we came ove for a visit in march 99, piles of snow everywhere. i remember filling my car up with petrol and knowing that i have never ever been so cold in my life, the wind was freezing. but we still liked everything else so we put in for our papers. we then had another visit in july and it was just the opposite.........roasting hot.
the thing is youve got aircon in the summer, and in the winter the houses are so well insulated you dont feel the cold at all; our house always felt damp when it was cold in england.
if you cant make the visit prior, just look at it as one big adventure into the unknown; and you know, you can always go home if you dont like it.

This is our 3rd move and for the 1st time we did visit but more of a tourist type visit (although we did see the school my son was going to go to while we there). The second move we visited but didn't do much touring, more looking at schools and houses. I'm now naffed off as we spent good money to fly to the States and spent all our time house and school hunting and didn't enjoy ourselves (touristically speaking) and we ended up moving to a different part of Nashville so my son went into a different school than we ones we'd selected anyway and due to various problems we never did buy a house so it was a complete waste of time and money - ah well! Next time, we're not visiting first BUT I would suggest to anyone doing that to do masses of homework. Firstly check out loads of websites on tourism on the area that you want to go to - they provide photos, brochures and sometimes quick time movies to give you a taster. Also check out places like http://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/530/ where you can check out tourist reviews from people who live there and visited. Next check out real estate sites for ideas on house prices and get an idea of what you can get for your money (someone else suggested http://www.webview360.com and that's great for looking inside as well as outside Canadian houses), also check out what the federal and provincial taxes will be like, find some schools homepages as often they have pictures of the school and you can get an idea of school timetables and can even look up the curriculum for each year, and then look up job prospects in your area by going to http://www.jobfutures.org and finally check out some information from censusses in your new area as they usually provide info. such as average house size, cost, ages of family members etc. Do a google search for census or ward map and the area. Lastly, it's really handy if you can't get to visit to have someone already there that can take photos for you or offer advice in the area you're going to. That means it can take the stress out of not visiting first.

One final tip is to keep a favourties folder for all the stuff you find when web browsing, for instance the root folder can be Canada with sub folders for accomodation, immigration, schools, pets, jobs and general info. (ie weather, statistics etc.).

CrazyDaisy - that http://www.jobfutures.org/ is an amazing link! Thanks

Clare

Got to love Canadian government statistics; best in the world, hands down.

By the way, I hadn't visited Canada before moving here (Calgary). I had visited the US many times before, and assumed it would be the same but colder. And, with some exceptions, I found that assumption was right.

Mywife and I are originally from Eatern Europe but lived in Epsom, Surrey for well round 15 years. We were very happy with our semi and genuinely loved England to bits. We had two doughters (1,3) and like many of you we were just getting so tired working and wanted better quality of life for our children. We landed in Calgary and saw that apart from monotonous plastic houses all was o.k.It seems to me that Calgary is where British people tend to assimilate better. Maybe because of low taxes or (I will be blunt!) least amount of French culture to get used to out of all provinces. Not that it is a bad thing it is just that Canada is very removed from Britain culturally.1 visit is not enough to grasp the depth of it. Oh no it won't affect your in your 1st year quite so much - you will still find everything new and exciting.your pounds will buy lots more food and petrol. If you do not mind shopping in Peacocks?
It will become more tangible when you are ultimately going to start working. Canada is basicaly a socialist country with a very high standard of living. So what? - you say. This is what: Red tape everywhere.One office tells you rules are like this another office tells you something else. The respect for members of public is much lower here than in U.K. Managers in all companies are, by U.K. standard at least, incompetent and have almost no bidding authority within their company. There are rules everywhere and yet alomst half of what you do is treated as an exception and flouts them. Have you seen a Canadian Highway Code? I havn't and yet I passed the test. If there is one anywhere I bet you you will see many road signs which are not in it. Or are different.Canadians do not like things to be simple or transparent. It scares them. If you write a letter to any local authority like I did in Calgary the chances are no one will respond to it or even remeber that they got one from you when you ring. Your neighbours kids may cycle on your lawn in front of their parents (who are nice to you) and only you will think something is odd. You ask a workman to visit you and he may come several hours later or say it is hard to say how much it will cost. You may be his only client asking for an estimate up front. You have good experience in your trade and wish to work here.Well a lot of jobs are not posted only you get them throgh a friend of a friend. In any comapny you will find pressure here is not on saving comapny money or beating any competition,or even on custommer satisfaction. There is no pressure. You just sit there mostly on irrelevant meetings and do the work in a steady fashion usually in the most inefficient way conceivable. Canada is really not that great for any kind of career unless you wish to setup in business or become a salesman as commissions here are huge. Estate Agent get 7 % of house value. And guess what there really only 1 or two so there is a cartel and you can not get it sold for less.

Now the good bits?

In all provincess except BC 100k pounds will buy you a nice house without mortgage. Crime here is virtually none except for BC. Food is very nice (I found) and very affordable. Most British food items are in supermarkets. Hospitals here are very good too. Public washrooms are everywhere and are kept clean. Parking is very rarely controled and costs only coppers. The air and water here are just beyond comparison to England. I recently just out of curiosity brought a bottle of Dannone Spring water in a petrol station and found it tasting worse than water in my garden tap.

