Carl79

Hi all,

I am very new to this site. I am looking at moving to Canada in the near future. I have a young family and we have researched a lot over last few months. We like the sound of Nova Scotia and we are looking at booking a trip in April.
Can anyone provide any information/ views/ thoughts on any of the following:

Lifestyle
Crime
Schooling and nurseries
Cost of living.

Any additional points worth highlighting from people would be appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you

Carl

Silverdragon102

Welcome

A lot will depend on what work you are looking for. We live rurally on the north shore near NB and love it but we are lucky that dh works from home otherwise I think we would have had to look at Halifax and surrounding area


(I've gone and said it North Shore )

christmasoompa

Hi and welcome to the site. I can't comment on NS as I've never been there but it does sound lovely. The only thing I can suggest is that you do a search (top right) i.e. if you put 'cost of living Nova Scotia' into the search box that would bring up lots of previous threads where people have discussed the cost of living there including exact figures to help you budget. As a general guide though, the cost of living in Canada is said to be about the same as in the UK (although I should add that a member of the forum is returning to the UK from NS. one of the reasons being because they've found it far too expensive and say the cost of living is much more).

Also, this Wiki article is worth a read - most people emigrating to Canada have to find a job first, and most have to just go wherever they can find work so don't get too fixated on a particular province in case you can't find work there. http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Labour_Shortages

Best of luck.

Poppy2

It very much depends upon your jobs and what income/lifestyle you are used to, or want for yourselves.

We love it here, but that isnt to say that our needs are the same as yours of course.

Cost of housing is cheaper for the most part, cars are too, but you will find that the cost of food and utilities are probably very similar to that of the UK. I know there are far better past threads that can give better detail, that is a very basic overview of mine.

Schools are excellent in my experience, once you can get past the difference in the way holidays fall and that the outsides always seem to look like prisons! The education itself is really good, especially if you have younger kids that can enter the system and get into the mentality of learning that they have here, self directed and results driven. Sounds harsh, but when we moved here from NZ we needed some actual learning to take place, my then 10 year old was used to sitting quietly and waiting for the day to end

Recce visits are important, but so are thinking about all the seasons, not just the cheap flight/summer season. april is good actually, because it wont even look like Spring and will give you an idea of what winter can be like. If you want to see te trees in full leaf then that doesnt seem to happen til mid-late May at least!

We have been here a year, after 4 less fun years in NZ, and we have everything we want here. It suits us very well and feels like home, but then this may be because we had already had a less ideal immigration experience!

Good luck!!!

Carl79

Hi all,

Thanks for the quick response. I value everybody's comments as it will go a long way to help us gain an understanding of NS. I am quite pleased with comments in relation to the schooling. Our daughter is only 15 months but hey I've got to think of long term too.
I am also pleased that the weather will be quite cold as I did not want to visit at a time when it would give us false pretenses. I have researched a lot about the weather and I would like to visit at the height of winter to see it first hand.

a quick reference to poppy2 and silverdragon102 (as you are based there).
I have noticed there are many jobs for Early childhood educator. Is there a shortage for this job type? This role is exactly what my partner does currently and she is qualified. As for me well I am an IT trainer and have experience of vocational teaching. What are the opportunities in this field?

Again guys thanks for your help

Carl

nikki dreaming

Hi Carl,

We are a family with children 6 and 2 and are hoping to be over in NS by June this year

We were over last year and loved it. We felt safe, loved the feeling of space, friendly people, and felt that we could lead a happy life there

If I can help with anything please shout, we have gone through the NS PNP route and it has taken 7 mths total processing time to gain PR

Good luck, a trip in April will be really useful. NS is quite unique in a way, ie it may not have the "buzz" of BC or AB so I think it depends on what you are looking for from your move and what your priorities are, ie jobs, earning power, cost of housing, spare/recreational time etc. For us it has everything we are looking for, a quiet simple life

Tangram

You're forgiven, as I have never heard Amherst described as North Shore anyway.

izie71

Hi, this is really a message for member Poppy2. Interested in talking if you have time to email me on as we have lived in NZ for seven years and now moving to Halifax, NS! Perhaps you can tell us what you found different/wonderful about Halifax since you have been there. Thanks and hope you do see this posting!

Poppy2

I will be honest, I have no idea about the employment issues, it is hard to know what will directly be accepted by employers here. I know for myself and my OH, in healthcare, we have both had to retake entry exams to work here and I understand that isnt een enough for some qualifications. So I would directly look into that one.

There is someone here who has her own daycare in Fall River, she miht be the perfect person to ask about that.

Good luck!