JET747

I agree with most of the above.

We have been out here since last sept. The children, 13 and 8 (9 tomorrow) had a 'shy' first week. However as soon as they make new friends in school and get involved then it's like they have been here forever. Like Carolyn said there is the social networking sites, Skype and telephone.

If you have to travel back you can be back in the Uk in a day, although may cost a little.

I think the most important thing to set up the move to be a success is to have a job first......

We have used the walk in clinics twice so far - just recently. No issues. You don't know who you are going to get, but as long as they are a Dr.

We are happy, things are working out well. Sports here is a little expensive...kids registered to play rugby was $200 each and kit a further $140 (plus cleats mouthguard etc) - and the season is only from now to august.-- but you can claim $500 a child back on the next years taxes.

Best of luck, but I say to give your child a great chance for future opportunities Canada is the place to be.

JET

JonboyE

Not worth the effort.

(S)he might be be mildly amusing at times but his/her posts are 99% b*ll*cks.

CanuckJock

Lydia, I am sorry but do not have any experiences to share with you, but I am most certainly interested in the answers and opinions you receive. We are considering moving to Canada next year I think it is, to be honest, our main concern that the children settle in OK. Ours will be a bit older, two teenagers (just) and a 9 year old so I am keen to hear about - for good or ill - the experiences of children settling in.

All things being even, we do have the fact that all my family live in Canada so we will have that crucial support awaiting (albeit I've been out of Canada 25 yrs).

Good luck in your decision!

brizzle

Here's a couple more sweeping generalisations on this thread: Standard of life is better in Canada/It's a better life for the children in Canada.

You can't easily compare life in the UK to Canada as there are way too many variables as well as individual motives and experiences along the way. Put it this way, if you lived on a rotten council estate in Middlesborough (or similar) and moved to Vancouver or Toronto, you'd probably think it's marvellous. If you lived in leafy Surrey, Cornwall, Dorset etc and moved to Prince George (or similar) you'd probably think it's awful. Overall things are different, but not necessarily better or worse. If you're an Afghan refugee, then yes Canada is better, but for anyone moving from another western country it's really just different.

Exchange chavs and underage drinking for gangsta wannabee's and drugs (the 3rd biggest part of the BC economy is the illicit production of cannabis)Some things are cheaper, some more expensive. The only guarantee is that Canada has more space.

The number 1 thing is jobs/income. Concentrate on that first. Can you get jobs that will at least give you at least a similar income? What good is 'moving for the kids', If you're struggling for money??

cheeky_monkey

Really why?..not being 'orrible but Canadian kids are dull as ditch water

ninaDGBCA

Like people said before it all depends on your income here compared to the UK whether your standard of living will be better or worse and your attitude towards things.
Yes kids will try the English accent, random people will tell you everything about their UK ancestors that came over god knows when. ....I personally don't think it's that bad, bit annoying maybe.

Holidays in Canada e.g. camping in one of the provincial parks is not that expensive. And going to the US if you live close is cheap, too. So again it depends on your income and what you expect from life.

We just bought a new car and the deal was brilliant. We would have never gotten a deal like this abroad. Insurance is higher but again, you'll be new here and you can't expect that it's all like "home".

Employment standarts differ from employer to employer. It depends a lot more on where you work, more than in any other country I've lived before.
You can have brilliant benefits incl dental, pension etc with one employer and hardly anything with another.

If you have a great job in England, great house, love the area you live in, have great friends and enjoy your life why would you want to leave that for something uncertain????

We moved to Ottawa/ON, still live in the city but thinking of moving out into the countryside a bit.
Our motivation was: a better job, better career prospectives, bigger house, less crime, better weather (yes it's cold in winter but the summer makes up for that), more to do for the kids.

Our kids were little when we moved but all of my friends that moved with older children (ages between 5 and 12) didn't have any trouble. But their parents were really positive about it too.

What I miss: friends, cream eggs (the ones here taste awfull), Jaffa cakes,Asda/Tesco, cheaper beer, a decend curry, and the seaside

Am I happy ? Most of the time.
It's a tough decision and to be honest if you are scared maybe do a few more trips before you leave everything behind.

Oink

By the time your children are 18 I suspect the cost of general higher education to be very similar in both countries. The cost of attending a prestigious HE institution in the UK will be much higher though.

el_richo

The best advice i could give, ironically, is do not ask for this type of advice on a public forum such as this one otherwise the subjectiveness could lack relevancy and confuse matters. Do what you think is best for your family, not what others think will be best.

magnumpi

wow......well said monkey boy. 10/10

el_richo

Ook

Tangram

It's for the kids innit.