Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi,

My husband and I, like many people in the UK are becoming increasingly disillusioned with living in this country. We have started to look at Canada and I have been investigating the different areas.

I was hoping for some advice on where would be good to move. I will try to give you as much info as possible on what we are looking for. :D

We currently live just outside London, our town has around 300,000 population. We like the area we live in, we can walk to pubs, restaurants and shops. We don't currently have children, but are hoping to start a family soon, so good schools etc. We would like to move somewhere with relatively good transport links.

I also have a dog and would like a house with a garden and some dog walking areas nearby, again preferably walking distance, although I don't mind driving too far.

We like going out and socialising, walking the dog and also a relatively quiet neighbourhood. We were looking at cities in Ontario, as for some reason my husband doesn't want to live on the East coast, but if general opnion is for the East, I'm sure I could persuade him! :D

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Katchoo

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi there!

Like many, my first post was very vague and open, and I recieved replies asking to at least narrow down to areas, and also you need to divulge what type of jobs you guys are looking for, as there seems to be vastly different employment opportunities in each Province.

I would read the articles in the Wiki, there is one there for newbies, on how to get the most out of the forum.

Where do you live now?

Also - just like all countries, Canada is not free from it's own issues and problems...!

The weather may also be a real deciding factor on where you live. It was for me :-)

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi and good luck - its a very useful site :)

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi,

Thanks for that, as I said I live near London, so I'm used to being able to pop in to town.

I have had varied jobs and am not looking for anything specific, my husband is in IT.

Hope this narrows it down.

:thumbsup:

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

I guess the best thing to do is start looking online and narrowing down the list of potential places. Then the next step is take advantage of the reasonably cheap flights in the summer and go on a week or fortnight's recce visit, because I guess you wont really know until you come over. I didnt come over, but my OH has a limited job and when he got offered his current job, we had no choice and were really happy to come regardless. We love halifax and Nova Scotia, but you need to find what meets your criteria and there will be many places that offer what you have asked for, but you need to get a feel for the individual places and where you best fit.

Good Luck!

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Thanks, I was thinking about London. I have just been reading some articles on people who have moved to Canada and I have to say the postive comments are far smaller than the negative ones. Is there anyone out there with good stories of settling in, cost of living, getting to know people etc :unsure:

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi Katchoo,

I do not think that you comprehend the scale of what you are asking. I think that the UK fits into Canada about 41 times! You can drive the uk from top to bottom in about 14-16 hours. I can drive in Ontario for 18 and not even leave the Province. Because you are close to London, you might want to investigate the major centers in Canada and living on the periphery of a large city here.

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

We were governed by the job offers, but all I can say is do as much research as you can, and as many trips over as you can afford. At the end of the day when you close your front door, it doesnt really matter where you are so long as you have the people that matter with you.
:)

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Stay where you are then and stop reading the papers.

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Thank you, for your advice, but it my move has nothing to do with the newspapers.

I no longer wish to live in a country that started an illegal war, that is happy to do business and sport activities with countries that have no human rights and that bases it's political opinion on the latest media headline (plastic bags, drinking, immigration etc) and not listening to its constituents. A country that offers me no political variation between it's main parties.

A media that perpetuates the fear in the common masses by running stories on child snatchings for at least 6 months and barely suppressed racism, which results in a country with an atmosphere that is not pleasant to live in.

I could go on about my reasons for leaving, but please don't assume it is because of what I read in the newspapers!

Therefore I am exploring the options available to me and was hoping for some advice on where my husband and I could settle, if we decide to move to Canada.

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Sounds just like Canada (swap drive by shootings for child abductions), only all our troops were in Afghanistan so we couldnt send any to Iraq. I guess the US is out too, and Im pretty sure Australia was broadly supportive of the "war on terrorism" and does business with China, so that leave NZ of the english speaking nations, and they were only not involved because they have even less of a military than canada, even they probably deal with China..

Working in IT in Canada basically means living in / near Toronto, so you are talking about swaping one expensive suburban commuterville for another, only this one has 4 months of serious winter when you will still have to walk the dog.

You yourself said you like where you live, so stay there and learn to live with the negatives (or do something to change them). It sure beats moving 3500 miles (or more) to somewhere you might like, or might not, and having all the same politico economic problems, but no family or friends or a decent pub to go to to bitch about them.

Im serious, just stay there. and I like Canada believe it or not.


And if you look at your list of greivances, 80% of them seem to be media driven to me??? Im afraid there is no escaping crap politicians or chinese goods no matter where you go.

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Thanks, I must admit the articles I've been reading haven't been that positive. So already considering staying put. Not sure I'm going to find an alternative anywhere in the world anyway!! :D

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Iain is giving you good advice, have a read of the Moving Back to the UK forum as well as part of your research.

In the end, you have to narrow it down to where you can get a job (as you won't be getting to Canada this decade without a job) and then visit the areas near to that job.

Or visit the areas 1st and get a job, nowhere in Canada was like what I expected! It's really horses for individual courses....

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Thanks, we are going to go to the London Job Expo and see what's available. Did you stay then or are you still there? What did/do you like/dislike about it?

Re: Thinking of moving to Canada
 

Hi, not sure what your OH means, Ontario is on the east side of Canada, not on coast but close.

I am currently in skilled worker process and am headed for Nova Scotia (on the east coast) but if you are definitely interested in Ontario I would recommend a small town called Niagara-on-the-lake, just outside the falls themselves, other than that your best bet would be Victoria on Vancouver Island in BC, as this is a really nice town too.

I have done a lot of travelling around Canada on tours etc and there are a lot of lovely places to choose from, if you can i recommend a recce (research trip) as this may help you decide where to be.

Hope this helps

Emmjay