We arrived here in Canada mid-September and for me and my three daughters a new life beckoned and for my wife it was a return home after being in England for four years. I'd read a lot of negative thoughts on this forum about Canada before getting here and it left me with mixed feelings but for us Canada seemed to make sense. In England we all lived together in the house that I still owned with my ex-wife from my first marriage and that needed to be sold as I couldn't afford to simply buy her out. The thought of selling up, settling debts and actually being able to afford to buy a house in Canada outright was so appealling that we decided that it was the way to go.

So here we are, we live in Cornwall, Ontario and we chose Cornwall because the property available was within our budget and it's an hours drive from Montreal where my wife's family live. The town itself has a population of 46,000 and seems to be quite a nice place although a little depressed I would say. Certainly the job situation doesn't seem good and my two oldest daughters (aged 18 and 19 and who have yet to decide whether Canada will be their long term home as opposed to the UK) cannot find employment even on a temporary basis. I haven't even tried yet but in the new year when I start to look I'm not all that confident about employment prospects certainly not without having to travel some distance. For my daughters they've even come up against the "Canadian Experience" issue at Walmart.

To be honest I'm just not sure quite what to make of things here. I'm certainly experiencing home sickness but also disappointment with what I have found although I do have difficulty in putting it into words because if I do it justs sounds so "picky". The thing is we left the UK because of our personal circumstances not because I disliked it and I can't help but feel that the UK is ahead of Canada in certain aspects. It's true that maybe where we are isn't the most desirable area say compared to BC or the Rockies and so on but I have to say that people should be so careful making their move unless they are so absolutely sure. I was sure and I'm not now.

Off the top of my head I dislike the following things in Canada and yes, I know I'm being picky!

Bank Charges
No apparent Long Life Skimmed Milk in cartons, and come to think of it no Tesco's or Asda!
The TV is crappier than the UK and way too many ads.
Pay as you go phones where you lose the unused time at the end of each month.
Having to use a credit card if you buy things online or on the phone. Debit cards don't seem to be accepted for such purchases.
It seems to be impossible to get a family Doctor in Ontario.
The "Canadian Experience" issues.
Having to add the 15% tax on each price you see. Indeed the Dollar Store should be called the "Dollar plus tax Store".
Be it car insurance, house insurance, house buying etc everyone wants you to fax them.
The terrible cost of Car Insurance here in Ontario.
The norm is to have to tip Bar staff.
Stop Signs.
Pedestrian signs telling people that they can cross when drivers actually have the green light to turn into where they are walking.
The general cost of things. Some things are cheaper here but not everything and wages are lower. But I reckon we spend about the same in groceries over here than we did in the UK. Our house tax here is just about the same that we were charged in England for Council Tax. I don't agree that you can approximately say that a good guide is " a dollar for a pound" as I've seen mentioned in these forums.

Now, having had a bit of a moan and gotton that off of my chest I don't intend to go on an anti-Canada crusade because it isn't all bad it's just that I happen to think it's not the great thing that some people think it is. It isn't paradise here and there are some real odd issues that bother me. We are likely here for the longhaul because my wife is happy to be home, we have a house without a mortgage and it's a nice house. That's the BIG, BIG plus about moving here. Without it I'd really start to wonder. Who knows? In a year maybe I'll be writing about how wonderful everything is.

This is a disadvantage...?

I'm getting worried about moving there - especially as I have no education, no real skills, and no getting away from the fact that I am knocking on a bit now...

I really do hope you soon settle down, stepnek. It must feel a bit lonely being uprooted to a country where you are new and know few people.

Awwwww.... Stephen I'm sorry to hear that you are struggling to adjust. Specially knowing how happy Nicola is to be home.

However, I do know how you feel about some of the issues you've mentioned.
I've come across the "Australian experience" thing ever since I arrived here not to mention that my visa is temporary for 2 years! Lots of companies here want a PR. I really feel for the girls, they must be so frustrated!

Luckily, I came from a country with bank charges into another one with bank charges so no difference there, but all the Brits I meet here hate it!

I was so happy to escape GST!!! Things are what the sticker says here, BUT a lot of things are more expensive. ($20.00 for a softcover book!!!)

