Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

A lot of people have been asking about moving out of Nova Scotia recently. I have thought long and hard about it, as a lot of it is quite subtle and may not be picked up until you have been here a few years.

It is starting to drive me slowly insane living here! It is potentially a huge subject with many facets but I will try to explain and be as honest as possible. Please before you shoot me down in flames, remember this is my unique outlook/experience (okay, well most of my friends too....:p) and not everyone will have the same viewpoint.


I have been here for 4 years now. The first two were great with lots to explore and lots to do. Practicalities/legal stuff,paperwork etc. took a lot of time to sort out, and we were still in the honeymoon phase. All good:thumbsup:

We are both professionals and were happy enough to take a wage drop until we had 'proved ourselves' and taken extra exams Etc. Well, we are now at the 'top' of our pay bands, and still incredibly skint! The cap on wages here is so low! Overtime is a norm, and we now work harder than ever. With our high taxes and hugely inflated professional body fees and union fees, our money goes nowhere and we have had no spare money for anything since we arrived. There have been few weekends away but no proper vacation for years..... and no possibility on the horizon. So what is it all for I ask myself? What exactly are we knocking our pans in for? If I could afford to get away now and again, it wouldn't be quite so bad here....it is just the feeling of being broke and trapped that gets to you! Cabin fever!

The kids were happy enough to begin with, but now that we have driven as far exploring in every direction as far as comfortably possible, they are bored silly. They do the normal clubs and sport etc, but are lacking from new and stimulating experiences! I might add that there are a huge amount of clubs/activities for little people but mine have outgrown these.

The education system is sweet and fluffy with soft shoes and classes on how to be nice to each other, but really academically it is pretty lame. My youngest is one of the top of the class, and frankly her writing and spelling leave a lot to be desired! (we have been told this does not matter by the school!)

Our word is slowly turning orange with the disgusting water from our well despite spending fortunes on specialists and treatments. My clothes are orange. My dishwasher is orange and all my clothes have turned orange. I am beginning to resemble an oompa loompa! I know we have just been unlucky on that front, but it is frustrating to throw so much money to try to fix it. The people in the street, say...'oh, yeah, its been like that for years' I might just as well get an orange jumpsuit from the prison and be done with it! At least I will have the matching orange undies to go with it! (can I just mention that I know the problem is high iron content amongst other things, but we have have more new filters and tanks that hot dinners!)

People who have just been here a few years still seem to enjoy the new experience, but truly there are only so many beaches/views you can enjoy repetively. Some will argue that the beaches are so lovely, but really I am done looking wistfully to the horizon and being happy with that every weekend. My brain is screaming out for something else. There are also only so many pumpkin people you can go to visit without feeling like ground hog day. By year 4, self harm is becoming a more entertaining option!

It is such a shame really. NS has a lot to offer with regards to low traffic, friendly people, lovely scenery, lovely big house plots and all the things we hoped it would be.(before we truly realised how quickly our brains would start shutting down)


My colleagues seem to manage a holiday to either Cuba, Mexico or the Dominion in Feb every year.(yes only ever one of these places!! Mustn't be too adventurous or venture out of an all inclusive!) As far as I can see, they claim they get this money from their 'tax back.' So far despite our best efforts and claiming for every breath we take, we always end up with a piddly amount. Also, most of my friends and colleagues have cottages that they spend all summer at, so as soon as hockey season is finished and they all appear again, they bugger off for months. (just the NS style of life.) Nice if you can afford it! Boring for the few of us left behind though. How do they all afford these skidoos, speed boats etc when they seem to have careers plowing snow etc? I am perplexed!



When we escape (sorry move) I will miss my house and my acres of surrounding woods, but really the thought of a whole new world out there to explore is calling me...and I feel I am festering here! Anyway....just a vent!

