nathaliej

Hi

Although my passport states I'm British I consider myself to be a world citizen and I'm considering moving to Canada in the near future.

I've only visited it twice when I was 8 & 15 and don't really know much but now that I'm 25 I think it would be a nice destination to consider.

For those currently residing in Canada, what do you find to be good and bad?

From what I've gathered after reading a few threads:

Good:

* low crime rate
* no/fewer chavs
* scenery
* job market
* larger homes

Bad:

* lack of culture
* humourlessness
* accents
* lack of British foods/good foods
* lack of good television


Would any of you agree with the above? Would you add or dispute anything above?

Thank you.

jericho

Wouldnt it just be easier for you to read this?
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=768944

Londonuck

I broke my toe yesterday by booting the leg on the bed, accidentally.

This morn i went to the Doc... 5 mins wait to see Doc. She sent me to get an Xray, the building was opposite my flat and spent 10 mins to get that done.

No bill at the end.

Good.

Ringing boss to tell him i wont be in this week.

Bad

pdarwin

Good:

* low crime rate - Generally lower, but some places very high crime rates.
* no/fewer chavs - Downtown areas of large towns and cities = many chavs.
* scenery - Can't argue with that, but not everywhere is like the postcards.
* job market - Depends what you work in. Some jobs bad, others OK.
* larger homes - Larger and cheaper but built of wood and with siding, not solid brick or stone.

Bad:

* lack of culture - True.
* humourlessness - They have humour. Brit sarcastic type humour often doesn't carry over well !
* accents - Not a big issue, although the bilingualism can be a pain.
* lack of British foods/good foods - You want less and less of these Brit goods as time goes on. Local food - some is good, some is absolutely disgusting. You have to shop around and know where to go.
* lack of good television - Hundreds of channels and little to watch and contaminated by commercials.

AdrianR

Arguably, these things could be lacking anywhere beyond Albion's shores - it depends on your view of other cultures. Yes, some may be demonstrably superior but I have found that approaching a new place with such preconceived ideas inevitably leads to disappointments.

Now here's the issue - and don't take this personally - but you have, at the age of 25, only had seven years of adult life as a 'world citizen'. Your naivete shows in the things you consider good and bad about Canada.

DandNHill

* no/fewer chavs - Downtown areas of large towns and cities = many chavs.
This is the one that stood out for me when I read the list. We get chav like youth here. They're just not threatening. But they are unwashed, unkempt people who hang around the outside of Tim Horton's with their Pitbulls, smoking and claiming benefits!!

pdarwin

That's generally true, but here in Canada, far more than in the UK, we seem to have a lot of folks with mental illness hanging around downtown areas and their behavior is unpredictable. Not sure if that's really in the 'chav' category though.

DandNHill

We have a lot of mentally ill people here too. Without wanting to sound like I'm having a "bi**h about where I live, because I'm not, I put it down to the inbreeding which is so obvious down here.
Maybe it's the weed that fries their brains?

jericho

You mean "here in Ottawa".

JonboyE

A lot of people say that Canada has a "lack of culture". I assume people to mean "it doesn't have the kind of culture I am used to."

I think your best bet is to apply for a IEC (working holiday) visa and get over here and find out for yourself whether or not Canada suits you.

dgagitw

That's true, but I wonder how much of that is about the location of facilities rather than the treatment of mentally ill people. In Toronto, for example, the main hostels for homeless people are all downtown rather than out in the sticks somewhere. Interestingly, some of the charities that run the hostels are starting to talk about selling to developers as the property boom encroaches on their areas.

foreigngirl

I'm writing from the perspective of a non-British person living in the UK for the last seven years or so.

* humourlessness - are you kidding me? Are you saying that the British have a sense of humour?
* accents - I still can't understand the Scottish girt at work...
* lack of British foods/good foods - why would you want that? And actually - what is 'British' food - sausages and mash? fish and chips? Pleeaasee.
* lack of good television - you mean Big Brother and Coronation Street?

Simon Legree

It's Ottawa silly. They're called politicians !

el_richo

I agree wholeheartedly. Give me the clarity of a strong Newfie accent, poutine, and the real housewives of Vancouver any day of the week

pdarwin

I'm guessing that although you live in the UK, you haven't really had your eyes open a great deal.
The British are known worldwide for their sense of humour, but it's usually a sarcastic humour that doesn't travel very well outside the UK.
I grew up in the UK and fair enough, some Scottish people I cannot decipher at all.
British food is Chinese and Indian food to most folks, but the Brits also make some excellent local dishes. You just need to get out the city a bit more.
I would trade all my hundreds of Canadian and US TV channels for BBC. And an FYI - BBC Canada is a bunch of cr*p, in case anyone's asking.