firefox

Hi all.

Any one know about housing and work in Kelowna
Many thanks
Andrew

steve of 5-0

Housing - www.mls.ca
Jobs - No Chance :scared:

NessieOggy

Housing has increased in price dramatically in the last couple years. The city is growing steadily and more housing is going up all the time.

Jobs have always been more difficult to get in the valley, but there are jobs to be had. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for.

You're more than welcome to drop a line if you need some more info....

Oggy

Maple Leaf

hello!...yes ...she is right.... it depends on what is expensive to you and what kind of work you are in...
there is housing available...and there is jobs to be had. and aside from that...Kelowna is a beautiful place to live!!!!!!!!!!!..the mountians..the lake..and surrounding lakes are just breathtaking. only about 2 hours from revelstoke...and the Rockie Mountains are not much further....also Big White is very! close if you love skiing.....*S*
good luck to you!

Tableland

When you write that there are jobs to be had - what sort of work do you mean? Are you talking about sweeping streets, administration, or what? I'm interested because I hear a lot on these forums about "no jobs in Canada" and wonder if they mean that specialised stuff is hard to find.

Cheers
T.

Maple Leaf

no..it isn't just sweeping streets.....within my first month here i was offered a job with a world class cruise toutist organisation. only problem is ..i cannot work till i have my PR.
i will say tho....wages in comparison to australia seem to be lower here. and vacation time is less.
this also can depend on the job and the union you are with. I am not impressed to think that i only get 2 weeks vacation ..for 5 years and then go another five to get 3 weeks per year. (that is if i go into health care, which is my career aside from tourism) and that is in BC..i dont' know about the other provinces.
i think with any job seeking situation...a lot can depend on the individual.
do your homework..be prepared..and have some funds to get you by till you get the job you want...*S* just my input

Tableland

Hi Maple Leaf

Thanks for you reply. I noticed this about the wages between Australia and Canada, also - and you might be able to confirm this for me - it seemed to me that there weremore jobs in Australia and that immigrants got treated alittle better there.

I am trying right now to choose between the two countries. I am in the UK but want to start a family in either Australia or Canada. I lived in Australia as a kid, we have families in both and we love both. But it's such a tough decision!! Right now, Australia looks better becausebthe waiting list is much shorter, the wages eem higher and they seem to have more jobs and a good programme for immigrants, whereas I have heard the opposite in all these cases about Canada.

Any insider-info gratefully received

T.

Andrew Miller

Just keep in mind that Canada is a destination of choice for all who want to get to US but for some reason can't and use Canada as a stepping stone as well as for those in US who are running out of their H1 visas and hope to return to US shortly after becoming Canadian PR. Majority of whining and complaints about jobs in Canada in this and other forums come from those "American wannabe's". Australia on the other hand doesn't have "American wannabe's" factor, so you don't read as many complaints.

Tableland

This is an interesting point. I have argued before that a great many people in the UK seem to perceive of Canada as a kind of America Lite, and are shocked upon arrival at exactly just how different it is. Certainly your theory about the American Wannabes would explain some of this whining about jobs - because in terms of salaries and taxes they are making comparisons with the US rather than the UK or wherever else.

Maple Leaf

yes..is important to weedle out the whinges and whiners....

to me canada isnt' all that different from australia realy.there are differences of course.but i find it realy easy to be here........however for many reasons ...my husband and i are exploring us going to australia.......we have a very good working opportunity within the tourism industry....is very appealing...i love canada.....but ..well we have to do what we feel is right for our family...etc..and i must admit..i do miss the aussie beach......

dbd33

I've lived in Canada since 1981. I work in the US most of the time and, last week, I drove across the US for the umpteenth time. I perceive Canada as America Lite and notice very little difference between, say, Ontario and Ohio. What differences should be shocking me ?

Tableland

The first thing that would shock a sentient being would the enormous gulf in political attitudes. Practially polarised, Canada and the US have almost nothing in common when it comes to foreign policy making. The second thing that would shock you would be the completely different approaches to domestic politics, such as social administration. The healthcare systems are the total opposites - as you well know, I'm sure. The third thing that would shock you would be taxation. The fourth thing that would shock you would be the price of fuel. Maybe after you'd had a beer and walked round your garden, the fifth thing that would shock you would be the difference in violent crime, particularly gun-related offenses. Then when you were snuggled up in bed watching your weather channel, you might be shocked by how much less sun Canada gets than most of the States. Falling off into the land of Peepy Nigh Nights you would dream of the difference in kilometres and miles and celsius and fahrenheit, and on and on and on.

Superficially they look the same - but when the hell has looking the same ever meant that something really is the same? Many British are immersed in US culture from an early age, and I reckon a great deal transfer this onto their expectations from Canada.

dbd33

I disagree. Canada manages its image differently but the practical differences are marginally at best. For example, Canada theatrically declined to participate in the invasion of Iraq but, at the same time, increased the number of troops in Afghanistan so as to free US troops for war. Much as I loath President Bush we might say that he is, at least, more honest about his policies.

The point about social administration is too vague for me, do you refer to there being a law for everything in Canada ? If so, it's true that Canada is highly regulated but you have to allow that very many laws are routinely ignored (marijuana is technically illegal, bicycing without a helmet, phoning from the car, on and on and on).

