Newfoundland possible move...
 

Hey all,

This is my first post here, so be gentle!!!

My wife has a potential opportunity with a position in Newfoundland, with a multi-international company (no real time constraints). I moved to the UAE last April, but my wife found it difficult to get work due to the discriminatory manner in which the companies are allowed to operate, so I came back to the UK (I'm British) a couple of months later.

I'm not concerned about getting a visa, as the company have already advised that this won't be a problem (although understand that EVERY situation varies...).

I'm keen to hear of actual experiences, rather than hypothetical stories please...

Moving with a wife and 2 young children, where would YOU recommend living, where we could survive with one car (and use of public transport)? Preference would be a house, and needs to be 4 bed (for family who would be visiting a lot!), but apartments could work (on a low level!). Monthly budget of c.C$2500, but really that's the upper limit...

Childcare: our children would be 4 and 2 years old - what are the normal schooling ages, what are the average costs for (a really good!) Kindergarten, and are all of the schools for non-Canadians private? If so, approximate fees? Are the Kindergartens open year round as in the UK, or are they like the UAE where they seem to only open term times?

What is the REAL cost of living for a family of 4, in both cities? Is there a lot to do as a family in our spare time?

Tax seems fairly complicated - presumably there are such things as Tax Accountants, who can ensure that everything owed is paid (and not a cent too much!!!!!!!)?

Sorry if this is all already covered in previous posts... It's a very varied post, so really appreciate your responses...

RHJ

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Welcome to BE!

Which Cities or specific areas were you looking at - you didn't mention any.

:)

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

No it's not - I knew your post rung a bell! http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-5.../#post11329368

Which is fine, but there's going to be a huge difference between life in a major US city, and life in Newfoundland. If you were originally looking at a big city, would you be happy in a more remote location?

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Ooooh!

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

No wonder he didn't specify any cities! He just woofed the cities out and pasted! Well spotted Christmas! You get your girl guide spotter badge:thumbup:

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

New York, NL or San Francisco, NL I assume.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Commonly known as St Johns and Gander :lol:

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

It's Newfoundland

Google untill your tired and then google some more

Its great place if you fit! ... if your don't then you'll regret it realy fast

its not just the people(who IMPO are amazing) it called the rock for a reason

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

I'm trying to think of a company that has offices in St John's as well as NY and San Fran that would be looking at bringing in someone on an international transfer. Oil and Gas is the boom industry here but NY an SF don't seem like hubs for that.

To the OP. If this is a genuine enquiry then I've lived and worked in St John's and the surrounding area for 10 years or so. Happy to provide advice, what do you want to know?

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

An answer to my questions would be nice, instead of moaning that I've copied, pasted and changed a little... Not aimed your way Atlantic Xpat!

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Knowing which Cities you want info on would be helpful.

:)

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Newfoundland ain't that big... Never mind.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

:blink: its quite a bit larger than the UK:thumbup:

About Newfoundland and Labrador - Land Area

It is almost one and three quarters times the size of Great Britain.

Area of the Island of Newfoundland - 111,390 sq km
Area of Labrador - 294,330 sq km
:thumbup:

I assume the job is in St John's, if so AX I'm sure can offer some great advice, my advice is to really research, St John's compared to SF or NY is chalk and cheese in many different ways, weather springs to mind:eek:

I have been to St John's for work a number of times, my personal opinion, beautiful place in the summer, not sure I could live there, would feel stuck.

What are the top 5 most important things for your family for this move to be a success?

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

In your original post you asked for information on 'both Cities'

Sorry, I'm not a mind reader.

Curtness won't get you too much help - courtesy will get you a lot of support.

You may want to keep that in mind when posting.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

My bad, St John's is the area where the offices would be. I appreciate your comment ref curtness, perhaps the other respondees should show "support" instead of satisfying their egos.....

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

No problem. :)

Have you looked at padmapper to get an idea of rental prices and availability? http://www.padmapper.com - or kijiji http://www.kijiji.ca/b-house-rental/...rice=__2500.00

Your children (once old enough) would be able to attend normal Canadian mainstream schools, they would not need to attend private ones (unless you wanted them to). School ages in Newfoundland and more information about kindergarten etc., can be found here: https://www.nlesd.ca/parents/kinderg...gistration.jsp - there is more general information available here: https://www.nlesd.ca/ When you arrive, you would ask for visitor records for the children (no fee) which would enable them to attend school.

I don't have any information on fees for private child care costs, but hopefully AX will be able to advise!

:)

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Thank you

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Forgive the skepticism. It just seems odd that you'd cross post in different forums about very different cities.

