hawkman

doogledaz:

We haven't moved yet, but are giving it some serious, serious, thought; for virtually the same reasons as yourself:

Poor Education system, high crime rate, ineffective police/ soft courts, poor healthcare, increased bureaucracy to the point that you can't do your job, or live your life without some nosey government official poking their oar in, and what most be the most unreliable, dirty, dangerous and expensive public transport in the industrialised western world.

In the last few years I have seen the quality of life seriously dip in the UK; it's very sad I used to love this country, and no force on Earth could have persuaded me to leave; sadly it no longer feels like home.

Oh Yes and one final consideration; the old-world snobbery as so amply demonstrated by Canada20006 is something I wouldn't miss.

bazzz

The only bit of that that doesn't apply to Canada is the bit about public transport; because they don't really bother with that out here.

Canada2006

What "old-world" snobbery?

I've lived in the north and the south of the UK, in France and in Belgium, so I look at the UK with a step back. Frankly, I think it's generally a great country. It has its negatives as well as its positives.

We seriously did consider emmigrating back to the UK, but fancied giving Canada a go instead.

I think, and may people on the forum express the same opinion, that those who leave the UK for its negative reasons will not necessarily be happy in Canada. For example, healthcare in Canada is not that good - it's basically the same centralised misfunctioning system as the UK. I've heard of people returning to Belgium due to the poor quality of Canadian education....

Canada is no panacea - and believe me you will find "old-world" snobs, racists, louts, gangs, badly behaved children, drug addicts - they're all there!

Finally, I've lived in the north of England, and it has its positives: great scenary, developing cities, good chip shops, near to Wales. However, I've also lived in the south and found that the people there are generally more stimulating for me. Personal taste & character - that's all. That's why I'd live in the south again if I chose to move back to the UK.

Rich_007

How on God's green earth could that be construed as a positive ?

R.

bazzz

It's not in Wales.

stepnek

Come up with some positive reasons why a move to Canada would be good for you. It may well make sense to do it then but not just because you can list a lot of negatives about the UK.

There's lots of bad stuff that happens here in Canada and if you can only see the negatives there then there's a good chance you'll see them here too.

In the right circumstances I'd move back to England because I miss it a lot and I never left it in the first place because I hated it. Being married to a Canadian I was enticed by the affordable cost of homes here and it made sense to move. That overall reason is why we are still here but no where is perfect. You've got to move for positives, not negatives.

12yearson

Interesting topic, and definitely appreciate hearing the views of those that have made the move and can speak with experience of what life in Canada is really like. Thanks all for being so open!

I notice that Bazzz that you would include bad education system in the list of Canada's ills. This is definitely a factor in our decision to consider a move to Canada - my sense is that standards in the UK state school system as a whole have been significantly eroded, so part of our decision is to evaluate whether Canada's state schools are any better or worse on average. Appreciate there are no doubt significant difference from one school to another, but does anyone else have a view on this, particularly those whose kids have experienced one or more other educational environments? I'm particularly interested in views on whether the national curriculum/syllabus in Canada has also been dumbing down to pump more A-Grades (or equivalent) out of the sausage machine?

christmasoompa

Contrarily, I am worried about it for the opposite reasons - I'm worried about leaving great schooling behind in the UK! Admittedly, we are in an area with great state schools. As I said earlier, our village school is excellent, only 10 pupils to a class and like private education without paying for it! And we are in catchment for some of the best grammar schools in the country (although our children are only 1 and 3 so of course they may have been discontinued by the time their time comes!). So I'm very confident that if we stayed in the UK our children would have a great education.

I haven't heard very good things about Canadian education from my initial research, but I think it's probably like the UK - it just depends on the school. But I do worry that we'll be taking them away to a lesser education. My only consolation is that we intend to put the in French Immersion as they're young enough to pick it up quickly hopefully, so perhaps the gift of a second language will make up for any other shortcomings in their education.

12yearson

I like the sound of your village I must admit, if I could get comfortable with access to decent schools in a nice area of the UK, the idea of moving back to the UK would be much more compelling. The issue of family for us is a tough one - my wife's family is mainly in Canada, mine is partly in the UK but partly elsewhere overseas. There's no perfect place for us to settle from that point of view.

NoreenC

I'm married to a Canadian and that's the only reason that I'll be leaving the UK. We are thinking of retiring there because we can't afford a house here. We are in private rented accommodation. My husband believes we can get a place of our own there, which as far as I can see is the only positive reason for going. A big one admittedly. We are looking at Nova Scotia which I've visited and liked. It's that little bit nearer to the UK, which is the biggest thing in its favour for me. I see you say that you miss England a lot. How long have you been in Canada? I must admit I still have anxieties about going, but feel I owe it to hubby to give it a try. Apart from a year in Canada I've lived in the UK for all of my life. It does have its negatives, but I still like it here.

Ikatita

maybe playing devil's advocate here, but I have yet to meet an adult English-language Canadians who was in French immersion and who is able to sustain a conversation in French. (also, I really don't understand why in French immersion, the number of French hours per week goes down as they get older).

This only from the parent of a bilingual child who knows lots of other bilingual kids and their parents, and who knows how much trouble and effort goes into sustaining a non-dominant (in the environment that is) language in your child.

HLKG

I can only speak for my husband, but he went to a French Immersion school and chats away quite happily whenever we have been in France/Belgium/met French speaking people. He speaks Quebecois French and I understand it is quite different to "European" French in terms of vocab/accent, but he is still quite fluent. Perhaps it depends on the school...

Ikatita

ok, point taken.

Summer-Caitlin

We are leaving the UK for several reasons. I currently live in Scotland and have spent the majority of my life here. I spent many years in Australia and some time living in Malta. I have been back here 10 years and I feel I have given it a good go. The urge to leave is still there so we are pursuing it. My husband has never lived anywhere else but he doesn't like it here much either.

The positives for going far outweight the negatives imo. I intend to study over there (Paralegal/Social Work) and the salary I would earn in Canada is much better than I could get here. Over here we have loads of debts, but when we seel the house we will be debt free for the first time in years. Even so, we could not afford to get a bigger property with our profit, the morgages here are still through the roof. The cost of living in general is very expensive.
The climate and area we live in, well I must say I'm not fond of it, it would be bearable if there were more things to do, but there just aren't. This place has made me an indoors person. I do love the outdoors, so Canada for me would be wonderful. Scenery, places to go and having the US on my doorstep is a huge pull for me.
I also want a place that I want to bring up children and I think the lifestyle is ideal for children. Hey, the lifestyle is ideal for us! To be honest this is the main reason we want to go, for the lifestyle!
I am not naive, I know that there will be negatives too, there was when I lived elsewhere and there will be in Canada, but as I said the positive far outweighs the negatives for us.

The only real negatives to me are leaving my family behind. I have a mother, brother and grandparents here (the rest reside in Australia) and although I will miss them terribly, I have come to the conclusion that I have to give it a go or I'm always going to regret it.

It is really interesting to see other peoples opinions though.

iaink

The purpose of french immersion is not to be able to sustain conversation with the French (why would you want to?), it is to be able to command the quebecois contingent in the Canadian National Forces, or to get paid a bit more answering the phones at a call center. Handy for many government jobs too....