Hey guys,

I ve been reading some of the 'negative' posts recently and am starting to get depressed.
Can I ask the people who LIVE there what keeps them there - i.e the positive aspects of living in Canada - just to keep our dream going!!!

Cheers.

I can afford a better life style, I can (just) afford a home here on an engineers salary in the mid $60s ...detached, with a big yard, two cars and for my wife to stay home with the pre school age kids. Cant afford much else though, but that puts me ahead of my UK contemporaries where both parents seem to have to work to make ends meet.

Four Real seasons., Crisp winters, hot summers, fantastic falls. Not different shades of grey and different temperatures of drizel.

No crime in my area...seriously, like two B&Es in 5+ years now.

Low stress, No kids hanging round drinking (the liquor store systems helps there), no yobs or chavs, next to no traffic snarl ups...I can and do use cruise control here!

Loads of organised stuff for kids to do. Facilities treated with respect...not mindlessly vandalised.

Genuine, Friendly people

Groceries still bagged for you, full serve petrol available if you want to pay for it.

Wild Turkeys come to my yard and all sorts of other wildlife to see. deer, racoons, all sorts (the odd bear)

Generally liberal politics on both national and local scale...a (sort of) caring society, with service clubs helping out and a generally neighbourly feel.

Just feels "right".

Positive aspects of living in Canada

1.) Definately the seasons.

2.) The petty sh*tty crime (robbing, vandalism) happens but not as prevelent, particulary in the areas outside the big city 'hoods.

3.) Distinct lack of chav/s, ned, scroats, etc.
NB - Wait until you meet Bubba, they're aint nothing like him in Britain !

4.) You don't get "this countrys going to the dogs" stories all over the media.

5.) Parks and play areas are the best feature on the bland subdivisions.
No damage to the equipment, no idiot has broken bottles there.

6.) Splashpads and outdoor pools for the kids.

7.) A quiet away from it life all can be yours if that what you want.

8.) Big massive skies, still can believe these bad boys !!!

9.) Was amazed at the number of football (proper) pitches in our subdivision during the summer. Goals with netting, loads of organised kids teams and stuff.

10.) The feeling of "space" around you

11.) Our kids school's facilities are amazing. Not so sure about the teaching and the number of kids at the school mind.

No dog sh*t in the parks is a myth though. Have you seen the size of some of the "Puppies" here !!

Ian, So you shooting one for the weekend ??

Disappointed at the distinct lack of critters I've seen. A couple of raccoon, muskrats (as in Deputy Dawgs assistant) and a pack of wild deer

Plenty of huge roadkill mind, some of which must've left some costly damage to the motor that tw*tted it. Something on the road earlier this week, the size of a filled up bin bag !!!

Certainly not, they have becomes sort of like wild pets. Ugly as sin, but they have a peculiar charm about them..when they arent shitting all over the swing set

Tremendous, must make digging the car out a distant memory when you see stuff like that at the weekend !

An Expats meeting? :scared:

We have been here 7 weeks and I have to say, just like everyone else, it is s steep learning curve with ups and downs. For us it is the "networking" bit that is proving harder than we thought. I am sooo glad we did this though!!

It has occurred to me - that those ex pats who have made things here for themselves and who are happy are not those same ex pats who sit on the computers typing in negative comments....... they are too busy out there making their new life!

The worse that could happen ........ you do if for a while and then go back home again....... you would always know you had tried it and did not live with the regret of "if only".

It's true - those happy peeps are busy wrapped up in life, work and stuff to spend time and effort debating the pros and cons of all this stuff. Most the people ranting and raving (either way, good or bad about Canada) won't hear the opposite viewpoint anyways.

My points are the same as all the above posts have mentioned.

