P64

Evening all!

Hubby, me and our 2 boys applied for skilled visas back in September 05, having only read about Canada and listened to holiday stories form friends.
neither the less we decide to apply know it would takes ages!!!!!!!!!!!! if at all to happen.

We visited in Feb to get a taste of the winter, b......y freezing, but dry and blue skies, yes we decided we could live with the cold and the kids certainly could (they love snow) But too be honest and for those of you living there pleeeeeeeeeeease don't be offened, there was something that just didn't feel right.

Both hubby and I expected beautiful scenery, not the Rockies granted, as we were in Ontario, but we had expected some rolling hills, but no, just masses of flat land as far as the eye could see, with the od tower block. We did vist the Blue mountains and did some skiing, even with a brocken finger(hubby stood on it wihile I was putting the youngest's boots on) Oh, and also with knackered left ankle ligaments as I crashed into the wall on Tube Town!!! ( don't anyone try that it's horendous)

Also, it all seem abit old and tatty looking, SORRY! to be fair we were both a bit dissapointed. However we are going back in June to see it in the summer, maybe we'll change our minds about the place.

The reason the Thread title is Canada v Australia is, my sister moved out to Perth in Feb and is loving, and now I'm thinking maybe we should go there instead, it would be all warm and sunny!!! mmmm. But no seriously, it sound lovely, and visas only take around 7 months, also jobs seem easier to get. But then I don't know whether I could get used to xmas in the sun (how pathetic am I ?)

I, well we actually, just can't seem to make our minds up, one thing we both know is we don't want to stay in the Uk, it's not a great place for kids, we want somewhere safe for them to grow and to have more opportunites as kids and adults, proberbably just like the rest of you on this site.

So all advice, thoughts and remarks welcome, Pleeees.

Cheers

JAJ

A few points to ponder:

1. It's likely to be a long time before you get Canadian visas.

2. Can you qualify to migrate to Australia? Check http://www.immi.gov.au and http://www.migration.wa.gov.au (if looking at Perth). Bear in mind that if you are going to be relying on sponsorship from your sister, look carefully at the Australian Assurance of Support rules.

3. Nowhere is going to be perfect.

P64

Yes, hubby qualifies for the 136 MODL skilled visa, it is a long wait for Canada and I know no where is perfect.

Oh ther is so many if, buts and and's, what do you think of Perth? are jobs easy to get (hubby's a Die Maker) mind he wants to get out of doing shifts, he's not lazy by any means just nights aare killing him.

BC Hopefuls

|Hi,

Don't write Canada off just yet. You have only seen a tiny fraction of it. Canada is a very large country spanning from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That means there is something for everyone. If you want stunning scenery try BC. If you want big blue skies and to be able to see forever try Alberta.
Think of it like Europe, you wouldn't visit Spain, decide you don't like it then never consider trying Germany. There are such diverse people, landscapes and cultures that you will surely find the community to suit you.
Good luck where ever you land!

yorkiebar99

I hear you. Canada is quite ugly in that sense. Whereas a lot of cities in the UK have so much character. We use to live in York- a beautiful city but lived in a miserable climate and expensive environment.

There are a lot of beautiful spots in Canada and if you like the wilderness you can get away and be on your own.....unlike in England, the sun peeks out for 5 minutes, and there is a traffic jam in the moors/dales!!! Canada is a completely different lifestyle. You will have to get use to travelling distances to places....but its all worth it.

As for Australia.........Perth is brilliant. we would move there in a flash if the buggers would let us in. I love the climate there and the beach culture and think that it's just ideal for kids.

P64

Have only loked at Ontario as it seemd to be the best place for weather. Vancouver is proberbably lovely but I don't want ot see more rain than I am now!!

I take it you live in Canada but have visited Perth ? and reading your reply. you'd rather be in Perth. How does is compare to Canada for kids ?

You see I don't know whether I'm looking to Perth now as it's quicker to get in and ofcourse the sun helps alot, I'm not a great one for clod, but I'm easy going and if the hubby and kids want snow then i'll get on with it.

Rich_007

Suggest strongly that you thoroughly research Kelowna/Kamloops.

