In my personal opinion - and the opinion of some of the great people I have met since living here, there are a lot of things to consider carefully about moving anywhere, wheter it is a move within you present country or to another country.
The first thing to think about is why are you moving? - what outcomes are you hoping for?
You then have to research carefully, to ensure that your move is going to achieve the outcomes you are looking for. If you do not gain the outcomes you seek then you may find you are unhappy and blame it on the environment or other things. Some people seek more money, others a better personal life. But to be truely happy (in my personal opinion) you need a good work / life balance. To find one half only, may leave you unhappy and blaming the environment around you. I have met a lot of Canadians that have moved accross Canada and explained to me why they didnt like where they were and how much better it is where they are now - others talk of how great other parts of Canada are.

What is my point?

Just think carefully about what you want from life, and why you are not getting what you want. Could it be achieved somewhere else in the country you are in?
My wife can't wait to get our mountain bikes out here, Skating outdoors will be fun. Meals and social occassions at friends houses are a great experience for us, and it is fantastic meeting other people's family and friends and we have an awseome local pub that sells good beer and guinness, live music, good food and a very wide clientel to talk to and their experiences from hauling logs over the arctic, ranching and cattle driving through to Computer networking, Rig mechanics Rail operators.

What a fantistic experience we are having! eh?

So far, I have only been here 4 months but each day gets better and better and I am certainly achieving the objectives I intended to achieve. Great Job, Good friends, fantastic outdoors - except the fish just wont get caught on my rod - lol.

You can compare this also with the difference between living in a Lincolnshire village (where I came from in the UK) to living in London (UK) the two are obviously extremely different! as are lots of places in Canada. Some are only a few hundred km away but there can be cultural differences even on that basis......

Brilliantly said, no-one could argue with it but i'm sure someone will try.

... or, they arrive in the UK to attend university paying three to four times more than a home student and support themselves by funds brought with them from their home country (often at a significant disadvantage due to varying exchanges rates and costs of living); they pay council tax and VAT without the right to access public funds, they buy a TeeVee license and don't bother with watching it because it's all crap, they volunteer for various national and local charities, they go to the doctor because the Home Office tells them to for immigration purposes and receive a condescending lecture from some uptight receptionist that thinks anyone with a foreign accent is ripping off the NHS, etc... eventually they decide to stay for a while despite all the crap and expense become PRs, buy a house, pay stamp duty etc... and think about a career change that would have a positive impact on people in the local community. Yeah, ***** 'em.

Meeee-ow!

Lose your sense of humour somewhere?

Hi Sue -- nice to see you in Canadaland.

Bravo, hot wasabi peas! Just for kicks, andy_sheila, why don't you give up your British passport, try and immigrate back to the UK, land in Dover, and, considering how "easy" those immigrants have it there, try and go through all the steps you described earlier; who knows maybe they'll hook you up with a suite in Buckingham Palace, a limo with a Cambridge-educated driver, and a private jet with a stripper pilot, just like they do it for every other immigrant who comes to the UK, right?

Im in and out....but somehow the "sense" of humour seems to be lost these days!

Sure, the genuine ones who either a, don't know how to milk the system or b, don't want to. I was talking about the majority of immigrants and the system of which i have 1st hand experience through work.

I think you have taken a bang to the head HWP, you used to post good, constructive, respected and relevant views but looking at your last few, you have become rude and obnoxious

Oh, it pops up now and again but it's definitely no lounge! I'll see you over there.

And what 1st hand experience do you have?

First hand experience in what? Asking an immigrant worker to mow your lawn for half the minimum wage and complaining that he doesn't sound like he went to Eton? It's kind of like "all generalisations are wrong", isn't it?

No, experience of immigrants to the UK and the system ?
I'm not generalising, i have 1st hand experience. It's not my opinion, it's facts.

so true...with mcgrouch and iain not around much anymore....it is definitely lacking!

Excuse me? That was/is my personal immigration story. There are many, many immigrants in the UK with similar stories. Not really headline grabbing material though is it? "Immigrants: They bring their foreign cash and actually try to positively impact the UK."

I haven't had a bang to the head and have only responded rudely or obnoxiously (if you want to call it that) to posts/threads that I find are reflective of that sentiment.