The healthcare systems differ but not so much or so simply as you suppose. Health is a state/provincial concern, Oregon and Hawaii have similar healthcare systems to Ontario and the largest single payer healthcare system (one dare not say socialised system) in North America is in the US, not in Canada. Meanwhile, yesterday, in Ontario, I tired of waiting in line at the hospital for a routine procedure so I paid money in order to jump the queue, this is admittedly unusual in Ontario but it's common in the US and in Quebec. All in all, the systems are not shocking different, I took an American to hospital in Canada earlier in the year and she thought it all very similar to being in the US.

Well, no. Not income tax anyway, the systems are similar, increasing marginal rates with allowances resulting in a reggresive system once one starts making serious money. I often compare Ontario's rates with those in Virginia (where an associate lives), they're about the same at our income level with variations depending more on individual circumstance than country. My colleague doesn't bother with health insurance, btw, if he did that+income tax would be a lot more than the income tax here. Sales taxes are horribly difficult to compare, they depend on state/province, city, item and so on.


Not so much. Last week we drove from Colorado to Toronto. Gas was US$50/tank in the US, I usually pay C$50/tank here and attribute the difference to buying at a cheap place here and on the interstate there. I accept that it usually costs more in Canada but, again, not shockingly so.

There have been a lot of shootings in Toronto recently but I think you're overstating. Gun crime varies with population density and there are still a lot of places in the US that are more dangerous even than our neighbourhood.

Fair enough.


I don't use kilometres or celsius. Those units are available here but shopping, cooking, construction, all non-scientific and non-governmental activities go on in imperial. Again, it's not that different in the US, science and engineering there is often conducted in metric but, like here, people and houses are measured in imperial.

There are some differences between Canada and the US, of course there are, but I suggest that they're mainly comestic and that the term "America Lite" properly describes them.

Tableland

Foreign Policy

Canadian foreign policy is nothing like US foreign policy. There are currently 750 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, and this token effort was done not to free up the massive amount of 750 US soldiers for Iraq, but as a nod to Canada's well-respected peace-keeping tradition.

Social Administration

Canada's entire democratic system is different. It is a bicameral parliamentary democracy, not a republic. Its social administration is therefore different. More regulations in many things, of course, but also there is a different perception of the relationship between the state and the citizien.

Healthcare

Although this might change soon, it is illegal for a person to spend his own money on private care in Canada. Try passing that legislation in the US. Again, your friend might have thought the hospitals looked the same and worked at the same speed, but they were financed from the two most different places on Earth, the public and private spheres.

Taxation

Canadians pay more tax per capita than Americans. The average Canadian tax burden is 49.3% of his income. The US one is somewhere in the 20s. If you moved from Virginia to British Columbia and you earned $50,000 a year, it would take a 17.4% increase to maintain your standard of living.

Fuel

The average price of fuel in the US is $2.00, and in Canada it is over $4.00.


Gun Crime

According to Canada Firearms Centre, rates for homicides are 3.8 higher in the US than Canada. 38% of US robberies involved guns, only 25% of Canadian ones did.

Measurements

Canada converted to metric a long time ago. Although I prefer Imperial, metric is the way of the future. Canada showed its differences with the US when it chose to go metric officially. Sure, older people will go on with Imperial, and why not? But in fifty years' time Canada will be 100% metric. The US will not be anywhere near. This is happening in the UK, where all official stuff apart from road signs are in metric. British people under the age of 15 have no idea what Imperial is.

These are not cosmetic differences. They show profound differences - in terms of the political sphere, as different as you get without becoming totalitarian - between the two nations. To the casual observer, Canada is America Lite, but a closer inspection reveals the differences.

dbd33

Just a couple of points. Some of the other issues would, I think, best be resolved by your visiting the US and Canada. For example people do not noticeably love their government more in one than other.

This is simply not so. Not only is it legal but there's a tax deduction for such expenses.

Well, no. Growing up in the US she was mainly treated in government funded hospitals. Both of her parents worked in such hospitals and her step-father still does. I haven't been hospitalised in either country but various of my children have in both, I'd say the care was of a similar standard, contrary to Canadian opinion they have queues in the US too.

Statistics for countries as a whole are not much use at all. New Hampshire and Montana hae almost no gun crime while Washington DC and Toronto have plenty. What you have to compare is areas of similar population density and economic circumstances, you then find that, say, Lansing MI and Barrie ON both have neglible rates of gun crime while Jane/Finch and Anacostia have firing rates like war zones. Most Americans and most Canadians have never seen a gun used in the commision of a crime.

Nominally. Everything is still made in imperial and labelled in metric, butter for example, comes in 455g slabs. Personal ads still feature 6' men claiming 9" and everything at the market or supermarket is labelled in pounds. Even my children who were raised here and are francophone measure apartments in "pc" (square feet in French). Don't forget Canada is economically and culturally a subsidiary of the US, when the US changes Canada will finish converting. One area where metrication does apply is the price of petrol, in the US last week we paid a consistent $2.60, I don't know what it is in Canada because they don't use gallons and I'm too lazy to convert the price.


Sorry this has very little to do with Kelowna, I expect that's a very nice place with hardly any gun crime.