scrubbedexpat091

Bold mine.

not2old

For this part of the country (south of Muskoka) there is Barrie, Ontario as a place to do everything that you want & still be one-hour from the airport, a major centre, schools, hospitals & work

Google it as well as map it to see many of the things that you've been looking for

Barrie Ski Resorts - Skiing and Snowboarding

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrie

http://www.barrie.ca/Pages/default.aspx

not2old

A comparison of snow fall Mont -Blanc France to Barrie Ontario

Snowfall History (Snowfall 2015) - Chamonix Mont-Blanc - OnTheSnow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowbelt

Skiing & Snowboarding

"Barrie, Ontario is your perfect winter wonderland for skiing and snowboarding. Barrie is situated in a natural snow belt, and is blessed with lake effect snowfalls throughout the winter months. Only 45 minutes north of Toronto, the Barrie area receives approximately 100 inches of snow per year. Combined with state-of-the-art snowmaking and grooming facilities, this makes for powder-perfect alpine and nordic conditions all winter long."

bobble

tee1

Thanks,
You sound very similar in respects of priorities to us. Really good honest appraisal of the reality of life in the mountains.
In balance, non of the downsides are any worse or any greater than those living in the UK (particularly cornwall) but the positives, as we expected, certainly outweigh them anyway.
The crux will be, as it seems for you, to find a balance where there is enough time to do the things we move there for, if we still end up working 5 days a week 9-10 hrs a day, theres no point. Although i have a done the maths and we have a pretty cheap day to day lifestyle and as long as there is money for kit, we dont need to earn all that much.
We are lucky in that, i built the house we live in which is worth a lot more than it cost us to build, so if we were to move, we should be able to buy a house with no debt, a massive monthly saving against what we need to earn.

scot47

"White Flight" from the South has brought thousands to Scotland.

colchar

You won't get that in an urban area in Canada.

colchar

For the majority of positions teaching at a college a degree will be required. Without a degree there is no way that one can teach at a university.

colchar

Really? My parents owned a cottage while I was growing up and we weren't rich (Mum was a housewife and Dad a plumber/pipe fitter).

BristolUK

It's quite common for rich people to not think they are rich.

Associate with other rich folk and it seems normal.

"We're not rich, just last month we had to sell one of the Bentleys."

Tirytory

Passed down though? And also depending on area.... Sure you can get a small cottage... But anyhow N2O was pointing as a vacation rental and they are pretty pricey to rent. I've been contemplating buying a small rental cottage ourselves to rent out..

bats

Why not look at places east of Algonquin Park. Barry's Bay and suchlike. You could head to the Laurentians for skiing and Ottawa for culture

scrubbedexpat091

Doesn't mean a plumber family on a single income could afford one today. My parents were not rich either a warehouse worker and paramedic (paramedics are not well compensated in many many regions of the US and my mom was not well paid like paramedics in Canada are.) and could afford a lot of things a couple with 2 kids doing the same jobs today in that area could not do now.

Times changes.

So true, spot on.

JamesM

It's conceivable.

Real estate in certain places in Canada is not expensive and real estate was probably much more affordable in Colchar's parents day.

Steve_

Having spent a fair amount of time around the Alps I would say here is better, because (a) language; (b) lower cost of living and (c) less people about.

And now everyone is going to chip and whine about how much it costs to live in Vancouver, well who says you have to live in Vancouver, you could live in eastern BC or Alberta.

However the economy is rapidly going down the tubes here because of the drop in the price of oil.

Winters are more severe here, and once again someone is going to chip in and say "not in BC" and if you think non-stop rain somehow makes the Fraser Valley preferable to the Alps, think again.

But obviously asking people who moved to Canada whether it's a good idea to move to Canada is going to get you the answer that yes it is. If you ask people who moved to France you might get a different opinion.

scrubbedexpat091

I wouldn't recommend anyone move to the Fraser Valley, it's okay I suppose but I didn't care for it. Too conservative for my liking.

I'd take cold and sunny Alberta over warmer but grey coastal southern BC, sunshine is the best thing in winter, days are too short to have nothing but clouds...lol