ThemeOne

While we're all contemplating our moves to Canada, or thinking how we like / don't like Canada, it gives a great sense of perspective to see things from the other direction.

This forum is for Canadians heading for the UK

http://www.canuckabroad.com/forums/c...e-uk-vf10.html

Makes an interesting read!

Elaine B.

It's like some weird parallel universe

ireland2canada

How weird! The thread about reasons for leaving Canada for the UK is interesting.

People moaning about consumerism, crappy banks, long working hours, the weather & a poor quality of life - generally the country going to pot. I found it interesting to see a couple of comments about people taking a pay cut to move to the UK.

It takes a moment before you realise they they are all saying this about Canada. It could be a carbon copy of threads we often see here.

gibsonslanding

interesting reading......not sure what to comment on about it really, other than, de ja vue!!! in reverse....

Alberta_Rose

This post struck me .... <snip> My wife and I just want a change of pace and sick of the way things are here (in Canada). I've previously been on a WHM visa and I have to say things are so much more laid back in the UK (and Europe in general)- 7 hour workdays, 5+ weeks holidays, etc etc.<snip>

from this thread: http://www.canuckabroad.com/forums/w...uk-vt3877.html

Heh ... can't actually disagree with it, except to say that if you live in a city like Calgary, Edmonton or Toronto, you probably will have these pressures. If you want to have a slower pace of life, I expect a move to somewhere rural where one can perhaps afford to buy outright if you have plenty of capital behind you and are not much into material things ..... might this not be true also in parts of rural UK?

I'd be more inclined these days to advise folks that if their job in UK is well-paid and they have enough time and money to vacation here in Canada while living comfortably in the UK, then maybe immigration is not the best thing!?

MikeUK

Am I allowed to say

"I told you so"

iaink

Well, Ive argued here often enough that much of what potential immigrants to Canada from the UK want to find in the way of "a new way of life" can be found in an alternate part of the motherland.


I expect much the same can be said for Canadians looking to move to the UK for various reasons too.

But once you have opened pandoras box with the "should we do it" question, its pretty hard to not end up going down that road. The argument about people regretting what they havent done more than what they have is pretty hard to counter.

MikeUK

and for a lot less £££'s

geo4

Oh wow! Love this one:

http://www.canuckabroad.com/forums/w...ch-vt4625.html

BWHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAA:

"Plus, why is the TTC so run down and dirty? The London tube system is pristine and taken by the richest of the rich"

ann m

Isn't it ? We could just just swap a few of the names around and there would no need for two forums

G77

I think you're right here Iain - for a lot of people immigration is about change rather than anything else, once you get that itch in your pants, it's hard not to scratch it..... I'm certainly guilty of that - not that I have any regrets thus far, but a lot of it was about experiencing something new rather than being a love affair with Canada per se, if it wasn't Canada it could have as easily have been the US or Australia to scratch that itch....

Alberta_Rose

I'm not saying that I regret coming here. I am happier, my kids are happier and doing well. Nothing about my old home town attracted me when I visited this year.

BUT life here is (or can be) stressful and pressured like any other city, and we had no disposable income when we were in UK and have rather more here.

Sometimes I DO wish we had more time just to relax, but I think this is the lifestyle of living in Calgary. We are not about to move again, cos the kids are happy, but once they are less in the equation I hope to move out a bit away from the hub-bub and realx more!

iaink

That's the thing with lifestyle ... I've come to believe that its largely a state of mind.

If you wish you had more time to relax, then decide on your priorities and take more time to relax. No need to move 4000miles to achieve that.

Iain Mc

No indeed, but perhaps in some cases moving 4,000 miles is a necessary part of the impetus to make those changes. Too easy to fall back into old habits on familiar turf!

I'm sure if I was born in BC I'd have still wanted to live abroad for a bit. I think that on balance I'd have been more likely to want to return home afterward though - during all my years in the UK I only met one Canadian who had moved and decided to stay permanently (unlike the raft of Brits over here).

Admittedly the UK is more populous, and hence presumably produces a lot more emigrees, but there seem to be proportionally more of us living overseas (long term) than is the case in reverse? That'd be an interesting statistic to see per capita. Not the short term migrants, mind, seemingly every Kiwi/Aussie seems to live overseas for a couple of years as a rite of passage, for instance.

MikeUK

I though the data showed the majority returned around the 60% returned?

probably as the majority that leave, I think leave on the corporate dollar?