March so not worried. Im told Alberta is a much better economy than elsewhere so guess we are biased in our views.

Shard

Clay, can certainly understand you miss (re-appreciate) the UK and there's no need to check out other parts of Canada. But I wouldn't equate NS with Canada, it's one part, a very small part and about as representative of Canada as say Norfolk is of Britain.

MikeUK, most British high streets (and the growing number of malls) have the same shops these days, and you wouldn't say Newcastle is the same as Bristol. Same goes for British "old-builds" and the obsession with gutting and renovating or simply redecorating. Culture of daily life is not that different when it comes down to it. But the cultural differences of the people and attitudes are different as well as social activities.

Shard

Rick, what is the name or website of that shop?

MikeUK

I tend equate Canada with Europe not so much just the UK

And for a day to day lifestyle I would think it fair to equate Bristol with Newcastle, what do bristonians do that’s noticeably different from newcastlians, if you were placed inside a house or workplace or store at a given time of day could you tell your location by actions or lifestyle?

I’ve just spend the last few days working in Montréal, they experience all the same issues, shop in familiar places, watch near identical TV shows, and have almost identical topics of discussions as we do in Toronto, big city to big city the life styles aren’t that dissimilar…

iaink

There is a lot of Canada that is not big citys. I suppose thats true of the UK too, but its harder to get away from the influence there just due to the overall population density and distribution.

Rick b

http://www.goodtasteofbritain.com/ Its a nice little shop and I have enjoyed my regular supply of double decker chocolate bars!!

colchar

Yes, it is. You cannot compare life in the Maritimes to life in Ontario to life in Saskatchewan to life in Alberta to life in B.C. They are very different regions.




Life does not revolve around malls. And the flavour of what one buys and consumes only comes with a hint of WalMart, Metro, and No Frills if one chooses to shop there. If someone doesn't want that then all they have to do is to shop at smaller, independent stores.




Only if one chooses to shop at chain stores. There are countless other options available, one just needs to go to them.

colchar

No, merely that you cannot think that living in the Maritimes is representative of living in Canada as all it is representative of is living in the Maritimes.

MikeUK

But the vast majority of Canada lives in the cities and from what I can gather the density is higher than the UK's cities

I'll admit I live in the country, work in the cities

But even in my country life I sleep, eat, work, shop and watch TV
Maybe I spend more time gardening and less time traveling out to the country for hiking or cycling... my commute is a little bit longer but that IMHO isn’t really a significant lifestyle change.. in fact it’s a lot like my life was back in Kineton in Warkwickshire, or Brynsadler in South Glamorgan…