Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Not everyone, just one disruptive member. He doesn't seem to have been around here for too long himself. His comments added nothing to the discussion, in fact it appeared as though he was making an active effort to disrupt it.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Lest we upset Adrian anymore, I am in the chat room if anyone wants some idle chit chat.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

I'm such a wee Sh*t stirrer!:thumbup:

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

I know, you're gonna get in ta trouble for that. ;)

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

You are killing me....

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Yes, but then that brings me back to my original question. If it is all the same, why move to Canada?

A lot of people are suggesting B.C etc is better, Toronto is not Canada etc. ok, accepted.

But, then why not apply the same thing to the UK. Why not move out somewhere to the coast? Cornwall? Kent? There are some stunning areas and beautiful historic towns. The likes of which you will never find here. I am sure you can find less crowded towns, lower crime, etc. in many of the smaller towns and cities in the UK. Or for that matter the Continent.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Personally, I was just glad to get away from English people as a lot of them seem to be small-minded bigots. Read something like this:

http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/

it's a collection of vents from people from the "Have Your Say" section of the BBC web site. It's depressing. While I'm sure there are similar people in Canada, in general, in my experience, people are a lot more open minded and civilised here.

Cornwall - widespread poverty, no jobs, and largely populated by white, backward hicks. The only non-white person you'll see runs the local Indian/Chinese restaurant and they'll be subjected to plenty of racist abuse. I lived there for nine years.

Kent - just part of greater London really. House prices are out of the league of anyone who didn't buy in the past 15 years.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

And no jobs that will pay for a huge mortgage on a house that would have cost 20% of the price a few years ago.

As someone pointed out, London has vastly deteriorated since you lived there, and the rot has spread out across the rest of the country; both through the spread of crime, and the spread of rich Londoners buying up 'second homes' in the country and pricing out the local people. Fifteen years ago my sister and her husband could buy a three-bed house on one retail salary in their rural town, today you'd need a couple both working in very good jobs for that area to do the same, because so many houses are being bought up by 'investors' from outside the area. Similarly, at that time I'd walk almost anywhere in the town at any time of night; now I wouldn't go near the center late after dark.

I can't vouch for Canada in general, but right now I have a better standard of living with my girlfriend on one salary than we'd have had with two where I lived in Britain.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Well, if that is your intent, then sure I guess you don't have a choice but to leave! I lived in London, so I didn't necessarily see the level of bigotry you mention.

How mainstream are these views?

Well, to be honest, if you are coming over from the UK with your pounds, then the housing in Canada seems like a bargain. But, for many, many people here they feel the same way about housing prices in the big cities.

You are in Vancouver, the most expensive housing market in Canada. Even if I wanted to move to Vancouver, I probably wouldn't be able to afford to get on the property market there with anything half decent.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Oh, it's there alright. Depressingly even second generation immigrants jump on the "bloody Poles, coming over here stealing our jobs" bandwagon.

This is a prime motivation for a lot of people. You can sell your small house in England and elevate yourself to an entirely different social class in Canada.

You don't have to buy a property to enjoy living somewhere. We're renting a condo in an infinitely nicer part of town then we could ever have hoped to in London - and that's despite earning 30-40% less (depending on the exchange rate you choose to use).

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Sure. The difference is that there's essentially _nowhere_ in Britain anymore that you can find a decently-priced house that you would want to live in, whereas there are still plenty of places outside of big cities in Canada where you can do so.

You talked about paying $300,000 for an apartment in Toronto, but I've seen _public toilets_ advertised for almost that price in the UK... obviously someone is desperate enough to buy them and turn them into a place to live.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

What criteria do you use to judge your standard of living? Do you have a bigger house? Bigger car? Do you eat out more?

I can tell you that in Toronto, you are talking about two salaries to make ends meet. And I am quite sure that in Vancouver it is the same.

Do people have bigger houses here? Sure. But, how much time do they spend in them? From what I have seen of my friends, not much at all. They are either at work or going to or coming from work. I never see them, except for weekends. Nobody just goes out for a beer to the corner pub. They barely take any vacation time. I just think people coming here are exchanging one rat race for another. It is not better, it is just different.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

Once again, your comparisons aren't relevant to most people here. Most people aren't leaving the UK to go to a high-pressure job in Toronto.

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

OK. so then let us get back to my original question. Why Canada, versus some of the many places in Europe. Portugal, Spain, Italy, France etc.. etc..

Better weather, closer to the UK to visit family, no visa complications..

Re: Confused.. Why Canada?
 

I guess if you look at a lot of recent surveys , many of the best cities in the world to live in our in Canada. vancouver has repeatdly been in the top 3 cities of the world to live in for many years.
In my opinion as a rule of thumb , the standard of living in canada is quite a lot more higher than in London for the average person.
One thing I have defenitely notices if you ask the common English person what they think of England they will stay shithole, if you ask an avergae canadian they will say awesome here in Canada