Orange pony

There may also be a 7 year itch ?

Moses2013

There always seems to be a wave of people moving somewhere. I remember all the Polish coming to Ireland and then Irish people moving to Canada. Now a lot of Irish people living in Canada are coming back again. Some got their timing right and others who followed left it a bit too late.

Juggernaut1064

I looked at Canada, Australia & New Zealand, a close friend of mine who was born in the UK but raised in Australia told me enough about Oz that they where off the list first & looking at NZ, the flights etc i was unlikely to see much of family if at all so i focused on Canada.

rivingtonpike

I'm in an unusual position on the Canada/NZ thing. We moved to Canada a few years ago and my brother and his family moved to NZ a bit before us. I suppose because we live on the island, there are quite a few similarities between our climates, lifestyles, rural settings. They also live on the coast like us. I think we are agreed that the amenities we enjoy such as swimming, skating, libraries etc are better here. We also have much better shopping. They seem to have more outdoorsy stuff like surfing, skiing, white water rafting etc. Sports seem to be on a par; we have softball and hockey, they have cricket and rugby (all exist in both places, it's just the prevalence of them).

I don't think either family would swap with the other. I certainly wouldn't swap my little corner of Canada for their little corner of NZ.

scilly

I was actually admitted for entrance into Australia in 1964, had a job and everything, and was about to start booking my passage ......... but then my father became ill and everything went sideways. In the end, all I could do was cancel everything. It was a pity about the job as it was ideal.

2½ years later, OH and I married and I joined him in Texas where he had done 6 months of an 18 month post-doctoral. We hadn't decided what to do next, but decided we'd like to try living somewhere else for a few years. The right job came up in Vancouver, and we came on a 2 year contract ............ and are still here 47 years later.

We have also spent time in both Australia and NZ ......... 10 months in each place.

There are places I could live in Australia, especially with air conditioning which was not common when we lived there! I could also live happily in New Zealand

Neither of us have ever had any great urge to keep visiting the UK, except for the demands made by parents, so living that far away wouldn't bother us.

Steve_

Well there always seems to be a shortage of healthcare people, Ottawa is a perfectly okay place to live, if I didn't live in Calgary I would live in Ottawa. Obviously it has cold weather, but pretty much everywhere in Canada does.

Your 16-year old might have issues with the transition in school though.

sliam37

We made the move from NZ to BC last year, after 10 years in NZ. Only left due to Chch earthquakes, couldn't put up with living in chch any longer. Decided to relocate to Canada rather than other places in nz as we felt that long term we'd be better off, and not interested in about the only places that could provide decent job opportunities. As you know NZ is very poverty-stricken and doesn't look after its old people well. And ironically, looked forward (and have certainly enjoyed!!) a warm house.
Our kids were 16, 11 and 12 when we moved. They were only interested in leaving due to their mature understanding that the situation in chch isn't going to get any better for at least the next decade. It's been a tough transition for them socially and educationally. Despite Parata's best efforts, especially in eastern Christchuch, I miss the NZ education system so much as I feel it was so much better than BC's. Feel they've gone backwards a bit. Having said that my 17 year old son is doing IB which he couldn't have done in NZ and is practically salivating at all the opportuities here for scholarships (football and academic) at Canadian and US universities, so that's a huge plus.
I've found the transition hard, really miss NZ and that sense of being all by ourselves down there. I guess I most miss Chch from pre-quakes, which I missed anyway and is never going to come back anyway (I just need to read The Press to remember exactly why we left!!). Not sure if we should have just relocated back to uk, but felt that the transition to UK schooling / kids (growing up too soon over there) would be too tough.
Hardest of all has been the bureacracy. We've had two FSW applications turned down for technicalities and so ended up coming over on temporary visas, 3 years after we first started the process. Still temporary, which adds to stress levels, although fingers crossed EE will come through for us soon!
Registration process has also been a nightmare, my husband's a physio. All done now but has cost thousands and very tough as the compulsory exams have to be taken in canada and are designed for Canadian new grads, not people who have been practicing.

