AnnaM

We are a family looking to relocate from U.K to Nova Scotia and would like some honest and current information if anyone can help? My husband has a job offer, Painter and Decorator (Dartmouth). What are the best areas to live for families? (Children aged 11 and 9). The big question I suppose is how expensive is it compared to the U.K?. Any advice would be great as some of the information I have read so far is not very complimentary about Nova Scotia. Thanks

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Congrats on your husband's job offer!

Cost of living is generally said to be about the same as the UK in Canada, some say that it's a bit more expensive (and worth nothing that those that say that are often in NS). A search of the forum will bring up relevant threads, and this Wiki article may be useful - http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Cost_of_Living_in_Canada

HTH, best of luck. Fingers crossed the LMO is positive!

Jericho79

My advice would be to try it and see for yourself.

My personal opinion, having lived there, is that it's more expensive than the UK in almost every sense. It's the most heavily taxed Province in Canada too, if i understand correctly.

NS has some beautiful scenery, but like most of Canada, it's winters are long and wear on you.

There are nice areas in Dartmouth, but it depends on your budget.
We have young kids and struggled to find stuff for them to do once the summer is over. There's a significant number of Brits in the Dartmouth/Halifax area, so you should find it easy to find like minded people.

I should also add that when we lived there, our social network was almost all expats. Almost everyone we knew were either a) planning to head back to the UK or b) move to another Province. I think that speaks volumes.
Generally, I found that the people who were most happy there had never really been outside of maritimes.

Good luck!

DandNHill

Hi. We're near Halifax but until recently lived in Yarmouth NS.
It's a nice place and Maritimers are know to be very friendly. As Jericho says, it's not for everybody and many expats are looking at their next move out of the province. That being said many are also very happy and settled.
My boys are happy, 15 and 9, and have made some nice friends...
Have you been here before? My suggestion is take everything you are told with a pinch of salt, good and bad, and check it out for yourselves

Bellanova

Hi there, congrats on the job offer!!

Like many have said before you kind of have to suck it and see.... I, 100% agree with Jericho the cost of living here is very expensive, everything form heating your home and running a vehicle oh and eating is much more expensive the the UK and the rest of Canada and yes it is the highest taxed province in Canada, but the population is much smaller too.

Having said that it is pretty, and if you like the laid back life style then it might just suit you well. We have lived here for going on 6 years now and we are moving on this summer to pastures for many reason one of them being that NS doesn't offer what we want anymore, but thats not to say that you won't be perfectly happy here as many are. If you can make a go of it in NS then its a nice place to be, but if you can't then like many other places its miserable.

The winters are hard and sometimes very long, this one in particular has bee brutal. We don't tend to get too much of a Spring as it tends to just roll right into summer, which I have to say are nice. There are some lovely beaches around if you like that kind of thing.

The people in NS are nice, very helpful and friendly, but for me and this is mainly if you live in a small town they can be very nosey and they love to gossip lol but if you are heading to Halifax then the mentality is different.

Good luck with everything, hope everything works out for you and your family, its an exciting time

mumof2

Hi Anna,

Congrats on securing the new jobs

Been in NS for 7 years... like all places good & bad depending on what's important to your family.

Food is expensive, however with Walmart now doing more produce we have found our food bill has decreased a lot - hooray for competition !!
Heat also expensive & esp. so after the long cold winter this year, but again I think you can make changes to make it more affordable ie...wood

I find the people are incredibly friendly, the lifestyle is incredibly laid back & stress free, but again the other side of the coin on that is getting things done !!

Scenery is amazing, beaches & lakes everywhere

Winters can be long in Canada full stop, personally I think taking part in winter activities helps that, ski, skate, etc..

But, you do need to earn a decent wage to make life anywhere bearable - what a decent wage is, depends on the family I guess BUT we love it here & don't plan to move anywhere else UNLESS that decision was made for us !

We live in Cole Harbour which is just next to Dartmouth, feel free to send me a PM if needed & good luck

Michelle