Do you remember that really nice homeless guy who stood outside 500 University. He knew all the regulars, would comment if anyone got a new hair style or ask if you had been sick of he hadn't seen you for a few days.

I do not but had long since perfected the steely "don't speak to me" glare. You need that if you're smoking.

Well that's one major hurdle out of the way. If you score 500+ points without a job offer then the PR bit of the equation, I would imagine, is in the bag. This seems to be the point at which so many prospective immigrants to Canada fall down. Ironically, if we applied now for PR, although we got in without issue a few years ago, we wouldn't be eligible now (even though we're at the same professional level now we were then). I suppose being that much older doesn't help. Nor does the fact the "list" - as was, I believe not exist any more.
Good for you though and just keep up with the research. In some ways I think this was the good bit. As many have said, either humorously, factually or even sarcastically, the reality on the ground almost certainly won't be the same as the planning/theory (not to say it won't still be exciting/even fun!

I've always thought researching emigration via strangers anecdotes, prejudices, egos and assumptions about your own desires/lifestyle to be a strange methodology. It's only likely to muddy waters.

Most factual information can be found outside of forums. Forums should be used for colour and entertainment. Many of us managed to emigrate perfectly well without them.

Didn't know this forum even existed until already PRs. The banter should be taken for what it is. It's the middle of the day/afternoon for most of us on here who should really be doing something more productive.
If someone genuinely comes onto this forum with "We're planning on moving to Ontario in 3 months time but I probably need a work visa, what will the weather be like, is Canada expensive and do they take Solo?" then frankly, they're fair game for a bit of light ribbing!

But if they move to Scotland before Aug 1 in that year for purposes other than education, they pay £1800, same as the Scots and other EU residents.

Totally agree. My wife and I moved to Toronto in 1989 knowing very little about the place - having only spent a few hours there the previous year in transit on the way from Niagara Falls to Montreal. We didn't have access to online forums back then and, if we had, maybe we wouldn't have moved to Toronto at all. I'm glad we did move because we had 7 great years in Toronto and it's still one of my favourite cities in North America to visit.

From what I have experienced Hong Kong (not been to Bangkok) is worse than TO from the point of view of how long the humidity lasts (often weeks on end, followed by a brief respite after some rain, and then straight back to humidity again). TO instead has shorter spells of humidity, accompanied by heat and sometimes smog advisories.

Sometimes weeks can go by in the summer though with no humidity at all, but when it comes it can be quite nasty.

We moved to Toronto expecting people to speak French. Access to a forum of this nature would have usefully changed our expectations.

chilly_canuck is right to mention the smog advisories, there are occasional government warning against going outside. It's another world, government.

Similarly, I expected more bilingualism/more people to speak English* when I moved to Qc. Then again, I *thought* I spoke French until I moved to Qc & had to learn a whole other dialect ...

*Ditto when I went to Hong Kong back in the Dark Ages .

Depends where you go dunnit?

Bits of Montreal, the Eastern Townships, parts of my area, chunks of Gaspe and the arse-end of the Cote Nord seem to be more anglo than franco.

I think access to the internet in general could have corrected some incorrect expectations without the need for a forum. I'm guessing here but I suspect that forums contain a higher percentage of people who have issues or problems with something than the general population would. Forums attract people with issues, trolls and moaners. I'd guess I would have been more likely to be put off from making a major move by reading a forum than by doing more intelligent research.

Yes, of course . And I've mentioned it before that I know a few unilingual Anglos who manage very well in various bits of Qc.

If the Internet & fora as we know them today had existed, I would probably have hightailed it to the French Caribbean while bypassing Canada entirely . And I'd have a whole different lot of stuff to moan about!

I suspect forums attract people who have time on their hands and a computer in front of them.

I would think cleric workers, such as ourselves, are overrepresented relative to the general population, retired people and students are overrepresented. People who are actively engaged in useful work are underrepresented due to being out hewing and hauling and such. It's not that they're necessarily happier, just busier.

Horrible though it is to contemplate, posters are likely to be the more literate members of the public. Whether or not the illiterate are less likely to have issues and moan I cannot say, a cursory review of the attitudes of the homeless outside suggests a poor level of both literacy and contentment.

I doubt that fora attract people of a particular disposition but killing time each day reading threads and making the same points over and over may lead posters to a common, jaundiced, view.

Hard to say. Forums so attract such types, and that can amplify doubts, but they also provide so much practical information, connections, and encouraging examples. I would say on balance they encourage mobility/emigration.