Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Hi

We are in a bit of a dilemma and it's causing us so much confusion and uncertainty...we would be grateful for anybody elses experience and viewpoint. This is how it is .... my husband and I wanted to emmigrate...the question was New Zealand or Canada??? Okay, well Canada won. We decided NZ was too far away as Bill still has a very elderly grandparent alive and my Dad suffers with Left Ventricular Heart Failure and is in his 70's . It had been hard to choose but the decision we thought was made! Our reason for moving from the UK?? Well, we basically wanted to have a better quality of life, less stress, easier going environment, beautful country, lower crime rate, better health services etc etc.

I went for an interview and was offered a job as a Unit Manager (Nursing) in the Edmonton region (Capital Health) it all seemed fine and dandy at interview but here is our dilemma.... Main reason to move...better quality of life and more together time:

Current job - Nurse Practitioner, I work 20 hours a week (2 nights) and have 7weeks annual leave a year.
Hubby has a good job in Middle Management, good wage, 6 1/2 weeks annual leave a year.

Current home_ New build 3 bed detached with decent land and a £60 000 mortgage and after our outgoings we have around £1300 at our disposal.

New job offer- £5 per hour less than I earn now, I have to work full time (37 1/2 per week) which defeats the object of being together more, and will get 3 weeks annual leave and 12 days for bank holidays.

Hubby from what we have read would get a job at a similiar wage and get only 2 weeks annual leave per year, possibly 3.

Housing- for a house similiar to what we have we are looking at around $40000 CAD to $575.000CAD and so would need a bigger mortgage.

We currently have the time for holidays and weekends away etc but hubby wants to leave the UK. We felt we could acheive a better standard of living.....Now I don't know...once the figures are on paper. The money isn't everything that's not our concern, but will we be working double the hours and spending more time apart to live in beautiful surroundings with nice people, and nice weather (we like snow!).

I guess what I am asking is does the lifestyle, environment, low taxes etc make up for financial loss in these circumstances? As lame as it sounds all we want is more time together but I am not convinced this will be the case. I have read in so many places that the cost of living is so high in Canada, will we be working every hour god sends to pay our bills?

Any thoughts would be appreciated, I guess you can never really judge things until you have made the move.

Sorry for the LONG and rambling message :o but very stressed aboput this decision :(

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

I think you'd be bonkers to move. IMO 99% of the benefit of being in Canada is the ability to buy more stuff. Take that away and what's the point of being frozen stiff half the year in a place as flat as Norfolk?

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Thanks for your reply....we aren't really big on shopping ;) Just wanted to improve our lifestyle I guess. Is it really as expensive to live in Alberta compared to the UK? We were initially under the understanding that it was a lower cost of living but properties seems VERY expensive...definately on par with Greater London...

Thanks again for your time
Julie

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

That's because you are thinking of moving to Alberta which is in the middle of an oilboom.

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

IMO, stay put, (but I am having a bitter and twisted day) If you do still want to move to canada then look for a better job that suits what you want more, and why edmonton there are cheaper areas

I wonder about the salary you have been offered too, I am working here as a part time "casual" x-ray tech, ie bottom of the pile and my hourly rate is more than i used to get as an 8a grade in the NHS.
I have only just started earning, so the benefits of 2 pay packets arent showing at all and so we dont have any spare cash here. If we had been moving for better Q of life then we havent got there yet. One day but not now.

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Hi Batty Xray

Basically Edmonton Area because in the UK main Nurse recruitment is Vancouver and Alberta. The reason we chose AB was the prairie areas etc and the lower taxes!! I was trying to apply with Peace County but the company recruiting for them didnt seem very reliable with communication. I am a mid Band 7 here with night enhancements....so around £20 an hour I have been offered $32 CAD for the first 3 months and then around $39 CAD, hourly enhancemenets for unsocial hours are only $2 CAD per hour...but if the cost of living matched the wage it would be fine. We were pretty shocked to see the house prices keep going up and up the last few months thats for sure.

Thanks Again
Julie

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

I think you need to come visit and reaffirm your reasons for coming to Canada.

On the face of it you seem to have a good thing going in the UK, so its the intangible canadian things that are really the reason to make the move, if thats what you want.

A wise man once said about immigration and day to day living "same shit, shinier bucket", only in this case Im not sure how much shinier the bucket really is.

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Lol Notiaink...honest

Coll saying...We are coming back to Canada in 6 weeks time. I said to Bill today.....does the grass seem greener on the other side. We really do like Canada but we are in our late 30's and don't really want us to start making our lives harder...we have no children to consider....maybe I am answering my own question.....It's just that Bill really wanted to come to Canada. I had wondered how feasible it was to come for the years contract and see how it panned out...

Thanks for listening

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

hi Julie

What about further south in Alberta ?

Here is the link to our local health authority

http://www.chr.ab.ca/bins/index.asp

Just another area of Alberta for you to consider job wise - also property down in the south isnt as expensive as in Edmonton and Calgary.

Gaynor
x

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Thanks for the link Gaynor,

We hadn't really thought of applying to Canada directly...I guess there is so much recruiting going on for nursing staff here it's the easiest way. Maybe its something we should look into.

Thankyou
Julie

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Coming and trying it could be an option, if you can keep paying the UK bills in the mean time. At least then you will know, and wont spend the next 50 years doing the "what if" thing.

I guess it also depends how hard it would be to return to the UK and pick up where you left off...

Its not an easy decision (it never is I suppose, except for me where I was swayed by the extra money:))

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Worth a shot hun.

Also try places like

www.workopolis.ca

www.monster.ca

www.jobbank.gc.ca

All these types of places also have medical jobs on. OOOOHH and while you are at it check out the Provincial Nominee Programme - usually takes about a year to come through but you dont come on a WP you come on and get PR as part of the programme

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

Have a look around on mls and see what you get for your money in different parts of the country. See if there are jobs for your husband too.
try here for jobs for you http://www.npcanada.ca/portal/

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

What do you consider as "lifestyle"? Define that and you will have your answer.

Re: Really, REALLY need another point of view, please.
 

For my 2 cents worth( or pennies) Stay put! i am also a nurse, have been for 15 years and still cannot get a frigging days holidays this summer to be with my kids and yes, I have a bit of seniority. You will be starting at the bottom seniority wise so you can kiss your wanting to spend more time with your family goodbye. Stay where you are and enjoy beautiful UK. It really is a beautiful country . Every time I go home I marvel at the beauty of it. Anyway, please yourself ofcourse , but this is the realityof it. Sorry if this is a downer , had a pissy day at work.