Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11878476)

How have you found the work life balance, UK vs Canada? Has anyone gone from a similar situation were they had a lot of leave allowance in the UK to very little in Canada? In such a situation did you find you still had a good balance and were there any changes to the way you approached life to ensure you still had a good balance between work and life. Is there any general advice or experience any one is willing to share on this whole subject?

Originally Posted by Stinkypup (Post 11878534)

I think it also does depend on what you're actually doing, every job is different. As everyone has so far stated, in general, if you are seeking more time off then the UK almost certainly is a better place to be. We are better off timewise but maybe that's just the job that we do. I think this is more the exception rather than the rule. I think both you need to be committed to the move and it certainly sounds as if you have understandably developed cold feet. You are moving in your words to achieve your wife's dreams. You need to be happy as well. I don't know what you're line of work but you seem to have quite significant control of flexibility which I am sure will be lost unless you are extremely lucky over here.

I am usually one of the optimistic that members on this forum but I have to be honest, if you have your doubts now, but it then I would certainly think very carefully before going to the expense of such a huge move which may well not be too your advantage. You could live in Paradise but if you have no time off to enjoy it then what is the point?

With regard to the work ethic, I think that it is more that they aren't allowed the time off, not that they are keen to work every hour/day that they can

Originally Posted by Stinkypup (Post 11878660)

...I was writing between patients...

Originally Posted by Oink (Post 11878578)

The secret that I've found is to be quietly efficient at your job and I stress the quiet bit. By being sort of invisible but getting all the work done, nobody really notices you. That way they don't notice when you're late to work, take two hour lunches, go home early or take cheeky three or four day weekends when they aren't scheduled. The mistake I see people make is either they bang on how hard they work, about long hours and how tired they are. Its stupid, all you're doing is getting noticed and thus missed. So leave your ego at home, stop pretending to yourself or others you're doing a good job, nobody cares rather they'll just resent you for it. Smile a lot and stealthily bring the only people who can really do you in, the receptionists, nice chocolate biscuits. Work/life balance sorted.

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 11879207)

The receptionists and the typing pool.

I'm going back about 25 years here but keeping the typing pool happy was critical. I travelled a lot then. No way did I need all my duty free allowances. The girls got their cheap perfume/cigs. My typing always got done first.

Originally Posted by Oink (Post 11879224)

Never experienced a typing pool, the nearest it came was a shared printer. While fags were never much of a currency as they were ridiculously cheap in the US, bottles of duty free booze funnelled to maintenance and janitorial staff made and still make for a more comfortable environment. Its the logic my nan taught me, tip/reward accordingly to those who can do you the most harm. :lol:

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 11879207)

The receptionists and the typing pool.

.

Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat (Post 11879373)

Either you are lot older than I thought, or you worked in very traditional-to-the-point-of-being-10-years-behind-the-times organisations. Typing pool? You are Reggie Perrin AICMFP.

Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat (Post 11879373)

...Typing pool?...

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 11879395)

I am going back to the early/mid-1990s here!.

Originally Posted by Souvy (Post 11879395)

I am going back to the early/mid-1990s here!

Things have changed a bit since then.

Originally Posted by BristolUK (Post 11879450)

Blimey. Our typing 'pool' - all one and a half of them - was long gone by then.

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11878476)

...but as the time comes closer and after a lot of reflection, I have to be honest and am having second thoughts about the move.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11878484)

If the aim is to see Canada then that's better achieved by staying where you are and taking holidays. The combination of limited vacation time and high internal air fares makes living in Canada poorly compatible with the idea of seeing the country.

Originally Posted by Stinkypup (Post 11878534)

I think it also does depend on what you're actually doing, every job is different. As everyone has so far stated, in general, if you are seeking more time off then the UK almost certainly is a better place to be. We are better off timewise but maybe that's just the job that we do. I think this is more the exception rather than the rule. I think both you need to be committed to the move and it certainly sounds as if you have understandably developed cold feet. You are moving in your words to achieve your wife's dreams. You need to be happy as well. I don't know what you're line of work but you seem to have quite significant control of flexibility which I am sure will be lost unless you are extremely lucky over here.

I am usually one of the optimistic that members on this forum but I have to be honest, if you have your doubts now, but it then I would certainly think very carefully before going to the expense of such a huge move which may well not be too your advantage. You could live in Paradise but if you have no time off to enjoy it then what is the point?

With regard to the work ethic, I think that it is more that they aren't allowed the time off, not that they are keen to work every hour/day that they can

Originally Posted by Snowy560 (Post 11878595)

I think when you've decided on a move, you can get all sorts of cold feet for various reasons. When you move over, you're slightly euphoric for a while and then reality sets in as you constantly compare where you left with what you're in now (often unfavourably). Then you adapt. There are recognised stages of culture shock which we all go through to varying degrees.

