Oink

It'll be rubbish for them. Its cold and backward with nothing to do.

Mr Bean

I stayed on Saturday night in the halls of residence at the university. It had a kitchenette, a bathroom and two double bedrooms with a TV in each. Heating and air and a continental breakfast to boot. Very basic, but comfortable for a fly in gig. I did drive around a fair bit looking for something to do as I had a lot of time to kill, but it was very quiet. Got my first black fly bites having never even seen one before too.

DandNHill

Black fly are nasty. You get them in NS and where we lived from mid April to late May you literally run from house to car and back again...the only times that you can actually stroll is when it's raining... Here in Ontario where we are we get the mozzies but no more really than where we lived in the UK...

There's a genuine reason why all houses have fly screens!

Tirytory

Seriously? Come north for an hour, Mosquitos are nasty. Have had a couple of sleepless nights while they drive me crazy!!

AdynLucyC

I really appreciate everyone's input and advice...... if i'm honest its not sounding like the adventure we thought it might be. The financial situation here in the UK is really crap for us which is why have been seriously thinking of the move. Hub can earn so much more over there that he currently earns here. Could we stick it for a year then get to BC, or does that have issues too?....
What HONESTLY is the weather like through the year?....
Also healthcare. How does it work?

So aside of the bugs, not North Bay in particular, but towns/cities you recommend...?

Novocastrian

In post #10 you seemed to say that North Bay only came up incidentally. If, in fact, you have a free choice of where to locate in ON this is a completely different matter. Could you clarify?

dbd33

Healthcare is about the same as the NHS but dental and most drug costs are not covered. It may be that your husband's employer would have a plan to help with that but troubled teeth or chronic conditions requiring continued drug use would make the financial case for the move weaker. North Bay is quite small remote so I suppose it'd be like the NHS in, say, John O'Groats; fine for routine things, not so good if you need treatment involving machinery.

BC seems dreadfully dull and soggy to me but enough people do like it to make it expensive. Well, maybe they don't like it so much as find it to be the least bad place for weather they can live on a Canadian passport but that's neither here nor there.

The weather in Ontario is mostly grim, in the winter there is a lot of snow and continuing cold, freezing rain and fog, there's no spring, summer is hot and sunny but with bugs. Autumn is beautiful and the first time it doesn't come with the dread of what is to follow.

Could I do it for a year? Sure, if no children were involved or if they were failing in school where they were.

christmasoompa

If BC is an option with the same company, then could you not push for that to start with? Bear in mind he might need a whole new LMIA/TWP if he moves location/job, so what if the company aren't prepared to pay another $1000 or the LMIA is refused for any reason?

Re: the financial situation, don't forget that it will cost you an awful lot to move, so factor that in to your calculations.

For healthcare info, have a look at the Wiki.

Good luck.

Tirytory

I struggled with the cold this year and we are not as North as you would be. We topped feels like temp of -30 to -40 on a fairly regular basis. I was pregnant though and couldn't throroughly wrap up with the huge bump! The family enjoyed skiing however. What will your husband be doing? Are you intending to work and as what? The questions have a bearing on what province and where you live? More information is helpful to give you better answers I'm not being nosy!

AdynLucyC

Ok North Bay is where the person that has the job offer lives, not where the work is. He lives there so naturally that was our first check out.
can't go straight to BE as the job offer is only ontario, but with provision to move in the future.
There must be some nice spots in o tario surely? With good education etc? That's one of my biggest worries to be honest. Both my girls are very bright and want to go far. I don't want a move for financial benefits to ruin their chances.

AdynLucyC

I don't want a move for financial benefits to ruin their chances.[/QUOTE]... although staying here in the UK we probably won't be able to afford the uni fees!!! Lol x

MarylandNed

Barrie's right on the edge. I used to travel up to Barrie frequently to visit clients when I worked in Toronto. But go a bit further north and prepare to be eaten alive.

Novocastrian

It's probably just me but I'm still not certain how much "freedom" you have. Will your OH have to travel regularly to North Bay or can you live wherever you want in Ontario?

There are indeed many decent places to live, but not near North Bay.

AdynLucyC

He'll be away with work for a week or 2 at a time so no daily commute x

Oakvillian

Bear in mind that Ontario is a HUGE place compared to the UK. North Bay might look on a map as though it's kind of in the middle, but most of the populated bits are strung along the southern border within a few miles of the southern Great Lakes. It's a good 4 hours from North Bay to either Ottawa or Toronto, for example; the far west of Ontario (from Sault Ste Marie through Thunder Bay over to the Manitoba border) is realistically a couple of day's journey by car.

Around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is probably your best bet for a combination of kids' education and social life, and stronger options for work for you, if your OH can genuinely be based anywhere in the province. For a year or so's rental before either returning to the UK or moving to BC for a better route to PR, there are hundreds of choices of places to set yourselves up. If he's a trucker, presumably anywhere within striking distance of a 400-series highway is a good option - the 401 corridor from Cornwall in the east to Windsor in the south west would be as convenient as anywhere else, and takes in Kingston, Toronto and its 'burbs, Hamilton (ish), Cambridge/Kitchener/Waterloo, London, Chatham/Kent, Windsor... you pays your money, you takes your choice!

If it were my family, though, I must say that I'd want greater clarity on my OH's employment prospects, prospects of being posted elsewhere within Canada, and options for remaining in the country long-term, before committing to a move that will likely cost several thousand pounds by the time you get here.