should we move or shouldnt we?
 

My husband has been offered a job nr Vancouver. We recently went out to visit the place. We both loved it. But with 3 children in tow it is a very difficult decision to make. We are interested in anyone out there who has done the move from England to Canada but who has come back. We have lots of advantages for going out there but would love to hear from people who for whatever reason, ended up coming back. Thank you for your help!

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

we really appreciate any advice.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I would be blunt and say it all come down to $$$.

Bringing up three children anywhere is expensive. If your partner has been offered a well paid job, or you are both going to be earning, then that is half the battle. Are you selling up in the UK and bringing over some equity? Vancouver housing market is expensive.

Rent for a year and see how it goes.

What are your primary reasons for the move?

What ages are your children? How would they feel about the move? There are quite a few families in that area on this board so hopefully some will be along soon to give you some thoughts on schools, etc.

Emigrating - It's daunting, it's exciting, it's expensive. Sometimes it can be lonely and sometimes you meet just the most wonderful people.

Good luck with your decision :)

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

There is another page on this site called moving back to the UK, have a look there as you will see various reasons as to why people return

Good luck

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I think your primary reasons for a move will have an effect on how all outcomes are viewed. If you want to move to Vancouver and your other half has been offered a job then you are bound to be ecstatic about the opportunity and the fact that there is a job. If you did not even consider emigration before the job offer then its very different I am sure.

Doesnt mean that it wont be a great outcome though, if you do decide to go for it.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Thanks for your speedy reply. The main reason for the move would be a new lifesytle and hopefully a better future for our children aged 16, 14 & 9 yrs. Our 16 yr old has just left school and started college studying animal management. We realise it would be a major upheaval for them but hopefully they would quickly adapt. On our recent trip we visited Delta Secondary School, in Ladner, so realise our son may have to go back to school. Any pointers on good secondary schools in the Ladner, Langley, Abbortsford area would be helpful.

Thanks so much.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

From our investigations and conversations with school boards and colleges, if your son has left school with at least 5 GCSEs at grades A-C, including maths and English, he could probably go straight to college as he has already got the equivalent of a High School Dipolma. If he stays in UK and finishes AS levels he will be at the age they leave high school in Canada I believe and could go to college with his age group.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

You son would most likely need to go back to high school - grade 11. I highly doubt any college would accept GCSE's as Grade 12. My understanding is that GCSE's are equivalent to grade 10 - possibly grade 11. Universities only accept A level for entrance. He or she will most likely enjoy the high school experience.

Good luck

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Not sure if that's going to help you really. For every person/family that decides to go back, there are many more who stay.

From what I've seen on here, the number one reason for people moving back to the UK from Vancouver is the cost of living. Property is ridiculously expensive in Vancouver- unless you're brining a decent chunk of equity, and/or earning a ton of money, you'll likely struggle.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

The best pointer is don't worry about it. Find somewhere nice to live and the local schools will be just fine.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Rent's are still relatively affordable in Vancouver. If the OP thinks the move might not be permanent they can rent somewhere a lot nicer than they can afford to buy.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I'd say it was lack of ability to find job in field. Which is fair enough. If the OP's already got a job lined up, that part of it at least is covered.

to Blue fox: PM 4 Bells. She moved here last year with a 16 year old and a 10 year old.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

We came over with an 18 and 16 yr old. Although the 16 yr old had just left secondary school with 5 or more GCSE's A-C, the school here said it was only equivalent to their grade 10. He did challenge some subjects and they gave him grade 11 equivalent for those.
It was tough for him at first, but it is a way of meeting new friends, so he faired better than the 18 yr old who found it harder to meet new people.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

That seems to be the prevailing reason. Good luck with your decision.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Without a college education, a grade 12 should be a minimum to attain. Even the most mundane of jobs often expect a grade 12 diploma. Without this is would not be a better future and severely limit their opportunities.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Thanks for that:thumbsup:, the kids are probably our biggest concern, how long has it been since you made the move?

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Thanks for the advice, the gross pay is in the region of $80k but not too sure how much of that we'll actually see. It would be good to have an idea of our actual likely take home income plus any other benefits that might be availalable such as Child benefit. In uk we get by with an actual net income + tax credits and child benefit of around £35k (I think that's about $50k). Any ideas how all that compares? I know I'd have the added cost due to having to increase my mortgage by about $200k to get something reasonable in the southern areas of BC (langley) . As you rightly say it does all come down to $$$

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

If you do a search of the forum or look in the Wiki, you'll find tax calculators that will help you figure out how much take home pay you'll get.

Having said that, $80k will be tight for a family of five in Vancouver area, will you be working at all and if so, any idea what your likely salary is going to be?

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Thanks for that :thumbsup:

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Thank you for your reply. Are your children pleased you decided to do the move? Well done for being so brave!:unsure:

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Beyond housing with a higher mortgage, 80 K will afford a comparable, if not better standard of living than 35 k in the UK.

its all swing and roundabouts really. Cost of living overall is similar, some things are more, some less, others the same.

Your considerations for cost of living are really no different than if you were moving to an area of the UK with higher housing costs, other than much higher relocation costs of course.

