scilly

Be aware that you are coming to a different country ............... Canada is not England or GB transferred to North America.

Treat your move as if you were moving to a foreign country, albeit one that speaks English, with French as the other official language.

Things are different here ............ the language has lots of different words and spellings, food is different, favourite foods here are not the same as in the UK, ready meals in grocery stores will be different, veggies different, etc. The climate is different, make sure you know the requirements for winter driving in the province where you are going to live.

People behave differently, there is not as much social life centred around the work place or talking over the back fence. Instead it is people you meet through social activities............ running clubs, sports, meeting at the school gate (though that is also not as common as in the UK as people who pick up kids tend to do it in their cars, not congregate on the sidewalk and chat). You will have to reach out a lot, and it may take time.

Work very hard to not compare things here with the UK ........ you'll settle faster if you do that.

Work hard at learning what it does mean to live in Canada and to adapt.


In spite of much of the advice given on here, I see no need to keep a bank account in the UK unless you have income coming in or bills to continue to pay. We left the UK in 1967, and I closed my bank account about 15 years later because I was not using it. It had become a useless tie to the UK, with money sitting in that we could use back here.When we travelled back there, we took Traveller's cheques (when they were common!!), transferred money to our credit cards so there was an excess on there and drew it out in the UK. But as we haven't been back there since 2008 and no intention on going again, it doesn't matter to us.

We had no problems making close friends here, both through work but mainly from contacts outside work. One friend led to another and then another. It takes some time, but it does happen.

Thanksnan

Siouxie

You should be able to quote by clicking the "quote" button on CanadaJimmy's post

If you are moving here as Permanent Residents is there nothing in the UK (or where-ever you are coming from) that you might wish to bring over at some point in the future, ever? If there is, then you need a 'Goods to Follow' list.. and if you are bringing any electronics or jewellery, random items in your suitcases or hand luggage etc., then you should be making a 'goods accompanying' list complete with serial numbers and notes of any valuables. Do make sure not to bring anything that is forbidden - such as beef stock
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Goods_To_Follow-Canada
If you are just coming on a TWP then there's no need for the goods to follow quite yet.

Thanksnan

Siouxie

A TWP is a "Temporary Work Permit" - which you won't receive until you arrive at the border (airport). What you presently will have is a Letter of Introduction which you will hand over when you arrive and the 'worker' will be issued a work permit.

For the rest of you - if the spouse will be working in a skilled job then the accompanying spouse can request a spousal open work permit. At the same time, for your children you will want to ask for Visitor Records so that they can attend school. (Not the '6 month stamp' in the passport) - free of charge. There is no need to apply for Study Permits unless the children are over the age of 18.. If the accompanying spouse doesn't want to work then they should request a Visitor Record as well - then they will be able to obtain a drivers license etc., as you need to have valid immigration status and a visitor stamp isn't sufficient.

Thanksnan

BristolUK

There's very little here of the easy cook-in-sauce mixes so readily available in t he UK. There are Thai and Indian ones in jars and the chasseur type you see are just mixes for pouring sauces.

Of course you can do your own but the Colmans packs are so cheap in the UK. You can order from Amazon for about 4 times the cost plus postage.

AMB1971

Welcome to Edmonton!! all the condiments and sauces mentioned above are available locally and not at horrific prices, things i wish i'd known

when they say cold they mean it...
Used Cars and Cellphone plans are stupid expensive
just because its cold doesn't mean we grind to a halt, in fact people here are typically more outdoorsy during the winter
some of the politics and bureaucracies will drive you insane
you'll realise pretty quickly that the NHS was frickin awesome
Edmonton has a rapidly growing multicultural scene, take advantage of it, its one of the greatest cities to eat out in that i have ever lived in.
Driving, you may think driving to Cornwall was a long way, here thats a day trip.....

Lichisadave

scilly

Paracetamol is Tylenol here ........... no need to bring it! Ibuprofen is also readily available

If you are comparing having to pay for over-the-counter drugs and even prescribed ones yourself vs getting it free on the NHS, then yes, they are expensive.

But that's life here

The only thing that I wish I could get here as I haven't managed to find a suitable replacement is Savlon medicated cream. Everything else is here, or there is an alternative.

Lichisadave

BristolUK

I'm not sure that's true.
I remember I used to buy Ibuprofen by the 96 in Sainsburys and that was much cheaper than the 12s and 24s but I don't think they do it that way anymore. I couldn't buy that many for a few years before I moved here.

Looking at Sainsburys, the biggest pack is 16 (you can buy 2) and the cheapest I'm seeing is 14p a 200g tablet. Currently that's about 24c. You can still buy large quantities here. 90 for $14 which is 15c each.

Paracetamol also seems to be restricted and comes out at 5p a 500 mg tablet. Or 8c. You can buy large quantities of Acetaminophen here also. 500mg x 400 for about $18, or 5c each.

Those two I know from buying large quantities over the years.

spouse of scouse

I'm at an absolute loss to understand why drugs are so many different prices around the world. I had to buy a 100 tablet pack of 500mg paracetamol at the chemist recently, it cost AU$1.25 (around GBP.67p)

scrubbedexpat091

If you have a Costco membership they have sales from time to time on Kirkland generic pain medications, we bought a 2 pack of Kirkland Ibuprofen so 500 pills in total, for $10. So like 2 cents a pill, can't get much cheaper..

The small bottles with like 12 or 24 they tend to be a rip off, gotta buy in bulk to get the price per pill down.

Dollar store sells 24 tablet bottles for I think $2 for generic, nothing wrong with them, they are made by a company in Winnipeg, who makes private label brands for Costco, Wal-Mart, Shopper's and other retailers.

BristolUK

That's impressive. I think the UK stopped doing bulk paracetamol even before Ibuprofen was restricted.