Please be aware that what you are doing many people have done before you. If you think now that you will never consider returning to U.K. Ther is probably 80% chance that only after 2 years in Canada you will be ready to go back. Say your house in U.K. is now worth 200k pounds in two years time it will be worth 250k. That is 120k Canadian Dollars. If you sell up and buy any house in Canada after 2 years you will be very blessed to gain 60K Canadian. That is only 25K U.K. After 2-4 years you can no longer afford your old house in England. See? And so on. I can not count how many Brits here have told me: "I would love to go back but can no longer afford it". One way to deal with it is to buy 2 properties here with a mortgage on both and rent one out. Banks here are very happy to lend for 2nd houses to rent out and are even more willing to give you mortgage on that basis.
So I am told. Lodgers here are much less troublesome than in U.K. Japaniese students are the best. Do not be scared to buy two properties. And when you chnage your mind in a few years time your family savings will be on U.K. level. Trust me it makes a world of a difference to know that. And your feelings about U.K. are not permanent.

Anyway very best of luck to you all & I hope it helps a little.

Gezza.

Pretty sweeping statements. I imagine then that you have lived in every provinve in Canada inorder to of come up with both of them statements, or do you have the statistics to prove them.

Buying a house in BC can be just as costly as buying a house in Ontario especailly if you are comparing say Toronto to Vancouver.

A 100K is about 240000 canadian, you can get a reasonable house for that here in BC, even nicer if you go further out from the main cities. I beleive the average house price here in BC is about 240-250000. Cheaper in calgary, probably, Toronto I dont think so.

As for crime, I get mugged going down to the shops everyday living here in BC, or so some people might think.

I quote what Canadians tell me about house prices being highest in BC. I myselft have not had a chance to visit Eastern provinces.
If you find I wrote exagerrated then all the better for new U.K. immigrants. However I am a dedicated reader of the Going Back to U.K. page and many comments seem to vindicate my opinions.

You are not wrong about crime in BC. I don't suppose you live downtown Vancouvere.?


bets wishes,

Gezza

True I dont live in down town vancouver, and I know that the east side has a very bad reputation for crime, but not everybody in BC lives in the Eastside of vancouver.

Regards

Phil

Compared to London, crime in BC is very low. It has its roots in poverty and drugs in 90% of the cases ( I work in this field). Downtown Eastside is unique by the concentration of drugs, HIV, Hep C and poverty in that one postal code. In certain other areas of Vancouver and Surrey, crime is Asian on Asian or Indo Canadian on Indo Canadian i.e. ethnic gangs. Not racist statements, but fact. Further out into the valley crime is drug related and poverty related. There are also disproportionate numbers of sociopaths and psychopaths, but this may be the reporting mechanisms in place that catch them in a small population, as opposed to a demographic skew. The UK is too populated to find these people the way they do here. Most of you know I am no fan of BC, but the crime pattern is way different to the UK. In the UK I detested the outright opportunism and basic lack of respect for property, people and community. These factors I will say are far better in BC. I work with the most disadvantaged and despised sectors of our society and the "culture" of crime is very very different. Dear oh dear. I have said something nice about BC. Pass the Guinness.

Hi Dingbat,

I drive through that area every day twice and it is pretty gutwrenching really to watch those folks.Ain't no getting used to it. So young. I think sometimes like the other day looking at this fair haired girl in a pale blue anorak hugging a lampost and shaking all over. Where are her parents? Do they not care?
It is just awful.I give them money sometimes but I wish I could do more, only what?

Bless you for doing such a noble job, Mate!

Gezza

Lobby the government, become loud and politically active. Protest the lack of socially affordable housing and the never ending stream of so-called "businesses" down there that feed off the local population like parasites. They make me sick to my stomach, and I would name and shame, but for the fear of being sued from here to high heaven. There will be an upsurge in crime and problems after April 1st when they cut welfare for a lot of the people you see. The young kids down there have often lived a life of hell from day one; those that drift into it are pimped into the life by the nice guy driving the new Lexus who lives next to you and I. Every time I sit and interview a 13 year old who has been hooking to feed his/her jib habit I could just scream....this could be one of my kids. I don't see it as noble (but thank you) - they have to have someone who cares, especially those that get written off by everyone else. One kid or adult who turns around their lives is worth the sadness of seeing all those who never make it. I'll never be rich, but I love my work. That is enough for me.

Thanks for all of your posts - the links have been brilliant!

We're still undecided but knowing we can visit between applying and being accepted (hopefully!) makes things easier. I really don't know where I got that from! I've read so much information over the last few months about lots of different places it's all starting to roll into one!

I'v lived in B.c for 40 years, always worked, always owned a house always can afford trips, Never lived downtown in any country inc the U.k who would want to.....
If I was to do it to day, I would go far from the madding crowds. This place needs people in the smaller towns I have a friend who moved to a small town in Alberta the first week she had two part time jobs and bought a lovley house. (she got part time to be home with the kids)..... oH yes I forgot... in my city we have lots of crime........ the local kids broke into the local coffee shop and stole the candy machine !!!!!!!!!!!! there is crime in every part of the world for goodness sake...................

We arrived in Vancouver on Monday 26th jan. We have in the first week, bought a condo, got our bank accounts sorted etc! We now feel as though we are starting to live here and are not just tourists!

We visited Vancouver back in June 03 for a month, but this was a holiday. So we have taken the decision to stay here for a year, to live and research whether this is the right place for us. My partner also visited Vancouver/Victoria for 6 months a while back!

Once we arrived at Immigration we had to explain why we wanted to stay longer than six months (as permitted), i.e researching business opps and general living experience. We have a visa for 1 year. However, we have our own internet based company so we can support ourselves from the UK therefore i suppose it may be harder to convince the Immigration officers that you can support yourself for one year, without working ( you could always apply for a temp work permit).

Ultimately, i think it is better for you to test the water before making the big decision and selling up. However, as some people have said, just hopping on the plane and arriving has been the best decision they have made. It is all down to your own personal circumstances!

We are about to submit our PR application by the end of this week.