irishsamx

Have been living happily in NS for over a year and a half and starting to think of other places to live here.
My husband feels very strongly we would be better somewhere else, financially too.

We are looking into Toronto, Ottowa and Montreal. I have to admit, though I know it is not cheap to live anywhere, here in NS, your options to make more money seem to be so limited compared to anywhere I have ever lived.
Though are 2 eldest kids are happy here, I know they will no doubt leave here, as the job prospects and oppurtunities are limited.
I want to stay in Canada and be in the same country as my kids at least, but NS I feel may not be for us

Tangram

If it was that choice, mine would be Ottawa, but that depends on the line of work and availablility of employment.

Atlantic Xpat

^^^^----- What he said +1.

Simon Legree

Doesn't the availability of gainful employment dictate where most people live ?

Paul_Shepherd

Yes I agree with that, it dictated where I went to live..... you cant do much without a half decent job, no matter what your surroundings are.

Adrian Harison

Is there just no work for you in NS , or is it just a very expensive place to live
sorry to hear that its not working %100 for you

irishsamx

the problem is My husband and I are both working and we still can't cope. No we don't go on shopping sprees, dine out all the time, buy fancy clothes, have a fancy car, go on holiday etc etc
That tells me, something is wrong. Why can't we just pay our bills on time and have a few bob left in the bank at the end of each month, that is all I am asking for.
As much as I love NS, moving here has taught me a very valuable lesson, your House is not the most important thing, yes the houses are good value for money, but what good is a nice big house if you can't afford to heat it and maintain it. I will not make this same mistake again, that is for sure.
What you save on the price of your house, you end up spending on something else that is for sure.

Atlantic Xpat

What did you do in the UK? What do you do in NS? If you were CEO's in the UK and are pulling minimum wage in a call centre or Timmies in the NS, then there's your problem. Seriously though, have you assessed what is the market rate for your profession/skills/calling in NS? Is there opportunity to do it in NS? Or do you live somewhere that is beautiful but there is no real (well paid) work?

Have you researched wages and opportunities in ON?

irishsamx

no we were'nt CEO's...

My husband is a truck Mechanic, which fortunately is a job in demand pretty much everywhere here. I work in a restaurant, so as you can see, pretty much working class. The cost of living here is much higher than we first thought. I am currently researching job prospects in Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and near Toronto.
Money seemed to go further in the Uk and France, I know it is not my imagination, I think what it boils down to is the prospects of making more money here is so limited.
My husband and I had several business's over the years and always made a living from it, I suppose here we miss that.
NS is beautiful, but we did'nt move to Truro for the beauty, but for the jobs, looks like there is'nt too much of either.

Tangram

It sounds like they are house poor. It's a mistake I made, exasperated by suffering a drop in salary in our first Canuck home. We have now downsized to a 2300 footer, I'm on more than I started on in Canada and generally are much happier and more free to enjoy things instead of wandering around nearly 4000 feet of real estate.

SambaDeAmigo

May I ask what kind of business did you own? Is it not possible to start one here too?
I landed in Ottawa not because of work but because of family. In my field of work, there aren't many prospective employers here in Ottawa but I was lucky to find a start up company (prior to moving) that was looking for someone crazy enough to move to Ottawa to fill the role that I do. If I ever lose this job I won't have a lot of choices. I will have to either try and find work in the government in a totally different line of work or move to a city where my job is in high demand (Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto).
So it all depends on how high the demand for the jobs that you can do in the city you decide to move to.

irishsamx

Hi
we had a cafe/sandwich bar, and ran a pub and restaurant aswell before. Besides other things, we seem to always fall back on some kind of catering. We are also musicians, which I have to say was an excellent money maker in the Uk and Ireland.
Unfortunately where we are, businesses are really just surviving. Last year I nearly opened a coffee shop, had the suppliers, equipment and contract to sign for renting the property. Right at the last moment I backed out, something I have never done before. I have no regrets in doing that, it really was the right decision, the rental property here is ridiculous, they would rather have empty shops everywhere then fill them by lowering the rent.
The gigging scene here is rubbish, unless you travel to Halifax, you can't expect to gig more than once a week, In the uk we could have gigged 7 nights a week if we wanted, ok I am not sorry I left the Uk but you have to admit, the income opportunities there are endless, I don't think any other country can compare with that.

As I said, we really want to stay in Canada, we just want to have less money problems,

Atlantic Xpat

Have you considered Newfoundland? Specifically St. John's.

Buoyant economy, hot restaurant/cafe/bar scene. More live music, especially that of a celtic bent than you can shake a stick at. Truck mechanic job should be doable too.

Only downsides are it's getting pretty expensive property wise and it's more isolated compared to NS.

Worth a thought though?

irishsamx

Hi
no we haven't considered NF, reason being , we have Musician friends here that are from there. They left I think for similar reasons as to why we want to leave NS. Too small too, I mean not enough people there. We really want to be near a City.
thanks for the suggestion though

Aviator

Bit much of a generalization. Lots of immigrants are doing better in Canada, ourselves included. It took a while of ups and downs, but the opportunities in Canada for us anyway were much better than the UK.