Re: Canada - the reality
 

I dont really want to dwell on the negatives, but are you talking a UK winter or a NS winter here?

Its long enough in Ontario, but out East there is a real possibility of prolonged power outages and having to shovel snow from the roof to prevent it falling in. I kid not.

If you havent, visit in the real winter, and even that isnt a true reflection, as there will be a certain novelty value to the snow etc that wares off when you have to shovel it off the driveway at 6am in sub zero temperatures for the 4th time this week in order to get to work. Winter in the UK is like late fall and spring here, and there are three months of real winter to survive between those points out East.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

The surprise in Canada (that someone else alluded to) is that the discretionary spending, like eating out, and stuff like that, is quite reasonable by UK standards. You have the option of passing on £8 drink.

What kills here is the mandatory spending to run a home...property taxes, heating costs, "hydro", insurance...etc. Its death by a thousand pin pricks...especially when you look at the salary levels. This is all stuff you have little or no control over whether you buy it or not, you need electricity, you need to heat. Anyway, rant over:)

Canada spent a couple of billion on some used UK subs. One had a big dent in it, and another caught fire on the way over. We are still recovering from the last spending corruption scandal that brought the liberal government to an end. Please, if you are concerned about misplaced government spending, Canada wont be for you!

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Dont worry about dwelling on the negatives, thats the point. Ill post a 'Whats great about living in Canada?' thead too and we can even it up ;-)

Some kind of snowmobile sounds in order though? Eh.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Agree with Iain's posting. In the UK you do have a choice whether to buy or not. Here the "must haves" are the items that are substantially more expensive than in Blighty.

As such we have waved goodbye to the treats we would buy ourselves back home as they have become "luxuries". I'm talking trips out for the kids and small gifts for my wife, not footballers bling. Plus I earn a tidy salary too, above the average I would say.

People talk about moving here for "The Lifestyle" and don't get me wrong there are a lot of pro's to life here, BUT you need cash and time to make it worthwhile. Bringing a tidy sum in Pounds and getting a good exchange rate is great but you still have to consider its a Single Trump Card. After that you're paid, and taxed in CDN$ and the Canadian Govt will bitchslap you to an extent President Tony and his pals could only dream of.

Most of my Canuck neighbours haven't even visited the beauty spots on our doorstep due to this. The "Real Canadian lifestyle" in the summer comprised mowing and emptying / refilling their garages. One neighbour has kids 10 & 8 who havent even been to Niagara !!

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Hey Leg

Firtsly let me say....Cool Name. I have like many others the same concerns, but i try to look at it more simple, its not like ya dying, ya emigrating. Give yaelf a time limit, mine is 18months - 2 years and if things are that bad, keep enought to come home. Surely housing prices can't rise a great deal more so i'm sure with the money you have saved you will have the option of returning.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

I agree, We spoke about this in a PM a while back. However, from our experience we found having this viewpoint made us feel like we were living
in limbo and the factors for convincing us to stay became harder and harder to see and accept.

If you come with this stance I think going back will always end up the more likely option.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

That smacks of laziness, not penury.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

If you like loud buzzy engines and windchill:)

Which to be fair a lot of Canadians seem to.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

rofl, laughed out loud at that.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Disagree, Perhaps they're guilty of something all of do in overlooking the stuff on our doorstep as "we can go there anytime".

They're both idecent people in good professional jobs,
The lights in the house are on at 5.00am in the week.
He's otta the house by 6.00am,
Shes out at 7 with the poor kids to go to a before school club.
After a days work and commute she's back at 6 with the kids
He's back in at 7.00 with work brought home as well.
Fair play to them on Saturday they do various activites for the kids run in typically Canadian precise fashion.
Sunday, is shopping and preparation for the following week.

My point is that the above seems the reality of "The lifestyle", this is the way I've seen a lot of people live. They work their b*llocks off for a petty 10 days vacation, Seems one hell of a rat race to me.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

All fair points. I believe that the term "metro, boulot, dodo" originated in Quebec, not France, as I once thought.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Dunno if it has any bearing on the conversation above but when we toured NS, NB, Quebec and Ontario I loved NS, really liked NB, thought Quebec was a nice place to visit (liked Montreal) and was (no offence anyone) really put off by the Toronto, Cambridge, Niagara region which just felt, well, too much like the UK crossed with the USA for me. Too built up, too busy. Only place (bar one waitress in Quebec City) where anyone was rude and the only place I got stuck in traffic and cut up.

Maybe Im just a country bumpkin, I cant stand London, Birmingham or Glasgow either.

Is anyone here living in NS?

Re: Canada - the reality
 

That's nothing to do with being a country bumpkin. Birmingham and Glasgow are vile places, as is most of London.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Just reading through this thread and one thing that occurred to me is the property taxes issue. Rather than buying a house outright is it not more cost effective having a mortgage to get tax relief on property taxes? I have no idea what I'm talking about here by the way. In the US our property taxes are high too however I remember my husband saying that you get tax relief on your mortgage.

Also going back to the winter issue. I live in Wisconsin so we typically have snowy winters although not to the degree of canada. For me its not the days when your out playing that get you down but is when you have errands to run or your trying to get to work that are a pain. Snow clearing gets laborious. Wearing many layers of clothing and then sweating when you get to the Mall, its things like that that makes the snow lose its appeal. Drivers behind driving up your behind when there's fresh snow on the roads, because they have a bigger car than you! The snow looks beautiful when its fresh but after a while its gets dirty and then looks a little ugly. Those are the things that people dont think of when they are thinking about living with snow. Mind you there is nothing like a white Christmas :)

Living in North America is nothing like living in Europe for every imaginable reason, even visiting can never prepare you for what your life will be like. Do your research but I think ultimately some people are more geared to the lifestyle than others and only moving here will show you which camp you are in.

Re: Canada - the reality
 

Aint no such thing here.


Maybe in the states, but not in Canada