What is the best bit of advice/tip you can offer to somebody just starting on the long journey to move over to Canada ? could be anything from best item to bring with you ( ie Marmite ) or don't bother to bring any white goods

Marmite is available loads of places so no need to bring any
Good tasting Baked Beans aren't.
Bring a positive attitude and don't expect anything to be like UK then the little things that are will be pleasant surprises.

Electric stuff will depend on if your building new or buying old if its remote or in town.

Put stuff in to storage in the UK then once you get here make up your mind what you really need to bring.

How many people brought stuff over only to bin it when they got here?

Never eat yellow snow.

Thanks - that is a good start - Shame about the baked beans - i love them, can easily go without marmite... and have already decided we are not looking for UK in Canada - we are looking for Canadian life - so hopefully we will be fine.

Cheers

Will just go and pack some beans

Thanks for that one - parents taught me that a while ago - funny how some folk think it might be flavoured with something nice

Don'y lick lamposts when it's -20!

My hubby prefers Canadian Baked beans as they are not so sweet - I'm used to them now too so life has not ended!

Look forward and not back and remember even if you moved to another town in the UK it could still take 8-12 months to settle in.

Keep smiling.

There are many things in Canada that seem very much like we have at home in the UK, laws, banks, buying a house, accounting practices, cars, local government etc.etc.etc.....

BUT......

Most things are just a little bit different here, and its best to assume you don't know whats going on, and get the proper advice.

You get used to things being different - as someone said. When I first came here I used to miss those little gherkins!!! I ate them all the time and my grandmother told me that vinegar thinned your blood or something!!

Anyway, I find them much too sweet now - couldn't eat one!!

I would say bring as much stuff over with you as you can. We binned a lot of things we wish we'd now bought with us. It's so expensive here to start with and there seems to be a lot of outlay and the last thing you'll want is to be wasting time and money on buying all those mundane household objects you wish you'd bought. The cost of replacing everything is dearer than shipping it would've been. Things here are expensive and theres not the choice or quality you get in the UK

We didn't bring anything electrical but my friend bought all hers and her hubby put a 240volt lead in to her kitchen, her stuff works fine. I'm not talking washing machines but things like food processor, sewing machine etc.
My husband now regrets his "chuck it, buy new when we get there" attitude

We learnt the hard/expensive way

hth Jo xx

this is bad but when we lived in chigwell essex (my sister and I) we had a party gherkins all fancy on a plate with everything else and the upstairs loo started leakingit dripped on to the gherkins thank god we dont like the things but people were coming in shaken them and eating them before we could clear the dam things awaynow I cant look at a blinking gherkin without thinking of that night but I do plan to bring over a few things with me and marmite is not one of them

Agree 99.9% with Jo on this - the whole process of emigrating and settling in will cost more than you anticipate. No need to add to the stress and cost of it by having to source new items you could have shipped over.

Slightly disagree about the choice/quality issue - for sure what's on offer generally is lower quality and choice initially seems slightly limited, but we've found even in a relatively small city that if you look hard enough there are suppliers that can provide high-end furniture, appliances etc., and if not most stuff can be ordered over the 'net anyway.

Dont get sick

Don't dump all that garden gear just coz its a bit mucky. Clean them and bring it all with you. We dumped it all as we were too lazy, and spent a fortune replacing spades, wheel barrow, hand trowels etc. ! Oh, and nice patio furniture is hard to come by here. They all seem to be that god awful frosted glass top stuff

Invest in really good sunglasses if you are coming to AB. Its so sunny in winter and glares off the snow ........big time !! My glasses are a permanent attachment to me year round.

.......and the baked beans take some getting used to,

If you own it, bring it!
Within reason of course - old nackered stuff leave behind.

Cheers, you all seem to agree on bringing stuff over - so that is good.

Catch you all later - off to work now