I am sure some of you are asking 'why on earth did you move there when you know it is isolated and there is little to do. Well, I can honestly say, I was looking for a quieter life. That's were hubbys job ended up, and I honestly thought it would be great to live quietely most of the time but break it up with exploring other places... what more can I say? The balance just never happened. With all the research we did, nothing could have prepared us for the expense! ( we have found that with the depopulation going on in NS at the moment, things like our union and professional body fees have sky rocketed as there as now so few of us to contribute. It just gets worse every year.)

Anyway, it is just something to think about. Financially it is not easy here. Right now, I have a choice of getting frontal lobotomy to cope with the boredom and lack of money or do my jolly best to escape (even saving for the move is stressful and will take a while);)

So,for all those who have been asking why people are leaving NS....here is my two penneth worth! Please feel free to discuss/rip me apart:eek::eek:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

anders101

I'm not going kick you when your down, I dont belive in that. Can you still get away from Nova Scotia ?
I like the bit about the oompa loompa's, you've still got the English sense of humour which is most important at times like these, but your showing you age though, thats from the old 1970's version.
It seems the major factor in you prodicement is the lack of a pound note, sorry dollars, but aint that the same for a lot of people ?
If you can make the move to a bigger city you will probably snap out of it.
Chin up, there's always someone worse off or orange than yourself .

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Sorry for your mis-fortune but some of that had me in tears of laughter.
Whatever your job is, change it to comedy scriptwriting, 100 times funnier than the dross that gets churned out here.
I wish you were my neighbour.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Your post hits the NS nail squarely on the head! We got out last July after 5 years in NS and it was the best thing we ever did!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Replace Nova Scotia with BC and that is how I feel about this province. I am not a professional but for all intents and purposes am making the most I can reasonably expect to find in this province for my job.

Plus the province wont be happy til they have every last dollar you make....

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Someone somewhere in rural Saskatchewan is reading this and going pffft.
BC you have the coast and mountains and a more temperate climate and an abundance of weed to get you through the difficult times.
NS you have the coast as well and again a more temperate climate and when things get tough you have a chat with Alexander Keith.
What has Saskatchewan got?
Sure between June and Nov they can dress up in green and wear water melons on their heads and shout Go Riders Go. They can watch their dog running away for days as they see it running west towards the Rockies or if its a dumb dog running east towards Winnipeg.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I suffered with depression towards the end of last year, and I think living in NS was a major contributor to it. Having moved away, I feel much better, but I 100% know what you're saying. Agree with pretty much everything you said.

Good luck with your future decisions.:)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I think the idea of wanting to live the more laid back lifestyle or live rural in any province is one thing but when you live it you quickly realize the lack of amenities or job prospects is not really what you wanted at all.

It's not the fault of the province either because you moved from the hustle and bustle of a major UK city and now find that eg rural Nova Scotia doesn't quite match up. That's going from one end of the scale to the other and would apply to rural living anywhere in Canada.

I have been going through a bit of a fed up stage myself. I have some health issues so that doesn't help but having been to Vancouver and Ottawa within the last 12 months I quite fancy living just outside a major city again and having the choice of all the amenities they have to offer. I am going on vacation to Calgary/Banff on vacation in a few months. Mr Cookie works out west but doesn't want to live there. This year NS had a long cold winter and I think we got a taste of a typical Albertan winter so I can't blame him. BC is on my radar though and to be honest I like Halifax - travel up and down there regularly :)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Hi Happy Hammers, Yes, a lot of my frustration is about being so skint but also as much with being BORED out of my tiny(and rapidly shrinking) mind! I know we could be doing so much better somewhere else. I am not so much 'down' as frustrated. However, as we have plans to move that's keeping us going! A few more coats of paint, then house is on the market..yeeha!

What colour are oompa loompas now then? I am shocked that I am 'out of the loop?' See.... I rest my case. That is how backward NS is.....

