Originally Posted by The4BellsLondon (Post 11348042)

TBH The homeless in DTES do seem to be getting a little more aggressive.

Originally Posted by The4BellsLondon (Post 11348205)

I think Jing was being sarcastic !

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11348267)

My daughter works in the DTES, dresses oddly and is, well, one might kindly say "competitive" rather than "aggressive". I do hope she doesn't seem homeless and frightening on her lunch breaks there; we've been that way before and it didn't go well.

Originally Posted by neneromanova (Post 11339007)

I just want to know, what made you want to leave the UK to go to Canada?

Originally Posted by Roberto1980 (Post 11516252)

Not there yet. I have recently been having 'debates' with my wife (bit of soul searching on my part I suppose)

But for what it's worth, here are my reasons :

better climate (proper seasons. An actual summer! )
Less of a 'yob' / binge drinking / aggressive culture (west of Scotland anyway)
Friendly, more positive people (General assumption I know)
Less widespread deprivation i.e. tired looking / run down towns / poverty
Life adventure
New start, new career(s)
'better for the kids' (well, not really, I know we can give our kids a great upbringing here but this is more my wife's reason)
Boston cream doughnuts from Tim Hortons

Originally Posted by Atlantic Xpat (Post 11339036)

Distilling an entire country down to those four bullet points is quite the accomplishment. If that's your sole impression of Canada then don't move here. Seriously.

To massively generalise - life in Canada is pretty much the same as life in UK. Somethings are better, somethings are worse.

You need to have a reason to move here. For the adventure, the kids, the climate, the mountains, doesn't matter why but a reason. You then need to temper that with real research about how you will do here. What job opportunities are there for you, what will you do if it takes you a while to get jobs, do you need to Canadianise qualifications etc etc. Being an informed consumer and moving with your eyes wide open and prepared for what you might find will make the process less stressful, costly and with a greater chance of success.



Looking back across the Atlantic, Devon sounds idyllic. It might be quiet but it is far more accessible to a greater diversity of cities, countries and experiences than Canada is. If you have a good life there, think very carefully IMHO before giving it up to move.

That being said, I moved because my then girlfriend now wife was from Canada and wanted to move home. Or in other words, I moved for sex.;)

Originally Posted by Roberto1980 (Post 11516252)

Boston cream doughnuts from Tim Hortons

Originally Posted by Tirytory (Post 11516498)

Out of interest what would be your pro list for the UK? Who's driving this? Your wife or you?

Originally Posted by Roberto1980 (Post 11516536)

Cons:
The 'ned'/ hard drinking/ aggressive culture that seems ingrained in the west of Scotland psyche.

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11516627)

My experience in meeting ex-pats from Scotland here in Ottawa is that they take great pride in that aggressive culture based usually on drinking copious quantities of crap scottish lager and reminiscing on the good old days in Scotland...the antagonism towards those south of the border continues with all of its negative connotations.

Originally Posted by Tirytory (Post 11516661)

God I wrote a huge response and it's frozen on my iPad. This has happened several times only on expat...anyone else have this problem? It might just IOS 8... Grr.

I might rewrite it but not till after lunch!!