I still compare stuff like having to pay an MSP premium, seeing older people having to pay on the buses ...I get irritated by the high cost of medication, dentists and all the stuff like tax returns etc. Then there are the good bits (for me): take out food is more variable and cheaper, the landscape is prettier than where I lived in the UK, coffee in coffee shops is cheaper and better (I think), long walks by the beach, hiking ... These may be little details, but I enjoy them.

I think what you need to do is think about how you got to the point you are now at: applying through FSW (I assume through EE and an ITA??). You must have got to this point because of a number of reasons which I suspect are probably more than just your wife's dreams of Canada. Once you get to those kinds of points, I think it's difficult to go back without a lot of what ifs (what if I had tried it??). However, if you become PRs, nothing to stop you giving it a go then moving back if it doesn't work out. You can rent your house in the UK rather than sell, perhaps take leave of absence from your job etc. etc. Your kids will be fine whatever you do: they are young enough to adapt.

S

Originally Posted by bats (Post 11878626)

Very young children. Do you have family and friends nearby for babysitting? Even if you don't it will take a while to build up a support network here.

Plenty of posters comment on how hard it is without family around

Originally Posted by Tirytory (Post 11879182)

So I'm going to take a different stance to others in a been there, done that experience. My first post on here was expressing my very strong doubts (you can search for it if you want). Having initially been the driving force in moving to Canada, it was my idea, by the time the idea was coming to fruition I had totally changed tack and was deeply sad about what I was giving up. However, my husband really wanted to come, and so the decision was based on to fulfil his needs or mine.

In a situation like this, for me I felt like I needed to let him have this. I wondered how I'd feel if I had been the one to vetoe something I had never experienced years down the line, if the shoe was on the other foot.

So we moved about two years ago. I keep meaning to do a Canniversary post but I'm too busy to collect my thoughts. It has been, at times, a very traumatic move. I've had some episodes of terrible homesickness which have been nearly disabling at times. I say episodes because that's what they've been, just episodes, most of the time I have been happy here. I would say looking at it objectively two years later that we made the right choice to move. My husband's work life balance being in the same line of work as Stinky is heads and tails better than the UK. The stress he used to be under was impacting heavily on our family as was the lack of time he spent with the kids and us.

Here, he is actively involved with all their sports, gets to spend way more time with them. We spend a lot more time as a family actively doing things together whether it's skiing, toboganning, ice skating, water sports in the summer etc.

I wouldn't know how much I would love it here unless I tried though, but the caveats I would add in are if you do give it a go are , DO NOT buy a house here regardless of whether you need to sell back in the UK, and do give yourself enough time to make a decision based on enough time to settle in. I think two or three years is enough time to get over homesickness, start to find some friends and look at things without a haze of emotion.

We recently made a trip back to the UK, I wouldn't want to move back to where we used to live now despite my rose coloured memories of the place. It was small and dirty and noisy. My husband's former work colleagues are even more stressed than when we left, one doesn't see his kids for days in a row and the rain, my god the rain...

Hope that helps a little..

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879585)

Thanks for your response. Thats some really useful experience you've shared. Hoping to see a few more of these positive experience post. Assuming we do go I'd be looking to stick it out for at least three years before I'd then decided enough was enough as I fully expect if we do go that we'd both be having our ups and downs along the way!

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879585)

Thanks for your response. Thats some really useful experience you've shared. Hoping to see a few more of these positive experience post. Assuming we do go I'd be looking to stick it out for at least three years before I'd then decided enough was enough as I fully expect if we do go that we'd both be having our ups and downs along the way!

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879579)

Apologies for my ramblings and the length of the post but hopefully this give some greater context to some concerns. I can't imagine am the only one to have ever had these worries. It's just really good to get other people direct experience.

I must admit though I appreciate the short and obvious answer as to whether I'd prefer Canada to the UK is to simply try it!

My head hurts!

David

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879579)

Yes we meet the points criteria for the FSW programme without even needing a job offer. It helped that Procurement was introduced as one of the skills on the eligible list.

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879579)

It helped that Procurement was introduced as one of the skills on the eligible list.

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879579)

One of the considerations I've had is that as I understand, in order to get PR status we would need to be there for 3 out of the first 5 years. My thinking was this gives me time to find a job and move. If we can have three years out there, the even if we want move back to the UK we could potentially come back at any point in the future should be decide to, effectively giving ourselves an open door.

Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat (Post 11879521)

Must have been your industry/organisation then. I started work in 1990 and the typing pool was dead and buried by then at least in my part of the automotive industry. Secretaries went shortly after.

I've posted this before, our first email system was "Wang Office". Cue much hilarity .... "I'll wang you" etc.




Quite. Souvy must have worked for a really old school company!

Originally Posted by Stinkypup (Post 11878534)

I think it also does depend on what you're actually doing, every job is different. As everyone has so far stated, in general, if you are seeking more time off then the UK almost certainly is a better place to be. We are better off timewise but maybe that's just the job that we do. I think this is more the exception rather than the rule. I think both you need to be committed to the move and it certainly sounds as if you have understandably developed cold feet. You are moving in your words to achieve your wife's dreams. You need to be happy as well. I don't know what you're line of work but you seem to have quite significant control of flexibility which I am sure will be lost unless you are extremely lucky over here.

