marieceleste

We live in central Alberta, I work as a psych nurse. Husband is full time at home looking after the children. It has been hard as it is not just moving to a new country we have had a complete role reversal. We did visits here and in B.C before moving but the one thing we didnt look at in depth was the education system.
We have discussed moving back before my contract is up, or moving to another province. I just don't know what to do for the best.

JET747

We are heading that way sometime soon hopefully. I work in the Oil/Chemical Industry - so Alberta for job reasons it looks like. So far we are looking at Edmonton BUT Calgary may also be a good option if I can get a fly in fly out option in the oilsands.

Personally, although I don't know your full details I would try to clear up the question over your husband's conviction and give yourself an option with respect to having a permanent residency. This would give you and your family a wonderful option.

Also I think that you have to be patient. It may seem that the Education is a little behind ours at the moment - but it catches up and overtakes ours when they get a little older - this is what I understand from people there. Your children will probably grow up Bi-lingual as well.

It will take time to settle into the living- supermarkets etc but I am sure you have done the right thing.

JET

marieceleste

Thanks for that. One thing I would say to anyone is that if you have a partner you need a really strong relationship because imoving abroad must be one of the most stressful things to do!

Monkey Puzzle

Where we left in the UK (Hertfordshire) was overcrowded and overrun with chavs. We supposedly lived in a village but the space around us was gradually being eroded away by new development and just TOO MANY PEOPLE! Overcrowding eg on the roads makes people grumpy and aggressive in my opinion and we saw evidence of it every day. We had noisy and inconsiderate neighbours with bratty kids and the walls seemed to be closing in. We have no kids to consider and were lucky to be able to grab a BUNAC visa and go for a Vancouver Island adventure, initially for a year. It wasn't long enough!

We are lucky to have landed in our little bit of paradise in Canada ..we have space, a view of the sea and a house that we love. We still have to ask ourselves "do we LIVE here"? The grass IS bloody greener, for us. We find the people laid back, the pace of life slower and that makes us happy, every single day.

Different people have different priorites though. The whole thing is very subjective. Canada is a big place and the UK too has many different areas. Who's to say one is better than the other? You can only decide that for yourself depending on your own priorities.

(All I know is that being in Tesco at Christmas when back in Scotland nearly gave me a panic attack! "Get me back to the islannnnnnnnnnnddddddddd!!")

lancashirebird

Not sure where you are, maybe calgary
i have been here 8mths and knew from the off set that i would be stopping at home whilst my OH worked, yeah when you arrive its hard, i would say the first 6mths is the worst, but after that things are better.
I have kids from 4-11yrs and all 3 love there life here, they have freedom, they have made loads of friends and our social life is good.
One thing i would say to anyone moving is to really do a recci, dont go off site seeing, get a cottage, rental and live the life whilst here.
I found the food expensive and the choice bad when we got here and then i met the canadians and talked with them, some great moms and i have learnt the art of baking again, looking after the family wasnt my first choice in career, but hey they are all happy now, which has opened me up to starting my own business.

Different rules here with education, but we knew we had to pay for uni etc later, but hey thats canada
Hope you start settling soon, maybe try and get your OH to join some father groups or even moms groups in the area, honestly they dont bite, well we dont here

Back to OP - I left for my kids, there lives, there education, achance of seeing alovely country and starting from scratch again...whoopie (lol)
Arrived went through first 6mths with head up bum, now love my life, kids love there life, hubby loves it and we have great friends around us now
relaxed and totally loving our lifes in our new city
All i can say is recci, recci, recci, just because someone dogs a area, doesnt mean it wont float your boat

Good luck
LB

skyturner

Very true, I live in a yorkshire village where most people know each other, all the kids hang around (yes hang around and get up to mischief!), it is relatively safe here and I can go into the village centre without any brass and know for a fact i could borrow a tenner from someone (as I have lent many out) and get a free couple of beers).....yet, I have seriously weighed up all the pro's and cons for both countries and Canada still wins me over (frequent visitor to Canada as wife is Canadian). But, as has been mentioned, emmigrating is not commital, parole and early release is always an option.

tioram

It's all very well saying you should be motivated by the positives of Canada rather than the negatives of the UK (pull instead of push), but in reality it's likely to be a combination of both for most people. I'm sure everyone has different motivations on both sides, here's ours:

