Novocastrian

London is not a rural area. There are about 500,000 people in that immediate area. Yes, we were trying to help, not newcomers in general, but one newcomer in particular planning to settle in London. Your sweeping statements help no-one.

As to family doctors in London currently taking on new patients,

http://www.cpso.on.ca/docsearch/results.aspx

there are plenty.

supergirly

Excellent. Is it easier if you go private to find a doctor?

dbd33

There`s no private in Ontario. One system for everyone.

supergirly

No private health care in Ontario???

dbd33

Right. There are some exceptions, dentists for example, and one can always drive to Buffalo, but generally you pays your taxes and you takes what the government offers.

Novocastrian

Short answer, no.

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/...p/ohip_mn.html

dbd33

I don`t mean that as a criticism, btw, I think OHIP is better than a hybrid system.

Auld Yin

By Welcomat
So, if you need any important procedures, or even a regular family doctor, you might have to go to Hamilton and Toronto, in order to get treatment.

I would imagine rural/small town Brits would also require to go to major centres for important procedures.

KRoss

http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/LHSC/...ices/index.htm
I find it hard to believe that a hospital that has all these departments and specialities would be transferring people to Hamiton or Toronto for treatment!

Auld Yin

London Health Sciences Centre is one of the major training hospitals/facilities in Canada and I agree with you whole heartedly. The only reason I can think of them transferring someone is, if at any time they lack capacity in a particular discipline. The same would apply, I'm sure, to any other major training centre.

Bleepedy Bloops

Londoners don't need to leave the city for anything, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about! :curse:

If anything it's London that's on the receiving end of people being transfered from outlying areas because it's the medical hub of the whole region. How's them apples? Huh? Huh? Yeah I thought so...

Tom Masters

I agree except that London is a city of 353,000 people!

Auld Yin

I am fully aware of the London population. I wasn't placing it into the rural/small town category but rather was stating, not too well, that Welcomat's comment would apply to many parts of the UK.
I still haven't said it too well.

freddyfred

I've been living in London UK and SE England for the last 6 months but lived in London Ontario for 17 years before I moved here for work. Impressions of England from a Canadian point of view: low quality of life compared to Canada (even with a high uk income) and a social hierarchy that's left over from 150 years ago feels odd. The construction and finishing of housing in England is of lower standard than it is in Canada. What people describe here as luxury is pretty much standard in an average Canadian home. The people are friendlier in Canada in general but people in larger cities are by nature assholish. Crawley is friendlier than London UK and London Ontario friendlier than Toronto.

London, Ontario is basically the average of Canada, it has often been used as a testbed for products for that reason. It is on the conservative side as far as control and political views (main reason it hasn't grown). If you're coming from the UK you will find it liberating compared the insane amount of control the government has over people in the UK.

If you're young at heart you may find London Ontario boring after a little while but that's ok. You can drive down to Toronto in 90 minutes since the average speed on the highways is 120kph (20 above limit and no speed cams every mile) and I often get to downtown Toronto in less than that. Toronto offers a lot of entertainment just a short trip away. You also have fresh water beaches on both sides of London for summer trips. Port Stanley (30-45 mins drive) on Lake Erie and Grand Bend/Pinery Park (about an hour drive) on Lake Huron. Lots to do in the London area, fishing spots, hiking trails, parks, festivals and that's about it. Nothing too exciting.

Yes it's 350,000 in permanent population, but that number swells during student times by 100,000+ from UWO and Fanshawe students and staff. Solves some traffic problems in the summer when they're gone. You will NEED A CAR because the public transportation system can only be described as crap, it consists of buses only and they are unreliable and poorly planned, I had to take the bus for highschool and collage, it's a waste of 2+ hours/day round trip if you're traveling across the city by bus.

It's a good place to raise your kids or retire but usually after everyone's done collage/uni they leave the city. That's part of the reason it hasn't grown that much in the 17 years I've lived there.

I'm personally can't wait to go back to London Ontario when I finish my work in England but may move to BC because London is a little boring for me. My only concern is the job market in Ontario. I keep getting asked why I'm in the UK by all the foreigners because they view Canada as a much better place to live and my only answer is work.

By the way, you may be surprised to know that it may be cheaper for you to fly from London Ontario to Toronto or Detroit rather than take an Airport Bus and you don't have to wait at the border for everyone to get checked out. It came out $20 cheaper for me but I ended up getting a ride from a friend.

Hope my perspective was useful.

supergirly

Thanks for that Freddy Fred. I'm a boring old fart nowadays so I'm sure I'll love it