hi markw97...........we are also an english family - 2 kids 6&9 and are thinking of coming to NS this summer..we are in new zealand at present, although lived in london,ontario in 2004.....would be grateful of any info re. your experiences to date in NS as we have received mixed responses, ranging from 'what a great place' to 'would get out if i could'....we want to be near a scenic area with reachable recreational facilities for the kids etc....what is windsor like...schooling,scenery etc .......cheers,howard.

Hi

Just getting orientated and getting used to little idiosyncracies eg. liquor store does not open on Sundays!! It is as you might expect, very quiet but everyone is friendly and says hi, and you have to get used to a little dance if you are going through doors at the same time as someone else. It's a case of 'You first' 'No, please, you first'.You then find you are diving for the door at the same time which is a little embarrassing! The weather is beautiful. Very bright and sunny but the air is very cold. Put the smalls outside on my mini line to dry and they were frozen after half an hour Just need to make some firm contacts on the work front and we will be happy.

Hi Mark and Tania

Just pm us with a day/time and we will call for a quick chat.

It sounds like you are enjoying it,I'd love to be there right now.

I'm trying to get a few contacts before we get out thereand arrange a few meetings in advance. It's a tad tricky doing it fromover here, but fingers crossed.

keep me posted, I'm interested to hear how you get on

Mark

If we can be of any help just send a pm Mark. We will do our best to help.

Hi just wondered how your trip was going? Have you still got any snow or has spring arrived?

Do you know of a web site with stats on for areas within NS? ie schooling crime rate etc...

Here are some useful websites for you:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/

http://novascotia.com/en/home/default.aspx

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/wea...s/indexcan.htm

http://u101.com/colleges/Nova_Scotia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Scotia_schools

http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/rmv/handbook/

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/Intro_en.aspx

http://www.crimestoppers.ns.ca/

www.mls.ca


If anyone is heading up towards New Glasgow on their travels, feel free to pm me

Apologies in advance for the long post.

We are now into our third week in Nova Scotia and I feel it is time for an update on our progress so far. Within a week of being here the owners of the property we rent asked if we would dog sit for a month. They are picking up their brand spanking new 45 foot Boot from Florida and had problems arranging transportation of their 85lb Retriever + they did not want dog hair and scratch marks all over their new toy. We are therefore in locus parentis for a boisterous, year old slobber dog who shows affection by launching himself at you and pinning you to the ground. In return we get a phone for emergencies and local calls, rent free weeks and access to the laundry room (it seemed like a good idea at the time)!

For those interested in the weather, spring has hopefully finally sprung, and this morning it was a balmy 4 degrees with no biting icy wind. Family in the UK have been emailing and complaining that it’s cold there at night. We like to inform them that it is relatively warm here when the edge of the ocean isn’t frozen. OH is struggling a bit on the work (PNP) front and we are coming to the conclusion that we will have to explore other options for getting here. Here is his experience of applying for work within NS.


Lian writes

I am looking for employment in a relatively narrow and usually non-commercial sector (youth and community work and substance misuse) as a qualified youth worker in Britain with eleven years experience in drug and alcohol intervention projects. My last position was as manager of the direct access drug and alcohol services in Leicester and Leicestershire. It would appear to be a relatively difficult area to break into in Nova Scotia with much of the provision here either medically based or Christian rehab programs. Contacting various organisations and employers in the field cold, has resulted in an almost uniform silence regardless of it being in the form of an application or a request to visit programs.

Even where I have spoken with people the expectation and want is for local qualifications (read Nova Scotian rather than even Canadian) over unfamiliar foreign courses and little interest in your work experience outside Canada.

I would imagine that in technical areas of work this would be quite different but I am coming to the conclusion that the likelihood of obtaining employment via the Province Nominee Programme in this field is pretty slim – so either look at other provinces or apply through CIC for a work permit and wait. The shame of it is that NS desperately needs educated workers and seems unable to stem the flow of their own young people leaving the Province in search of better opportunities. There also seems to be barriers in place which discourage those who do not have specific NS qualifications as I found when I contacted educational establishments.



Of course we can only speak from our own experience and write not to discourage anyone from coming here but to point out possible areas for consideration. We still hope to emigrate to NS as it is a beautiful place – we perhaps just need to find the right person to talk to on the work front (something that has been said to us repeatedly). This has been a useful experience for us whatever the outcome. Watch this space…….

Finding open minded Nova Scotians really is a battle, I wrote earlier in another post about how employers are terrified of change or new ideas, and will not accept "outsiders", this is a real problem. They will not take UK experience into account.

I was rejected from a promotion prospect, to a job I did 15 years ago, the job was given to a 25 year old with no experience, in the postion, but 5 years with the company, over me with 18 years experience in the position and more but only 7 months with the company. Their reasoning was I had insufficient suitable Canadian experience. We are talking about the hospitality industry here, not medical science! This has happened with 2 other companies also.

Employers are screaming for reliable educated employees, and due to narrow mindedness are losing a great many young Nova Scotians to the West, but are not prepared to take on outsiders.

Sorry to hear of your experience Charlie 1. NS doesn't seem to be doing itself any favours considering it has an ageing population and requires, skilled workers to support that population in the future.

Welcome to Nova Scotia! We have been here for over 2 years now. We also found it hard to find work at first due to employers not accepting UK work experience or qualifications.
The good thing we found is that Halifax is a small city and everyone seems to know eveyone, so it is easy to become established. We found once in a job you soon get to know people and most places here you get jobs through word of mouth and by knowing the right people rather than just with paper work.

There does seem to be more jobs in Halifax but housing is much more expensive here.

Maybe I have my blonde hat on right now but more expensive than where, can I ask?

Well that sounds like good news !How do I get one ??!

Thank you! I have some more research to do.

Hi Emma

Halifax is relatively more expensive than some of the outlying areas and ocean and lakeside properties also carry a premium. You can still get property with land at very cheap prices in the rural interior but obviously you need to wiegh up travel to work and to the airport. Rural communities can also be isolated and difficult to assimilate into but it really all depends on what you are looking for.