Dayo

Dayo

Tumbling_Dice

What exactly would you like to know?

scilly

First ............. have you worked out whether you are eligible for a visa to Canada?

Stinkypup

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE. I'd suggest you do a search of the forums, including the Moving Back to the UK section to see why people return from NS, you'll get tons of views from lots of threads which may be helpful. Some negative, some positive, but hopefully it will give you an idea of what people who've moved there think about it.

As said above, you do need to check you are eligible for a visa as a first step, as if you need a job offer to get a visa then you may find NS isn't the best place to aim for. But assuming you've done that, I'm sure lots of NS folks will be along to help later when they wake up.

Good luck.

Dayo

glb19

I'm from Halifax (been in the UK the past 6 years but in the process of getting my partner PR so we can move back there), and I think it's a great place for families. Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do all year round, lovely being at the beaches in the summer.. lots of walking trails, lakes, sporting facilities. If you like hockey then you've got the Halifax Mooseheads to watch, Rainmen for basketball, and I believe there's professional lacrosse and soccer (err football) leagues starting up there now too.

Can't speak for schools really as I didn't move there til I was 19 and don't have any kids of my own yet. Just remember that schooling in Canada is different from the UK. All schools are part of Halifax Regional School Board (take the 1 star google reviews with a grain of salt - most of them are just complaints about opening/closing schools in bad weather), which means all schools are pretty much run the same rather than there being good schools, poor schools, etc.. There's no Ofsted-like ratings system, though you can go to a website called Rate My Teachers and see ratings left for teachers at a bunch of different schools in the area.

Bedford is where I lived and I hope to live there when I move back, though it is being built up quite a bit at the moment and the traffic to get into Halifax in the mornings is getting worse. I guess it's just one of those inevitable things with city growth. Looks like areas like Middle Sackville are expanding as well... I see a lot of people my age buying their first houses there as you get more house for cheaper. Where you live will probably depend where you'll be working. Example if you're going to work on the Halifax side, you'll probably want to live on that side of the harbour rather than the Dartmouth side to avoid needing a bridge pass and dealing with bridge chaos every day.

All cities have their own issues but overall I think Halifax is a great place. It is kind of its own bubble in that you are a bit secluded and the next 'big' city is a 10 hour drive (Quebec City).

And prepare for lots of wind and rain.

raindropsandroses

Good morning and welcome to BE!

​​​​​​I can't speak for the moving from the UK as we left the UK long before we moved to Canada, but we live in NS, well, for the next few months anyway, we're moving to BC.

I would have a search of the forum for the "CFA" (Come From Away) Nova Scotia thread, sorry I can't link at the moment. It has some very interesting comments on.

It is also worth considering that there are an awful lot of forum members who used to live in NS, but have now relocated either elsewhere in Canada or internationally. I've lived all over the world, some places are easier than others to settle in, and NS is not one of the easy ones.

Still, I feel that nowhere is ever going to be perfect, you have to choose the place where the positives are things you love and the negatives aren't deal breakers for you.

Another thing I would suggest having a serious think about is how you're expecting your life to change by moving to NS. What is going to be so different that it justifies the expense, heartache and hard work of building a whole new life?

I don't mean to be condescending, but one thing I've found is that boiling it down like that really helps clarify things, and can help those of us who live in Canada's Ocean Playground give you more accurate and tailored advice

Silverdragon102

dbd33

See if you can find Nikki Dreaming. Not a doctor but a migrant to NS with children who has made a success of it. For a different view find the old posts by Tuppence, also successful in NS, left anyway.

Tumbling_Dice

I don't have kids but any of our friends who do, and have options to move away from NS, seem to think it is pretty good here for family life. You can get a decent amount of house here for reasonable money and there is so much nature about. Kids seem well served throughout the year by clubs, sports and summer camps. Very general comment that but the best I can do without direct experience.

I would echo what Raindropsandsoses said about working out why you want to come here. It is a bit of a tough nut to crack (although it sounds like you have the job side of things sorted) but the Halifax area seems to be the place that is looking forward, where the local recognise they need immigration and are trying hard to make the place welcoming. I have not experienced the "come from away" thing overtly, and I am not sure if I have missed it because I don't really care if loads of people like me or not.

I would say my experience here has been neutral simply because I didn't really want to move here in the first place, so there was no UK push or Canada / NS pull: it was for my wife and her family. I don't see myself here in ten years, and I am doubtful about 5, but it is not because NS is bad, it just doesn't give me the life I want. That said, I have been able to enjoy the many great things that the place offers and, should my job continue to go well, I may change my mind about staying here.

PS The driving is abysmal, and has deteriorated badly since I first started coming here in 2000. I felt safer driving in the likes of Sicily than I do here.

BristolUK

This article seems quite useful

Howefamily

Hi, we moved from the UK to NS eight years ago. We really like it here and as GPS are in such short supply you will be most welcomed! I find it a nice place to live. We live half way between the airport and Truro which is a spot that allows us to work in Halifax and the surrounding areas and in Truro. This has been helpful as we have both worked in both.
There are some major differences (houses and wildlife) and some very subtle ones (inference in a sentence for example). I recommend you visit first to see if its your cup of tea.
I am on my lunch break so need to keep this short, if you look up all my posts on NS I have commented a lot in the past on these types of posts and I have also maintained a blog (in my signature) which you may find useful.
I wish you lots of luck in your planning.

Howefamily

Interesting, as beautiful as Lunenberg is, I am sure I would feel the exact same way