For us we came here to test ourselves, like all first time emigrants, scared witless but excited as hell, to grow personally and professionally, overcome some obstacles and hurdles, cope with some stress, and try living on the egde of the known world (BC) in a different culture and environment. We've generally succeeded in all we aimed for and the satisfaction in achieveing that success is amazing, feels good, good for the confidence and life-happiness factor....Canada feels right for our own personal values and how we feel, what we want from life/work. We do things we'd never before and get to visit places a good hop away that'd be amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventures before, yah all in a days vacation

The returns for a fair days work, for us, are higher, with more to do, more money to do it, and a nicer place to do it in, with more disposable and much less debt than (Y)UK.

More effort + more reward + opportunity + better environment = happiness

Is good, so research, earn the right to live work here, if it feels right for you'n'yours, try it.

Rich.

I see where you are coming from but bear in mind that some of us expats that have found happiness here also spend their working days in front of a screen. I can ALT-TAB without looking at the keyboard.

The negative comments are also very useful, BTW. People planning a major life change should be able to see what might happen when they get here. The pissed-off comments are a good counterbalance to the glossy brochures.

I think that the people on here waiting to move to Canada are 'reassured' by both positive and negative sides of other people's experiences. Can you image if everyone painted a hunky dory picture of how smoothly their move went, everything going to plan, no hassle with anything - then suddenly we've landed, and crikey, ain't nothing like the fairytale happy-ever-after story that y'all painted "What have I done wrong ????? Everyone else seemed to breeze through their emigration process"

Instead we find out that yes, it is normal to panic when you get the all important go-ahead, yes, it's normal to ask yourself if your doing the right thing. Oh, and BTW things generally don't go quite to plan, but guess what, being better informed is better than being ill-informed

I started a thread asking for negative comments today as I tend to think of Canada as the promised land these days and needed a reailty check as well as some genuine negative views to ensure we plan correctly for our move (whenever that may be).

All in all I have taken the negative thread, which ended being exactly what I expected and asked for, as a positive thing as none of it is A. A surprise and B. An issue for us.

In my mind a negative that is surmountable, is a challenge, and I've yet to hear a negative that cant be conquered, one way or another. Well, apart from the timescales getting there in the first place that is.

We have had our ups and downs - more ups than downs. We have a much nicer house/funiture/material possesions than we could have ever afforded with both of us working full time and hubby doing lots in the evening and weekend too in the UK. I work part time, hubby has weekend and evenings free. We have more cash for fun things - it's not all bills bills bills. The sun shines nearly every day. We don't get stuck in traffic (unless we go to a big City ). Our daughter can go out and play with out us pannicking. She has had an amazing summer - 2 week long residential camps and 2 week long day camps - none of them broke the bank. Free facilities - walking trails, ice rinks (winter) discovery canyon. Friendly helpful people.

All in all our quality of life is amazing compared to what we had in England, our work life balance - well it's balanced adn our financial situation is easier than it ever has been and no we didn't come with wads and wads of cash we just haven't overextended ourselves and have been patient with our purchases - saving up before we bought anything.

Just a few things that make us want to stay and realise we did the right thing by moving.

Just like Julie Andrews I have a mental list of my 'favourite things' about Canada which I draw on when I'm feeling a bit down or overwhelmed by everything.They are (in no particular order)

Blue skies (most of the time!)

BIG skies

Sense of space

Empty backroads

Cicadas in the summer

Hot summer days and balmy summer evenings. I only ever sat out once in 12 years in Ireland past 8pm without a sweater on!

Financially way better off. Can do stuff/go places now without it breaking the bank.

Lovely birds and wildlife in my backyard (chipmunks, squirrels, heron, frogs!)

Hardly any slugs - I can grow hostas at last!

Shops open till 9 every night - makes life much easier

Free parking and lots of it - ditto above

Beautiful fall colour wherever I look

I am actually looking forward to winter (but ask me again in April )

People here actually like my accent!

Lovely people - so friendly and genuine

Multiculturalism

Safe for the kids - trails and parks etc everywhere too

Tons for the kids to do and very accessible.

No menacing yobs hanging around.


That's more than a 'few' of my favourite things. Beats a brown paper package tied up with string anyhow

Snowqueen