Reasons for emigrating?
 

Hi all,
Im pretty sure this topic has been covered many times but hey, thought id throw it out there :D

-What are peoples main reasons for choosing to move half way across the world?

(My wife and I are in agreement our main driving force is due to the 'culture' of the UK.
We live just outside Glasgow and we are sick of the drinking/aggressive culture, and the lifestyle that creates overall.
The majority of areas seem run down and not a place we want to bring our little girl up in.

We have been over to Canada (Ontario / Alberta / BC ) over the last few years, and are convinced more and more that the facilities for families, and lifestyle to bring up kids is far superior.
Our eyes have really been opened to a better family life..

And following on from that,
-What are the things that they find most difficult about the whole process of emigrating, settling in etc?

Be good to hear peoples opinions / experiences

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Well also coming from Glasgow I can appreciate why you wouldn't want to bring up children there. As far as I'm concerned it's a dump and if I never see it again it won't be soon enough.
One of the main concerns people have immigrating here is being away from family and friends. Sure people have complaints about the winter, hot muggy summers, mosquitoes, lack of culture, country pubs, poor quality cheese (I kid you not), driving habits, not having M&S, Tesco, Next etc, etc. Some contend Canadians are unfriendly and others the opposite. In other words just the
common everyday gripes that people (read Brits) have, no matter where they live. There's a very good reason there's not a Whining Olympics. No other country has a chance in hell of competing against those from the UK.
If you're looking for Utopia don't even think of Canada. If, on the other hand you can accept Canada's shortcomings it's a great country to live in and bring up children. My opinion only, of course but there it sits awaiting critical and destructive comments.
IT AIN'T PERFECT BUT IT SURE AIN'T BAD EITHER.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

To give our kids a better life of opportunity by getting them away from Chav or your case NED infested and boozed-up Britain. And, on the QT, because me and the wife were fed up with our crap, unsuccessful lives being drowned out by the excruciating dullness of the minutia of existence. So we fancied a bit of an adventure. If we didn't do it now, we may never do it and then we'd end up regretting it.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

[QUOTE=Auld Yin;9486891]Well also coming from Glasgow I can appreciate why you wouldn't want to bring up children there. As far as I'm concerned it's a dump and if I never see it again it won't be soon enough.
QUOTE]

Couldnt agree more..

I was driving to work last night, (local fire station) and on the way all I could see was like a cartoon background....

Rows of run down shops, carry out (alchohol) / take aways / pubs / sun beds, over and over again.... :( :frown:

All this with the usual saturday afternoon population of down an outs / neds / wannabe hardmen / young girls acting like... well, you get the idea.

I just do not want my little girl (and any future kids) growing up here, and exposed to the things I was, and it just seems to be getting worse.. :frown:

Our experiences, limited they may be, have shown us the healthier, family encouraged society, where kids are allowed to be kids, it really is a no brainer... we wonr give up till we get there :fingerscrossed:

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Yeah us too,
I am 30, my wife 32. and we are very unsettled here. We definitely do not want to live with a big "what if ?"

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

I wanted a bigger house; and here I am living the dream.

Remember life is what you make it and you make your own luck in life.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Sounds like you are I were both living in a Town Called Malice, oh oh yeah.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Got fed up with everybody driving on the wrong side of the road.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Mrs arniedog and i have 2 kids already living in Toronto and they kept telling us to move out too. We thought we would apply through family sponsership and see what happens , we got accepted and , after many yes we will go , no lets stay here conversations , we decided , like oink said , we didnt want to let it go and then spend the rest of our lives saying what if. So at last we booked Mrs arniedogs flight today for 1st Nov and ill be booking mine and the dogs flights tomorrow . Now the fun begins :eek:

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Canadian Cheddar...........:thumbsup:

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Because life is an adventure. You only get to play it once. ;)

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Definitely for a better future and family friendly lifestyle for our kids. Like you all say the binge drinking/ yob culture etc too scary!! Don't want to stick around to see it get any worse.
I lived in Canada as a nanny in my younger days and although I came back to UK always said I would go back permanently with my own kids/family - and luckily my OH fell in love with it too on a trip over in 2006, so we are keen to get there and get started.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

[QUOTE=alcat2010;9486923]I was out in Toronto on Friday night and was chatting to the barista in a Starbucks. She was waiting for the cops to come to help remove what I believe was a stoned druggie who had locked herself in the bathroom. Anyway, she was saying how much she hated Friday nights as all the drunks would come in just before closing and kick off. I guess a frappuccino is the Canadian equivalent of a kebab.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Got to ask, but if you hate Glasgow and the culture there, plus think it's 'run down' then why not just elsewhere in the UK? There are plenty of beautiful places there too without any yobs.