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I have to say, the thought of running around with a water melon on my head seems quite exciting next to dressing up and paddling a huge pumpkin across the lake on a bitterly cold day. swapsie!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Glad you are feeling better!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Why thank you Neil. I do try to make my own entertainment to keep my mojo up. It is hard sometimes though. The other day, I decided to talk like Mrs Doubtfire for the day at work.(just to amuse myself and ease the boredom) Unfortunately, no one noticed and all I got was a sore tongue from the effort. I had to take 2 tylenol when I got home!:blink:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Believe me that is not just an NS thing. I find it all the time here in Ontario. Many people return year after year for their bubble vacations where everything is sanitized and you never have to interact with the locals...just sun and sangria and turn your brain off for a week or two.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I'll jump in with 2c worth here, after 18 months in Halifax.

Yes, there is work in NS - but a lot of it is 'grunt work' in the service sectors that pays just above minimum wage. The prevailing wage rates in NS are quite low compared to, say, SK or MB (both experiencing employment booms).

If you are a professional you will be subjected to the vagaries of the peculiarly Canadian obsession with 'credentialism'. There are diplomas, certificates, qualifications, licenses, permits, professional memberships etc for every type of work under the sun (except the aforementioned 'grunt work'). Some of them border on the ridiculous (Diploma in Office Management? Really?) and no doors will open to you without these credentials - unless you have someone on the inside.

Generally, the Bluenoses are parochial and conservative. Neither of these qualities are bad, in themselves, but they have the effect of limiting, of narrowing, the worldview of those who hold them. As my boss (an American) says, there's a distinct lack of 'big-picture thinking' in business here.

Like many, I find my gaze being drawn westwards. I don't want for much but, honestly, trying to live (even as a single man) on $1600 nett a month is tougher than I had thought.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Replace Nova Scotia with Central Alberta and that's how I feel, I need stimulation and there's not a lot to be had here after 9 years.;)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

The old Gene Wilder version uses the orange ones , the Johnny Depp version has a small Indian looking fella and he isn't even orange :D

Good luck with the sell of your house

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Hi anders101,

If you are seriously considering a move but not yet sure where, I absolutely suggest you take a look at Winnipeg... I am recommending Winnipeg as I can talk about this city. Sure there are other beautiful places in Canada and Winnipeg can be the butt of some jokes at times and the winters are harsh (summers are absolutely beautiful), it is a great city and a wonderful place to bring up kids with lots of things to do. It is a decent sized city without too much of a big city feel. Winnipeg is also booming at the moment with a number of new construction projects underway not to mention new plans being unveiled every other week... Seriously, if you don't mind not being on the coast, you should consider it. Admittedly for me, one of the hardest adjustments was not having the coast, the sea, the crashing of the waves and the salt air but I have adapted.

I am here 10 years and am very happy. Of course this is my experience but when you see that those who left Winnipeg after university and came back after they got married to bring up their kids it says something positive too.

Anyhow, I read your post with interest, you have made a lot of valid points which I think many BE immigrants can relate to as part of settling into new life in Canada and yes, it can take a few years for these feelings / observations to fully materialize.

I wish you the very best of luck... :)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

..so much has now been said of it being boring and not stimulating (doesn't seem much to matter which province?!) .. so what exactly does that mean? What is it, that had you stimulated and not bored in the UK?

Or is it simply city versus rural (and not so much the country you live in) ?

I came from rural (Germany) and moved to rural (over time have been in Quebec, SK and now MB) and found in every province I was able to do more than I would have ever being able to do/afford in Germany.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

:rofl:

This is why I get my periodical dose of civilisation and hills in Alberta! I feel Canadians don't have as much drive or sense of adventure as Brits. So many people I have met have barely left their Province, let alone the country, if they do its one of very few destinations(I think anyone can name them). They find it strange that we do. We have 3 kids and one income right now, but I'll be darned if I'll let that stop us. Camping, is thankfully cheap and the kids are not opposed to several hours in a car!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

People here in rural NS seem to be very happy socialising with their family and friends at the cottage, out boating or relaxing at the beach and firing up the BBQ in their backyard in the summer because there is no need to go anywhere else really since the weather is fab. Local events also seem very well attended so they make the most of what goes on in their community.