Rich.

yorkiebar99

I am kind of getting the impression that you have already made up your mind.........

I actually grew up in Canada- my parents emigrated from England to Canada in the 1960's. I enjoyed growing up here and was exposed to the outdoors a lot more than my cousins back in the UK. It's all personal preferences really, but weather plays a strong, strong factor for us. We love being back in Canada now with Blue skies and HOT summers!!!

I think it is easier to provide your kids with a great life in the UK if you have a lot of money. But then again, it really depends on what you define as giving your kids a good life. If we had kids, we would jump at the chance to grow up in Australia loving the beach and the outdoor lifestyle.

The only thing with living in Australia is that it may cost you a bit more to travel back to the UK if you have to go back to visit family/friends. That is why my parents chose Canada over Australia.

If i thought i could get into australia by having kids....damn it...i would have 6 of them!!!

I must say though, we moved back to Canada 3 years ago from the uk just because we could and we were fed up of living in UK. even though i grew up here, it did take me a while to get use to everything again and to get use to how ugly everything is....cement buildings.....but you know, it really does grow on you and you get use to it. We go off galavanting every weekend in the summer and have some great adventures.....we were never in the position to do that in the UK because we never had enough money.....

Judy in Calgary

In previewing my message I see that, while I've been typing, other posters have shared their thoughts and have said some of the same things as I have. However, after investing the time in typing my post, I'm going to let it stand.

Might be a good idea to use the time to do a recce trip to Perth instead. It would be good timing from a research point of view, since it would be Australia's winter and you'd get to see Western Australia when it wasn't as sunny as it is in the summer.

May the saints preserve us, you are listening to the opinion of a person who arrived a couple of months ago, and probably still is in the "honeymoon" phase of her relationship with Australia. Your sister may love Australia in the long run, and more power to her if she does, but you cannot predict now what her long term reaction to Australia will be.

Do yourself a favour and park yourself in the Returning to the UK forum for a while. Find out why people return from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc., to the UK. Notice the people who get sick and tired of the beaches and the sun and who find Perth (or wherever) very bland after a while.

We lived in Melbourne for 2.5 years (July 1997 - January 2000), and we loved it. We travelled extensively in the eastern half of Australia, and enjoyed it very much. My husband went to Perth on business several times, and thought it was an enchanting place.

For us Australia felt like a natural fit because we come from Southern Africa originally. Hence the Christmas in summer thing did not bother us. In fact, while we enjoy our White Christmases in Canada, it was quite a lot of fun to experience a few Green Christmases again, just for a change. We enjoyed the feeling of familiarity, the similarity between Southern Africa's vegetation and Australia's, the fact that Australians played cricket and rugby, and so on.

I might add that the very factors that helped my husband and me to feel as if we had "arrived home" in Australia horrified our then-teen aged sons who had been born and raised in Canada. As time passed they grew fond of Australia, but they certainly didn't like it immediately upon landing there. Their initial reaction was revulsion.

One factor that bothers some Britons after they have spent some time in countries that Europeans settled recently is the blandness of the architecture and the lack of history (or at least the lack of what Europeans easily can recognise as history). That did not bother my husband and me in Australia because we'd spent all our lives in "young" countries.

From what I've seen on this forum, it is almost impossible for a Briton to predict how much or how little this factor will bother him/her once he/she has settled into a young country. I've seen people here who have been on as many as eight research trips to Canada or Australia before they moved. However, it was only when they were actually living in their new country that they came to realise they missed the UK's pubs, old buildings, the ability to hop across the Channel for an infusion of some different culture over a weekend, and so on.

The pros and cons of Australia and Canada have been repeated again and again, and they probably are obvious to you, but I'll go over them just in case. Canada's seasons are in synch with those of the UK and flights between Canada and the UK are shorter and cheaper, so that makes it easier to coordinate visits back to family in the UK. If you don't like cold winters, Canada's climate is a disadvantage. Conversely, Australia's seasons are out of synch with those in the UK, and flights between the two countries are longer and more expensive. However, if you like a hot climate, Australia will appeal. One advantage that Australia has over Canada is that employers tend to grant longer holidays. In Canada two weeks a year is considered normal, and you're considered lucky if you get three weeks. Let me tell you that does not make it easy to visit your overseas family, much less see all the regions of this vast country. More recently Australia has acquired still another advantage over Canada and that is the fact that Australia's immigration process usually is shorter than Canada's, as you've discovered.