Negatives of UK:
1. By and large, it's not family friendly
2. Children are generally demonised
3. There's such a breakdown of family life that the other day I had a shop assistant ask my daughter who I was, as if I had kidnapped her or something. She pointed to me and asked my daughter "who's this man?". I felt like slapping the silly bint, but to be fair, it IS actually quite rare to see a father shopping with his daughter.
4. Unless you're a beneficiary of the over-inflated house prices of the last decade, it's very difficult to afford a reasonable standard of living.
5. Public transport - forget it.
6. There's generally two seasons in the UK. Summer - where it's cold, dull, but doesn't rain too much, and Winter - where it's cold, dull and rains a lot.
7. My kids would inherit a lifetime of debt and servitude thanks to a decade of Gordon Brown's version of "fiscal prudence"

Positives of Canada (from my experience - recce trips, research etc.):
1. MUCH more family friendly
2. Many more things for kids to do outside of school hours
3. Better balance between indoor and outdoor life
4. Lovely warm summers
5. Winter sports
6. Most of all, it's a BIG adventure for me and my family. It might not be someone else's idea of a big adventure, but it's ours

bubbles08

MR POT YOU ARE BLOODY JOKING ! PEOPLE DONT SMILE IN THE UK ACCORDING TO YOU!??
Well everyone we have come across,in Bedfordshire and in Herdforshire have been very friendly ..........and yes they smile as well ! what a load of b.....ks!!!!!My neighbours in Oz would have stepped over us if we collapsed in the street,so it really p....s me off when i read things like that.My daughters made cakes and took them round to a neighbour to say hi,they got such a lovely card back saying how lovely they were and thanks very much,my neighbours only said hi in OZ when raiding my bulk rubbish,actually some did not even say that.
People here are so polite when driving,something we never encountered in Perth,the road rage was awful there,We have friends that have come back to Uk from OZ and cannot believe how many times people have said thankyou for letting them out.
people like you that say comments like that make me so annoyed.

Dave101

i have to broadly agree, im in the position of preparing to leave in the next 2-3 years although I could leave in the next 6 months if i want to.

im sick of the UK, i love it but i hate what has become of it. i know its not as bad as it could be, but when is that ever a reason to stay?

in particuclar for me its the benefits system, dole scum and the rights of all newcomers taking priority over me.

im very lucky tho, i have a new life already waiting for me, im just trying to save as much uk money as possible so its easier to live when i move to...China!
(i know this is a canada board but it was a gereric OP question!)

MR POT

There seems to be some interesting views which generally go towards my favour of leaving the uk.
I can appreciate Bubbles comments that people smile where he lives, but once again read my comment on how many people I employ and the hundreds of towns and citys I have worked in the uk.
Basing it on one town is pointless, I have seen the good towns turn bad over years, I have employed people and in turn their children (then fired) who have deteriated due to the spreading disease of stupidness passed on from lazy parent to child.
Thats not to say it is all the parents fault as how can you mould a child to be honest, trustworthy and hardworking when barley any other children are.
Do people really know the reason for mass immigration in the construction industry? I do its because we as a whole did not have the skill set to satisfly the building standard requirements.
Unfortunately with our slack immigration laws the skilled labour poured in the unskilled and uneducated.
Thanks John009, I will be taking a sabbatical next year to travel the country, as for work I am a chartered construction manager which qualifies me to be a company director so even if I drop a role or two I should be fine.
Jerico, your point is very valid. I can confirm due to my extensive travelling, generally but not always you are five minutes away from a slum.
As for Monkey I agree with the overcrowding, I am unfortunately responsible for delivering the construction of many of the flats in the uk but if it was not me it would be someone else, we all have a master.
Some of the places I have built would barley facilitate my ladys shoes.
Has anyone on here been to Toronto, the reports seem good so far?

el_richo

Maybe you need to review your company's hiring policy

act1980

I think to be fair though that a lot of people do do their research, it's circumstance that effects peoples quality of life. Like so many that have lost their jobs in Canada at the moment which has jepordized thir status in Canada and caused financial issues.

I think some people have a lot of luck and settle well while others don't, hence why there is a mixed bag of opinions.

I still don't think that Canada is like the UK in a lot of ways.

skyturner

Mr POT.

I have been reading this thread with interest, I have to put my tuppeny bit in.

For someone who is boasting to be high profile and as experienced as yourself (hiring and firing 100's including two generations) I find it amazing that your strong opinionated views are borderline insultive!

For a person of company director calibre I am suprised at your lack of grammar, spelling and generalising.......to be honest if you submitted a CV to me typed or hand written in that kind of format your CV would be filed!

kate holt

Hear hear Mr Pot!

So OK his spelling is a bit out - sure he would of used spell check on a CV...
this is only a discussion forum after all ...

As for his company hiring policy - in London up until recent times the calibre of personnel has been very low - not much in the way of choice.

Personally I agree with everything he says - London is like Beirut now!

el_richo