British Expats

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-   -   Deciding between America and Canada. (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/deciding-between-america-canada-786291/)

dbd33 Feb 4th 2013 11:50 pm

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by Tangram (Post 10526161)
Cheap housing ?

not a lot of rainfall?

MillieF Feb 5th 2013 12:42 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 10526131)
Good night life, low crime rate?


Originally Posted by Tangram (Post 10526161)
Cheap housing ?


Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 10526168)
not a lot of rainfall?

:thumbsup: sorry, but I've been longing to use the multiple quote button!

Why do you think you might want to come to Canada?

dbd33 Feb 5th 2013 1:04 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by MillieF (Post 10526253)
Why do you think you might want to come to Canada?

I think people primarily choose Canada because they can't get into the US. Given that, it seems odd to choose Vancouver for cheap housing, lack of rain and so on.

bats Feb 5th 2013 1:22 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 
Boston.

Tangram Feb 5th 2013 1:54 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by bats (Post 10526325)
Boston.

I like Boston, San Fran too.

britsnake Feb 5th 2013 4:03 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 
I live in Montreal.

We do get hot summers here and very cold winters often with lots of snow. Recently we had 45cm of snow in one day. We also had near -30C which can come down to around -40C occasionally.

The weather is pretty extreme here and we have experienced strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and blistering heat. It has gone from -20 C to nearly + 10C within a few days.

When it comes to gangs we have our fair share, we do have the Rizzuto Crime family (Mafia), Biker gangs, the Haitian street gangs and many others based in Montreal, but it is all very organised and it is extremely rare for non gang members to get killed. Usually when someone gets killed they will say which group they are suspected to have links with also the violence is very localised.

Most of the Gangs operate in other parts of Canada and definitely in Toronto.

Putting all that aside, Montreal is a fun city, but if you do not speak French, getting a job can be exrtremly difficult.

j-dizzle Feb 5th 2013 4:26 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by fcbayern (Post 10525796)
Seriously?? You make life changing decisions based on what a couple of people say on a forum? Not that I don't agree with them, I do, Canada is easier to get into than the US but it always depends on the circumstances and I'm shocked that someone makes so little effort to actually look into things. :blink:

/rant over

Actually I have been looking into this for years now, was just wondering if it would be worth looking into America if I could not get into Canada, but since it is harder then I will just stick to my original plan of Canada, ok ?



Originally Posted by britsnake (Post 10526626)
I live in Montreal.

We do get hot summers here and very cold winters often with lots of snow. Recently we had 45cm of snow in one day. We also had near -30C which can come down to around -40C occasionally.

The weather is pretty extreme here and we have experienced strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and blistering heat. It has gone from -20 C to nearly + 10C within a few days.

When it comes to gangs we have our fair share, we do have the Rizzuto Crime family (Mafia), Biker gangs, the Haitian street gangs and many others based in Montreal, but it is all very organised and it is extremely rare for non gang members to get killed. Usually when someone gets killed they will say which group they are suspected to have links with also the violence is very localised.

Most of the Gangs operate in other parts of Canada and definitely in Toronto.

Putting all that aside, Montreal is a fun city, but if you do not speak French, getting a job can be exrtremly difficult.

I see what you are saying with regard to gangs. I realize that nearly every city has gangs, I was just wondering if there are regular deaths to innocent citizens, which you have covered, thanks!

Learning French would not be a problem for me, if it would help me.

So you guys get pretty extreme winters then? How does the city cope with it ? because here in UK the preperation and action taken when it does snow is awful.
And also, when this weather does set in, how does this change the general lifestyle of the citizens ? Do people just get all depressed/dont do anything when the cold weather comes, or do they have a positive outlook on it ?


What are the summers temperatures like ? Averages?
Do you get a lot of sunny days or are there a lot of cloudy/rainy days like in Vancouver ?