Just that I'm always intrigued as to why people who cite the horribleness of where they live now choose Canada rather than saving money and staying closer to family and friends by staying in the UK?

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Quality of life, children's future, closer to OH's family.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Well its something my wife and I have thought and spoke about alot, but the run down / drinking culture is not just a glasgow thing.. it scotland / uk wide.

Now I do know we could find a decent enough area / street to live, and get on with our own lives, but it seems to us no-where is untouched by the 'mentality' of the british culture.
And its our little girls upbringing we are thinking about.

For example, we have not long returned from a holiday in BC, where we spent the day in Stanley Park. We noticed quite easily that the facilities provided for families/children in a public park were far superior to anything we know here.
On a sunny day in glasgow/ surrounding areas, beautiful as it can be with scenery etc, the parks seem to attract a never ending hoard of idiots. ruining it for decent people.
Basically we feel the idiots are in a majority in UK, minority in Canada..

In my (ok somewhat limited experiences) in Canada, the people in general have a healthier respect for there country/ family life / facilities provided..

And after all that..... we wont know until we try. And were willing to give up our relatively secure careers to give it a go... for our daughters sake...

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

I strongly disagree with this, it's not UK wide. There are plenty of lovely areas in the UK where you won't get that kind of mentality, I've certainly never experienced it and have yet to see a 'yob' or 'hoodie'! In fact, the only crime I've ever experienced was when I was living in Canada.

Now I do live in a fairly affluent area (Berkshire) but surely a more rural area of Scotland would give you something similar?

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

We have a nice house, good schools, and friends and family in the uk. We also have a crippling mortgage (over extended then, oops recession) and dh is totally undervalued at work where despite huge profits the company is cutting wages and conditions.
We don't know if Canada will be better or worse, we do know it will be different, and right now that's why we are going.
Only you can decide if it's right for you, good luck.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

[QUOTE=lmartin999;9487157]At the Harvey's at Jarvis and Gerrard they keep an appliance behind the counter for grabbing troublesome customers and steering them out of the door without having to get near them. The fear is that the customer will bite or stab the staff with a needle. I got used to seeing the appliance and thought of it in that context. It was years before I realized that it was originally designed for raccoons. The staff are from Ethiopia, it must be some tough in Ethiopia as they seem to think that dealing with crack crazed lunatics for minimum wage is a better life (children not mentioned).

It's all about where you come from, perhaps that would be better than Glasgow.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

[QUOTE=dbd33;9488335]<snort> I like Glasgow. I used to want to move there, for the peace and quiet.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Yeah, I know. And, of course, the hooker Harvey's is a couple of hundred yards from the lovely cactus house and dog park. It's half a mile from those delightful but expensive streets in Cabbagetown. Selective observation, innit, just as offered by the Glaswegian.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

If the UK is such a great place, why did you go to Canada in the first place? Im presuming you did live there? :confused:
You might live in a nice area in Berkshire, lucky for you, but do you have any idea what some Glasgows 'schemes' are like? And that type of thing IS uk wide.
But the rural areas in Scotland you refer to, nice to look at and spend a weekend in, offer very little in terms of opporrtunities for kids..

As for you never coming across a yob or a hoodie in the UK?..., I find that very hard to believe, but if it is true then Im afraid to say you must have lived a very sheltered life... again, lucky you..:thumbup:

There is obviously a 'for' and 'against' on the subject of emigrating away from your home country, which could be argued till you are blue in the face, but the fact is thousands and thousands of people each year give it a try, and on the whole I would say it is to better their lives...
It works out for some, it works out a negative for others.