I have asked many Canadian friends if they won a large sum of money would they move elsewhere and nearly all have said no. It must be very nice to be so happy and content with your life - quite enviable really. Not everyone needs adventure to feel fulfilled.

Me, I love to travel and if I won a bucket load of money then I want to travel the world very slowy :thumbsup:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I moved from Alberta for all those reasons, bored, depressed I think and the long endless winter------ and I skied twice a week.

Winnipeg and Edmonton I frequented regularly with work---- you couldn't pay me to live there.

BC-- bring cash!!!

About to give up on it all before homing in on NS, yes there are challenges but for us we have found our peice of Canada!!!!!

A day on a beautiful beach, feeling the sea breeze, walking the Halifax board walk, saying hello to a local and still chatting 20 minutes later, eating lobster, hiking or whale watching, having a house that comes with a parking space, watching the tall ships, tattoo, festivals, going to wineries, 45 minutes from skiing, deep sea fishing and a host of kids activities that they wouldn't, couldn't do so easily in the Uk------- batten down for the worst part of winter then enjoy the rest!!!

Everybody is different, with different needs and outlooks----- we found our place.

Will it be home for ever---- I doubt it as we explore and change but for now it suits and fits the requirements.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

This is exactly how I feel too, it really does suck the life out of you for sure! I can't wait to escape and if I had my time again I absolutely wouldn't have moved to NS, good luck with your future endeavours :)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

We all have different experiences. Both hubby and me love it here, we have the rural setting we always wanted, he is lucky to work from home and I work in a long term care facility. We don't have many friends, hubby is very much a hermit, however I always find things to do including learn new hobbies like stain glass and pyrography. Although I do at times get frustrated in the layout of my house Big and Awkward to heat we don't want to move

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I misread that as "pornography". My, I thought, and in a rural setting.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Well you never know what happens :)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

You are right about having all those lovely things on your doorstep here in NS. It is beautiful here and I love being so close to to the ocean. We often go to the Halifax boardwalk and Seaport market, even during the winter when we travel to the city for Mooseheads game. Heading back to Cape Breton again this summer with visitors from Scotland (took them to PEI last time they visited). Also visiting Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove as I have yet to see them - shame on me!

I think this winter has almost sucked the life out of me - too cold for too long. Thank goodness it's not the norm. Due to health issues I haven't been as active this winter and can honestly say if it hadn't been for hockey it would have sucked big time - yes, 50 year old British woman loves hockey, attends all the local junior A games and travels to Halifax to see the Mooseheads. Also went to Ottawa a couple of weeks ago and to our first ever NHL game, Sens Vs Blackhawks. The love of hockey puts a positive spin on winter. :thumbsup:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

It's not just a NS thing, the same phenomenon exists in the UK. ;) Swap Mexico for Spain, and all-inclusive resorts for English pubs, and it's the general equivalent. There are adventurous travel types, and non-adventurous travel types wherever you go in the world.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

I have thought long and hard about what it was that stimulated me in the UK that I cannot get here. We have always been quite self sufficient with finding our own entertainment. It is not that we look for 'laid on activities as such.' In the UK I suppose we visited different towns/rural places at weekends, visited family and had weekend breaks cheaply when we desired. A villa in Spain etc was affordable every now and again and there was just a variety of 'stuff' to do. I would love to be able to do trips to Toronto, or drive to America for short breaks' The distances are just too far to drive and the flights are just too damn expensive. I would just like the option to get away if desired. Also I am sure along with so many Brits I miss the 'banter.' The Nova Scotians are particularly insular. Many have never left the Province so any sort of comment/joke involving the most simple lateral thinking falls on stony ground. I have colleagues who come from different areas of Canada who seem to have a bit more 'life experience' and I can have interesting conversation with (often even involving humour!) I always used to look forward to staffroom talk in the UK. Even if we had not done anything ourselves at the weekend, others would share their experiences and it was interesting. Here, post weekend talk involves who run the furthest, what bootcamp they attended, what flavour of cookie dough is on sale this week and what is offer in the flyers. No one actually seems to do anything of interest. I have friends in Ontario, and they seem to be off doing stuff all the time.

