the troubadour

Indeed. CH's location as well makes it central to its surroundings as well. We used to drive there to fill up the tank when living near the D/CH border as cheaper. Friends lived in D and indeed F and worked across the border. A vastly different set up to Canada, although of course you do border USA. But compared to Australia/NZ which are mono lingual for the most part, at least among the Anglo element as indeed is Canada, you at least have a Provence, where English is not dominant, as well as officially being a bi lingual nation.

Novocastrian

F has the Provence: C has Provinces.

SheffieldBurlingtonCathy

I'm reading through this thread and having a giggle. I was raised in Burlington Ontario, which was an incredibly boring place to grow up, in fact we used to call it 'Borington'. I now have a lifelong commitment to never living in deepest darkest suburbia and really struggle when I'm back visiting my parents there. I've been reading these posts with interest since I'd say the main reason I've never quite managed to move back to Canada from the UK (lived here 30 years!) is that I value my social life too much, oh and my generous annual leave. I agree which much of the summing up of the differences (I'm comparing northern England and southern Ontario). There are a lot of chavs, a general feeling of decline and doom and the weather is shocking. I miss blue sky, swimming because it's hot and snow (although maybe I'm a bit romantic about that) as well as the general feeling of friendliness and what always feels like a more gentle society. It's a bit harsh here but I also find that leads to more culture (think UK music) and social life is a major part of living for many!

Shard

As dbd noted upthread, it's surprising that so many have such a wide exposure to cradles to begin with?! Given the high diversity in Canada, there are so many Canadians from other parts of the world that are opinionated or 'non-boring' but these people seem to be excluded from the 'Canadians' definition.

Oink

The phrase, "regression toward the mean" comes to mind.

justme13

I'm from Burlington as well, I actually miss it dearly. I loved knowing that if I ever left my garage open at night (happened a couple of times by accident-neighbours did it too) that no one would break it or even bother.

I loved the lakeshore and upscale look of the town.

I did go out quite a bit during my university years in downtown Toronto which to be honest isn't far at all or neighbouring Hamilton. I like that it's a safe quiet and quaint town too. Social life for me is hosting BBQs or going out for dinner..

It's really different for each individual and what you value the most.

knitnanny

I came to Canada in 1982 with a husband, a 1yr old and a 3 yr old. I was only here 3 months when I said I was never going back to the U.K. Maybe the problem is you?

Steve_

Look Barrie is as boring as watching paint dry, it's basically a place people only go to during the summer to sit in their cottage.

Every time someone on here says Canadians are boring or backward they always seem to living in a small town. Well duh.

Calgarians aren't exactly an exciting bunch it has to be said but dullness is underrated imo, the British are the world's most opinionated people on subjects they know nothing about, which was really hard to explain to people outside the UK until Brexit happened.

BEVS

Well, we don't all walk in each others shoes do we.
What suits one person may not suit another.
One man's meat is another man's poison and all that.

Just because someone does not settle & wishes to leave <insert country they emigrated to> does not mean that the person has something wrong with them or issues. It simply means that place is not for them.

Simples !

scilly

It's 49 years plus 2 days (August 22 1968) since we landed in Canada.

We came on a 2 year visa, and knew within a few weeks that we would like to stay, if things panned out. They did! OH got a promotion within 18 months, then a permanent offer in 3 years. I got the super job that suited me down to the ground.

We have never regretted our decision to come here, nor the one we subsequently made to stay here.

Over the years, we did occasionally have to think about what we would do or where we would live if we both lost our jobs (we've been through 2 recessions here either of which could have resulted in that). The answer was ........... we would try to re-invent ourselves and do something different in Canada.

If we had to move countries, so be it ........ but it would never ever have been back to the UK.

We did consider NZ and parts of Australia as possibilities.

DandNHill

A friend of mine surprised me recently by saying she and hubby might not retire in Canada. I thought they were settled.
I'm enjoying life here. Three of my kids have left home now and are very settled. Two have Canadian partners they live with. So I have no intention of going anywhere.

However if I did wish to leave I don't think I'd go back to Sussex. More likely Cornwall if it was in the U.K. But more likely Ireland or France.

Novocastrian

Just wait until all the kids have left home (how many have you got FFS?) and until you're both nearly 65 and there's 3 feet of snow and a 5 foot snowplough berm to deal with.

For the fourth time in a week.

You'll consider Europe like we did.

Oink

I was done with Canada six years before I moved here.

scilly

you mean, there isn't snow in Europe????


Maybe you should have tried elsewhere in Canada!

DandNHill

Haha. I have four boys. The youngest is 12 so we have a few years yet!

I understand what you're saying but I can't for a minute imagine living so far away from my kids. Maybe we'll have to be snowbirds?