maybe you are right that people are quick to blame the UK for their own personal circumstances rather than looking at themselves.

I meant percentage wise

I can see how its true in the expensive cities, but I suspect that a far larger proportion of the houses for sale in the UK require two incomes compared to the number in Canada. Its only gut feel, but I suspect most of small town canada is affordable with one decent income, and thats not necessarily the case in small town britain (if such a place still exists between the expanding borders of the larger cities).

I see you did. Thanks

They don't have to. There's no pissing contest here at all Iain. I'm just trying understand the generalised meaning, and looking for examples of, "better life" / "more opportunities" when comparing one 1st world country to another such as the UK and Canada. This helps differentiate reality versus the dream i think.

More detailed reasoning that resonates with the common resident of Canada would be much more helpful to the prospective immigrant don't you think? Especially impressionable ones who may or may not be looking for affirmation.

I disagree. Granted you can potentially get more space for your money in Canada.

I would imagine it's pretty much the same if you look at realtor.ca and rightmove.co.uk for prices and base 3x borrowing on avge salary.

we had had enough of kent turning into a ghetto.i was worried about my kids growing up in a ganged up town,full of immigrants(she said tongue in cheek.we know we are immigrants).but you dont have to live in the big cities here in canada,go semi-rural,peaceful,no crime as such,great schools,great communities,friendly people.good jobs.
we are living the dream/
do we miss england??? not a bit.best thing we did for our kids.they have the freedom they never had,great friends and the canadians have been most welcoming,and they love the southern accent.
we live in manitoba,yes cold winters and hot summers but we have never looked back.
citizenship next...

Funny, I seem to recall you telling me you had no interest in my specific thought processes having already decided I'm one of the deluded masses looking for a dream Canada that doesn't really exist

For the record... in addition to not liking the aspects of the UK I've aready mentioned... my partner and I have both travelled extensively in North America, and have always felt more at home there. Neither of us drink, so we've struggled with the dependence on trips to the pub here for social gatherings. Neither of us like soccer either, we're both avid American football fans! I hope to have my own art and craft business, and every time I have visited Canada I have felt inspired in this regard, whereas in the UK I feel despondent. Inspiration is a big part of making this type of business work, so I feel I have more of a shot at it in Canada. Speaking very generally of course, I like the Canadian people, I like the landscape, I like the 'feel' of the place, I like the houses, I like the lifestyle. I feel very comfortable in Canada. I am proud of my Scottish heritage, so was pleasantly surprised to find a very similar heritage in Nova Scotia! The only thing Canada does not have is my family. That's the only thing I worry about, but I hope that the internet/skype/etc. and occasional visits will suffice.

Looking at avge wage versus average property price in both countries, Canada looks to be 8x salary whereas the UK is around 6.5x salary.

According to Land Registry for uk and CREAstats for Canada anyway.

Now that's more like it. Thank you

That would explain why I see more people here doing two jobs, one day one evening than I ever remember in the UK.
It would also tie in to my perception that Credit is much easer to get here, and that personal debt seems to be higher?

How much is that skewed by vancouver and toronto I wonder?

Could not the same be said of London

Good point but i'm not sure how much impact they'd have. Probably no more than the UK price is skewed by London and other "major" cities.

From very bad memory, I do recall both Vancouver and London being around x2 the national average for property price. Crazy.

To some extent, but London weighting of salaries seems a lot heavier to me than Vancouver or Toronto weighting. My feel is that there is a lot more spread in the property/ average local income ratio across Canada, and that there is more hope of finding a decent ratio (2:1 or 3:1 or so) in Canada than anywhere in the UK. Could be wrong thought, its not exactly something Ive researched.

I'm not entirely convinced, I think just as in the UK house prices fairly reflect income levels, and the ratios just as in the UK are driven by demand and affordability