So maybe the perpective about technology is appropriateness rather than being identical.

I’ve read with interest the threads posted so far on this topic, and thought I’d add a few comments of my own, from my own experience.
I lived in the US for three and a half years on a temporary visa, and submitted my application for Canadian Permanent Residency three months after returning from the States.
For those people reading this thread who have never lived abroad I think it might be useful to make a couple of salient points here.
I lived in the Midwest, not far from the Canadian border, visited Canada twice, and traveled extensively within the US while I was there.
The US is a marvellous country, with wonderful friendly people. It has great weather ( four distinct seasons you could set your watch by), terrific infrastructure, knockout scenery and a positive can-do attitude to everything, amongst many other positives.
Sure, in some respects it has its problems ( high crime rate, frightening work ethic and- last but not least- Bush and the swing to the Evangelical Right) but here’s the thing: in all other respects it’s a far, far better country in which to live than Britain, hands down.
Canada isn’t that far away geographically from the US, and Southern Ontario, as an example, is just like another US state in terms of topography, climate, atmosphere and appearance; indistuinguishable from America.
The experience of living in the States for me was completely exhilarating, and being back here in the UK is no fun at all, believe me. ( And for those of you wanting to know if the US is so wonderful why did you leave, well that’s a long question to answer: the short answer is that I’d always intended to move to Canada, never had enough points until Sept 03, was offered the chance to work in the States after getting my Masters, and jumped at the chance to apply to Canada shortly after the points total came down. And as for getting a Green Card in the States, life’s just too short...)
I’m quite sure that the vast majority of folks who leave these shores for Canada have no regrets at all, and probably never bother again to consult this site once they’re there. The few who can’t settle, for whatever reason, post their experiences and feelings on this site and in so doing ( inadvertently) give the impression that their experience is a common one.
For those of you who have never lived abroad and who may be having doubts about quitting England for Canada, I say this: don’t listen to your doubts and give your destination country at least 12 months. I can’t imagine you’ll regret the move.

An impossible to answer question. Sometimes life throws up an oportunity, and you just have to run with it, either that or look back in 20 years and wonder "what if".

Where is the job, how much are they offering to pay him, and presumably its on a work permit?

On a work permit its valid for only that job, for that employer, at that location. If the job doesnt work out, for whatever reason, you cannot work in canada for anyone else, unless they get you a permit too from a new employer, which is not likely unless you have a reare skill set, which limits your options. The slight positive is you can remain in canada till the permit expires, even if your no longer working for that company, but that wont pay the bills, and yes, even after they go to the trouble of recruiting you, you can still be stuck in a layoff situation.

OK, now that warning out of the way..heres my history..I came on a work permit 7 years ago, I was earning £15k as a engineer in the UK, and came to $50k in Eastern Ontario. I can buy a house here for $100+k, so my main enthusiasm for canada was that I could afford to buy my own place here. In Toronto and surrounding area housing is considerably more expensive, but no where like London UK relative to salaries.

The appeal for me of canada now is lots of space, cheap property, friendly people (whenb was the last time you had a conversation with a complete stranger?), a sense of community spirit (with service clubs and charitable organisations everywhere helping others out), 4 seasons, rather than 3 different rainy seasons and a short summer.Very little crime, non of it serious in my area (N Toronto will be different). Laid back relaxed pace of life in the country, beautiful lakes, parks and beaches,lots of organised activities for kids. I could go on, but its been covered here too many times before.

The downside? Very poor holiday allowance (2 weeks usually to start), weak employment laws (can be canned at any time for any reason), winter is a month too long in Ontario (and 4 months too long in Alberta) Traveling overseas or from one side of canada to the other is expensive and time consuming. Work is often #1 priority. Far from family and old UK friends. Du to the exchange rate and high cost of everything in the UK, any trips back to the UK while living on a canadian wage will be VERY expensive.

Selling property in canada to move back to the UK will be an extremely painful decision financially. Canadian property is not an invsetment..its just a roof over your head, and wont double in value every 4 years!

Canada without a reasonable income would not be much fun, but having said that wild horses would not drag me back to the dirty unfriendly "me first" crowded overpriced UK now.

Really you have to ask yourself what you are really looking for. Canada is not really like the UK in so many way, despite the common language. Its not like the US either. If you can, try and visit for a few weeks to make your mind up, its a big decision, especially when family is involved, so worth the expense of staying more than a few days.

Good Luck, whatever you decide.

Hello Iaink and to eveyone who has replied to my thread

My husband is up for a job with a large Toronto company. His salary will be over $100,00 k ( still trying to work this out compaired to UK salaries!!)

A few question - what are the average starting holiday leave- we are used to 5-7 weeks !

If we go on a job permit, can we apply for citizernship whilst there?

What is the average cost of a 4 bedroomed house in the "Burbs" ( Ricmond Hill) Have looked on several web sites but seem to see all the same houses!

Do you feel more relaxed and laid back in Canada?

So many questions... I will get some answers in March on our trip out to Toronto but would like to enter the " Lion's Den" prepared!!!!!!!

Replies welcome and grateful

Bombards

My brother lives in London UK and loves the buzz, football, pubs and cheap foreign holidays so Canada is not for him. I prefer it quieter and less crowded, less traffic, not into football, prefer going out for coffee than beer, and prefer to stay more local for holidays as long as you get guaranteed sunshine and a lake nearby for swimming so I am probably more suited to life in Canada.

This is just my brief take on it all. There are many perspectives on this topic as it is so subjective. If you can, it is best to come over and do a research trip so that you can get a feel for it yourselves. Hope this helps and gives you some food for thought

Chris[/QUOTE]

I am really glad you took the time to write this! your comments are just what I wanted & needed to hear We too are moving for a better life for our children, (6 & 4) and how you have explained it, is just what we want , as we are only about four weeks from moving, the 'oh my God, what are we doing???' is often in my mind.
So a very big thank you!

