Bleech

Whilst in BC last month we got chatting to quite a few Canadians and got quite mixed reactions when we told them we were moving over full permanently! Some people got excited and told us how much we'd love it over here, others just sort of went quiet on us!! Hmmm. One guy even joked about more people coming over to take their jobs away from them, whilst he was joking about it, there was an underlying seriousness about it.
Just wondered what experiences you've had about this? I was always under the impression that it wasn't a problem with Canadians because there was rarely such a thing as a true Canadian anyway!!

Tiaribbon

In Ontario they are really friendly to us UKer's. We have made many friends over there now and everyone has been so nice. (Mind you we will be employing some of them when we get out there, so maybe that is the difference?)

I think that maybe the problem in BC is that there aren't that many jobs available so perhaps they are a bit hung-up on immigrants?

iaink

As a Brit in ontario I find most people to be pretty friendly. Lots of questions about the Royals and how expensive everything is in the UK. What you say about few true canadians is also true to some extent, a lot of people here have European roots if you go back a generation or two, and there are also many immigrants and second gens from around the globe. Of course, given the tax and education advantages of having some native blood, I think the number of native canadians is going up all the time!

There are of course a few "taking our jobs" assholes where ever you go, but I think there are a lot more in the UK judging by the number of folks here who cite UK asylum seekers as one of the many reasons to leave the UK.

Iain

Bleech

How very very true!

simonhouse

Very interesting question!

I must admit it's been fairly mixed reaction in Calgary. I often find that other immigrants are friendly towards me, whereas 'born in Calgary' folk can be a little cold and reserved.

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule - my wife being one, if she were to fall into that stereotypical cast, we'd have never got married! It seems to boil down to: i) the well travelled Calgarians are easy to get along with, ii) those who have never stepped foot outside the city limits are impossible to get along with.

Unfortunately, Calgary has alot of the latter.

Dr. Who

>There are of course a
>few "taking our jobs"
>assholes where ever you go

Yes I have heard that "taking our jobs" like too, but I am White and oddly enough I have not heard it as much as my friends who are Black hear it – sometimes they are simply told to “go back home� and that really ticks me off! The irony is have never heard comments like that from a Native person, but always from a person who is themselves an immigrant or the descendent of an immigrant. I am sure Native people say it, and if they did I would cut them some slack because after all immigrants came here and not only took Native land but took their kids too. Watch the Australian movie “Rabbit Proof Fence,� that happened in Canada too with the only difference being that the government took ALL the native kids! And the Canadian government still pushes them around. In fact in BC there are no treaties in place, so that means the “asshole� who made the comment you are referring to was saying this while squatting his immigrant arse on what is still Naïve land!

But to put this in context, if you are a White Brit you are going to find that you are really warmly welcomed here most places, if you are a Black Brit you are also going to find that you are welcome here. But don’t let some of the Canadian politeness fool you, there is no less racism here than there is in the UK and in many ways the Canadians are far less proactive than we are back home in talking about it and trying to deal with it. In fact I have just broken one of the Canadian commandments by mentioning the "R" word.

The doc

souls canuck

canada is multi cultural.. unless you are related to the Hudson Bay company then..... well, we are all Canadian....

people get testy about all sorts of stuff..

and they want all the options and dont really want to share.. but the more people, the more jobs, the more everything.. so giddy up

wandering bard

If I may, I'd like to take this discussion a bit further.
How about treatment of non Brits immigrants? has anyone found that different than Brit immigrants?

iaink

You are either one or the other, so it is hard to have direct personal experience of both sides of the fence

joggerjo

Hi

Slightly different angle on it......I have never had any bad experiences or comments etc about being from the UK (apart from the constant comments about the rain!) however some of the locals here can get a bit 'funny' about how most of us come over buy the bigger houses, on land, in nicer areas etc etc because most of us can do that after selling a home in the UK. I have felt resentment from them a few times, they are still struggling their way up and in we fly and go straight to the top! That has mostly been from locals though and not from Canadians coming into the Okanagan from other areas.

JJ

wandering bard

I'm sorry, I wasn't making myself clear.
I meant, from what you've seen or heard, has anyone noticed non Brits immigrants treated badly, or at least differently than Brit immigrants?

Covenant

Just going by my experience albeit brief, I found the overwhelming majority of canadians absolutely lovely, yes there were one or two a*%$eh@les but I get the impression that they were from the UK.

bob and ginnie

I hope that Canada's experience parallels that of her sister country in the Commonwealth . . . Australia.
It sounds like if you are from the more "traditonal" source of immigrants, namely the UK and Ireland, you're welcomed, but others are not given the welcome mat quite so much.
In Australia, just after the War, we had thousands coming from Britain to Australia and New Zealand, and you've heard the old saying about "familiarity breeds contempt".
Many Poms, especially if they complained, were told the boat goes back as well as comes to Australia.
Mass migration on the 10 Pound ticket stopped in the mid 70's and now Brits make up less than 10% of all migrants to Australia.
You don't hear the Pommie accent any more like you did years ago, and I always ask where they are from in the UK, and if they are a tourist or staying in Australia.
I find there is a lot of good will to British settlers now . . . almost a reminder of the "good ol' days" when you'd hear an English accent in the workplace or the local pub, when life was slower and less complicated!
I haven't heard an Aussie say " go home, ya bl***y Pom" for about 25 years.

Kadett

My experience in Ontario over the past 3 years has not been a particularly positive one towards Brits at all. However it does appear that Canadian hostility is directed towards foreigners in general.

I dont know if its true but a remember the words of a Romanian friend of mine concerning Canadian attitudes, he always told me that amongst Romanians the perception when people of his nationality came into contact with Canadians they received hostility. But also at the same time Romania as a country was looked down on. Thus Canadians could be nasty plus superior in attitude.

In the case of Britian (he thought) Canadians disliked Brits but at the same time had an inferiority complex, because at the end of the day this country wouldn't have come into existence without the UK. Canadians might be polite ( according to the propaganda but highly debateable in reality), they are however not friendly in any British sense of that word.


My general impression is that ethnic communities are extremely isolated from each other. This country is highly fragmented. Generally speaking I have found more in common with other immigrants (irrespective of their country of origin) than with Canadians, So that says something in itself.

Whether Canadian dislike/ hatred of immigrants is more than in the UK is hard to determine I would say.

I would also add that Quebec adds another dimension here. In my experience here francophone quebecers appear to despise anyone who is not a Qubecois and are pretty open in their hostility.

dingbat

Yes - particularly East Europeans and any third world countries. I am in backwards BC however, and know from work experience that this racist treatment does vary from province to province. Ontario seems to be the best for accepting anyone, but that as someone said, is directly related to the availability of work and established immigrant communities.