However, if you genuinely do have the opportunity to move to St John's let me try and answer your questions:

St John's has a fairly compact downtown core around the harbour and then sprawls out to the neighbouring communities of Torbay, Portugal Cove-St Phillips, Paradise, Mount Pearl & CBS. For all bar St John's itself a car is essential as public transport (Metrobus) only services St John's.

With the local economy booming, predominately through Oil & Gas, the rental market is tight. As an example I heard that as the Hebron oil project ramps up next year there will be an influx of people working on that project which will all be looking for properties to rent. Nevertheless $2500 should get you a reasonable house although perhaps not 4 bedrooms. However for that price it'll likely be in one of the surrounding dormitory communities/sub divisions so life with one car will be problematic. You say you'll have lots of visitors, but when they see the airfare costs on the sole direct flight to St John's from London, perhaps they'll be a little more reluctant to come.;) Aside from rental properties listed on realtor.ca you should also check out kijiiji and newfoundlandclassifieds.com

As a temporary resident, presumably on a TWP you can access the local school system and don't have to go private. Should you choose private education then your choices are Lakecrest or St Bons, the latter being a catholic private school. Google is your friend for further info on these. Kids start kindergarten at state schools in the Sept they turn 5. Currently kindergarten is only half days so they are not in full time school til they turn 6. The govt recently committed to full day kindergarten from 2016.

Daycare/childcare preschool is either through actual daycares, registered inhome daycares or more informal unregistered arrangements. Expect to pay $200-300 a kid for daycare. Daycares are open year round AFAIK - when our eldest was in a home daycare we were expected to pay during the summer even if we didn't need it as my wife is a teacher and has the summers off.

Cost of living for a family of four? How long is a piece of string & what kind of lifestyle do you want. Food is more expensive than elsewhere in Canada and often fresh fruit and veg is of inferior quality. Unsurprising when you consider the supply chain to get stuff here. But we eat healthily and affordably enough.
Expect to pay $200 a month for internet/cable/tv and anywhere from $200-300 a month for heat and light. It doesn't get unbearably hot in summer so air con is not required. Car insurance is expensive (as it is most places in Canada) we pay $2k+ for two vehicles even with 5yrs+ of no claims. Travel from Newfoundland can also be expensive. Cheap fare to UK is $900 but my employer has paid 4 times that in the past. Travel to mainland Canada is either flying or 12hr car ride then a 6 hr ferry trip.

Weather? Well no-one save the local CBC meteorologist has ever moved here for the weather, we live her despite it.;) Summers are generally good (29C today) but short mid-June-Sept. Fall is nice, winter can be a bitch with lots of snow but generally not as cold as mainland Canada. Spring is the pits with rain-drizzle-fog. And, it's always windy here. On the flipside there are stunning ocean vista's at every turn, industrial quantities of fresh air, friendly natives and it is generally a safe and good place to raise a family IMHO. St John's has a surprisingly good selection of restaurants and more bars than you can shake a fiddle at.

Hopefully that'll give you a little background. If you want to know anything specific just ask. I've lived here for 10 years this Nov.

AX

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

You don't mention in your post when you might be thinking of moving?

With regard to tax... Yes for various reasons, for us, it hasn't been simplistic, but I hired a good accountancy firm (Grant Thornton) and they eased the move greatly.

Best of luck with your plans.

P.S. don't judge too harshly...nobody on here has a fig of ego left by the time they get to Canada....the people that don't flee once they have had their own questions answered have a genuine desire to help where possible and should be applauded for their staying power...without which it would be a bunch of irrelevant questions, answered by immigration consultants for a fee:thumbup:

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Nobody is 'satisfying their egos', simply checking that you're aware of how different Newfoundland will be to the original cities you asked about. NYC has a population of over 8 million, St Johns is 100,000, so on a par with somewhere like Winchester or Carlisle in UK terms, rather than somewhere like London.

So go for it if you don't mind a less buzzy place and are looking for somewhere much more remote, but it just seemed a rather odd question after asking about major US cities! Personally, I'd go for St Johns any day, but then I'm not a city girl so would prefer somewhere like that despite not being to get anywhere else in Canada easily or cheaply!

Also, if your wife is looking at an intra-company transfer work permit, then this Wiki article might be useful if you've not read it already - Intra-Company Transfer-Canada : British Expat Wiki

You can also find lots of threads that may be useful if you do a search, such as this one - http://britishexpats.com/forum/canni...ndland-778790/

Best of luck.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Pretty much as Ax says - The rental prices around town are starting to force people into the outlying communities like Paradise /CBS etc where public transport is pretty much non existent - so having one car will start to be a pain in the arse pretty quickly .
For a 4yr old and 2yr old 5 years ago we were paying a touch over 14k a year in childcare

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

OK, so it's starting to look like things are moving in the right direction, and the move to St. Johns will happen in the coming months...