We left South Africa in the late 1970s partly for our own sakes and partly for the sakes of our future children who were not yet born. I believe that, in the case of South Africa, that decision was a "no brainer." However, even with our firm convictions on the subject, it has not always been easy. I feel guilty for having deprived my parents and my parents-in-law of their grandchildren. Also, when my father, and later my father-in-law, grew ill and died, it was very painful to be living far away from our families of origin.

I don't know what to tell you. There are Britons who have moved to other countries, settled happily, and never looked back. There are Britons who have moved to other countries, found out that those countries were not for them, and then moved back to the UK. There are still other Britons who have moved, thought it was a mistake, returned to the UK, realised that was a mistake, and then moved again. Who can predict into which category you will fall if you emigrate?

Flat landscapes don't appeal to me either, so I can understand where you are coming from on that score. However, there is more to Canada than Southern Ontario. If you are going to pursue the option of moving to Canada, you might want to investigate some other provinces.

Well I doubt that my post has done anything to clarify things for you. It may have made things only more confusing. Obviously you have a big decision ahead of you, and no one else can make it for you.

If I have accomplished only one thing, I hope I have dissuaded you from choosing Perth just because your sister is happy two months after settling there.

Postcript. Since your subsequent posts have enquired specifically about the quality of life for children, I'll address that issue. Since we've had kids, we've lived in Canada, the USA and Australia. The materialism in the States bothered us, and we found it difficult to raise balanced kids in an environment in which our sons' peers wore designer T-shirts, designer running shoes, designer sunglasses, designer everything.

When we got to Australia we found that children were much more outdoorsy and natural. Within two weeks of arriving in Melbourne, our younger son went from being a jaded 13-going-on-30 guy to a carefree kid who spent his recesses building a treehouse in the grounds of his school. We felt that Australia bought our kids a few more years of childhood, and we will be forever grateful for that.

My feeling is that Canada is more or less half way between the US and Australia in that regard.

That said, my sense is that materialism is increasing everywhere, including Canada and Australia. The Australian friends with whom we stay in touch tell us the same thing. They lament the fact that Australia is growing more "American" all the time.

Another postscript. If you are going to pursue the Canadian option, I believe there is merit in taking up Rich_007's suggestion of researching Kamloops.

Yikes! I hope this helps at least a little.

pennyhp

Hi

Two things sway me towards Canada over Australia and they are 1 distance to UK & 2. Australia has horrendous spiders :scared: :scared: - end of story!

Pennyhp

dbd33

For what it's worth, the publican at the end of our street is from Perth. Why doesn't he live there ? Because "It's a long bloody way from anywhere".

I'd go to Australia, just because the idea of waiting five years to come here makes no sense to me but before going anywhere read the "Moving Back to the UK" threads. Returnees from Perth seem to have disliked the isolation whereas returnees from Canada disliked the poverty.

NorthernStar

Think of it this way:
how come so many Australians and Kiwis migrate HERE, to Canada?
They must have a good reason, which they do. Those countries are about 15 years behind technologically and culturally. I mean, people are nice and the sub constantly shine, but who wants to live on the edge of the world, so close to a huge gap in the ozone layer?

dbd33

If you mean Australia and Canada are behind other countries then ok. If you mean Australia and NZ are behind Canada then I haven't seen that, do you have examples ?

JAJ

The first reason is valid, the second is not.

NorthernStar

Yes, Ozzieland and Kiwiland are well behind. All you have to do is watch their TV broadcats, which I did, their film industry, which I did (and have a large collection, thankyouverymuch), vehicles, and so on. Also, I'm guessing you're not a female. Because as a female, I know men down under treat their cars better than they treat the women around them. Seriously, as a single woman, it's a toss-up between an Italian guy and an Aussie when it comes to the question of who NOT to date.