se1zm1c

I'm a very new member here but I think I've found more useful info here (facts and opinions on moving to/living in Canada) in that short time than months of so called objective web sites that seem to have their own agenda.

Your thoughts on the following please (+ = assumption, - = reality)

+ Canadians are generally welcoming to immigrants
- A lot now resent the influx of immigrants and may explain the difficulty in getting a job 'straight off the plane' as no one looks at you w/o 'Canadian experience'

+ Easy to become friends with Canadians - seperation by same language not such a big deal especially if you're British
- They take everything literally, are painfully politically correct and sarcasm 'does not compute'

+ Driving in Canada is easy with careful courteous drivers
- Overtaking can be done from anywhere and the combination of bad weather and inconsiderate drivers make it just as 'touch and go' as in UK.

+ Houses are affordable compared to the UK
- Thanks to a cr*ppy exchange rate and an overheated housing market, affordable now means having to get a 'fixer upper' in a scummy area OR miles away from where you need to be

+ Cost of living is comparable if not better than UK
- UK is generally much cheaper (I still can't get over how unbelievably expensive Canadian car insurance is??)

+ Winters seem to be getting milder (less cold and shorter) in and around Toronto/GTA area so 'surviving winter' is not such an ordeal
- ???

So...moving to Canada doesn't seem to be a 'slam dunk' option. At best it's a DIFFERENT way to live your life but is different enough? Doesn't the novelty wear off eventually so that you end up in the same disillusioned state that made you want to emigrate in the first place?

Tony-the-Tigger

I know exactly where you are coming from. By 1996, I was disillusioned with my life in Glasgow, by 2003, I was disillusioned with life in Toronto, and yes - you guessed it - in 2012, I'm disillusioned with my life in Glasgow. Planning now to return to Toronto - I think I was less disillusioned there, maybe.

dbd33

If you're looking at the GTA I think this is unduly pessimistic. I suppose about 30% of this workplace team is Canadian (cradle or indistinguishable though many of the apparent Canadians turn out to be Americans) and this is the most Canadian place I've worked in years. Most people in the GTA are immigrants. If you count the children of immigrants as not being Canadian then there aren't enough Canadians for it to matter what they think.

scribe123

Don't live in Canada (yet), so I can't comment on most, but will comment on the house purchase one.

The exchange rate has nothing to do with house prices. They are what they are and the Canadians that live in them don't have to worry about exchange rates.

"Crappy" probably isn't an accurate word either; I would say "not as high as it has been in the past". There is no law that say's the rate has to be $2 or more to the pound, and there is no reason to think it will ever go up significantly in the next few years.

I have a step sister who has PR in Australia, but she isn't going because the alleged crappy exchange rate means she can't afford it. Actually she can afford it, she just won't be able to afford the type of house she'd seen when she visited and the rate was $3 to the pound.

The rate is what it is, and when I (hopefully) make it over to Canada it may be higher which would be great, or it may be lower in which case maybe a 3 bedroom house rather than 4, or maybe set my sights on a different area.

I do hope to go to Canada, but I'm not going over to own a massive house and to keep up with the Jones's.

Tony-the-Tigger

chrisparr, I think the OP is referring to the equity from the sale of their old house in the UK and bringing it to Canada to buy a new one. The exchange right now is about $1.60. In 2000 it was about $2.60!

dbd33

Maybe not but that has been the main reason for posters here wanting to move to Canada. Cheap housing allows bigger houses and more cars, oh and ATVs "for the children". I can see their point, looking at it backwards, for most immigrants moving without gaining a big house means giving up your culture in order to live in some ugly wasteland. If you don't have three bathrooms why would you bother?

Tony-the-Tigger

The irony is that the best time to emigrate is when your country's ecomony is doing well and this is when we think of moving elsewhere, least.

iaink

No, they just want to hire someone with a proven track record. Let someone else take the chance on a newby. Dunno, My Canadian friends are far from PC, and they do a fine line in sarcasm. I guess thats why we are friends, common ground. Mind you Ive been here 14 years. While polite and courteous most canadians already have a bunch of friends that they share common experiences with, so they are not actively looking to make more. Newcommers on the other hand left a life time of friends made through common experience behind when they got on the plane, and are looking to fill that void, and that standoffishness can be frustrating. Depends where you are. Where I am the majority of drivers are courteaous and slow down in the bad weather. In the GTA not so much I pay $660 a month for my mortgage, and that includes the property taxes, its a 20 minute drive to a job that pays enough to cover over the bills and that I enjoy. Id say thats more than affordable for 2000sq ft on 3/4 of an acre overlooking a river with swans and eagles on it at the moment. Again, in the GTA, not so much Car insurance is expensive, Sirloin steak less so. I just bought a new mid spec Honda Civic for $24k (including taxes) out of the door. In the UK I think they start at £18k for the entry level and go up from there. Swings and roundabouts I guess. Well, this year was mild, for sure. Time will tell. I doubt we will get it this mild next year. Its been a lousy year for the ontario skiier, and Im glad I dont have money in a snowmobile. Plenty of sub -10°C weekend mornings skiing with the kids last winter though. But I wasnt disillusioned when I came to Canada?, it was just something that came up. Lots of people come to canada (or wherever) for reasons other than disillusion with the UK. Ive been here 14 years and I am happy here. To be honest I suspect that miserable people are perfectly capable of being miserable anywhere in the world.

wolstie

Iaink, I agree with you completely - it depends where you are on both of the above points.

We holidayed down in Picton last summer, and couldn't believe how friendly, polite and more aligned to the British sense of humour (sarcastic, dry etc) people were compared to Ottawa.

As for the drivers, people were waving me in and giving their right of way up - I was flabbergasted.

HGerchikov

I wanted to respond to the OP - but couldn't say it better than Iaink, Totally agree, particularly on the last point.

scribe123

I suppose it depends on where you plan to live, but where we have our heart set on a (albeit large) 3 bed detached house can go for between $375,000 to touching $500,000 (4 beds at least $400,000)

In my mind that isn't cheap

Who knows what the market will be like after we (hopefully) get PR (we can't apply until June).

nerdherd

Spot on. Life's (more or less) what you make it.

dbd33

I suppose it depends where you come from. What choice of detached houses does $400,000 offer in Camden or even out in Ealing?

An_Idiot_Abroad

If you're moving countries to fix a problem with your life, you're doing it wrong, try and focus on why you're unhappy instead, different surroundings will almost NEVER fix being unhappy with your life.

jerseytocanada

Same here in Jersey. £300,000 wouldn't get you a 2 bed flat.