Have a bad experience with one did we, shame...

As Dorothy said, Australia is a big country, and it has a variety of climates.

I don't know who on earth told you that.

But Canada also has animals that some people find to be a nuisance from time to time.

That's not what we experienced in our two and a half years in Melbourne.

That is quite a common experience amongst British expats in Canada too. Not everyone runs into it. It varies from industry to industry and from region to region. Because of economic cycles, it also varies from one time period to another. But don't automatically assume that Canada will be better on that score.

Again, you may not find Canada to be any better than Australia. Out of the three jurisdictions in which our children received schooling (Alberta, Texas and the State of Victoria), I considered Victoria's schooling to be the best. It seemed to me that, of the three, Victoria's curriculum challenged kids to think the most, the Texas curriculum provided the least challenge in terms of thinking, and the Alberta curriculum was somewhere between the other two, certainly better than that of Texas, again only in my opinion.

I don't know if you'll find this helpful, but we in the Canada section of BE created a Wiki article called Relocation Strategies. It arose out of various discussions that had taken place when our members had had the wobblies. Although it was written with Canada in mind, much of it is relevant to any new country.

All the best to you, regardless of what you decide to do.

Hi mate, I understand your dilemna. I went to Australia to settle 15 years ago on the basis of my wifes points. As a truckie, I hated driving around that barron landscape and the heat was unbearable. I ended up visiting Canada on my way back from Australia. I stopped in Canada, Toronto like you mentioned and fell in love with the place.


As it happens, I split with my wife and went back to the UK only to finally go over to Canada this year at the ripe old age of 53!

AB Global Recruitment sorted me a 2 year revolving contract. I've been in Belleville, 2hours from Toronto for the last 5 months and I love every moment of it. Even bought myself a nice house in the country for £40,000. But most of all I love the driving here. The economy is booming here mate!
I wish you guys all the best for the future!!

Isn't that pot calling the kettle black...........well I suppose you are more sarcastic than vulgar

Hi. Sorry to hear that you are having a hard time settling in. I found the first few months in Canada bit tough too, mainly because I moved here for the skiing and sailing. We arrived in September - too late for the sailing season, and too early for the ski season. But by December, the ski resorts open and life was good again! For us moving in this shoulder season was practical because we had just finished our MSc, and it did give us a chance to settle in. But in hindsight we had too much settling in time, especially as Oct and Nov are the wettest here (see Excel comment below) and I have the potential to suffer from a bit of SAD.

Also sorry but some of what I am going to say may sound a bit harsh, but think of it as a form of tough love!

You need to do your research, listen to other people, and then keep an open mind and make your own opinion once you get there. Someone in Canada might say that there is nothing to do in winter here, whereas we ski so it is our busiest time of the year! How many people's opinions did you get? Are these people like you? You say "how Oz was portrayed", did these people go to the same place as you?

Like Canada, Oz is a big place with different climates. Although very happy in Canada, we might be going to NZ for a year's secondment for work. Mr L2S has been on some weather website downloading weather stats that he has been putting in Excel and making charts (yes, sad but useful) so we can see what the rainfall, min and max temperatures are in different parts of NZ, and also compare them to Vancouver and Leeds (the last place we lived in UK).

From what I've heard from people who have lived and travelled there, there are generally a lot of snakes and spiders, but I am sure this must vary somewhat on where you are in Oz. Did you research this at all, or did you just take what you were "told"?

As mentioned by others there are going to be people who don't feel or behave like this. But it is the stereotypical Ozzie past time, probably for a reason and doesn't surprise me too much that you say this. Maybe try and think of way to meet people who may not be into this booze and BBQ culture so much. Are there any hiking clubs? eerrr...knitting clubs..... how about joining AA? Actually forget the knitting, my Gran lives in Surrey and her knitting club has more Gin than wool!

And you think Canada is going to be magically different? One of the biggest comments in my opinion on the Canadain pages is that job hunting is all about networking and who you know.

No little L2S yet so not too sure about education in Canada, but I often read people moaning about the standard of education in various parts of Canada.

Other than women always being right, why did you choose Oz over Canada? As mentioned, it might be wise to think about why you are moving more....is it that you were wanting to move to Oz....or were just wanting to move away from the UK. I know I wanted to leave the UK, whereas Mr L2S wanted to come back to Vancouver. Whenever something goes wrong here, it is totally Mr L2S's fault that Canada is like this and NZ* / OZ* / South Africa* / UAE* (*delete as desired) where I would have moved to if it weren't for Mr L2S wouldn't have been like this.

Well you can research your next options, with the benefit of hindsight of knowing more about what is important to you in a community and place to live.

Good attitude to have, but remember that the UK might have changed too in those 2 years and might also need some research!

For me, property is the biggest plus in Canada because it's so cheap in the East (NB, NS etc). It's just a question of whether or not my fiance can find IT work there and someone to sponsor him...

Australian property is still a bit cheaper than the UK but still pretty unaffordable as interest rates there for mortgages (home loans) seem to be around the 8.19% (2 yr fixed) or 8.29% (1 yr fixed) rate, which means you wouldn't be able to afford the same size mortgage as in the UK, whereas the current variable interest rate in Canada is a mere 3.75%!

People keep saying the weather's better in Oz, but I personally prefer cold weather and a bit of snow! At least you can have proper Christmases where snowmen are real and not just plastic decorations or designs on Xmas cards! However I do still enjoy warm weather and bbq's and nice beaches (although Canada still gets warm in summer)...

I keep changing my mind all the time!! I think it'll really boil down to which country we can get jobs in - we'd need a sponsored job offer from Canada but could probably get in without a job offer for Australia.

Has anyone just gone to Oz and looked for a job whilst out there? How long does it normally take? Conversely, has anyone managed to get someone to sponsor them from E. Canada? (all the jobs seem to be in the West...).