I am usually one of the optimistic that members on this forum but I have to be honest, if you have your doubts now, but it then I would certainly think very carefully before going to the expense of such a huge move which may well not be too your advantage. You could live in Paradise but if you have no time off to enjoy it then what is the point?

With regard to the work ethic, I think that it is more that they aren't allowed the time off, not that they are keen to work every hour/day that they can

Originally Posted by Flossie and Jim (Post 11882129)

Also, if your wife is home and looking after kids and she won't have access to a car while you are at work then you really need to be within city limits for public transit services for her to get around to the shops, library, community stuff, etc. Just something to bear in mind.

Originally Posted by Gozit (Post 11882428)

Oh, to add to this. Public transport is absolute trash here.

Originally Posted by wilsondtw2000 (Post 11879579)

Firstly thank you all for you responses. I was hoping for a variety of views across the spectrum so thank you.

I thought I'd try and reply to some of the questions to give some greater context with the hope of getting some more opinions on the matter. Apologies if I fail to address everything;



The plan is to move to Alberta, particular somewhere outside of Calgary (i.e. within an hour commute). I been over the Canada three times now and experienced a winter, summer and Autumn so I have a feel for the place. My wife has lived in Canada for a number of year in her late teens working as a nanny and then as a genuine cow girl on a ranch. This purpose of her work then was to allow her to see Alberta at least and do some general exploring. In short while I think exploring more of Canada would be a benefit it's certainly not the reason for us moving and with two young kids I think in the short term the amount of exploring may be a bit limited. There's no quick way to sum it up but my wife feel in love with the place during her time there and has always wanted to go back.



My career is in procurement. I was reading through some other posts last night and I saw one from a "Chrisbrough88" who seemed to be having almost identical concerns and worked in procurement. I've been in this career for almost 16 years and am 35. I have a good salary in excess of £40k with experience across both the public and private sector. I've had a few rubbish jobs over the years but I really do love this job I currently have which is adding an extra dilemma. I've only been in the role for just over a year but everything seems to be going extremely well with the management team being very happy with what am delivering.

Ideally when moving to Calgary I'd like a job that wasn't tied to the oil industry. Probably sounds like madness to some but that industry doesn't appeal to me at all. Currently scouting out other potential sectors that would be of interest but I do like Public Sector work. For me personally I just find it more fulfilling.

The point you raised about living in paradise but not having the time to enjoy it is a real concern that I have. I was speaking to my wife about all the things I'd like to continue to do when we move over. i.e. Play football to meet new people, find other interested in regular badminton, seek out other interested in boardgames, again to meet new people. I got me thinking how am I going to do all this and have the family time with potentially far less time off. Never mind trying to keep in touch with friend and family back home. Hence the doubts started to creep in



Yes we meet the points criteria for the FSW programme without even needing a job offer. It helped that Procurement was introduced as one of the skills on the eligible list. pretty much just the medicals left at this stage. As the reality is getting closer though I've found my mind becoming very focussed on everything we have here. In short I think our life, while pretty difficult with our young baby who loves to cry a lot, is pretty damn good. I can also see a number of positives for us on the horizon which are all very achievable and will make a big difference to our quality of life. With Canada am just seeing the unknown and risk. I do have a good grasp of all the positives Canada and in particular Alberta has to offer but it's struggling to tip my scale when measured against what we have in the UK and in particular the work situation. Which lets admit it, time wise dominates a large portion of our life whether we like it or not!. But at this point the Canada option is very much unknown, and I just keep thinking this could be the best thing or the worse ever. Being slightly risk adverse it's easy to stick with what I've got and not take a risk.

One of the considerations I've had is that as I understand, in order to get PR status we would need to be there for 3 out of the first 5 years. My thinking was this gives me time to find a job and move. If we can have three years out there, the even if we want move back to the UK we could potentially come back at any point in the future should be decide to, effectively giving ourselves an open door.

The main concern I have here is loosing the current job I have to move across and not being able to get an equivalent job again. I have to admit am a little negative on this point as I enjoy my current job a lot and I've had such a bad experience with a number of previous jobs so am slightly burnt on this point.



We have friends here who have kids who can baby sit but nothing free unfortunately. My parents are brilliant to be fair and have help out a lot but they live in Cheshire so the distance prevents them being free to help on a regular basis. My wife parents don't help at all. In short we deal with most things on our own so not having friends and family wouldn't be too much of an issue. We also have some excellent friends in Calgary who I know would be able to help us out with occasional baby sitting duties. It really doesn't worry me too much this particular aspect. It more about having the time enjoy life.

Apologies for my ramblings and the length of the post but hopefully this give some greater context to some concerns. I can't imagine am the only one to have ever had these worries. It's just really good to get other people direct experience.

I must admit though I appreciate the short and obvious answer as to whether I'd prefer Canada to the UK is to simply try it!

My head hurts!

David