Linda P

Our youngest saw a speech pathologist by referral although we did have to wait three months for it. In the UK we were told to wait and see if he grows out of it....!

Mrs G[/QUOTE]

Slightly off post, speech pathologist, is this the same as speech therapy, as we will have to sort this out for my son. Please use PM if you prefer!
Linda P

I am really glad you took the time to write this! your comments are just what I wanted & needed to hear We too are moving for a better life for our children, (6 & 4) and how you have explained it, is just what we want , as we are only about four weeks from moving, the 'oh my God, what are we doing???' is often in my mind.
So a very big thank you!

Linda P[/QUOTE]

Our journey is only just beginning.. We have a very good life in the UK BUT the chance to make a better life for our children and ourselves is not to be sniffed at!

I never thought about leaving the UK until this job offer came up so you can imagine the million and one questions going through my head at the moment ( only just finished the extension on my house)

I need answers and value any thoughts.

Thanks

Bombards

Our journey is only just beginning.. We have a very good life in the UK BUT the chance to make a better life for our children and ourselves is not to be sniffed at!

I never thought about leaving the UK until this job offer came up so you can imagine the million and one questions going through my head at the moment ( only just finished the extension on my house)

I need answers and value any thoughts.

Thanks

Bombards[/QUOTE]

Have you looked at houses on WWW.mls.ca
be warned it's addictive
We have spent hours upon hours looking! We are one of the mad lot, who are off to Canada, but have never actually been there! (well hubby had one week there in October 04 ). If you type in the area to which you are going, on one of the search engines i.e. Yahoo etc lots of sites and community info are there for you to read up on! This site is great, you get the pro's and con's.
good luck!!!

Linda P

Our journey is only just beginning.. We have a very good life in the UK BUT the chance to make a better life for our children and ourselves is not to be sniffed at!

I never thought about leaving the UK until this job offer came up so you can imagine the million and one questions going through my head at the moment ( only just finished the extension on my house)

I need answers and value any thoughts.

Thanks

Bombards[/QUOTE]

Just two thoughts - do not sell your house in the UK. It may not be a better life (slick advertising, forget that) but it will be different...

Try and negotiate holiday before you take the job, my hubby has always had fifteen days to start because of this.

Personally I think greater than $100k will give you a very comfortable lifestyle.

I love the way strangers will talk to you over here as well. My dad loves talking to people but as we grew up I just felt that more and more people treat you as if you are a pervert or crazy or something if you try and talk to them in the UK!!! Such a shame and highly unnecessary.

you can definitely apply for PR whilst in a work permit, this is what we did, can't remember it very well though.

Feel way more relaxed over here and feel less reserved. One thing I noticed when I first started to come to North America is how reserved I felt as an a Brit. But make lots more effort now and enjoy myself lots more!!!

We're playing it safe!! Renting our house for the year, just in case!
Otherwise if we didn't like it in Canada, we would never be able to afford to come back to this area.
Linda

10 days, sometimes you can negoitiate up to 15 days. 4 weeks is VERY unusual, and usually takes many years of service. Medical jobs seem to get more. Teachers gets a couple of months in the summer off, but then I think sometimes its not paid

Yes you can apply for Permanent Residency once here on WP, thats what I did. Typicaly you apply to Buffallo NY (there is no inland route, you have to apply outside Canada). My employer helped with this...fed up of renewing permits. Citizenship is a different thing..you have to be a PR for 3 years to apply for citizenship (although you get some credit for time on a WP)

Only site worth looking at for housing is www.mls.ca. Probably about $280-300k+ by now...thats why Im happy living 2 hours away in my cheep house
IIRC Richmond Hill is more upmarket than most of TO.

For average housing and other info google for the stats canada community profiles. Data is from 2001, but gives an idea of all kind of things...average household income, average housing costs etc etc.

$100k would be considered a good salary here. There was a thread a few weeks ago discussing the salary convertion / cost of living thing...its fraught with peril! have to take taxes into account and differing cost of living, and of course how impressed you will be living on $100k+ depends on what you are getting by on now. As a basic rule of thumb, $100k is about the same standard of living as £50k??? but thats a very simplistic approach.

Far more relaxed and laid back in canada..but if I didnt enjoy my job I might feel different as long hours (40+) are standard practice here, and paid overtime in salaried positions is not that common. Outside of work, yes I find it very relaxing, but then Im not stuck in the rat race in a densley populated area. Thats probably why I can live with three weeks holiday, and have been getting by on two.

Very wise I think...although maybe it makes it too easy to bail out if the going gets tough or homesickness / culture shock kicks in.

Slightly off post, speech pathologist, is this the same as speech therapy, as we will have to sort this out for my son. Please use PM if you prefer!
Linda P[/QUOTE]


My son has hearing problems so his speech is a bit odd but is getting so much better as he has speech therapy every week - someone who comes to his school (and she regularly rings me at work to give me updates, just in case her weekly notes home doesn't cover everything - We are soo blessed living in North Vancouver. I do know it really depends on where we live - the service is really stretched in other growing cities in Vancovuer (eg Surrey)

I AM THRILLED with the care and the back up (any queries I can usually speak to someone within an hour... or have an appointment within two days or have someone visit the school to see kiddie) .

The downside is his aid cost $970 (then $60 for the mould) Thank god my employer's benefits covered all bar $300 of that - expecially as it was so comfy he was still wearing it when he dived into the deep end of a pool last summer....

Clare

In a Nutshell, it is like the UK was 35 yrs ago, but with all the great modcons of the 21st century.

Of course this statement is only valid if you are not drawn to Toronto, thats like London UK with a double sized New York Central Park, the choice is yours !!!