British Expats - what am I missing?

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Canada (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/)

- - what am I missing? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/what-am-i-missing-862640/)

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Former Lancastrian (Post 11787223)

Oh god not this again.
Of course the UK has more to offer its a lot older and has double the population and has a close proximity to Europe.
How can the Canadian Rockies in Alberta compare to the Pennine Chain or Snowdonia or the Cairngorms.
How dare Great Bear and Great Slave lake and a few other smaller lakes in Canada pretend to offer more than the Lake District.
It will take 874 miles to drive from the furthest points of the mainland UK i.e. John O Groats to Lands End as opposed to the 3965 miles from Vancouver to North Sydney NS not including Vancouver Island and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Who would want to fish on the Fraser or Mackenzie rivers when you have the River Tyne & Eden.
Mountain climbing pffft none of that in the Yukon compares to scaling Ben Nevis or Snowdon.

Sure we don't have Blackpool pleasure beach or the Brighton Pavillion or as many football stadiums to attend. We are crap at cricket and rugby and a lot of our buildings are less than 150 yrs old.
Yup Canada is a vast wasteland with nothing to offer but we all moved here for the children or to escape charges or warrants we had outstanding in the UK.

I agree that Canada as a whole does appear to have it all, its just so spread out of such a huge area that it is not really accessible to me. Living in the UK I could be in the alps in less than 8 hours door to door. I can't get to the Yukon quite that quick from Ontario. I would have to move to the Yukon to make it accessible on a frequent basis.

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by laddo73 (Post 11808664)

. From what I have found in my 11 months and 27 days here the biggest advantage is that you get a big house. Everything else seems to be a big compromise.

Well, yes. Was that in some way surprising?

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11808708)

Well, yes. Was that in some way surprising?

Some things have come as a surprise. Like the availability of things that I took for granted in the UK. Cell phone deals, broadband providers, internet purchases. Things that really I thought might be actually better here given that the country is so vast. In terms of sport for kids I also find that there are more opportunities for kids in the UK. I suppose that I shouldn't find that too surprising really given the population density here.
The positives about here that I've found is that crime is super low compared to where I'm from and people seem to be more friendly. Houses are big and cheap and the air is clean.

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by laddo73 (Post 11808940)

It totally depends on where you live in Canada and where you lived in the UK. Where we are here, I can walk to my dentist, the kid's school, the kid's orthodontist, my hairdresser, restaurants, pubs, supermarkets, two LCBOs, a beer store, the garage where they fix my car and two stations with trains into Toronto. One of the places I lived in the UK it was a 3 mile hike to the get a pint of milk. I don't shop online that much, apart from printer ink, if I order it in the morning its delivered the next day.
So if I were a Canadian living where I live now and moved to where I used to live in the UK I would have the exact same complaints as you, but the other way round. Its not necessarily a country thing its more of a location within that country.
Incidentally sporting opportunities where I live are fantastic for kids, they were less good where I was in the UK, again its the location within the country, not the country itself.

My husband is working in Deep River, ON at the moment, I went to visit him last weekend and I can understand why it may be something of a culture shock for people moving from the UK to that area, and I suspect all your concerns would absolutely apply. Beautiful countryside though.

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HGerchikov (Post 11808959)

My husband is working in Deep River, ON at the moment, I went to visit him last weekend and I can understand why it may be something of a culture shock for people moving from the UK to that area, and I suspect all your concerns would absolutely apply. Beautiful countryside though.

I know Deep River well. A Brit family who we met when my friend worked for Spar Aerospace in 1982 moved up there in I think about 1988 to work in AECL.

He's divorced now and his four children have grown up and left. (Well you would, wouldn't you?)

He still works for AECL, poor sod. He's older than me but he can't afford to retire partly because houses in Deep River and unsellable these days.

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HGerchikov (Post 11808959)

I think that you're probably right there. I'm sure that the fringes of Toronto probably have a lot to offer. Having said that from what I can see on MLS house prices are much the same as the UK if not slightly more?

Re: what am I missing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by laddo73 (Post 11809841)

Again, it depends on where in the UK, but you are correct, it's not cheap to buy a house around the GTA.