Renting first and keeping your place in the UK is very sensible.

Yes i find it does, i live in Peterborough ON, which is about 70miles north west of Toronto.

Im in agreement with you in that fact i like the variation of weather, and in this part of Canada, we get the 4 seasons, well the only one I find we dont get a lot of is spring, its seems to go from winter to summer within a week or two, but fall is beautiful here.

Ive said this a few times before on here, the climate in this part of Canada is very balanced.... 4months of decent summer, 4 months of hard winter, and 4 months of "inbetweeny" weather!

Winters are normally very cold but not so damp as UK, which i find easier to deal with, the only thing that bothers me about the winter is the damn windchill....thats a killer! days with no wind are fine if you dress appropriately.

Summers are great....hot and humid...the humid part isnt so good, but if you have air con in your house, your car and at work its fine. Then if your spending time outside, just make sure your near a lake or pool to cool off! Bugs....yeah can be a nuisance....but thats what bug spray is for....not nice stuff, but better than being bitten as i found to my cost in my first year here!

The cold and heat does bother some people, but i knew what i liked and what I wanted before i moved here, and it suits me better than the UK climate, i find i can do more with the defined seasons.

That's what were looking for. As long as we have a nice summer then i could put up with the cold winters. Everything in moderation.

Excuse my ignorance but i always thought Calgary was quite a snowy/cold city?

We certainly have four seasons in Canada. Well known Canadian saying - Almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.

In addition there is Tax Season and even a Food Truck Season.

Life in Canada is 'seasonal'

What are these?

In that case the Hamilton summers are exactly what you are looking for.

Tax season is the period of time between December 31st and April 30th when everyone is filing their Income Taxes etc...you have to fill that in and send it yourself here, no HMRC to do it for you

Food Truck season varies by city...mostly happens in Calgary during Stampede time when a bunch of street vendors set up Chuck Wagons along entire blocks and serve piles upon piles of heart attacks on a plastic tray

If you're just looking for a nice summer, why not try way down in the south of England? It would be way cheaper and easier to move Don't move here just for the weather, its a bad idea!

Also...Dog Boarding/Daycare is a popular thing here, lots of places and people offer the service. My girlfriend is in the veterinary field and her practice has a boarding attached, who seem to have no shortage of clients!

Now that sounds like my kinda season!!!

Not moving just for the weather. Moving for a better life for my family and a fresh start. We've spoken about moving abroad for a while now and Canada seems like the ideal destination. My partner has Citizenship, we both have lots of family there and in US. Pretty much a no brainer for us.

Good to know thanks. We always try to get the dog a long walk when we can but its good to know if we cant we have options.

Climate wise the Okanagan would fit the bill nicely, four seasons, winter sports - fantastic snow this Winter, Summers are indeed hot though the lakes cool you down nicely Dog walking and boarding not a problem. Not big cities, not remote unless you want to be.

Rental market pretty good, we rented before we bought and had no problems getting a place that accepted pets. It would be nice having a Vizla here, I don't think that's have seen any here- nice breed of dog

Employment opportunities would be the only limiting factor- presumably you might be able to work remotely from home?? I'm not sure about the availability of SW jobs, as GPs we have contact with Social workers but availability of jobs, I don't know.

Stinky hot and humid summers and freezing your nuts off while stuck in frozen snow winters will get on your tits very quickly.

It gets hot in the Okanagan in the Summer which is what the OP wanted - great for wine growing and watersports If the pooch is a true gundog he would love swimming in the lakes. Humidity is low here in the Summer. Winters are fab, certainly not too cold and snow mainly where you want it, up in the mountains for skkiing etc.

You may have meant out East.... In which case..... carry on

And less of the stinky btw!

I live in Glasgow, Scotland where its, wet, wet, wet and occasionally....oh yeah wet! No snowy winters here anymore just cold and rain. Summers are usually on a Tuesday but that's unpredictable now too.

I'm sick of this kind of weather. Not the only reason we want to come to Canada but it would be nice for somewhere you dont get wet and muddy all year round.

The Okanagan was one of the places we had a look at. Looks lovely. Only issue was watched a few videos and read a few forum post and a lot of them said the the Okanagan had now turned into a retirement village for the rich. Particularly kelowna. We have a 10yr old son and not sure this would suit a younger family? Is this information correct?

Another part we looked at was Penticton. Also looked lovely but some post indicated it's like a seaside town where its busy in the summer and dead in the winter.

My IT filed is mostly hardware, install, maintenance, upgrades etc so most of that has to be hands on. Infact most of my IT work has been in airports but i'd hope there was other opportunities out there. We did have a look at Social Work opportunities in the Okanagan and found very little unfortunately. We have just started investigating several places and still not sure where would suit us best.

See my previous comments -Handy to travel with a nearby small but decent airport in Kelowna. We had a great week last week in the Rockies with our pooch

Yes there are retirees , I would say more centred around Penticton, Peachland, Summerland although obviously Kelowna does have them. Our kids were 15 and 9 when we came over and loved it- we are near Vernon- it partly depends on what they are into- computers are accessed like anywhere else, Winter brings snowboarding which they love- us at Silver Star, Big White at Kelowna and Sun Peaks a bit further North in Kamloops. Summer boating, swimming, usual sporting activities, footie etc
Penticton -Yeah nice to visit, great beach front but as you say, ghost town in Winter. Also, loads of old crumblies!

Employment is as I said tricky- if you do think about the area, Kelowna would be the best bet. I really don't know about the social worker position, she may strike lucky. I'm hoping that the qualifications transfer for your wife..
Just a bit of local food for thought- take your time before uprooting your family. As has been said- ?local move to better weather.... Cornwall/Devon/Dorset/Worcestershire/Herefordshire are all nice counties!! I loved living in Fife!! Maybe a bit drier than Glasgow???