rgilbert

I don't know if any of you have read the new article on the home page about someone that moved to Canada 5 years ago. I found it really depressing. I know there are quite a lot of negative experiences on this website but this one just got to me. I do like to read the negative experiences along with the positive as I hope it will give more of a balanced view of living/moving to Canada.

How do people that have not yet moved feel about very negative postings?

mkmurrays

Hi
We fly off to Canada in less than four weeks, and the negative stuff does give me the wobbles!
My view though, is that if you don't give it your best shot and give it a go, you'll spend the rest of your life in 'what if's'.....so, it isn't the land of milk and honey, but it has so much going for it, so bring it on!

steve666

There's another thread about that here.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=437800

MarkG

If I'm going to be depressed, I might as well be depressed in a country with better scenery .

But then I've always lived on a small fraction of my income and never been much into buying expensive stuff, so a pay cut won't bother me too much.

mkmurrays

Spot on!
Go into the move with your eyes open and make the most of it.

Canadian Citizen

Back in the 1950's , my family rented a house to a man and his wife, they were from Yorkshire. After setting up in business in Toronto, as a tile setter, and buying a van to carry all his tools and job materials, she decided that she "couldn't stand it here ". Nothing would do but they had to move back to the little town that they had come from, I think it was Snapethorpe or something like that.

She nagged him every day, endlessly. Finally he sold every thing, including the furniture, and they flew home. Just about a year later, I met him in a cafe here in Toronto.. He had come back, and she came with him, and he admitted that the whole smoozzzle had cost him about 10,000 pounds in total. I call that the 10,000 pound cure for homesickness...........

My point is simple. Over the past 400 years not everybody that has landed in Canada has made a success of their life here. Most of the failures are easy to see, they didn't have the right ATTITUDE, and they didn't PLAN properly for how they were going to live here in Canada.

Don't forget that many of the Immigrants that are making out well in Canada, didn't speak any English when they got here and they didn't have a University education either. Hard work and lots of it is the way that they made it here. They didn't EXPECT to start at the top of the wage scale, and they were willing, nay , they were eager to work at two jobs to get ahead. Both of them.

That guy from Yorkshire is still here, and they are well off in their retirement, with all of their 3 kids now University grads and owning their own homes and buisness operations. The wife is able to laugh at it now, but at the time she was un-able to see what she was doing to their finances, by insisting they "go home".

In my experience, the ones who make it in Canada, regardless of their original country, are those who are "here to stay " and who are willing to "make it their home" .

Endless trips back home are the sign of a lack of commitment to Canada.

Some just can't make the break, not matter how long they are here. I know people who have been in Canada for 40 years and they STILL are not Canadian citizens. That ticks me off.

Jim Bunting. Toronto.

Calgal

Most of what you say, I agree with wholeheartedly. But, everyone is different and one size doesn't fit all.

"Endless trips home..." don't neccessarily mean lack of commitment to a new life here in Canada. I actually wish I'd gone back for a visit a lot sooner than I did (I didn't go back for ten years). I think it would have helped me settle here much sooner; because I wasted energy missing something that didn't exist anymore.

I now realise that I will never feel truly "at home" in either place; rather in a sort of 'no-mans land' somewhere in the middle. I can accept that, and I know I'm probably about as settled as I will ever be, anywhere. I'm certainly not unhappy about it, far from it. It is what it is.

As for the article in question; whilst the author is entitled to her opinion and is telling it like it was for them, I feel it's a very biased, unbalanced view of life here (although to be fair, I have no personal experience of Ontario). However; to call Canada 'third world' is quite simply ridicuous; as is the sweeping statement that almost everyone has two or three jobs!

dbd33

But I'm not commited to Canada, I'm just living in Canada.

Canadian Citizen

Calgal:

By "endless trips home " I meant people who are going back and forth each year, instead of seeing North America, or even the Province in which they live.

You hit the nail on the head, when you said that you " wasted energy, missing something that doesn't exist any more ". How true.

Jim B.

Madmac

Mysanthropic to the core DB. Love it.

Calgal

Quite - but I think the problem for some is not enough vacation time to travel AND go home to visit family. Obviously for some, the family ties are strong and not seeing them at least once a year is a big deal.

Atlantic Xpat

I've lived in Canada for somwhere under 3 years and have made two vacation and one business trip back home in that time. This year we'll be in UK for 4 days on the way back from Africa. I would happily travel back once a year to see family and friends and drink decent beer. I love living in Newfoundland and at this time have no desire to leave for anywhere else in Canada let along UK. I consider myself committed enough to Canada but both the Mrs and I miss things about the UK from time to time. It's entirely natural to do so IMHO.

I'm fortunate that my Canadian wife understands and even encourages me. When she lived in the UK she travelled home at least once a year so she's nothing wrong in travelling back regularly whilst we can afford it. (i.e. before we have kids).

I 'spose if my 649/Super 7 numbers came up I'd have houses in both UK and Canada and split my time between the two. In the meantime I sit here and watch the spring snowstorm outside and dream of spring in England and a pint of Adnams.

Piff Poff

Yesterday, I was speaking to an 83 year old 'War Bride'. She moved to Alberta whilst her Canadian husband was still serving. She moved from the second biggest English City at the time (Birmingham) to a farm in Alberta. She said she cried every night for her Mum for a long long time. Her parents came out to visit on several occasions, her Dad always hoped her Mum would want to stay (she thought the friendly Canadians were just nosey ). This ladies husband recently passed on, she is having one final trip back to England and taking her grandaughter (33) with her, she wants to see her Mum and Dads grave and to show her grandaughter where her origins are.

Can you imagine emmigrating all those years ago - no internet, no cheap phone calls, expensive slow mail (some things don't change )... WOW we are so lucky when you think about it.

The lady I met was amazing with a huge zest for life, she still tells the fellas to keep their peckers up!

flashman

Wasn't the movie "The War Bride" her story? If not she should see it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244297/

traceyparker1

I think that the person who wrote the article should try living in the US for a while - she would think Canada was wonderful if she did! Admittedly we are worse off in terms of pay here than we were in the US, but everything else is a million times better....medical expenses are NOTHING here compared to there, it's cheaper to travel/vacation from Vancouver than it ever was from Boston, we have an amazing apartment that we rent for half the cost we were renting for a hole in Boston, and don't even get me started on the lifestyle differences.....I think that you just have to make the most of what you have and not yearn for the things that you "think" are better somewhere else. What is the old saying....."the grass is always greener"...I have lived all over the world and love Canada more than anywhere else!

Tracey