iaink

Bingo

Former Lancastrian

Is it? Google maps shows there are Utopias in Texas, Ontario, New York and New Brunswick.

Tangram

Christmas crackers opened early this year ?

Tuppence

"Utopia confirmed in New Brunswick shocker"

London Mike

True.

MikeUK

That's only because in new brunswick Utopia is defined as "a roof and a job"

xxdb

Ha Ha Ha. I'm not laughing at you mate. I've gone through exactly the same thing.

Here's the bottom line: Life in Glasgow is shit mixed with joy. Life in Canada is a different flavour of shit mixed with joy.

Steve_

Canadians are more welcoming I suspect than any other country, but on the flip side there are a lot of unions or organizations you have to be a member of which they use to try and create a closed shop. But that's always been the case I think, it's not something aimed at immigrants per se. It does have the effect of impacting immigrants which is why there is so much talk about it, but really I don't think it will change that much because whatever organization it is always has some reason not to change and gets their members to moan to politicians. I saw a Chinese woman quoted in a newspaper saying that everything is so "settled" in Canada which makes it hard to make in-roads. But if you start your own business, then if you were good in Europe you're usually brilliant in Canada. They can't handle the competition.

What I would say is that the work culture in Canada reminds of the UK in the 1970s, before Thatcher-ism. It's not quite that bad but there are similarities.

No, to both comments. Canadians tend to be quite anti-social imx. For example, when I'm on a Westjet or Air Canada flight I can always spot the Americans - they're the loud ones trying to chat to everyone around them. If you bump into someone on the street they say nothing, Americans say "hi" or whatever. My theory is that being trapped in the basement for six months watching hockey makes their social skills worse. And I should say "my" social skills seeing as I am a Canadian now and I've noticed I'm not as social as I used to be.

Sense of humour, sarcasm, etc. is pretty much the same, but not as sophisticated.

Definitely not as good as drivers in Europe, they're no good at handling busy traffic conditions, although that is worse out west where you have people moving into Calgary from the boonies and they've never had to cope with it.

But the major factor is that road engineering is simply worse. I've seen roads with virtually no road markings on them for example. And not just because of weather, they just never bothered to paint them.

Depends on where in the country you are, clearly more affordable than the UK but the exchange rate is a factor. Plus being an immigrant makes getting a mortgage somewhat harder because of no credit history.

Cost of living is lower, at least it is out west, if only because the taxes are lower. The odd thing here or there is more expensive, but just on the money you save on gas and income taxes you usually end up ahead.

I never quite get the comments about car insurance, my rate is only a bit higher than what I paid in the UK for an equivalent car, I did have a hell of a job getting them to accept my UK insurance history though, so if you didn't do that or couldn't manage it, then obviously you're going to be paying more.

Can't comment on the GTA, I think it's more a case of weather patterns becoming more unpredictable than milder. Maybe very slightly milder overall, but I remember a cold snap in October 2006 which was very unusual and also winter last year was unusually harsh.

Depends on your attitude, although I have a crappy attitude about most things and moving to Canada worked out better for me than I thought it would.

I wouldn't say it's a terribly different way to live your life either, the Queen is still the head of state, lot of British influences.

bigals

Just have to decide where offers less shit than joy,,,, just wish it was that easy

Steve_

The pound is the weakest it has ever been against various major currencies, including the Canadian dollar.

scottish_maple

My father was brought up in Canada and brought back to the UK when he was 14 and always wanted to go back. When he talked about this to my mum many years ago he would say something similar.

'When you close your curtains at night, your house could be anywhere in the world'. At the end of the day it is what you make of it. I would be happy living in the UK, but my circumstances lead me to Canada right now, but as long as I have my child and husband and we are happy, I wouldn't care if it was the north pole...

JimboV6

+ Canadians are generally welcoming to immigrants
Agreed, but probably depends where you end up. Lots of British-descent Canadians here in London so there's an easy commonality there. Also lots of Dutch in the countryside (farmers) and I've always found them friendly toward Brits. Not sure that's the case in Quebec necessarily, unless you speak le lingo.

+ 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'
Varies - you get used to different turns of phrase (NB. you NEVER stroke a dog, you PET it) PCness - maybe a little more than in the UK on average. Humour - Sometimes on a different page, but sarcasm isn't unknown. I've always enjoyed the humour of my friends and colleagues here. You will miss British TV comedies.

+ 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.
Courteous, no. Not even remotely. Especially in Toronto. And tailgating seems the norm here. Undertaking/weaving in and out are also common. Dangerous if you are not used to cars appearing on your inside and sitting in your blindspot. Idiots are everywhere, but I find more of them on the road here than back in the UK.

+ Houses are affordable compared to the UK
I'd agree with that, even with current exchange rate. Again, depends on what areas you are looking at. A house in Toronto went for $400k over ask recently.

+ Winters seem to be getting milder (less cold and shorter) in and around Toronto/GTA area so 'surviving winter' is not such an ordeal
This year was v.mild. I'm not one to jump on the "global warming bandwagon" though. Snow is still a welcome novelty for me, so I don't mind Winter.


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JimboV6

Nice

scottish_maple

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I have to agree with your reply's to everything especially the not so courteous drivers. I can even say my hubby is one of those not so courteous drivers and the speed he drives at...there always in a hurry. Its a good job we have decided to move there cause he would not have the patience to drive in the UK.

Alberta_Rose

+1 !!