Positives & Negatives
 

I want a fresh start for me and my family but cant decide on Canada or Australia. I have three young kids so which ever we choose must be right for them and not just for me wanting to snowboard all winter!! Im not looking at this with rose tinted glasses on, so I know there will be good and bad points in both countrys.

I would like to ask you folk on here what are your 3 positives & 3 negatives with Canada compared to the UK.

My Canada possitive would be

Beautiful countryside
Easier for relatives to travel to or us to visit uk
Quality of life

& negatives

Only 2 weeks paid holiday
Fear of bears
Perhaps the low temperatures but that ones really for my wife.

Oh yes 1 more positive for me would be all that snow you get! Seriously now, I do like how Canada gets proper winters and proper summers.

Add more possitives and negatives if you like as this in a big learning curve for me and its all usefull information.

cheers

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

Hiya,

My partner & I had the same problem, we couldnt choose between Oz & Canada aswell.
We where going to go with Oz because I have family who live in Perth, which seemed easier for me!!
But when we sat down & discussed it, I think Canada comes out well on top.
Just as you say it has proper winters & proper summers (unlike the Uk who cant make its mind up!!).
We have beautiful countryside in the UK too but I see that getting eventually ruined by the amount of industrial estates/ new homes / etc. But yes Canada wins on the countryside also.
If you stay with Canada, it is such a beautiful country that you can enjoy all different sorts of holidays without having to leave it!! (sun / skiing / adventure / etc).

I havent give you much to go on here but I hope it helps!! But Canada is my number 1

Grace x

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

One glaring negative potentially is getting a decent paying job.

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

Hopefully this wouldnt be a problem as im a toolmaker. Having a skilled trade is going to be a bonus on the job front. At the moment oz is crying out for skilled tradesmen !

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

my main negative for Canada for you is the wait time - if you haven't submitted your application yet the timelines could still continue to rise - it is currently 3 years! That is a really long time - believe me we have been waiting for 19 months from submitting the application and we should hear really soon and it is torture! If we were to do it again - we would have gone to Australia as the wait is too long to put your life on hold!

Australia is really pushing for new immigrants and you could go in a couple of months - some people are doing this, getting Oz citizenship and then applying to Canada from there - Sydney has a 9 month wait!

I have not been to Australia but know a few people who moved there and they love it! You should also post this on the Oz chat to get their side of things.

Regarding the winter if you go to Southern Australia it does get seasons apparently and isn't so baking hot! It is far for family to travel but the price of flights isn't that much difference - and you can't move somewhere just for that reason - otherwise you would never leave!

Helen

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

My husband is a toolmaker ,we came here on a work permit which took 3 months from deciding to come to being here,we have been here allmost 5 years now we are in process of permanant residence(but it is a long story)
The kids love it here and have a much better quality of life.I hope we never have to go back as i only see the positives in Canada but thats just me.

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

We moved here for the quality of life and have not been disappointed. The access to the "great outdoors" is fantastic and life in general is so much easier here. All members of the family are happier than in the UK.

As for your (and others) negatives:

I get 4 weeks paid vacation rising to 6 after 5 years, plus up to 3 months unpaid leave per year if I want.

I have a decent paid job.

Being attacked by a bear has very low odds, being killed by one even lower.

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

Not only does Canada have the great outdoors - depending where move to, you can also afford to buy a chunk of it not too far from a city.

I've never seen a bear outside the zoo.

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

I think you need to decide what lifestyle you want. Once this is done decide which country will give you the best chance of achieving that lifestyle.

Well, at least in theory it should be easy.. :rolleyes:

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

Hmmmm, Been to Oz, East, South and West. Chose Canada.

Oz is basically a concentration of people living in cities dispersed widely around the coastline. Didn't like that! Canada is pretty much concentrated along the border area. Perth was the nicest of the places I visited, but you still get the impression of the London model ie. city centre surrounded by a huge collection of suburbs that all look the same. Adelaide was okay but still a streatched out version of Perth. Sydney reminded me of a dirty Liverpool. If bears bother you, have you not thought of the fact that Oz has more deadly snake and insect species than anywhere else on the planet???

I get 4 weeks paid holiday that goes up with time served. I chose the seasons too. On thing to remember about Oz, it is full of 60's Left wing immigrants who run the unions. Also they are terrified of the economy collapsing, if 1 person in Melbourne mentions recession, like wildfire the entire country puts their wallets away, the service industry collapses, and a full blown recession is underway. Canada has the mighty US to stabilize the economy. I have heard it many times said, Canada is an Australia that works!!

No contest - BTW My sister is in Perth and I think she would have returned to the UK if it was not for the kids education situation, UNI etc....

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

All that stuff about Unions and recessions, when did you visit OZ ? the 1970's or something, the OZ economy is booming at the moment, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, record low unemployment. Regarding dangerous snakes and spiders, Grizzy bears in Canada kill twice as many people each year.

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

And we've got poisonous snakes & spiders too :eek:

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But at least your last moments will have been having a close up encounter with one of the world's most magnificant animals. Can't say the same about snakes :)

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

God, yeah! I fantasize about being mauled by a bear like in this film:
http://www.projectgrizzly.net/ (an excellent film, btw)

What a rush! Of course in my fantasy I don't get hurt and it works. :D

Re: Positives & Negatives
 

I think maybe you just shared a little too much ;)