A decent detached home in Langley will be around 550,000 = 600,000. Townhomes considerably less.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Around 2000 dollars everytwo weeks, averaged out over the year.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Not if them children want educatin'. University is likely to cost considerably more in Canada or the US than in Europe. Not if any of the family has, or will have, a condition required the continued purchase of medication. Not if continnued contact with family in the UK is desired.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

The basic problem with moving to Canada at the moment is the strength of the Canadian dollar, plus the UK Government has decided to let sterling weaken too.

It depends on your circumstances really, if you can make ends meet in Vancouver without moving your assets over now and leave it until the exchange rate improves then I'd say do it and move. (Bear in mind as soon as you become tax residents of Canada though, any run-up in sterling will be classed as a capital gain and you'll have to pay capital gains tax when you finally move the money).

I just don't see the Canadian dollar weakening anytime soon, it will be years.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I think this is a bit of a myth, because there is a shortage of college places in the UK at the moment. If you're a resident of Canada, the college costs aren't that oppressive. There was even a story on CBC recently about the number of students coming over from the UK because they couldn't get a place in the UK and it's cheaper than going to the US or Australia. Non-resident costs are 5x what they are for residents.

I keep hearing my sister whinge on about this but my niece looked into it and reckoned there wasn't much of a difference, plus she would have to live in the UK for two years first to get the resident rate.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I suppose that depends how much income you have. I found having a couple of kids attending university at around $15,000 a year each to be an appreciable expense. (Fees + materials + contribution to living costs). Having done that for four years each, I would not have been able to fund their current round of education, even if I'd been willing.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

But would it have been appreciably cheaper in the UK is the question. My sister seems to live in a dreamworld that it still costs the same as when she was in university, but it's not.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Currently, there is a cap on tuition fees at around £3,000 but there ongoing 'discussions' about raising that limit up to £10,000 and letting differential charges. So, much like the US, so if you want to go to a top-ranked university it'll cost a lot, if on the other hand you don't mind going to some bum**** former poly, with stoned 20 year old lecturers, then it'll be cheaper.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

My son did his Year 12 in NS and graduated this Summer even though he had finished his AS levels. He brought his GcSE results over and to be honest, they didn't mean much to the school.Doing his Year 12 was the best thing he could have done. He made lots of friends, was made Captain of the rugby team and because he has his High School Diploma was able to start College last month. Without a HSD your son will find it difficult because it is what is required here.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

But the cost of going to university depends on what university they go to, for example, tuition at UBC (vancouver) tends to be around $5000 and up (a semester) but if they go to a cheaper school like the University of regina it tends to be around $4000 and the accomodation is cheaper.

Point is it can be expensive (vancouver film school costs $35,000 of a one year program, not including accomodation) but it really does depend on the course they take and where they study and theres always scholarships available.

In the UK its £3,290 a semester and around about another £4000 for accomodation, so its roughly about the same.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

One of my kids is at UBC, I'm sure she's paying a great deal more than $5,000 but, yes, she has a bunch of scholarships and bursaries due to a combination of brain and poverty.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Well that was just the tuition and it is a per semester rate, honestly she might very well be paying more, I just took a quick look at ubc's website which is how I came up with the figure.

But yeah, what you pay depends on the course and where you go to school.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Are you seriously going to base your desision on the opinions expressed on here?

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

iirc correctly, when she was in Halifax tuition + accommodation + mandatory meal plan was just short of fifteen grand. She'd also considered the Sorbonne and that would have worked out slightly cheaper than Nova Scotia. Then she was in Montreal and it was dirt cheap once she was a Quebec resident. She chose UBC partly because she'd been living in Alaska and wanted to stay on the left coast but mostly because it was cheaper than the other options.

I don't know what the costs are in the UK these days but the cap of UKP3,000 mentioned above suggests that it's less than some community college courses in Canada and there's the possibility of living at home while attending college (admittedly a bad idea), that's not something that's likely to happen here unless the family lives in one of the three cities.

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Isn't it a good source of divergent opinion that might highlight issues not yet considered by the OP?

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

We moved to Canada (Montreal) August 2009 and heading back in Feb 2011. We had a number of reasons for deciding to head back but financial reasons and my partners job satisfaction were the main ones. We don't have children at this point in time :)

Feel free to PM me if you want a chat... It's a difficult decision to make. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Ahem. There are also two universities in this city. And plenty of local kids attend them...

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

Oh yes, Last Chance U is up there, isn't it?

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

What ever....most half decent employers have a medical plan, even tim hortons. I have been here 17 years never paid a single dime, none nada zip, zilch, on me teeth or me health and that includes my ex who had Lupus. Talk about sweeping generalizations.

Family can be a huge loss and can lead to unexpected costs such as child minding, but i thought that would have been bleedin obvious.

Education i have no idea but managed to get a degree without to much fuss

God you are tiresome

Re: should we move or shouldnt we?
 

I love you too*. However, at $850 a millimetre I found getting the kids "American teeth" to be expensive. I find travelling back for funerals and the like to be bothersome and expensive. I've spent a lot on education. I think these legitimate points of concern in considering emigrating.

* to the extent that your occupation permits.