Time off

Old Dec 17th 2006, 1:13 pm
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Default Time off

Hi,

I have a opportunity to immigrate to BC via the PNP process.
I have just one problem and that is time off from work.
To me it is a big part of my life, having time with your family and being able to see the world.
Being in BC their are opportunities for skiing and the wilderness.
How do people do this?How do people see sporting events during the week if they are at work?
Also being in the private sector are you being treated as a 2nd class citizen as if you are working in the public sector i.e Nurses you start of with 4 weeks vacation.
Is it all work?
This is important to me so much that I am very tempted to opt for Australia.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 3:39 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Whilst I have no experience of BC, might I observe that some 30 million people in Canada manage to make their way through life with whatever vacation allowance they can get. Some have 2 week and some have more. Around 100 million Americans do the same but thats neither here nor there.

I have no idea what vacation time one might get in Australia but if getting more than 2 weeks off is the driving factor in deciding where to immigrate I imagine Canada is not for you and perhaps Oz isn't either. Rather, if you want to have 4 weeks vacation and the ability to travel cheaply above all else then stay in UK.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 4:08 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by ben123
Hi,

I have a opportunity to immigrate to BC via the PNP process.
I have just one problem and that is time off from work.
To me it is a big part of my life, having time with your family and being able to see the world.
Being in BC their are opportunities for skiing and the wilderness.
How do people do this?How do people see sporting events during the week if they are at work?
Also being in the private sector are you being treated as a 2nd class citizen as if you are working in the public sector i.e Nurses you start of with 4 weeks vacation.
Is it all work?
This is important to me so much that I am very tempted to opt for Australia.
The statutary vacation differs depending what province you are in and how long you have worked somewhere, but in most of Canada you could expect to get 10 days off a year, plus public holidays, etc.

You will get 20 days off in Australia plus public holidays.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 4:32 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat
Whilst I have no experience of BC, might I observe that some 30 million people in Canada manage to make their way through life with whatever vacation allowance they can get. Some have 2 week and some have more. Around 100 million Americans do the same but thats neither here nor there.

I have no idea what vacation time one might get in Australia but if getting more than 2 weeks off is the driving factor in deciding where to immigrate I imagine Canada is not for you and perhaps Oz isn't either. Rather, if you want to have 4 weeks vacation and the ability to travel cheaply above all else then stay in UK.
Perhaps that explains why there`s over 60 million in the uk and only 30 million in Canada.Since when has Canada been a part of America?
It`s all about work-leisure balance and I would rather have more leisure!
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 4:53 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by ben123
Perhaps that explains why there`s over 60 million in the uk and only 30 million in Canada.Since when has Canada been a part of America?
It`s all about work-leisure balance and I would rather have more leisure!
Canadians don't seem to lie about so much as I recall people (including me) in the UK used to. They get up early. They go to work early! They finish early and do things in the evenings. We have the Canada Olympic Park opposite where we live, and we ski after work.

We are involved in field hockey here, and the guys (not us! ) think nothing about training at 6.30 am!

People often get Fridays off from time to time, or work flex hours to finish early on Fridays so they can have a long weeknd. We have a public holiday nearly every month and folks use those long weekends to get away, go camping/hiking whatever, or build a new deck!

It really doesn't feel like we are short-changed for holidays here, funnily enough. I had 25 days paid holiday in the NHS, but I was always left with trying to take it cos I had to use it up or lose it. I hated it really, as I had far too much work to be taking all that time off ..... it didn't go away, nobody did it for me, and I had to work twice as hard before I went and three times as hard to catch up!! I couldn't afford to take more than one (camping) holiday a year anyway, and paid for it for the rest of the year!
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 5:24 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by ben123
Perhaps that explains why there`s over 60 million in the uk and only 30 million in Canada.Since when has Canada been a part of America?
It`s all about work-leisure balance and I would rather have more leisure!
The OP was not implying that Canada is part of the US.

The North American work ethic is pretty famous. They work much harder than Europeans and (Americans at least) get paid more. They work longer hours, though many claim to work less hard in those hours than in Europe. Also, many state that they have more Fridays off, etc. While thisis great for long weekends, it's no good if you want to go abroad.