I have a couple more questions regarding recreation - I've looked on the official city website, but that's not very insightful in this area - can someone shed any light on what's around to entertain the children without spending a small fortune please? What clubs/groups/classes are there on weekends (if any)? Are there any expat groups that meet up for laughs, a few beers and general socialising?

I was (pleasantly) surprised reference a comparison for grocery shopping, that the overall costs were very similar to the UK. I appreciate that fresh fruit/veg isn't particularly great quality, but quite frankly, I'm not much of a fresh fruit/veg person, and we generally use more frozen than fresh anyway...

Also, can you advise on which are the better areas in the surrounding suburbs to St John's, and where should potentially be avoided when searching for property? For example, you seem to get a lot more for your money in certain areas compared to others... And are there any recommendations for KG/Schools and Daycare based on your own experiences?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

RHJ

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Atlantic Xpat is your man and I am sure he will be along shortly and will help. Do you think it might be before or after Christmas when you arrive? How exciting, best of luck:thumbup:

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Thanks! Realistically, I think it'll be in the new year, but yes, very exciting!

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

I like Paradise myself - schools are good and the infrastructure is slowly starting to get better . Mount Pearl is ok but certain areas are a bit shit and the population is starting to get older as 20 years back it was the place to live for young families and all those youngsters are all grown up now - Avoid Buckmasters circle and Shea Heights like the plague ;)

Plenty things to do with the kids some expensive some not so much - all really depends what they like to do - got one of mine in cheerleading and one in gymnastics and both of them do swimming lessons .

Good daycare is hard to come by - if you are looking at the daycare starting as soon as you got here then you better start looking now

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

"Paradise - a hell of sub-divisions and inadequate planning." Still, we do have a roundabout now, that's nice.;)

To the OP, Nowhere is really bad in the metro St John's area, excepting Buckmaster Circle and Shea Heights, but the chances of you choosing either of those as a Come From Away is unlikely. St John's has a compact downtown core, older neighbourhoods surrounding it and then like most places in North America sprawls of suburbia in every direction. Surrounding communities are Torbay (to the North), Portugal Cove-St Phillips to the North East, Paradise, and Conception Bay South & Mount Pearl to the West. All of these will offer nice enough houses and areas to live depending upon budget and preferences. Outside of St John's itself a car, or cars are essential as public transit is non-existant.

I have two kids - 2 and 5. Both are in music classes (circa $300 a quarter) and the eldest is in dance ($500 for 20 weeks) plus Sparks ($2 a week). MAX | Arts. Athletics. Wellness. | Newfoundland, Canada is a good place for kids activities, they have a couple of locations and its where my eldest does her dance class. Most activities for kids are available in one form or another in the area but all generally cost. Just avoid getting your kids into Iced Hockey as thats really seriously expensive.

State Schools are really much of a muchness. The only thing to consider is that some communities have expanded dramatically over the past few years and the School District hasn't been particularly forward thinking in their planning. So many schools are pretty crowded.

Probably most useful thing is to post or PM areas that you might find on the inter net and me or NLDC can give you our unbiassed opinions.;)

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

My 2 go to the Max after school programme - works out well , they are bussed from School to Max and then we can pick them up anytime up to 6

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Thanks for the responses, we're having a look into areas and pricing up what / where we can justify paying for. I'll pm you when we have a clue...

Has anyone relocated in the last twelve months or so, if so, can you shed any light on approximate shipping costs, say, for a 3-4 bed house?

I'm trying to figure out approximate costs associated with relocating, so I can work out what we need in a package...

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

If you do a quick search you'll find lots of quotes on threads about shipping, and this thread also has lots of useful figures in as well as shipping - http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...canada-735341/

As well as all your initial costs, it might be worth asking if the company will cover your PR application if they're going to be offering a relocation package? As that would be a few thousand, so would save you quite a bit if they'll agree to it.

HTH.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Pot, kettle, black,

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

How very constructive of you.

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

I, like everyone else on here, don't know you. But are you sure you'd fit into somewhere like Newfoundland?.....

Re: Newfoundland possible move...
 

Google is your friend...

I'm not sure whether you are an overly sensitive sort but might it not be wise to stop using the sarcasm...given the elementary questions so far it appears you might be using this website again and would probably wish for the best responses....