Any hints from those who have already got to Canada as to what goods to ship and what to leave?

Take everything that doesn't have an electric plug attached.

Wot he said!

agree with those two above.

we took everything non electrical, pots, pans, petrol lawnmower, bikes, shovels, plates, salt & pepper, tinned food, beds, sofa, table & chairs. You name it we packed it.

Am i being really dense?
I thought the only electrical things that wouldn't work are White Goods. Can we not use our TV, DVD player etc? Is it just easier and cheaper to re-buy when we get there?
Thanks

There are endless tedious postings about specific models of televisions, DVD players, cordless drills, game consoles, personal satisfaction devices and table lamps. iirc DVD players are never worth bringing, some televisions might be, other things could be if you can live with a different rate of spinning, charging, throbbing or whatever the thing does.

What I was trying to get at was that while electrical appliances need thinking about, nothing else does, even if it's a dish rag or a broom buying another one is more expensive than throwing it in the container and shopping for a new one will take up time better spent doing something else.

Two things to consider:

1 Voltage: if your tv/dvd is dual voltage then OK, otherwise you need to buy transformers.

2 Compatibility. North American TV uses the NTSC system, Europe uses PAL. Some TVs will operate on both systems, some will not.

Electrical goods are generally cheap here. A multi-region DVD player will cost from $30 so you really have to question if it is worth the hassle of trying to use a UK one. TVs cost from $100 (small cathode ray type) to several thousand dollars for a flat screen TV big enough to be seen from space.

Ah, ok then, fair point.
Our thoughts were that if we are paying for a 20ft container, we may as well fill it so we will be taking everything that we use on a regular basis -inc cutlery, crokery, towels etc. If we haven't used it/missed it in the last 3 years since the last move it will be chucked out!

That sounds like a plan. I've had some, er, domestic instability, along the way, after that sort of thing I find it a bother to have to go and buy a second plate because someone's coming to dinner or a new darning needle because I got a hole in a sock. I imagine careless emigration causes similar irriations.

How do I find out if the TV is compatible?

Originally we weren't going to ship anything, sell everything then re-buy but then i realised that i would need stuff to eat with/sleep on etc!
Plus we have a 4 year old who i am sure would like to have some toys to play with - pretty boring for him otherwise!

I can't decide on what to take either. My most expensive bits of furniture are the wooden things and I've heard that a lot of stuff tends to get broken in transit anyway, so I have to wonder if it's worth it.

Considering selling the furniture and just taking boxes of pots, pans and sentimental stuff with us. To be honest - I have so much worthless junk that it might be a good opportunity to declutter.

I didn't bring any of my furniture and if I had my time again I would bring it all. You will under estimate how much money it will cost you replace everything - the cost of shipping it will be far less than the cost of buying everything again. Trust me!

Out of curiosity, for the people who shipped everything over, how much extra expense and hassle was it storing and moving your items during your initial transition to the country?

For example, from reading this forum, many people seem to stay in a hotel for a short while followed by temporary rental accommodation followed by a more carefully selected rental accommodation followed by purchasing a property. All this moving costs money as does any storage required.