Hi Guys!!

Hope you are all ready for Christmas and are looking forward to it

It seems that a lot of people suggest to us newcomers that we should move elsewhere in the UK instead of Canada.

Just wondering if you could do it all over again after knowing what you do now, would you have still moved to Canada or somewhere else in the UK?

Hope you all have a great Christmas!!

I'd come to Canada again without looking back.
I probably would pack more things instead of leaving them behind.

I moved to Canada because life in England beyond the North Circular seemed to me a nightmarish prospect. One may as well be in the colonies as in Watford.

I would do it again but I've only been here 3 months so check with me in a couple of years perhaps...
I still love England and miss aspects of it but this is home for now. I think people will have different answers also depending on their life experience so far. This is my 4th country having lived in France and Algeria also.

Hi there, good question!

After five years here in Canada (Alberta) I would say probably not!

On reflection back in 2007 we were desperate to move our family to our perceived 'dream life' in the Rockies. We'd been thinking about it for years. Admittedly we definately had our rose tinted glasses on. We massively underestimated the cost of relocation/affect on family we left behind/living costs in Canada/endless red tape involved in settling in with cars/utilities/doctors/dentist/banks etc/lack of annual leave.

We were very naive and although we knew the disadvantages (for example only 2 weeks annual leave a year) we choose to ignore them.

However two of our three children are to all intents now fully 'canadian' and have the accent to go with it. They were only small when we moved and we could never move back to the UK. Their life is here and we have to accept that. Older child has had some issues but is doing ok.

For us oldies (parents) it has been so hard. Although we have many friends (almost all expats) we still miss the UK and family there. It seems like it will always be home to us.

As hindsight is a wonderful thing I feel we should have taken more time to make such a massive decision as life is now the same as it was back in the UK - only different scenery. For all the money it cost to re locate we could have some lovely family holidays or re-mortgaged to a larger home.

Sorry to be so negative but this is an honest post - something you don't always find on here (all tends to be good news/good times/very little 'negatives' about Canada.

No definately not. Life here for us is not bad, its just not home and never will be. We will move on in a few years time.

If anything for us we would have come sooner rather than later

No intentions of going back to the UK but will be happier once PR is sorted

Have you not got PR yet? I would have thought that an old timer like yourself would have had it for ages. Same here we are waiting on ours, partly our fault for not sending it off sooner but shall feel very relaxed once we have it as the question still pops into my head regularly "what if we don't get it??"

You dont have to apologise for being negative Its always good to hear both sides!

What have you found most difficult in Canada? Or is it just because of what you left behind?

Hi DandNHill!

I know this is completely irrelevant to the post but my mother in law was born in Algeria and then lived in France when they kicked out all the French.

Where abouts are you now?

Ignore last part...have just seen you are in Yarmouth NS

With hindsight the answer is probably not...i should have come maybe 5 years before i did..my circumstances had change beyond recognition from applying until leaving. The problem was the Canada thing was there like an elephant in the room and i had to deal with it..so i left the UK to remove it and close the door.

I have been successful here but i have never felt settled and its has never felt like home...trouble is i dont feel like i want to go back to my old life in the UK either.. so i feel like im stuck in no mans land..and i am undecided whether i will go back or i will stay.

Absolutely but everyone has their own reasons.
You need to reflect on why did you leave the UK in the 1st place and where you are in life now.
Both countries have their pros and cons and we have seen a lot of threads that demonstrate this.
For us who have been here 20 plus years we obviously see Canada differently to the newcomers. Apart from wanting to go back to the UK for a visit I have no intention of going back to live there.
I gave up a secure job and nice home to make the move. Yes I struggled initially but peresevered and Im very happy with what I have now got.
I do realise that some have made the move and eventually moved back but is that down to unforseen circumstances or bad planning?
Regardless of what memories the UK has for me having lived there for 28 yrs I have accepted that Canada is my new home and now live life accordingly.
Yes I admit to being fortunate, right place right time etc etc but life is what you make it so again ask yourself the question why did you make the move?



The arrest warrant had nothing to do with it lol.

Probably not, but now we're here we're staying - maybe moving Province at a later date. I'm sure I'd miss far more here now than I would gain from moving back.

We have been here 9 months now and yes we would do it again. Thats mainly because I am now living where I wanted to live my whole life and am enjoying finding out more about it. Before it was a dream with all the dream aspects that come with that. The reality is different to my view of what it would be like (a bit) but nevertheless is good.
My hubby loves it here and is a changed man, before he wouldnt do much outdoors but would lie on the sofa alot watching the footie. He didnt really go out much even. Here, hes out in the yard chopping wood, hanging Christmas lights, fixing things etc etc, hes really taken this whole lifestyle in his stride and we are doing more as a family.
The girls are free-er here, I dont have to take them somewhere for them to be outside, they just are.

Would I do it all again? Yes. I love England and miss alot of it, if I had had enough money there to live in a little chocolate box village I may have found it harder to leave, but we didnt and never would have had that kind of chance.
To me, all that comes with North America is what I am wholeheartedly embracing (except for the cost of groceries!)