If you are determined really honestly look at your options in terms of time, it may be that it all takes too long for residency / registrations, and be honest in terms of the stress that can cause. Take a look at the immigration thread on here just to get a sample of people's frustrations. NZ residency took us about a week to get, here we're on 3.5 yeras into the process and no closer to feeling that we'll be accepted.
Shopping and ikea etc is exciting after Nz, but that wears off within a very short time!
Good luck with your decision.

BEVS

Make that several decades. I'd say a good thirty years if not more. We were down there a couple of weeks ago and , seriously, there is nothing there. It is a non-city still . As you realise , there is no money pouring into that area , private or public & much of what is hoped for is stymied or stalled.

FWIW I think you , as a family , were probably wise to get out . Doubtful Auckland or Welly would have suited. In any case, look at the state of Wellington just these past few days.

ExKiwilass

yup. People here ask me about christchurch and they're under the impression (being north american and used to a certain standard) that it must be well on the way to being rebuilt. I said no, all of the damaged buildings haven't been demo'd yet, and I had serious doubts whether it would ever be rebuilt to be anything like it was. Their faces were :0

ExKiwilass

Just wanted to point out there isn't a "BC" education system per se - every school district has it's own priorities and runs things differently, and you're in Surrey school district which is really struggling to keep up with the number of students and lack of $$$. Also, the OP is looking to go to Ottawa which is a different school system.

scrubbedexpat091

Is it due to a lack of money?

Orange pony

Yes toure right about the rebuild in chch , we li
Live in oxford near rangiora and they have
Only just demolished the farmers building a couple months
Ago I think it is due to take another
Couple yrs before it's open ! That'll be 6
Years since the quake that damaged it !! Is
A painful process a but as for chch centre
It is defonayely better , they are making a real
Effort with pop up container malls etc and
Lots of street entertainers it had a good vibe
Over the summer . There is a more positive
Attitude amongst Cantabrians I feel . How did
Your teenagers settle into CA just out if interest ?sliam37

Pom_Chch

Sorry to derail your thread even more, but I feel I should stick up for poor ol' Christchurch here! She seems it be getting a right royal dressing down! Sure she's battered and bruised, but still has a lot going for it, just probably not in a conventional way as it is not pleasing to the eye. But dig a little deeper and you will find, in my opinion, a great wee place. We have a active social life - there's always something going on and with some major events here so it's not all doom and gloom. We go out to dinner, go to the pub, watch shows and sports events just like any where else. We have watched the cricket world cup, Foo Fighters, a number of international comedians and look forward to watching the under 20's football world cup and Mrs Browns Boys. Not bad for a city who suffered major devastation 4 years ago.

I personally think Chch is still a beautiful place in its own way - a city not too small and not too big with the ocean to the east, stunning hills in the south with a backdrop of mountains to the west. So many activities for young and old than you can shake a stick at! But as they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

I agree it will be a long time before it is re-built and there are on-going problems with the rebuild. But there is more to Christchurch than a heap of superficial rubble and an incompetant re-build. I dunno, a sense of belonging and that people are still happy here despite the massive unheaval the people of Chch have suffered. You know a feeling that people have risen above mother natures bullshit and have come out the other side. Seems to unite people in a way adding to the feeling of a strong community of people, some of which suffered immensely. Kia Kaha and all that!

Anyway, I'm waffling! Enjoy your weekends. As you were...

Oink

Very well pointed out.

Orange pony

Yes I agree with what you say too !! There is a lot going for Christchurch , but you'd have to have been in love with the place before hand maybe to feel for the place as much as you do we moved here just as the first earthquake happenend , had only been into the city 3 times before it was a no go area ! Maybe if I'd had the opportunity to love it before I'd feel more strongly about it now . One of the reasons we were taken with it as a city was because we missed the buildings in the uk and chch felt like it had some architectural history . That's what I miss now . But I love oxford where I live and see the snow capped mountains every day is a lovely site .