I was strangely pulled towards the wheelbarrow full of cash I was offered to come work here Otherwise I would have happily contined trudging along in the rut I was in in the UK.

Only once I got here did I realise how truly dingy the UK was and how much better things could be.

Both: running from things we dislike and find unacceptable, and running to thinks we embrace and fit with our social values and life expectations. A real mixture of things TBPH. Plus the excitement and challenge of setting up a new life, travelling, new cultures, making new friends, helping others through the same process we went through, etc. Who knows ? Don't even know if it will all happen yet.

Rich.

Exactly! Wise answer! When you are (OK I was) THERE, we'd like to see things in the way WE LIKED IT TO BE! Compared to the UK you get other things like big new houses, but loose a lot specially in the few first years. I haven't been able to buy a TV yet and my kids are sticking to a 13" and try to guess what's on it, because off to the air signal is bad, we cannot afford to pay $30/m to the cable company. IT HURTS...

One more thing: everywhere I go for job interview, they ask me WHY you moved here? Once I was called for the interview, not because there was an open position, but because the manager was planning to move to the UK and wanted to see me to ask why I moved here? The grass is greener ....

But having said all this, doesn't mean I regret what we did! I like the way it is here, and will make a good life out of it for my family!

He or she is going through exactly the same feelings as many of us. Does not want to live a life in the same place with the same neighbours in the same town in the same country till the end.

Maybe the emigrate has an adventurous spirit.

We have moved 6 times in 20 years in the UK and it could be a disease. I do not even see Canada as the last of it but I would love to have a paid for home to come back to once in a while.

i went to reply..but can't.....i am too damn mad.!

Why is this?

I wasn't pulled or pushed - I chose to live here, based on a number of factors: job offer (that vapourized upon landing and started us off badly), fresh start, young enough kids at the time to move without a huge problem, love of adventure and new experiences, knowledge of the country having lived in BC and briefly Ontario; family in Ontario and Manitoba, worry about raising kids in London, lack of a good local primary school in the UK (little did I know how bad they were here) and so on. I did not make the choice lightly - I had a very good career in the UK in a good and senior position, I owned a house, I was not running from anything other than a few bad memories maybe from a failing marriage (since we are all being so honest).I have travelled all over the world, I have lived all over Europe and the parts of the US and Canada before I finally moved here to stay. I thought I knew what I was doing, as many of you clearly think you do too - and good for you.

The reality has been that it was the worst mistake of my life. I would have to agree with the opinion that it doesn't matter what you think when you are sat
in the UK - you have no idea what it is going to be like until you get here. BC is a tough nut to crack, by all accounts. Add the responsibility of children into the equation....unless you have a skill that you know for sure makes you a hot commodity, think again about moving here. Yes it is beautiful - yes it has a lot to offer many people, but for those who leave a good standard of life in the UK (no matter what part of the country you come from) you might not appreciate the time warp you have to now live in. On the other hand - you might. Who knows? Try it and see!

most of the future immigrants outside Canada (including myself), when being told how it is hard to get a job; think they are "exception", they have unique talents, qualifications etc which will help them to find a job in the first 4-6 months. And also think the bottom line is doing a menial job.

But when you move here you see, NO, you are not "exception" you are just another one of those! And the bottom line becomes your ideal things that can happen.
We've been told that we have to get jobs a few levels lower and try to climb back where we were. It's easy said than done. Even when you get in such a job, you cannot imagine how horrible it feels seeing people way less qualified to be your managers! Besides, I've seen people where I work who are in Canada for 10-15 years and still trying to get out of those entry level survival jobs and get back to their professional job, but with no success!

If you are ready for all of it, then, Welcome to Canada!

It took me 8 years to "climb back up" and it will be another four/five before I get back to where I was - professionally speaking. I did have two more kids three + six years after I got here (career suicide if you are a professional female and don't do the nanny thing) so I also made conscious choices that affected my outcome. My responsibility, no one else's. It drives me insane watching absolute dummies get positions here because they "know someone". Incompetence levels seem to be higher than I recall in the UK, but I have been here since 1996. Things might have changed in the UK too I guess, but that is not the impression I got from recent phone interviews for jobs.

I was pulled, my partner is Canadian.
It was a very hard decision to come here and the occassionally the work situation does make me quite bitter. I walked into well paid jobs in the UK just like that. I had lots of friends and a responsible fun job with tonnes of holidays. Over here, I can't find a damn job come hell or high water.
Overall I'd say Canada is probably a better place to live if you have a good job for various reasons, however as I've discovered finding a decent job here is nigh on impossible.
Getting work in Canada seems to be 99% who you know, and without those contacts, forget it. The UK is much more of open market and work is obtained much more on merit.
I'd strongly advise anyone from Britain to think twice about emigrating here unless it's for a very good reason (as in my case). Don't just come here thinking it's 'better' than the UK, because it isn't. For starters finding a job in England is like a walk in the park compared to Canada.

It might be just my personal impression, but I think tight job market in Canada, is part of the overall "protectionist" culture here. They are defensive to everything and everybody. They like to think they are different: not American, not European, not anything .. and it adds to that protectionism!

I agree.
That would also explain the bizzare phenomonan of 'Canadian Experience' I keep encountering.
I've never heard anything so ridiculous.
I seriously can't imagine employers in Britain saying you're not eligable for a job because you don't have UK experience! What nonsense.

Since been here, I've herad about another thing: CIC (Canadian Inferiority Complex) sorry dear Canadians, I know you are nice, and I didn't made it up, just heard it from other Canadians. The whole point being that, because this is a totally new country (independence, flag etc and still British Queen the head of State) so to compensate all of it, there comes the protectionism, and giving hard time to newcomers, even to British cousins (let alone 3rd worlders)!

Just wait for the day when some kind person explains what that little cross in the top corner of your screen is for......

Mrs G