I guess this arrangement (which suits many) explains why one sees so few US (and Canadians) abroad. Would you go to Europe for 2 weeks if that was your entire allowance for the year?
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 6:31 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by tableland
The OP was not implying that Canada is part of the US.

The North American work ethic is pretty famous. They work much harder than Europeans and (Americans at least) get paid more. They work longer hours, though many claim to work less hard in those hours than in Europe. Also, many state that they have more Fridays off, etc. While thisis great for long weekends, it's no good if you want to go abroad.

I guess this arrangement (which suits many) explains why one sees so few US (and Canadians) abroad. Would you go to Europe for 2 weeks if that was your entire allowance for the year?

Why go abroad when your leisure activities are on your doorstep?

Considering up until the US rule change in the last 6 months most North Americans didn't even own a passport. You're also forgetting that you get more holiday the longer you are at a company, so by the time you can afford to travel to Europe you have plenty of holidays. How many brits would go abroad if the food & Booze cost more than in England?
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 6:37 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by ben123
Hi,

I have a opportunity to immigrate to BC via the PNP process.
I have just one problem and that is time off from work.
To me it is a big part of my life, having time with your family and being able to see the world.
Being in BC their are opportunities for skiing and the wilderness.
How do people do this?How do people see sporting events during the week if they are at work?
Also being in the private sector are you being treated as a 2nd class citizen as if you are working in the public sector i.e Nurses you start of with 4 weeks vacation.
Is it all work?
This is important to me so much that I am very tempted to opt for Australia.
I can understand where you are coming from here as it is something i have also thought about. I currently get 35 days holiday a year but i have worked for them for 22 years and apart from an agreement where long serving employees got an extra day for every years service after so long we were also awarded extra holiday instead of a pay increase a few years ago and we have not had an increase in salary for 5 years now. But i also agree with Morwenna in that i also struggle to take it all every year as they don't like you being off for more than 2 weeks at a time and if i am booking holiday i need to try and fit in with my OH and that is not always easy.

Having said all that it has never once made me think twice about going to Canada. I don't beleive you can make a life changing decision like moving halfway round the world based solely on how much vacation time you might get in your new job.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 6:46 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by Grah
Why go abroad when your leisure activities are on your doorstep?

Considering up until the US rule change in the last 6 months most North Americans didn't even own a passport. You're also forgetting that you get more holiday the longer you are at a company, so by the time you can afford to travel to Europe you have plenty of holidays. How many brits would go abroad if the food & Booze cost more than in England?
Why go abroad? Perhaps because you want to sample foreign cultures? Use a language you have learned? Do something other than climb mountains, snowboard, ski and camp in pine forests? I love Canada, but I also love foreign travel. 10 days is not enough for me. Plus, I don't (personally) consider working a decade somewhere to get an extra 5 days a good deal. This culture explains why Canadians and Americans are so often scared to change jobs. Would you want to move job after having spent eight years working towards an entitlement of 15 days?

Originally Posted by printer
Having said all that it has never once made me think twice about going to Canada. I don't beleive you can make a life changing decision like moving halfway round the world based solely on how much vacation time you might get in your new job.
People always talk about moving because of a need to improve their "quality of life". If annual leave entitlements are not an important factor in the quality of life, then I don't know what is.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 6:57 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by tableland
Why go abroad? Perhaps because you want to sample foreign cultures? Use a language you have learned? Do something other than climb mountains, snowboard, ski and camp in pine forests? I love Canada, but I also love foreign travel. 10 days is not enough for me. Plus, I don't (personally) consider working a decade somewhere to get an extra 5 days a good deal. This culture explains why Canadians and Americans are so often scared to change jobs. Would you want to move job after having spent eight years working towards an entitlement of 15 days?