Right now.....even the thought to a trip to Ikea fills me full of endorphines to the point I feel I might act inappropriately with euphoria if I ever actually got there again!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Reading the OP's post it sounds like yet another person who moved to the back end of beyond who is surprised to find they live in the back end of beyond. Nearly-nowhere-Nova-Scotia is where you retire to.

Calgary can be pretty dull but it ain't that dull.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

That will soooo be me this summer, when I spend a couple of days in Edmonton on the way back from camping in the Rockies! :rofl:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Please do not insult my intelligence. I am not surprised to be living in the back of beyond. I researched extensively before moving and looked forward to the rural life. I just did not realise that the financial restraints would be such that I could never leave. (The economy of NS has changed since we moved and our change in working circumstances could not have been predicted.)
Anyway, the same could be said for someone who moved to a city and yearned for a bit of countryside on occasion but could not afford to get out. Anyone could get fed up with the thought of being stuck!

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Substitute NZ ( New Zealand) for NS and then I could have written that post.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Argh! I am so jealous and I can't find a green with envy emoticon. I am sure it will be the highlight of your trip.....

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Well the second hit I get in Google when I type in: "Nova Scotia economy" is this: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle16832235/ which says NS has had a 20-year decline in its economy.

So not exactly a secret.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

It will be the man-made highlight of our trip. I think it will be tied 1st with The Old Spaghetti Factory, brings back memories of our 1st night in Canada!

Where are you looking at moving to? I know what you mean about isolation. Flights are so costly. At least we have the benefit of being a few hours drive in each direction of interesting places. You can research til you're blue-in-the-face but it will ever be liking actually living somewhere. Also, every families experience and likes are different. At least you gave it a darned good try.:thumbup:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

New England is only a 6hr drive, and by Canadian standards that is very close. We have vacationed in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts since we lived here. Toronto on the other hand is about a 19 hr drive. Funny how it never looked that far away on the map until I got here :rofl:

I find the humour here in NS is great. Lots of Cape Bretoners and a scattering of Newfoundlanders around our way and they have a similar sense of humour to us Brits. My work colleagues are a riot - it's one of the best places I have ever worked. I definitely struck lucky there :thumbsup:

People do actually make the choice to live rural because it's a dream they have but rural living comes with lack of facilities and definitively lack of jobs - that would be the same as any other province. On the other hand there is strong community spirit and the locals put a lot of effort into community events. Just about everyone here is a volunteer with one or more organizations. The one thing us expats don't have is family, which is a very visible strong bond here.

I would imagine expats who choose to move on to a different province would not live so rural. You can't compare living in populated area in one province with living rurally in another. That's like comparing apples to oranges.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

When we moved here 4 years ago, the company my OH worked for was very progressive, doing work all over Canada. Unfortunately the partners got greedy and sold out to a larger company rather suddenly. The working conditions, pay and promises made by the original company are now obsolete. You can only make decisions based on the information you have at the time.

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Thanks, I think 4 years is a respectable time and we gave it a good shot,. It has not all been bad. (only recently) Anyway, onwards and upwards! Looking forward to our next adventure. OH has had a couple of interviews in Ontario and I have sat the relevant qualification modifications specific to that province. Looking forward to the new challenges:thumbsup:

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Yes, circumstances change and when it's sink or swim I would definitely swim too. Good luck :)

Re: Nova Scotia is sucking the life out of me!
 

Thanks Cookie!