Thanks,

Anita

PS - the distance doesn't really bother me for Oz cos my family wouldn't even visit me in Canada cos they don't 'do' long flights! :-(

What line of work are you in? Do you know if AB Global Recruitment deal with IT work too? (computer installation engineers). Are they expensive? (call me cynical but I'm assuming it ain't free!).

Do they help you get job offers as we need sponsorship from an employer for our p.r. visa...

Thanks!

well we've finally made a decision - after 13 hours of consulting this website and rummaging through all the leaflets and brochures we collected from the emigration show back in october, we've decided on...

CANADA!!!!!!

yay

a variety of reasons but the 'final straw' against oz was the number of people moving back from oz on the MBUK forum) with very few moving back from canada. also, i do remember the aussies (from when we were over there for 6 mths) being rather male chauvinistic and quite racist, whilst the canadians are so friendly and love our accent.

but i can quite understand why people go to oz as it's a beautiful country, and maybe if i was in an 'easier' line of work to recruit for (eg mechanic, plumber or similar tradesperson) it would be easier to make the move, but also the property's so expensive in australia and we could only afford to live in coffs harbour out of the whole country! (spent ages looking at property - high interest rates mean we can't afford to borrow much for a mortgage).

also, it's so far away we'd never be able to come back cos of the price of flights, and my family would never visit cos they hate long flights. whereas canada's got direct flights from next year via 'canadian affair' for like, £100 or something stupid like that!

anyway there were lots more reasons that swung it, and it would've been easy to say oz, cos it's easier to get into for us as we don't need a job offer, but in the end you've got to think 'where can we see ourselves living?' - regardless of how easy / hard it is to get in. so now we've made the decision that's the easy part done (well hardly - i've got backache from being hunched over my laptop for 2 days!) - now we just have to found an employer willing to sponsor me!

(any ideas / contacts greatly appreciated )

cheers,

sean

Congratulations on having made a decision.

I know you've just done heaps of research, and you may not enjoy being told to do more. But I really do think you would do yourself a favour if you read all the Wiki articles in the series on Job Hunting in Canada.

At this early stage of your research, the most important information for you to absorb is:
If your networking efforts are successful, you'll soon need to send your resume (Canadian version of CV) and a covering letter to someone, so read that article too.

As you go through the process, you'll need information from other articles in the series. They're all important, so read them all. It is as important to take note of these things once you're already working in Canada as it is while you're job hunting from the UK.

There is a crossover between job hunting and immigration, obviously. So also look at:
If you're interested in Nova Scotia, forum members in that part of the country consistently recommend Career Beacon as a good website.

Hope that helps.

Hi
Yes we have done that and fully understand that Oz can feel a bit "empty". We lived in Sydney for 2 years and Perth for 9 years then came to Canada. I could bore you for hours about why we left Oz but I won't. The best advice I would give would be to get your Oz citizenship first then come to Canada. There are many similarities between Oz and Canada so the culture shock will not be severe. Many people will offer friendly advice but at the end of the day you have to do what is right for you. You have not failed, you simply tried Oz and probably found that it was just not for you at this particular time. If you do get your Oz citizenship, you can always return and give it another go in the future.
Very best of luck
J

on moving over here our good friends went to perth. its been very interesting speaking with them and then our friends back in the uk to compare the 3 life styles, because what it boils down to it what you personally like and only you can answer that. they love the heat, bbq's and don't fret about spiders, snakes etc, i love the cold, well ok loves a bit strong, but i like it better than 40+ anyway, hate all the wildlife, bugs element, and am not interested in the beach. so they love aus, i love canada, not because one is so much better then the other, its simply good for them.
as for the ones in the uk, well they mention m+s and the pub alot and thats about it
glad to hear you have made the choice, if you have a list of your likes and what you would like to do in the future, and this fits canada all should be good.

Perhaps the reason more people move back from Australia is that many more go there in the first place. And perhaps ironically the fact that it's easier to get in leads to people not thinking through the consequences of moving in the first place.

All that said, if Canada is your choice be prepared for the fact that it's not easy to find employer sponsorship (depends on occupation and other factors). If you do get sponsorship make sure you understand the issues with being a temporary resident (financial and other) and don't assume you will have a quick/automatic pathway to permanent residence.

We have about three feet snow drifts, wind howling like a banshee, just got back from walking the dog, I'll watch the Raptors play, then snow blow the drive way.

Oz or Canada, it is so subjective, better off , what part of Oz or what part of Canada??

I don't like Western Canada or Oz, prefer the East, two of my Brothers, opposite, both live out West, both love Oz, one is there right now, 66, third time he has back packed for 6 months.

I did not like the snake thing, but it was the heat that really got to me, plus all the bugs, but I am a person who does not like a temperature above 75.

career wise, Canada definitely offers more variety of opportunities, many start here, end up in a HQ in the U.S, and i also like the proximity to the U.S, a vast land with loads of things to see, and a few hours drive gets you there.

England is a 7 hour/ $400 flight, makes it easier for visiting.

I was always annoyed at the fact that Australians think it is O.K to insult you for being English, as if it is something you should be ashamed of??

Gallipoli was nearly a 100 years ago, get over it.

My two cents, 3 months to Florida and Spring Training.

sorry to go off thread, but how do you find the snow blower, thinking of a purchase now my back is virtually gone already in mid dec. cheers.

A MUST, make sure you get electric Start and drift Cutters, minimum 8H.P.

I also have added a canopy that protects when winds are swirling.

Fot those in Oz, some of the drifts I had to blow through were almost 5 feet, we are in The Blue Mountains.

I understand the South and TO got this storm worse???

Didn't see a snake.