People always talk about moving because of a need to improve their "quality of life". If annual leave entitlements are not an important factor in the quality of life, then I don't know what is.
I 100% agree with you
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 7:05 pm
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Default Re: Time off

[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by tableland
Why go abroad? Perhaps because you want to sample foreign cultures? Use a language you have learned?
Considering Winnipeg is reported to have enough cultural base to host 32 language help centre's that is fairly easy to do here. ( Yes some times you strain to hear people speaking English )


Originally Posted by tableland
Do something other than climb mountains, snowboard, ski and camp in pine forests? I love Canada, but I also love foreign travel. 10 days is not enough for me. Plus, I don't (personally) consider working a decade somewhere to get an extra 5 days a good deal.
I stared with 3 weeks plus stats plus 10 days sick ( covers if Kids are sick to)

After 5 years I got 4 weeks plus stats plus 10 days sick. I currently have 4 weeks banked. flexitime means every Friday afternoon off during the summer and a late start Mondays.

Originally Posted by tableland

This culture explains why Canadians and Americans are so often scared to change jobs. Would you want to move job after having spent eight years working towards an entitlement of 15 days?
Most are not scared to change they are comfortable with their lives and don't see the need to transfer just for a different "work culture"

Originally Posted by tableland

People always talk about moving because of a need to improve their "quality of life". If annual leave entitlements are not an important factor in the quality of life, then I don't know what is.
See it depends on how much your job is part of the quality of life. If you actually enjoy being at your job, you probably don't need to look for additional comforts so much.

I change my jobs when the 1/3 of my weekday life is not a source of fun as well as pay.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 7:12 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by Grah
Considering Winnipeg is reported to have enough cultural base to host 32 language help centre's that is fairly easy to do here. ( Yes some times you strain to hear people speaking English )
This is great, but Winnipeg cannot act as a substitute for visiting Prague or Bangkok or Singapore, surely?

Originally Posted by Grah
I stared with 3 weeks plus stats plus 10 days sick ( covers if Kids are sick to) After 5 years I got 4 weeks plus stats plus 10 days sick. I currently have 4 weeks banked. flexitime means every Friday afternoon off during the summer and a late start Mondays.
I must say, this is better than the average Canadian gets. But having to work 5 years to get 20 days is demonstrably less pleasant than getting them immediately by law, no? Also, many UK and Australian places offer Flexitime.

Most are not scared to change they are comfortable with their lives and don't see the need to transfer just for a different "work culture"
I disagree. There is much less mobility in North American companies than in Europe and a key reason is that it takes so many years to get decent holiday entitlements. It's just how they do it there and I say fair enough - only being used to twice a smuch holiday I don't think I could make the change. I want to imprive my life - cutting my holiday time in half really won't help.

See it depends on how much your job is part of the quality of life. If you actually enjoy being at your job, you probably don't need to look for additional comforts so much.
This I agree with 100%. Sadly, the vast majority of people hate their jobs.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 7:29 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by tableland


People always talk about moving because of a need to improve their "quality of life". If annual leave entitlements are not an important factor in the quality of life, then I don't know what is.
But they are just one factor. What i am saying is they cannot surely be the only factor. Yes we would all like more leisure time and a decent salary that would allow us to enjoy that time to the max but it is not always possible. As Atlantic Expat said why leave the UK at all if you currently have a good holiday entitlement and this is a driving factor in your proposed immigration.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 7:32 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by printer
But they are just one factor. What i am saying is they cannot surely be the only factor. Yes we would all like more leisure time and a decent salary that would allow us to enjoy that time to the max but it is not always possible. As Atlantic Expat said why leave the UK at all if you currently have a good holiday entitlement and this is a driving factor in your proposed immigration.
Is it really the *only* factor in anyone's mind when contemplating moving? I am sure it is not. Most rational people will simply consider it as one factor along with many others. I would imagine they consider weather, culture, holiday entitlement, financial standard of living, employment opportunities, long-term viability of location and so on.
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Old Dec 17th 2006, 7:49 pm
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Default Re: Time off

Originally Posted by tableland
Is it really the *only* factor in anyone's mind when contemplating moving? I am sure it is not. Most rational people will simply consider it as one factor along with many others. I would imagine they consider weather, culture, holiday entitlement, financial standard of living, employment opportunities, long-term viability of location and so on.

Exactly, but the OP said that holiday was so important they were considering Australia instead. It therefore seemed to me that they were basing their proposed emmigration on Holiday entitlement alone.
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