MarylandNed Feb 5th 2013 4:43 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by fcbayern (Post 10525796)
Seriously?? You make life changing decisions based on what a couple of people say on a forum? Not that I don't agree with them, I do, Canada is easier to get into than the US but it always depends on the circumstances and I'm shocked that someone makes so little effort to actually look into things. :blink:

/rant over

Not sure what you're saying actually applies to the OP but it actually works for some people. I know people who have researched until they can't research anymore and their move still didn't work out. I know others (including myself) who have moved on not much more than a whim and had things go really well. I think the success or failure of a move has more to do with the personality, attitude and philosophy of the person making the move than anything else.

mandymoochops Feb 5th 2013 4:50 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by j-dizzle (Post 10526669)
Actually I have been looking into this for years now

Good job you found this forum then because in the space of one day you have found out that a) you probably won't get into the States and b) The Eastern provinces seem to fill more of your wishlist than the West (ie weather / housing / nightlife etc)

What a waste of a few years :thumbdown:

Joking aside 'banging' nightlife isn't something i would find over in the West (though Vancouver probably has some good clubs - the nightlife scene is NOT, (read that again) the same as the UK.

j-dizzle Feb 5th 2013 5:09 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by mandymoochops (Post 10526712)
Good job you found this forum then because in the space of one day you have found out that a) you probably won't get into the States and b) The Eastern provinces seem to fill more of your wishlist than the West (ie weather / housing / nightlife etc)

What a waste of a few years :thumbdown:

Joking aside 'banging' nightlife isn't something i would find over in the West (though Vancouver probably has some good clubs - the nightlife scene is NOT, (read that again) the same as the UK.

The last few years i have not even been considering USA, only recently I thought of it as an option.
I used to really want to move to Vancouver, however my opinion on that has changed. I learned that Vancouver does not really suit my needs.

Just really wanting to know if there are any places I have completely missed.

And basically to get as much information as I can regarding Montreal, Toronto and any other cities you guys recommend.

Former Lancastrian Feb 5th 2013 5:14 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by j-dizzle (Post 10526762)
The last few years i have not even been considering USA, only recently I thought of it as an option.
I used to really want to move to Vancouver, however my opinion on that has changed. I learned that Vancouver does not really suit my needs.

Just really wanting to know if there are any places I have completely missed.

And basically to get as much information as I can regarding Montreal, Toronto and any other cities you guys recommend.

Do you even qualify to emigrate to Canada? Id be looking at that before choosing a place to live. No good choosing a place if you cant legally work or live here;)

j-dizzle Feb 5th 2013 5:18 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by Former Lancastrian (Post 10526772)
Do you even qualify to emigrate to Canada? Id be looking at that before choosing a place to live. No good choosing a place if you cant legally work or live here;)

At the moment I am 2 years into an apprenticeship that is on 'The List'.
So hopefully I will finish that off, then I should be ok. As well as what ever years experience is needed (depressing part)

rivingtonpike Feb 5th 2013 5:19 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by Former Lancastrian (Post 10526772)
Do you even qualify to emigrate to Canada? Id be looking at that before choosing a place to live. No good choosing a place if you cant legally work or live here;)

You're right - it's a pretty fundamental condition of the process.

What do you do OP? Have you established your eligibility to move over here?

BTJ Feb 5th 2013 5:24 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by j-dizzle (Post 10526779)
At the moment I am 2 years into an apprenticeship that is on 'The List'.
So hopefully I will finish that off, then I should be ok.

There ain't no list any more buddy. At the moment it's (more or less) job offer only. Whether that will change in May, we're not entirely sure, and the immigration system is supposed to be getting a complete overhaul similar to the Aussie/Kiwi model in 2014, so no idea what will happen then.

j-dizzle Feb 5th 2013 5:56 am

Re: Deciding between America and Canada.
 

Originally Posted by BTJ (Post 10526788)
There ain't no list any more buddy. At the moment it's (more or less) job offer only. Whether that will change in May, we're not entirely sure, and the immigration system is supposed to be getting a complete overhaul similar to the Aussie/Kiwi model in 2014, so no idea what will happen then.

Seriously ??
I looked on the wiki and the 'The List' article still there.
That has come as a surprise to me!

Can you post any links to where I can read more about what you need to do now ?


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