As for stop signs, I was used to them in Canada but I've learned to love, love, LOVE the roundabout. Specially now that I drive...hahah.

Also, no tipping here and better mobile deals.. wahoooooooo!

I know you to be a very level-headed and compassionate person and I'm sure that you were prepared for a lot of the changes, but there are always those that you can't prepare for or that just get you in the gut and make you long for home.

I sincerely hope that things get better for you and the girls and that you come to love Canada as Nik does. If not, you can always come to Australia! (I miss my best friend.)

Sending you all love, patience and strenth,

Christina

im sorry to hear things arent going as well as you would have hoped. and regardless of 'picky' you are still pointing out a lot of things that people perhaps dont tend to think about when emigrating.

as for money and cost of living, everytime i see a post asking how much things are, and what salaries are (etc) and how they compare, its next to impossible to answer.. its so very different to compare the two. there is no set rule. what is expensive in the uk might not be as expensive in canada and vice versa.

i do hope things start to look up for you, even though we're making our way into the dead of winter

My best advice would be think about it all again in 9 months when youve been here a year. Before I moved I never thought of any cultural differences and I was eased into by spending a lot of last year in Canada but now a year down the road I can sympathise with you as there are a lot of differences. You may not notice it (as I still dont now at times) but you may be a tadge homesick and rightfully so but you will get through it. I find concentrating on the positives more get me through the tough times. My spouse is a Canadian, as is yours, and he always picks up on the homesick periods and is a great support (apparently watching the lowest of the low of programs like Ground Force and Changing Rooms is a dead giveaway for me!!!lol)

You say you have no mortgage. Beleive me that is such a plus thing for you to be concentrating on. We have quite a heavy mortgage but we know its less than what we would have in the Uk so count your lucky stars on that one you lucky devil

Hang on in there and stick with it. It will be worth it in the end.

[QUOTE=

To be honest I'm just not sure quite what to make of things here. I'm certainly experiencing home sickness but also disappointment with what I have found although I do have difficulty in putting it into words because if I do it justs sounds so "picky". The thing is we left the UK because of our personal circumstances not because I disliked it and I can't help but feel that the UK is ahead of Canada in certain aspects. It's true that maybe where we are isn't the most desirable area say compared to BC or the Rockies and so on but I have to say that people should be so careful making their move unless they are so absolutely sure. I was sure and I'm not now.


I have been here now for four years and this has been the hardest time form me right now being home sick for blighty. Since I have been chatting to people on this site it has put a lot of things into perspective and now know I should hang fire and "suck it up". I know exactly what your going through so your not alone. Your definately not being "picky" as all the things you have listed are my gripes too. I didnt know what to expect when I arrived here in Alberta, maybe the land of milk and honey but its alot different to what I expected. The people are a lot less friendly than I had experienced when I just visited and thats made it really difficult. But what you have to try and remember is that eventually (after the homesickness as subsided) you a making a much better life for you and your family and that should outweight all the things you miss about home. Hope you are feeling better soon, as it will pass.
Regards

[QUOTE=Rhodes]

I'm getting worried about moving there - especially as I have no education, no real skills, and no getting away from the fact that I am knocking on a bit now...

No real skills?.....hehehe....certainly not how I'd describe you.....

Hang in there buddy, it does get easier, and I think you are probably at the peak time for culture shock and homesickness, which will hopefully get easier as time passes. Maybe the key here is employment as you get to meet people and get out a bit, and of course you have more money coming in. Just takes patience, and of course the networking that will come with getting to know more people.

Cant help with all your points, and I think they are mostly valid. FWIW PCfinancial is fee free, and I felt a lot better for sticking it to my fee taking former bank when I moved accounts to PC.

Never had a problem using a credit card instead of debit, but I always pay the balance off, so its like a defered debit card anyway. However you pay it costs the same, but with a CC you have some purchase insurance and extras warranty thrown in , which I guess is a plus of sorts. plus I get cashback off groceries too for using it, so I pay for as much as I can with the CC unless I get a discount for not using it.

After a while you get used to mentally adding 15% to everything, and looking for the walk sign at the lights, youll just have to trust me on that one

Stop signs forgotten how much they used to irritate me!

Anyway, yes, its easy to underestimate how hard it is to leave so much behind and start again, but over time you will meet new friends and figure out the canadian way of doing things. Surviving that first winter is a big deal too. Maybe its time to start looking for work now, a lot of places take extra staff on over Xmas, so its a foot in the door perhaps, and it will introduce you to more people and give you something else to think about rather than watching the winter weather???

All the best

Iain

I can relate though my situation is the oppposite.

I think having 'normal everyday life' be not quite exactly as you've always had it is probably harder than it would be to live in a grass hut somewhere - if that makes sense. It's like your life is similar enough to maintain all your usual expectations yet different enough for those small differences to be irritating (at least until you get use to them and even start to appreciate them). That's what I'm thinking at the moment, anyway.

I have found that some of the things that, at first, I disliked about England I now actually like and would miss if and when I move back to Canada.

I hope you feel more positive soon.

I moved from London, UK to Montreal at the end of last September too... admittedly I ahve some assurances such as a job I was coming to, and that Canada is not necessarily the future for me, as I'm here on a minimum two-year work permit. Thus I am in the very fortunate position to really savour what life in Montreal/Canada is like, and on this basis determine at a later date whether to try and stay here or go back. I also have financial security in the UK, as I did not need to sell up there.
We're renting at the moment, with no real thoughts of buying at the moment, especially as we can use the rent from our place in the UK to fund our living costs here (and I mean just rent and utilities). Plus I'm lucky enough to get a decent wage which is on an expat scale so very comparable to what i would be earning in the UK with my qualifications (BTW, i'm a postdoc research scientist).
With all this in mind, my experience of montreal has been so far very good! lucky to be living in the city so all the local amenities are close by. Also during this winter, the montreal snow patrols do a fantastic job with the roads and paths so can get around fairly easily, considering if this amount of snow fell in london, the palce would be totally gridlocked for days probably! never had a problem with the language here, even with my GCSE french... everyone speaks english or at least tries.
Only downsides are the credit cards... agree with stepnek, to order on the phone, online you need a credit card, debit cards do not work on these matters!... and getting a credit card doesn't seem to be that easy either... so annoyed with that. Bank charges also is a hinderence... I got an account with TD canada, as i could also have a US bank account with them, but to circumvent the monthy charge of subscription, i have an "infinity account" allowing me to have as many transactions as i want (which i'm accustomed to have), but i need to have $3000 in the account at all times. This is doable for me, but i get no interest really from the account... i think my last statement showed i got 3c or something laughable like that! so, every month, i need to transfer money to a savings account to get better interest but still be able to maintain the $3000 minimum for that entire month.

But, i guess that's a personal gripe... Canada has so far been good to me... the food quality seems better for the fresh stuff (especially concerning value for money)... though the shops seem to have less choice than the big tesco's/sainsbury's etc... in the UK. Everything in Canadian shops is for economy packs, so you buy everything in bulk... not always possible if the apartment (like we're renting) isn't huge! Anyway, not enough downers for me to want to pack it in... enjoying my first snowy winter for years!

Most pay as you go phones allow you to roll over the minutes if you get the next card before the time limit expires.

Try Fido (now owned by Rogers) or Bell. Im sure Telus does it as well.

Thank you everyone for their thoughts. I'm for certain feeling a bit sorry for myself right now and I am home sick although I think it's just missing the familiar things that does it. Our stuff from England has yet to arrive although we are finally due to get that tomorrow after a mere three months. (Allied Pickfords, you should be ashamed of yourselves) I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends and to be honest I can't remember everything we did ship so I'm hoping that the correct decisions were made at the time. My trusty tower computer will finally arrive so I can say goodbye to the laptop for regular use and get back to computing the old fashioned way.

I've also missed my DVD's of "The Office" although fortunately BBC Canada chose to play the two series straight through last Sunday which gave me the fix that I needed. We were out that afternoon and I set the VCR to record and we got about four and a half episodes but I certainly need more!

