act1980

Hi, me and my OH are going to Canada next year. I would just like to know how many people it has worked out for and how many people didn't get on and have moved back to the UK or are in the process of moving back. It's jut we are really looking forward to getting over there but at the same time scared that it won't work out and that we will hate it!!

So, how many of you are living the dream now?

Or who got over to Canada and realised it wasn't for them?

And why, what makes Canada so great or not so great??

Sorry for the questions but I would just like to know what peoples opinions are on this!

Elaine B.

I've been here since September 1999 when I moved here with my Canadian OH. It was never a dream to live in Canada I was 25 and had nothing to lose by moving countries it was an adventure (a very badly planned adventure).

We will be moving back to the UK on July 13th but although it hasn't been easy here at times I don't regret moving, but for us it's just time to go home. Nowhere is prefect but I'd rather be in a imprefect place closer to my family especially with 2 small kids and a OH who has to work away from home for weeks at a time.

Oakvillian

I wouldn't say I'm living the dream, because my motivations for coming to Canada in the first place were a bit more grounded than some Utopian notion of the perfect life.

However, in comparison with living in the UK (where I was doing effectively the same job for the same employer for the same money), we have a lot more space, a few more toys, and a bit less spare cash. The latter may not be entirely unrelated to the fact that here there are four of us and one income for the moment, whereas in the UK there were three of us and two salaries coming in.

We have no intention of moving anywhere else, but circumstances may change in future.

ann m

Have a look at my one-year Canniversary thread

ireland2canada

I haven't made it to Canada just yet, so I can't really comment (yet!)

Do you frequent the Moving Back To The Uk part of the forum? I make a point of checking in from time to time to see a different perspective. You will see a variety of reasons for returning home - from the understandable to the downright bizarre.

NETTY07

Hi we moved over in Dec just gone .At the momment life is good .
We have 2 teenagers 16 and 13 , who love it here and have made so many friends , my OH is very settled in his job ,i have just got a job in the local hospital and start next week .

Canada is great for us as we seem to have more family time together ,more disposable income ,we have a lovely home as you sure get a lot of house for your money here. the Canadians are so friendly.

Of coarse i miss my family but at the momment we are all happy with the move and have no intentions of returning to the U.K and Canada is such a
beautiful country now the weather is so nice here we go away most week-ends to different lakes camping , we love it here . I think life is what you make it at the end of the day .

dbd33

I'm not living any dream I ever had.

Looked at over the long term I'd say that the difference between having moved to Canada and having stayed in Europe is that any grandchildren I might have will be Americans rather than Europeans. Otherwise the differences, despite feeling like painful losses year after year, don't really amount to much. One doesn't actually need history, pubs, family, architecture or to be surrounded by natural beauty.

iaink

I never had "the dream" either, but Im perfectly happy to have ended up settled here in small town Eastern Ontario.

I can afford a $800 mortgage on a decent size house and yard with a nice view. My wife can stay home with the kids. We can just about afford to run 2 cars.

I enjoy the big variation in the seasons, although the bugs are really annoying at the moment.

Life is relaxed and stress free, no petty crime or yobbery really to worry about, I live in a nice little community, there is enough going on in the local area that I dont really miss the thrills of city life, Im just happy plowing along in my rut. The city is only a couple of hours away if civilisation beckons.

I've been here ten plus years now, which seems a bit unreal to be honest. The key though is in finding a job that you like and that pays enough to cover your expenses.

The main advantage for me in Canada is that my house is only $150k, so Im not a slave to my mortgage... and thats not necissarily true in the GTA or Calgary or Vancouver etc. I guess Im lucky to have a relatively good paying job outside the major urban areas.

act1980

Hi ann m, could you please post the link? thanks!!!

act1980

Hi, I didn't know that forum existed, will google it!! Thanks

BristolUK

At the risk of sounding like like a cracked record, the job may not be so vital.

I had no 'dream' as such, I just met a Canadian woman, fell in love and then looked at what might work in Canada for a family income.

I was a low paid civil servant in England and I had planned to take a reduced/early pension, sell my house in Bristol and buy a small place in Spain at about 50, leaving me a decent capital sum and pension to live on.

So the decision to retire early had already been taken; it just became Canada instead and three years early.

Mine was one of the smaller/older houses around yet the proceeds after mortgage repayment enabled me to buy a family home and a duplex. The rent plus leftover capital saw us (family of four) to my 50th birthday when I qualified for the actuarially reduced pension (£4k) and lump sum and we've been managing comfortably on the pension and rent (plus 'child benefit') without the need for work.

If we can do that from money from my modest house sale and reduced pension from already low paid employment, then there must be people who have even better pensions they could use and greater sums from house sales who can also do it. Providing, of course, that they can meet the other conditions.

I see people on here who do seem to have better than good chances of qualifying as Permanent Residents but they seem to focus exclusively on well paid employment.

If you don't mind living somewhere other than Ontario or BC, and you're not skiing or boating or going to 'the cottage' every weekend, combinations of rentals/pensions/part time work or less well paying work or no work may well be enough.

I came out of my house sale with £123k. Just another £15k more (and that's still less than many of the figures I'm seeing quoted) would have enabled me to buy a bigger duplex or a triplex and increased rental income by about 70%.

act1980

I'm glad to hear things are working out for you! Lets hope they work out for me too lol!!

Elaine B.

Just go to the top of this page a click on Forum Index then scroll down and you'll find the moving back forum.

act1980

Thanks!!

G586

if you click on a posters user name, you can find their other posts.