At the moment my wife and I are in the 'for' category...

Thanks for your input to the topic, it is am opinion forum after all. :thumbsup:

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Where do you think the poor in Canada live? In the projects, that's where, same as in Scotland.

What do you think kids do in rural Canada? Meth or Oxycontin, that's what. Same as Scotland.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Because my husband was transferred with work, we weren't unhappy in the UK.

I've only been to Glasgow once, and can't comment on the 'schemes' thing, but I was just disagreeing that everywhere in the UK is overrun with yobs and crime - plenty of fab areas out there still.

OK, so somewhere else in the UK then i.e. Norfolk or Shropshire. I just meant that there are quieter, peaceful areas in the UK without the things you seem to hate about Glasgow, and it's not always necessary to spend tens of thousands and move halfway across the world to find it. There are various forum members on here who freely admit they wish they had just moved elsewhere in the UK instead of uprooting their kids to move to Canada. Just putting across a different point of view, that's all.

Not sheltered in the slightest. Lived in Oxford, Birmingham, plus various other places in the UK, but never experienced crime or a yob here, nor have any of my friends or relatives. We're all mystified by the hoodie culture the Daily Mail bangs on about!

I'm not disagreeing with your decision, you have to do what you feel is right for your family. I'm just always intrigued by those that cite negatives about the UK as their reason for leaving it, that's all.

:)

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Pretty much describes a lot of towns and cities in Canada...minus the pubs of course

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

I was offered a job out of the blue, and with it came more money. I had no wife and kids or other ties to worry about back then, so I figured "why not". I didnt dislike the UK particularly, other than I couldnt afford to get on the housing ladder. I never really thought much about Canada, and only spent 2 jetlagged days here before accepting the opportunity.

That was 13 years and 2 kids ago now. I guess I like it here and everything has worked out pretty well. For me the cliches about lack of crime and stress, more space, 4 real seasons etc are all true. Much as I like to visit the UK now and then for some decent pubs and some history, and to catch up with family, Canada is home now.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

That's pretty much me too...except instead of the job, I was offered the wife and kids.:rofl:

Work was becoming more and more irritating and I was of a mind to pack it in, maybe in about 4 or 5 years time, sell my terraced house (managed to buy before the booms) and live modestly in Spain on small pension and capital.

I happened to meet a Canadian, it went from there and now I live modestly but comfortably in Canada instead.

So starting out perfectly happily in the UK, with no axe to grind (other than the job) I'm not oblivious to the huge differences in levels of unsocial behaviour and the other offputting stuff.

I never thought much of it when there but it just seems more obvious now when I see practically nothing of it.

It's like in the movies when someone says "Hear that?"
"What? I don't hear anything."
"Exactly. It's so quiet."

You don't know how "noisy" it was before.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

I'm another one currently in Glasgow and looking forward to leaving! :lol: My partner and I live in Glasgow, having both grown up in more rural areas, and we want to get back to a more rural lifestyle. Now I know there are rural places in the UK, and there are many rural areas in Scotland which are amazingly beautiful and where I would love to live. But the problem is employment. They are a long way from towns, and the transport system is such that it takes a while to get to a substantial town.

We hope to go to Nova Scotia, where we (hope we) can have the rural life we want and yet be not far from a lovely town, and also not far from a lovely city. The roads are big, and so quiet in comparison to central Scotland!

I also agree with wanting to escape the ned culture of Britain/Scotland. I am tired of unruly kids, vomit on the pavement, litter everywhere, the 'f' word as every second word I hear, alcohol as the main source of entertainment, the complaining attitude. I know I can find these in places in Canada, but our intention is to move to somewhere they are not!

My biggest worry is just the leap into the unknown... it might not work. But it's worth a try! Oh, my other worry is the cheese situation. From what I've heard it's not good... ;)

I think we could have a living in Glasgow support group lol....

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Just as a reference point

I would rather live in the Shiity end of Glasgow than live in the shitty end of Toronto! (read also Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary)

I spent many a nights drinking in Glasgow after working in the Tennents brewery, Drunk they may be, unpleasant certainly, itching for a fight defiantly, but the odds on carrying a small automatic pistol small !!!