All in all I know that things will improve here for me and as Iain said getting employment may make all the difference. I've never been without work in my life before so not working for three months is strange and it'll be good to be back earning when I can.

I don't think any preparation in advance can save us from the culture shock that inevitably happens and I just didn't appreciate it until being here. As I said in my original post I'm in this for the long haul because I know things will get better and I appreciate all of your encouraging comments.

Hi, we're not there yet and reading all this stuff is good for us as we hopefully will not feel too let down when we do get there!
Someone told me that the reason why most people come back is due to them not being able to get Marmite, (ie all the little things build up especially when you are homesick, and the Marmite or whatever is the last straw).

Can you think of a list of positives, or are you feeling too low for that at the moment?

The Canadian Experience thing is a bummer. I've read though that if you can get voluntary work to start with that will count towards canadian work experience when you do apply for paid employment. Maybe worth considering, as it's also a way to meet people?

Pedestrians ALWAYS have right of way over cars on the road. I think that's rather sweet

Some things are definitely more expensive than the UK and I know the doctor thing is pretty bad all over, with doctors leaving to work in that states for better pay and conditions

Hang in there. Hope things get better for you after Christmas!

Morw

Ah well Stepnek, remember chin up and a stiff upper lip what what! Seriously tho, can understnad the culture shock and thats one i'm not looking forward to. How about writing a list now on the stuff you do like or thinks that does work better than the UK.

Also can't agree with .......... .....how i understand it is, to get away from converting everything into pounds, you may think 'as I earn 20000 pounds, is the 1000pound TV too expensive?'. This is the same as I earn $20000 is the $1000 Tv too expensive?Different monetary value but the same in household expense.

...................need to lie down now!

I don't think any preparation in advance can save us from the culture shock that inevitably happens and I just didn't appreciate it until being here. As I said in my original post I'm in this for the long haul because I know things will get better and I appreciate all of your encouraging comments.[/QUOTE]

Hi Stephen

I think this is very true and I sympathise with the thoughts and feelings you're having right now. I felt very similair after 3 months and from what I have gathered, this is fairly normal for lots of people. Some people just love it from day 1 which is great (grrr), but for others, adjusting to Canada seems to take longer - if at all in some cases!

Anyway, I am a bit more accepting of the Canadian way of doing things now after nearly 9 months of being here. My husband got a fairly decent job (still no where near as well paid etc. as his job in the UK but at least it's at his level, in his field) which helped us to feel a bit more normal.

Also, the kids started in school in September which has helped. I also volunteer in my son's class once a week which has given me some insight into the Canadian school system and has allowed me to 'network' too.

We have made some nice friends through school and in a local church that we go to which has also helped with socialising/networking etc.

All of these things took time though and now I don't feel quite like such a second class citizen as I did when we first arrived! I'm sure you will feel a bit better when your stuff arrives.

The homesickness has improved a little for me. At the beginning, I just wanted to head back to 'civilisation' and never set foot in Canada again, but now I think I would miss certain things about Canada - the wide roads, less traffic (comparing London Ontario to South East England), larger house, more noticeble season changes etc.

We are still not sure though whether we will stay yet as there are some things that may end up being deal breakers for us. These include worse education and health systems in our experience, a general sense that things here are 'behind the times' - hard to put into words, lack of jobs which results in people putting work before their families in order to please the boss and keep their jobs and being far from family. We knew that we would be far away from family, obviously, but Canada has to be worth the sacrifice. We will give it more time.

The kids love it here as they got to play out alot in the summer - roller blading, cycling, playing on scooters etc., swimming in the pool - large inflatable one! We could drive to lake Huron in under an hour through open fields with hardly any other cars. The water was warm for us even though it was supposedly cold by Canadian standards! A very different experience than going from Reading to Bournemouth on a sunny day in the UK - say no more!

Also, we went out a couple of weekends ago to cut down our tree and went on a trailer ride, had hot chocolates etc. with some of our new friends. This weekend we all went out tobogganing and had a great time. We certainly didn't do any of this in the UK.

Well, I'd better go before I start going in circles and everyone falls asleep

Take care and I'm sure things will improve as you settle in more and get used to being here.

Chris