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We have decided that we are fed up in the UK and need a change, we dont really know where we want to go.

We have lived in South Africa and have been back in the UK for 11 years.

So.......

Tell me why we should consider moving to Canada.

What are the good bits and the bad bits..

Any help really appreciated.

Thanx

Sue

I think you should do your own research into why canada rather than hope others will tell you about it. People have such personal reasons for choosing one place over another, and any replies here will inevitable be biased. For me I like the 4 seasons, the fact I can afford my own house here, the fact that there is a real community spirit where I live, and that I have been able to spend the last half hour watching a flock of beautiful wild turkeys hanging around sunning themselves in my back yard are all favourable points, but there are negatives too.

First thing anyone thinking of emmigrating shoiuld do is make a list of what you do and dont like about where you are now, and then figure out if loading all your posessions into a container and shipping them quarter of the way around the planet, and then having to find a new job and new friends an d social supports is going to make things better or worse.

Besides, pros and cons of canada have been discussed ad nausuem in the past, so have a look in the archive.

Besides all the things Iaink said, I love the mixed taps in washroom/kitchens in Canada!

Are they manufactured by Moen? My in-laws' kitchen sink has a Moen mixer tap and the end bit pulls out, which is handy for filling the Brita when the sink is full.

I like the lack of graffiti in Canada, and the fact that most houses have basements. But I don't live there yet.

Yes, our kitchen tap is Moen! The houses here are modern and I love this style of architecture.
The ONLY thing I'm beginning to miss is my professional job and my permanent contract with the BBC from which I resigned, and we moved here. I don't regret it, but now that our savings are disappearing fast, and I have not found a proper job, I just miss the financial (sort of) security I had there. Though my Lloyds TSB credit card had a balance of 8 grands, but .... anyway I'll find a professional job soon, I have to find a job!

Yes, I think I'll miss the security - I was a civil servant for 20 years until I gave it up in October. I'm doing nothing now.

Yep, everything iaink said plus there's a picture of the Queen on the coins........

The 'lack of graffiti' doesn't apply for Toronto. Although there does seem to be not much in the nice areas the rest of the city has as much as I have seen anywhere else. One cool thing I see everyday on the subway between Dundas West and Keele is a thing called Wall Noize where the stores have all paid(i think) to have professional graffiti artists come and cover the backs of their buildings. This means that while covered in graffiti it all looks pretty cool and is coherant pictures rather than just pointles tags and because they look good and are genuine graffiti people seem reluctant to further vandalize or destroy it.

I'd say the only reason to move to Canada is because you want to. I find it odd that people would give up their old life (unless it was a really crappy life) and move to a completely different country with a different culture and start their life again from scratch just based on things they have been told or seen on TV or readon the internet. I'd say the reason to move was because you had been to Canada, whether on vacation or as a student or on a work permit etc. temporarily and then had decided you liked it so much you wanted to try living there permanently. Most people who move seem to have good jobs (because they are always worried about getting a new one just the same in Canada) and have houses and cars and often kids etc. I'd say that unless you have spent much time in Canada then uprooting and moving is a straight up gamble. Some people land on their feet and get a good job right away etc and love it, some people land on their feet and get a good job right away and hate it. Others spend ages finding work but love it anyway and others can't find a job and hate it more. As long as you acept the risk and know there are no guarantees and are willing to accept you might not get a good job right away (starting from scratch remember) and it will be hard work and you might not even like living there then you should go for it and see what happens.

Just remember there is no "perfect dream country" where there is no crime and no social problems and everyone has a great job and owns a house and a car and a cottage by the lake etc. You will get pissed off at politicians here and the way things work and things will bug you and there will be crime in the news and all that stuff. You just have to hope you will be happier with the balance and challanges of life in Canada than you would in the UK, or any other country. To me it is more about choosing a country that matches your way of life as closely as you can so that you can more easily live with whatever problems exist.

Drew

Good post Drew!

Graffiti is a potential problem everywhere I think, but reading some Canadian community sites it seems to be seen as everyone's problem, and there are active strategies by everyone encouraged in order to minimise it.

This is one of the reasons I like the thought of living in Canada, or certainly in Alberta, where I have mostly researched. There is a strong public and community spirit, a high level of voluntary activity for the general good. There seems to be a sense of nothing really being an insurmountable problem.

The schooling aims at producing well-rounded individuals with a high level of confidence, and respect both for themselves and for others.

These are among the myriad reasons we have chosen to make Canada our new home. Others are more material, eg beautiful wide open spaces, quality of life, cost of living, lower crime rate etc etc as you will find elsewhere on this site and others.

Morw and family

Ah..........The ultimate PR question !, You will have to do your own research, just like we all did before we took the plunge, all you are going to get here, is a biased view from everyones side of the country.

The job thing is the main thing here, and that can sometimes determine where you end up. Once you get the job though, you can then decide to move to another area, and do the driving if you don't like where the job is situated.

Personally.....our family is quite happy being here now, even though we gave up good jobs and a nice house back in the UK. Things have been tough to start with, but that is the same for everyone.

If you checkout the pics in our album below in our signature, you will see that even our little girl, is having a ball being here, making new friends, getting fluent in french, now that she is in a french immersion school.

Good luck to you, in your decisions.

Thanks for your replys.

This forum is the start of my research.

We spend a number of years in South Africa so know all about how hard it is to start over and all about missing family etc, but we dont have any family close by now, so that wont be a problem for us, been there and done that.

Maybe we just havent settled in the UK and now after 10 years have itchy feet. I think that once you have lived abroad it is in your blood and it is hard to settle in a place and say that it is where you want to be for the rest of your life.

We certainly dont feel that about the UK.

Sue

So.......has all these swayed your decision in any way?

I think the most important thing to research is whether you are going to be able to make a living here. What skills do you have and do you have skills that you could fall back on if your first skill isn't marketable here. This seems to be the thing that depresses people the most and the reason why people fail to settle down and love where they move to - the fact that employers seem to favour Canadians and Canadian qualifications.

Believe me - I have been there - not with the Canadian experience thing but I had a job I absolutely hated. My employer was the reason I hated it. I knew that what he was doing constituted bullying but you have to prove it and at the time I thought I needed the job, so I put up with it. I applied for every single job in the paper whether I was qualified for it or not. I got one interview out of all that. I applied for jobs that I knew I was the only person in Regina that was really qualified for the job - and I didn't even get an interview.

So - I know!

If you have money to tide you over or if your spouse can get a job and you can manage - I would think that once you have a job you like - then you can settle down and decide whether Canada is the place for you.

Words of wisdom, I don't expect less from you ! Nicely said Liz.

The overriding sentiment here seems to be that you should make your own mind up, and I agree with this.

Things you might want to consider:

Climate
Employment
Type of housing
Abiltity to make new social contacts
Healthcare
Crime rates
Taxes
Retirement Plans

I'm sure there are other things too. Also it's really important that you visit the places that you might consider moving to! Although this won't give you the whole picture, it'll give you a taste!!

Good Luck,

Int