amawill

Hello to you all,

I have been reading now for a few months and what a fantastic, informative site this is. My name is Amanda and i am a practice nurse and along with my husband who works in i.t. for university are hoping Canada is for us. We are both in our 30's no kids yet but we love all the outdoor stuff and just want a small house bit of land, keep our bees and life long ambition (sad i know) to have a porch to sit on . Canada is my husbands idea and prior to all the reading i've been doing on this site my knowledge of Canada was Anne of Green Gables,(hence the porch ).
Reccie planned for last week in August and first 2 in September, landing in Toronto and then over to nova scotia to see as much as we can. Any advice/info on reccie etc , (how much could we see in 3 weeks )would be gratefully appreciated also can anyone please tell my what the summers are like in n.s. i love seasons but need a summer.
Also as a practice nurse over here although years of hospital experience how easy is it to work and how long does it take - am getting ahead of myself as just hoping i like what i see in Canada / should i visit hospitals whilst there on reccie ???

roanin

Health care staff are generally in short supply all over Canada. Here in Saskatchewan we have just hired 300 nurses from the Philippines, and are going back for another 500! Cannot really speak for the Maritimes though. Just wanted you to know that Canada is vast and extremely varied, and you might want to take a broader look at where you want to settle down. By all means, pop into the local hospitals and visit their Human Resources offices, you never know what you might learn.
Good luck and enjoy your trip.

amawill

thank you for the reply . Would a week round Toronto and then over to n.s be practical, i understand the size of the country but don't want to be travelling every day ?

roanin

The problem with TO versus NS is that they are wildly different. Property prices in TO are huge compared to NS etc. I appreciate you are from one of the biggest cities in the UK, so I understand that big city life would not deter you, but Ontario is currently facing some tough financial times, with manufacturing sector job loses, due to the higher Canadian dollar etc. If you like the thoughts of the Maritimes and you can find decent employment there, then go for it. While I appreciate the lovely regions of that part of our Country, I know there are other places just as nice. In general, to answer your question though, I would say NO, don't waste your time looking around Toronto.

amawill

thanks for that - was thinking of a day or two in toronto at the most ? niagra falls - what about flying west to Vancouver rockies etc for 1 week and then ns or is it really too far to do in one trip as said we have 3 weeks and just want to make the absolute most of it before the big commitment as definitely want out of the u.k.

ooh just discovered spell check yippee

roanin

You know, it is really hard to advise you, not knowing your aspirations or lifestyle. Many on here will tell you that I am a big promoter of the Prairie region, due to the current economy upturn, quieter pace of life, and cheaper properties.
Van, is a big place, like TO, and hellish expensive, but very sunny and temperate. Weather there can oftimes be like the UK (BROLLY REQUIRED).
If I wanted to get a good cross section of the country, I would fly to Calgary, spend a few days, and then take a bus to Saskatchewan and visit Regina and Moose Jaw. Then fly down to the east coast and back to the UK from there.(if such flights were economically sound). If I had the time, I would simply bus from one side of the country (or rent a nice car), to the other. May I suggest that you read up on each province and look at all the major centers. Hopefully that may get you a little more focused. Main point is, you really need to plan your trip to take the best advantage of as great an area as possible.

amawill

once again thank you - started looking at the prairies now. Like you said continue the research.

The4BellsLondon

Welcome - its a v useful site!

bandit

Hello and Welcome....

The site is full of information, and those living in certain places generally are in favour of them over other places - seems reasonable really!!!

Anyway - earlier this year, I had only 2 weeks to do my recce, and spent roughly a week in Vancouver and a week in Calgary. I had discounted the east side already before visiting.

For me, it was enough time to realise which city I wanted to live in, however being single and no dependants, I had no one else to consider. I had lined up some meetings with potential employers on an 'information interview' basis, and also met up with some of the guys from here.

Good Luck, and keep us up to date on your research!

B

windward

3 weeks is a long time, and though you wouldn't be travelling every day maybe heading West too is a lot to take on? I couldn't say as I've never been but it's very easy to spend a few weeks in one place esp. if you're sussing out housing etc.

Some advice about Niagara though, I was there in Feb. and though it was beautiful in the snow, we could only justify spending about 3 hours there. Even apart from the cold and grabbing a cuppa to warm up we found little to do once we'd taken the falls in. Maybe we missed something, but we had a grand time heading out towards Niagara-on-the-Falls (the town on the lakeshore) and touring some of the Canadian wineries to fill the rest of the day. I'd def recommend it as you've not got kiddies in tow. The town itself is easy to get to (5 mins drive from a lot of the wineries) and very charming if you fancy something less boozy

lionheart

So what made you choose Vancouver over Calgary...other than the driving standards so well reported elsewhere on this site? Have you selected a particular district in which to buy or rent?

bandit

Mostly the weather and the way it affects life in the winter. It felt to me, like I was a rabbit in a warren of tunnels, and the outdoors was off limits because it was just too cold. granted there are mountains which I dare say are beautiful, however Vancouver wasn't as cold but it snowed and rained! It offered to me a greater sense of outdoors, there were moutains, water and alot of greenary!

I'm heading out later this year and will be living either downtown, or very near it. I will be renting a place just for me.!

hope that helps.

amawill

less boozy not for us lol. Thank you for all replies - think we will stick to the east ns area - research continues.

The4BellsLondon

what - less boozy in Vancouver??? uh oh!!

Flogger

hi and welcome to B.E
We are also off to NS to have a look round soon.
there is a some usefull wikis on NS well worth a read
good luck