owen

Hi there all. Haven't posted for a while with starting new job moving house and now this!

See attachment!

Its our first child and although not strictly anything to do with Canadian lifestyle, I'm trying to tell everyone!!!

Seriously though, I think we have discounted Alberta for now, although i love the place. 2006 will bring a new trip checking out Belville, Kingston, Barrie and London Ont. So if anyone has info/opinions on local hospitals for employment and the areas to live, please share! Thanks in advance.

Crispie

Great picture Owen.
Congratulations! Thanks for posting this!

That will help us all keep a prespective on life. All the winging about waiting and finance becomes so much less important when you see a new baby.

Sorry can't give any info though. Good luck

stepnek

Congrats on the baby to come. The scans are magical pictures to have!

Care to share on why you've discounted Alberta? We live in Eastern Ontario and aren't sure this is the place for us and are considering our options. My Father-in-law lives in Alberta and keeps saying that we should move there and I'm not so sure but maybe some research is in order.

owen

Hi, difficult this one. We've visited Calgary and I love the place and surroundings, but my girlfriend didn't bond. She feels being in Ont means cheaper/quicker access to the UK and vice versa for family/friends, my argument was that with a better econmy, less tax in Alberta it maybe false economy. She won though when discussing the weather being less harsh, family members in Ont, wanting somewhere smaller than Calgary and easier access to water and holiday destinations.

The only problem I see is having to 'upgrade' my nursing qualification to degree level in order to practice in Ont and hearing unhappy stories about the status of healthcare provision in Ont.

Why don't you feel its the place for you?

dbd33

I don't know about access to the UK being cheaper or quicker from Ontario, that depends where you are within the province. If you're in Calgary you'd likely fly to a hub, perhaps Toronto or Chicago and on from there, the stop would be a bother. If you were in eastern Ontario you'd drive to Montreal (maybe there's even a train), if you were in London you could drive to Detroit but, if you were in Belleville or Kingston you'd be really stuck as it must be four hours in a car to either Montreal or Toronto airport. By the time you'd paid for the petrol and sat in a car for four hours the connecting flight wouldn't seem so bad.

iaink

Congratulations, fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

Heres a link to the recruiting page for the BGH / Quinte Healthcare.

http://www.qhc.on.ca/careers/index.html

Good luck with the necessary qualification translations!

Pearson has never been more than a 2h drive from Belleville. In the past I've driven the 45 mins to Kingston (which has free parking!) and flown on the <30 min flight to TO from there for Air Canada connections, but frankly its more hassle than its worth as they overbook on a regular basis. If I was in Kingston I would consider it though.

Anyway, isnt this just a Recee trip anyway, so you can think it through after seeing the lay of the land.

Best of luck with the offspring.

stepnek

Thanks for the reply.

As far as we're concerned we just aren't sure where to head off to next and that's the problem with not only being in such a big country but also a new one. If the first move isn't the right one then where to go to next? After all Ontario itself is big enough and there's every chance that another move within the province might be the right one. We chose Cornwall because of it's proximity to Montreal (we have family there and it's also a great city) and the houses are a good price. Unfortunately despite it's proximity to the the US border and Montreal/Ottawa it's certainly going through some kind of recession and employment is extremely difficult to find along with low salaries on offer. We own our house outright but it's quite a struggle to make ends meet with my job and we aren't sure that we can look forward to an improvement here. As I say the question for us is where to look next?

dbd33

I'm at Jarvis and Gerrard. It takes 30 minutes to an hour from here to the Gardiner ramp (in a car, it's 10 minutes on foot) and then 45 minutes to an hour to the airport. That's a trip I make more than once a week.

I drove from Belleville (62 and the 401) last night. It was three hours to the beginning of Kingston Road. It would be possible to get from Belleville to YYZ in two hours or less but only in the dead of night. It's just not realistic to plan on crossing Toronto in two hours during daylight.

iaink

Now I know you drive fast enough to get tickets, so Ive no idea why its taking you so long...I do remember it once took 2h15mins, but other than that 2h is the norm at any time of day to get from Belleville to YYZ, and I never exceed 130khm, usually cruising at 125ish. I dont do it every week, but have done it at least a couple of dozen times. It takes about 70mins or less to get to the express way 401 at Brock, and then usually far less than an hour to cross town on the 401, including the usual snare ups at the 400 and around the Airport.

The only time it took more than 2hrs I got stuck behind an accident and had to skirt north up to Taunton Rd to go around it. (Just as well as the 401 was closed for several hours)

Mind you, I dont normally stop for a coffee or anything on the way.

Even mapquest says its only 2h15mins.

dbd33

It takes so long because the traffic in and around Toronto is diabolical and worsening. Last night the stop and go started at the 35/115. I used to be able to get home from there in 45 minutes but now, on Sundays, it's at least twice that. If I were starting out and expecting to work in the GTA I'd make it a priority to choose a job with offset weekends or shifts so as to avoid trying to leave the city on a Friday night.

Souvenir

Second that! When we left Oakville last Summer (at 4pm on a Friday - doh!), it took us 3 hours to get to Oshawa and 9 hours to get to Montreal.

iaink

The thing I find is, coming in from the East you dont have to fight to get onto the 401, which when I've driven in the GTA has been the slow part.

Once on it it keeps moving OK through Markham, Scarborough, North York etc in the express lanes, with a couple of slower bits at the 400 and 407 DVP intersections. The worst bit is always getting out of the 401 express to get off at 409/dixon...but that seems to have been a construction zone for as long as I remember. I wouldnt want to deal with TO traffic on a day to day basis, you're right, every time I go for a meeting or whatever it seems worse. Glad I dont live there.

dbd33

We spent the weekend at a cottage at Madoc with cruikshank and family. That's about 130 miles from here. They left at 3 and arrived at 8:30. We couldn't leave on Friday as I had to drive to Mississauga, 23 miles 2 hours, and back, 23 miles, a little over an hour. All in all, it's enough to make one consider getting one of those gay transmissions

yorkiebar99

Hello there Owen!

My husband and I moved to Kingston in May and are absolutely loving it. It has a great feel and we love hanging out around the waterfront and have easy access to rivers & lakes and the GD US of A. We visited Belleville the other week but that wasn't too appealing.....reminded us of Hull(both in Humberside & Quebec). Kingston is handy for Montreal(3hrs) and Toronto(2.5hrs).

AnnetteM

I'm new to this site and still finding my way around, and obviously I don't know the background to your situation - but.... why not consider coming to BC? It's the best part of Canada, truly God's country, and the lifestyle is pretty darned good. Yes it's the furthest point from the UK, but only 9-1/2 hours away by plane. Just a thought.