Now ... if I had posted that comment, I'd be pilloried for being a bitter and twisted negative ex-pat.

I met a guy a couple of weeks ago who was stunned by the "really rough weather we had back in May" ... I pointed out that was just the spring snow and it hadn't actually been very cold ... he went a funny shade of white when I told him how cold it actually got ... it's the "oh crap, what have I done" bunny caught in the headlights look you get when you mention -35C and snow from Sept to May.

Rose tinted glasses are wonderful things ... someday I'll have to work out how to make glass in the exact shade that allows the human brain to define all factual information from people who've been here a while and made a success of life in Canada as blatant negativity.

Your problem is your ‘here’ now and you deal with facts...

All those rose tinted glass belong to people yet to arrive but with a long list of why the UK is soooooo Bad... and a small list of why Canada is wonderful..

Don’t these people realise we know people in the UK and its not really all that bad, and living in Canada we might just know what its like here too..

Or is it that back in the old days natural selection would have removed these people before they got irritating



off to Montreal and then on to Vancouver to get warm again

The gene pool can be remarkably shallow ....

Sure there are niggly things about Canada, and I agree with Glas that too many are too quick to label any critcism or real world experience as negative, but personally I rather like the unthinking positive outlook of those who are so looking forward to getting here. Helps remind me on the bad days that Canada is a much better place to live than any of the bits of the UK I lived in before, and by the sound of it the UK hasnt improved any in my absence.

By the way, for those in the UK, we had the first flurries of snow of the season around here today, but it was more than made up for by a fantastic show of northern lights last night...it was the first time I had seen them in my time in Canada. Really cool!

Do you keep pet lemmings by any chance?

I know what you mean though ... I remember telling my cousin that I was going to come to Canada and carry on my business as a high flying IT consultant, just like I had for eight years in the UK ... he told me to accept the first job I was offered when I landed.

The interesting thing is that most of us already here arrived with rose tinted glasses firmly affixed ... me included ... I was blindly optimistic about life in Canada.

I still think its the best place in the world to live and I would never go back to the UK ... it's just that what's left of my hair is just a bit greyer and the rose tint in my glasses has been bleached out by the Alberta sun.

I'm one of those who don't think they could move back to the UK. I'd love to visit again but I don't think I could live there again.

I feel like I had good warning as to the negatives about Canada from reading this forum for a year or so before getting here. I keep meaning to write a post about my experiences of the first seven weeks here and maybe I will but from what I can see so far the decision to move to Canada should be based specifically on what can be offered to the person making the move, the individual. It seems to me that to do it for the so-called "lifestyle" change isn't enough because both countries even each other out as far as pros and cons are concerned. You have to have some really good reasons to make a big move if you have a lot to give up.

I think it depends on what part of the UK you are from too. Climate, entertainment, public transport and people are different all over the UK. I have done my share of working from Inverness to Newquay for about a year and a half and life south of the border certainly has some benefits that we dont have in Scotland.
My friends Mum and Dad have moved from UK to Canada more times than i can remember now because they have missed their families but now i reckon they have given up that torch for a life in St Kits. My mate in Grimsby said he would never move back to the UK either. I have been to Canada 8 times now and i think i managed to throw the rose coloured glasses out the last few times and had a really good look at what was around and what normal life was like for people. Certainly better than my life here anyway and i have a lot of friends and hobbies here. I also think the prospects for my kids looks better in Canada, another reason to move.
I am speaking from my own geographical position in the UK where the rain and the lack of sunshine does get you down. I can take the cold and even enjoy it too with the benefit of being able to do winter sports which with the crappy snowfall here only managed to get out a couple of times this season.
It might be different in your part of the UK. Guess thats what you have to weigh up.

On that note.........Just found £69 one way to Vancouver in November with Canadian affair!!!!!!
I can't get to London on the train for that.........

I think this is very true! If I had moved here directly from Glasgow, I would think it was fantastic just because of the lack of rain compared to Glasgow! My mum is originally from Ferguslie park in Paisley and for anyone who knows what that's like, Canada is paradise in comparison!!!

As we moved from Reading in the South East, Canada doesn't look so rosey. We are still not convinced that this is the better option for us. Mind you, we have just had our first snowfall and the kids are really excited (me too!). So far for us we have felt that the weather and facilities have been similar to what we had in the UK although health care, education, availability of work and work hours have been worse than what we had. These are pretty large parts of our lives. In the end of the day, I agree that you have to weigh up whether it is worth it for you and I think this depends on what you are looking to get from Canada and where you have moved from within the UK.

Chris

Someone asked me if I would move to another country - any country if I was a wealthy person who had nothing to worry about work wise or retirement wise. It would make me think twice. Our bottom line is to stay where we are we would need to work long hours which currently and has been for the past 12 years 70+hours for 6 days minimum per week for at least 50 weeks a year - 2 weeks paid holiday would be lovely compared to this. Working for oneself is not all its cracked up to be. The UK and Europe can be a fabulous playground if you have enough money and time to explore it. Probably the same can be true for most so called westernised countries. Mind you we are looking at the move as another part of the spectrum of our lives so if we come back it would just be another chapter. Nothing is forever. As regards London in Toronto it looked like paradise compered to the Medway Towns. Perhaps if we lived in the Cotswolds or Devon we might look at it differently. To us moving from here to Canada is just as difficult as moving to Devon. A complete re-start either way which has to be taken into consideration. If you are relatively happy where you are why move. If it aint broke why try to fix it. It would make the perspective much harder to bring into focus.

Oh no you wouldn't.

Believe me!

As I have never lived there - only visited I have no way of comparing. It always looks so much more inviting than where we are. But...my wife lived in Cornwall for 15 years and I think the gereral opinion is OK for a holiday but not to live there if you are trying to get something out of life's pleasures including work related successes.

Like many places that are in holiday areas, Devon has little to nothing for the resident.

Children have nothing to do so resort to hanging around the streets causing mischief.

Having been to NS, there seems far more available for people to do, and the weather to do it in. I know that I have Dartmoor on my doorstep, but trudging for miles in the rain does not appeal for some reason!

Liftman

You sit there and slag Devon off as just tourism and nothing for the residents… and you pick Nova Scotia one of the places in Canada that’s often considered all tourism and nothing for the residents…..
the only place worse that I can think of would be PEI ?


You people confuse me sometimes