There are many places better in Canada than where you’re coming from, what you need to consider is that there are places here that are worse than the shittiest dumps in Britain too..

Pick your locations with care


I married a Canadian and then followed a job here..

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

I don't doubt there are nasty areas of every city... but I have to say shootings are on the increases here, plus they don't need guns here because they're quite happy to stab you with a knife, machete or samurai sword!!

We are definitely choosing where we want to live carefully, so whatever issues we may encounter at least they won't be the same ones as here

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Ive said before that I do realise ANY country has its problems..
My wife and I have not lived sheltered lives and we know a 'bad' area when we see one.

We have just returned from Vancouver, where we stayed in Downtown, next to east side/chinatown, known for being Canada's worst poorest postcode/area..
This in a city voted one of the best to live in the world..

We are not looking at Canada with complete rose tinted glasses..

We are hoping that what Canada has to offer, compared to the UK, offers my wife and I some more opportunities in terms of careers and better family lifestyle... for me its as simple as that.

(My wife is a nurse = understaffed wards /12 hour shifts without a meal break/ low pay / no more nursing jobs in Scotland....
I am a Firefighter = relatively secure enough career, but willing to give it up to give my daughter a better upbringing/ surroundings )


Your comment about Canada's projects and Glasgow's schemes..
Well I may be completely wrong but Im of the opinion there is more good than bad in Canada, its easier to stay away from the 'bad' areas, id say due to the sheer size of the country...

In my opinion, and due to the fact ive lived here for 30 years, in Scotland it is harder to stay un-effected from the bad areas / culture...

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

That the one thing that's a plus here,

its much easier to avoid and pretend the bad areas don't exist...

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Except that the work is in the bad areas. Or, to put that less contentitiously, the work is in big cities, hence the population density in southern Ontario and, with the mass of people comes the problems complained of above. Nunavut may be lovely but unless you're a seal skinner by trade it's no more use to you than the pretty bits of Scotland.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Its just not true. IT consultants and corporate lawyers may be thin on the ground, but Im pretty sure there are both nurses and firefighters in Belleville and Trenton. The "big city" problems may be around to a small extent, but I certainly dont loose any sleep over them.

Kids out here are doing pot if anything. Better stoned then pissed in my view. One wonders what drugs kids in the civilised city are doing?

The downside to country living I see is that you need to drive kids to everything. Theres is lots for them to do, but the absence of public transport options means moms taxi does all the work. We dont mind, for us the pros certainly outweigh the cons.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

As it goes, one of my daughters is a nurse and has emigrated from Canada to the UK. She's not working yet but I'll be interested to hear how an inner city trauma unit there compares to one here. I rather miss the weekly update on how many patients are chained to their beds and the gruesome tales of patients wandering out to put street drugs in their IV holes and then being hit by traffic.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

did you not hear or see the riots in Vancouver last month?...and im still bemused how many people still say im willing to give everything up for my childrens future and better surroundings and upbringing..different yes..better no.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

And what would you say are the chances of a fireman unrelated to the fire chief finding work in small town Ontario?

Perhaps I should provide a link to the facebook page of my niece who lives near Smith Falls. The one renowned for "beer bloat". She doesn't seem to lack alcohol to go with her drugs. The language used, being largely derived from rap lyrics, makes quotation here inappropriate.

Visitors wanting a view of rural population might try attending a rodeo, as we did yesterday, a place where it's acceptable to wear a shirt celebrating the peculiar lifestyle of Michael Vick, a place where a young woman sporting a "White Trash Beautiful" tattoo might feel at home. "Culture shock" doesn't quite sum up this leap into "In the Heat of the Night" country.

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Ditto....:thumbsup:...lived just outside Glasgow, now been here since 2004

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

The thing is, the hockey riot is hardly representative of everyday canadian living is it?

The fact that a Canadian team was even in with a chance to win the stanley cup is rather exceptional for starters...

Re: Reasons for emigrating?
 

Same as anyone else with the necessary qualifications as far as I know. Same goes for policing around here. But then I dont see Canada at all like you do.

Lets not forget that a certain expat we know is working in a hospital near me, and as far as I know shes not related to anyone there:rolleyes: