drsdt

We've got a bit of a dilemma - we've just left the UK and can't decide on where to settle - Canada or NZ. I'm originally from Canada and my wife is from NZ, but I haven't lived in Canada since the early 90s. We're happy to be in Canada, but wonder if our quality of life would be better in NZ. We've got an 17 month old little girl and we are getting anxious to know where home will be. Work and locations within the countries isn't really a concern. We're just curious to see which country you would recommend (and why). We have been agonizing over the decision, so any input, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

live to ski

Crikey - that's quite a question.

I suppose you can tackle it 2 ways....head or heart.

For head:
- Have you considered things like where grandparents (aka free babysitters) are, or cousins, aunts, uncles etc.?
- What industries are you in and hence what are the employment prospects like? Then there is the short- and long-term aspects of this as well.


For heart:
- Who has the strongest emotional tie to their "home" country?
- What type of accent to do you want your daughter to / to not have?

We also considered NZ as well when we left the UK, but choose Canada because:
- We could get BUNAC work permits to Canada easy-peesy
- NZ employers were falling over themselves to get Brits over there and made things like Work Permits very easy

So we came to Canada as it seemed the harder country to get WPs for etc. and had NZ as our back-up plan.

Ironically I work for a NZ based firm in Canada so can have a transfer in a few years.

We spent Christmas with a couple of Kiwis who are over here for a year. They have no doubt that they are returning when their WP expire.

They say that making friends in NZ is far easier than Canada....well at least with Canadians.

PaulandNikki

Get mistaken for an Aussie or get mistaken for an American. Take your pick

Caitilin

I'm in NZ and going to Canada.

then again, its a very personal decision.

Brownstar

North American accent versus a Kiwi accent

TiggerLottie

We are too ( hubby, myself and 2 kids ) are currently in NZ but nothing against NZ its just not where we want to be too isolated from things we want, Hoping to relocate to Canada in June 09 or sometime during 09

Its a personal choice, its hard for people to tell you where to go, you have to work out what you want....

But for me Canada is where we want to be...

bpsg

for the downside of both countries. check

www.*********.com

www.expatexposed.com

LiffyB

We are now going through this dilema! We have applied to return to NS via the CI route but my sister has moved out to NZ and is loving her life there. She wants us to give NZ a try before we finally settle in NS.

The plus side of NZ is that any UK income we have for the first 4 years is not taxed (we will have a military pension) - this would be quite a saving to us as we would in effect be taxed twice for the first 2 years in NS. Plus OH wouldn't be taxed on his graturity if we were already in NZ when he received it - unlike Canada!

I know money isn't everything before someone kicks off! I guess the advantage is that we have already lived in Canada before so we know what to expect. I am not going to go into the plus & minus of living there as my opinion is very different from those already there - but when it boils down to it NZ is looking more attractive (Poppy2 will kill me - sorry R!).

So do we carry on with our application to NS? pay out several hundreds of £££'s for medicals or do we bite the bullet and give NZ a try? My son who is 21 has lived in Canada but has also stayed in NZ and it was him who initally wanted to return to NS. But now NZ has reared its head he is gunning for NZ - he said the Kiwi's are more friendly than Canadians for a start!

So if anyone has any more comments we too would like to hear them! Preferably before I pay for medicals!

Liff

live to ski